Friday, May 11, 2007

Killings Rattle Border Towns

By Rene Romo
Copyright © 2007 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Southern Bureau

COLUMBUS— Violence in this border town's Mexican sister city, Palomas, has rattled residents of both communities, but many seem determined to go on with life as usual.
The two towns, separated by a border marked by steel-pipe vehicle barriers and a three-mile stretch of N.M. 11, have shared history and family ties, and what affects one community usually touches the other.
"You don't feel safe, but you've got family down there— you've got to go visit them," said Angelica Villalobos, a 25-year-old Columbus resident who grew up in Palomas and drove there Thursday, Mother's Day in Mexico, to see her mother.
A pre-dawn shooting in Palomas on Wednesday, in which a wounded victim drove a bullet-riddled truck to the Columbus port of entry, marked the third time since April 24 that gunfire had shaken up the Mexican town of roughly 8,000 residents.
American law enforcement officials say at least five men have been slain in Palomas in the shootings, including two during a Monday morning assault with automatic weapons. Three others have been injured in what Gov. Bill Richardson and others have called drug-related violence.
On Wednesday, Richardson ordered State Police to increase their presence in the Columbus area to ensure the violence does not spill across the border into New Mexico. New Mexico's U.S. senators, Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, asked federal officials in Washington to pressure Mexican officials to try to control the violence.
"Our federal agencies must be ready to strengthen the border to ensure that violence related to illegal drug trafficking does not spread into our state," Domenici said in a statement.
"It will take U.S.-Mexico cooperation to quell this violence, not only to protect Americans, but also the children who pass through that crossing every day," Domenici said.
In a sign of how connected the two towns are, Columbus Police Chief Ernest Sera said that some relatives of the Palomas shooting victims live in Columbus.
Every day, dozens of U.S.-born children from Palomas cross the border to attend New Mexico public schools in Columbus and Deming.
The U.S.-bound children leave behind a town where most of the streets are rutted dirt roads and many of the houses are made of unfinished cinder block.
Americans provide business in Palomas for pharmacies, one of the town's economic mainstays, but the town is just as well-known as a staging point for illegal border crossers heading north.
State Police plan to maintain a round-the-clock presence in the Columbus area for the time being. The Luna County Sheriff's Department dispatched a five-member unit on all-terrain vehicles to patrol the area Wednesday evening, Sera said.
The Columbus port of entry is on the border, and the town of Columbus lies a few miles north. State Police officers on Thursday helped staff a southbound highway checkpoint at the port of entry that will be maintained indefinitely.
In Palomas, some residents said they were uneasy about escalating violence, while others expressed calm. Those who were less worried said the assaults were isolated between rival gangs fighting for control over drug trafficking.
"Yeah, we're scared it will happen again, but what can you do?" said Jesus Parra, an ice cream vendor who pushed a refrigerated cart through Palomas streets on Thursday.
"It's like, we're standing here, it's all calm, and all hell could break loose," Parra said.
Municipal worker Arnoldo Acevedo, who picked up his younger brother who crossed over the border from Columbus after school, said he and other residents are nervous.
"I don't feel secure," Acevedo said, adding that he has stopped going out at night and on weekends to visit the town's main drag— one of only a few paved streets.
"They need the military to come here and start searching every house (for illegal weapons)," Acevedo said.
Lucila Lopez, a 34-year-old mother, said that for her, life has changed dramatically.
"I leave earlier to pick up my kids," she said. "As soon as the sun goes down, everything is locked up."
Palomas dentist Alejandro Baron said news accounts about the shootings have spooked some visitors: Four of nine patients from Deming canceled appointments with him on Thursday, he said. But Baron, whose office is less than 100 feet from the spot of Monday's shooting, said he is not concerned.
"I've been here 18 years, and nothing's ever happened," Baron said. "During the day, nothing happens. Other than these isolated incidents, nothing happens."
Two retirees from Las Cruces traveled to Palomas on Thursday to buy low-cost medication after a friend in Deming said they would be safe during daylight hours.
Another traveler, Californian Diane Neubert, who was in New Mexico visiting relatives in Albuquerque, said she drove to Palomas for dental work after deciding she wouldn't let her fear win over.
"I was frightened for a while, and then I thought: It's just insanity. You can't be terrorized," Neubert said. "We have to keep interacting with our neighbors to the south. If everyone becomes paralyzed by fear, then evil wins out."

Taco Bueno says it doesn't support immigration-related ordinance

By ANABELLE GARAY
Associated Press Writer

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas — Fast-food chain Taco Bueno Restaurants, L.P. said Thursday its relocation to this Dallas suburb has been misrepresented as an endorsement of the city's controversial ordinance to ban apartment rentals to illegal immigrants.

Farmers Branch council members approved a regulation in November requiring apartment managers to verify that renters are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants before leasing to them. The measure, Ordinance 2903, goes to voters on Saturday.

Opponents and business experts have said the ordinance makes the city seem racist and will discourage businesses from moving to or expanding in Farmers Branch.

Councilman Tim O'Hare, the ordinance's lead proponent, has countered by pointing out that Taco Bueno moved its headquarters to Farmers Branch after the council approved the ordinance.

Taco Bueno moved its headquarters from Carrollton to Farmers Branch in late December, but its lease negotiations began in October 2005, the company said.

"Recently and regrettably, the timing of the Taco Bueno office relocation to Farmers Branch has been mischaracterized as an endorsement of Ordinance 2903. Actually, our relocation effort began well in advance of the referendum and such inferences are incorrect," Taco Bueno chief executive John Miller said in a statement Thursday.

Taco Bueno officials were not made aware of the issue until after relocating, Miller said.

The company has never spoken with Farmers Branch officials about the ordinance and believe the measure is a matter best left to city officials and residents, Miller said.

"Taco Bueno embraces the Hispanic community and has a long tradition of supporting Mexican-American culture and family life. Our stance, however, is that while Taco Bueno cannot support illegal immigration, we do believe 2903 is ill-advised," he said in a statement.

On the Net:
http://www.tacobueno.com/

Border passport rule 'absolutely' begins in January, DHS says

06:07 PM MST on Friday, May 11, 2007

By DEVLIN BARRETT / Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The new rule that anyone driving across the Canadian or Mexican borders must have a passport or passcard will "absolutely" begin in January, government officials said Friday, refuting a New York senator's claim the plan will be delayed.

Lawmakers from states along the northern border have been trying for months to stall or alter the plan to require the more secure identification documents, contending the rule will hurt trade and tourism.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was created by Congress to tighten security on both the Canadian and Mexican borders, but many members are now fuming at the notion their constituents will need a $97 dollar passport or a not-yet-developed passcard, expected to cost around $50. Children would be exempt.

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer predicted Thursday the government won't be able to start in January, but Department of Homeland Security officials insist they will.

"We have a firm deadline and we're absolutely committed to moving forward with the implementation of western hemisphere travel requirements at our northern border," said DHS spokesman Russ Knocke.

The agency does not have a date for people to start applying for the new passcards, which are being created by the State Department, but Knocke said that would not affect the January launch.

Lawmakers have repeatedly passed legislation trying to delay the land-crossing requirements. On Wednesday, the House passed a measure designed to push back the starting date until 2009 or beyond.

But the administration is going ahead and Knocke rapped Schumer for fighting the security measure, launched after a recommendation from the 9/11 commission to make it harder for potential terrorists to use bogus documents to enter the United States.

"You can either be for security or against security," Knocke said, adding that some states have already begun discussions about creating new driver's licenses that would be so secure they could be used instead of passports.

Knocke said the agency has talked with state officials in Washington, Michigan, and Vermont about a driver's license program - though he added that should not be taken as a signal DHS is going to loosen its border requirements.

On Thursday, Schumer said DHS "drives me crazy" because of what he called their incompetence, particularly over the border passports issue. The New York senator said the agency formed after the Sept. 11 terror attacks should be broken up because it is too large to function well.

The DHS spokesman called those comments an affront to the agency's 208,000 employees.

"It is discouraging for them to hear senior officials or members of Congress constantly armchair quarterback what they do and suggest that the solution to our challenges is yet another reorganization," said Knocke. "The deck chairs have been reorganized enough."

Rather than criticize the agency, Schumer and other lawmakers should be encouraging people in their states to get passports, he said.

Schumer responded Friday that "the problem with the current DHS management is the with us or against us mentality. They should understand that careful planning and smart management can help us achieve both security and commerce."

Americans also will be required to carry a passport when they enter the U.S. from Mexico. Currently, they can generally cross with a drivers license and, in the case of children, a birth certificate. Mexican citizens are required to have a biometric, machine-readable visa, known as a laser visa, that allows them to be in the country up to 90 days.

NEWS Local Politics

FB immigration law wins easily

02:35 AM CDT on Sunday, May 13, 2007
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
ssandoval@dallasnews.com
Also Online

DiscussLive: Stephanie Sandoval answers your questions on Ordinance 2903 on Monday at 1 p.m. | Send early questions

Farmers Branch voters' overwhelming embrace of a law to drive out illegal immigrants – which backers celebrated Saturday as "nothing but positive" – may lead to similar measures across North Texas and the nation, analysts say.

The nation's first vote on an ordinance targeting illegal immigrants by barring them from renting apartments highlighted a resentment of the federal government's failure to secure the nation's borders – and a desire to do something about it at the local level, said City Council member Tim O'Hare, who was the driving force behind the ordinance.

"They are saying loud and clear they want change in Farmers Branch," he said. "People recognize we have a problem, and they are proud we stood up. This is nothing but positive results for Farmers Branch."

Mr. O'Hare's message that illegal immigrants are having a negative impact on neighborhoods, crime, property values and schools may soon be heard in other cities.

"I'd be shocked if I didn't see other cities follow suit," he said. "I've been contacted by representatives from other cities. Any city that wants to protect their town, give me a call, and let us work together."

Opponents of the ordinance said they will try to stop the ordinance in the courts, and despite their defeat, they say they will have an impact on the city in the future.

"Regardless of the results, this is only the beginning," said Ana Reyes. "The community outreach we're doing is going to empower the Hispanic community [to become citizens]. I want them to feel a sense of involvement in the city."

Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said the implications of the Farmers Branch election may be felt more in cities elsewhere.

"Farmers Branch is a closed-in suburb of a major American city," Mr. Wilson said. "This is not some sort of remote, rural outpost. Farmers Branch is a pretty mainstream place, and if there is this level of anger about the immigration situation there, then what that suggests is there's probably a lot more of this kind of anger around the country."

And politicians may look to capitalize on the issue by taking similar tough local stances on illegal immigrants, he said.

Irving City Council candidate Tom Spink, who ran on an anti-illegal-immigrant platform, easily won election Saturday over longtime incumbent James ****ens.

And look for more anti-illegal-immigrant measures in Farmers Branch with the election Saturday of two new pro-ordinance council members, David Koch and Tim Scott. The City Council now has a solid majority committed to more ordinances targeting illegal immigrants. Both Mr. Koch and Mr. Scott have said they favor expanding the ban on renting apartments to illegal immigrants to all rental properties in the city and cracking down on businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

But with two lawsuits pending against the city, it could be years before the ordinance takes effect. Attorneys in those lawsuits are expected to immediately file requests from the courts for injunctions to stop the city from implementing the law on May 22, as planned.

Though other cities over the last year or so have adopted similar apartment ordinances, Farmers Branch is the first in Texas to do so, and the first nationwide to put the issue to a city vote.

The ordinance is modeled largely after one adopted by Hazleton, Pa., the first city to adopt a rental ban on illegal immigrants. That city also was sued. The case went to trial in the spring, but the judge has not issued a decision yet.

"You have cities all across the country responding to constituent demands," said Kris Kobach, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He also is a constitutional law and immigration expert who defended Hazleton in court and helped Farmers Branch craft the ordinance that went to voters.

"These ordinances have proven very popular among city councils," Mr. Kobach said. "This shows the city councils are accurately responding to public opinion. ... A referendum is essentially a perfect public opinion survey because you're questioning the entire electorate."

One political analyst said that the impact might not be as great as it would have been several months ago.

Illegal immigration "is still a very live issue, but my sense is it doesn't have the forward momentum it had in the latter half of 2006, because it was then a signature issue of the Republican Party," Cal Jillson, also a political science professor at SMU, said last week.

A spokesman for Let the Voters Decide, a group that opposed the ordinance, also said the issue may not spread to other cities.

"We're disappointed in the result, but I think the campaign was successful in that it was able to elevate the level of debate about this ordinance and prove the many ways this ordinance is costly and ill-advised," said the spokesman, Travis Carter. "Because of our campaign, there isn't a community or city in North Texas that would think to support an ordinance like this."

The fiery debate drew charges of racism and accusations of voter intimidation and dissemination of wrong or misleading information on both sides both since last fall. Mayor Bob Phelps' house was vandalized twice, including once last week immediately after he announced his opposition to the ordinance.

It also thrust Mr. O'Hare, a native of the city, and Farmers Branch into the national spotlight. Anticipating the large turnout, Dallas County set up seven voting locations in the city for Saturday. Usually, the city of 28,500 has only one polling place. In the end, about 43 percent of 14,060 registered voters turned out and approved the referendum by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

Ordinance 2903 would require apartment management to obtain proof of citizenship or legal immigration status before entering into or renewing leases or rental agreements.

The only exception to the ban would be that mixed-status families could stay if they were already living in the apartment, the spouse or head of household is a citizen or here legally, and the household includes the head of household and spouse and their minor children or parents.

Staff writers Eric Aasen, Stella M. Chavez and Jay Parsons contributed to this report.

Floricanto Press

Mexican Illegal Aliens: A Mexican American Perspective. By Rafael D. Canul, Ph.D. Edited by John Cise,

University of California, Berkeley. ISBN: 0-915745-62-3 $29.95. For class use (bulk purchases) $22.00

Professor Canul, in this substantial, well-documented and impressive socio-political and economic analysis, focuses on the difficult and challenging motives and experiences of Mexicans illegals who have settled in the U.S. since 1920’s. He illustrates how, despite racial conflicts, the controversial influx of Mexicans have adapted and contributed to American society. His rich layers of personalized data yield portraits ranging from those who cross the borders through the desert or not infrequently hidden in cars. He describes a rail-road like protection often extended to the border-crossers by the established Mexican American community, who witnesses with pain, empathy, and disgust their mistreatment and exploitation. He provides a unique Mexican American perspective on this controversial issue of illegal immigration. Furthermore, he concludes with a forceful argument that, despite rising nativism ignited by illegal migrants, they are indispensable for many sectors of the U.S. economy. The lack of American political will to address in orderly manner the issue of foreign workers has victimized the weakest link of a dynamic and highly profitable economic process: the Mexican illegal aliens. Dr. Canul provides an ample historical background of how the federal government has attempted to deal with, and how it has failed to stem the tide of illegal migration. He also addresses within a historical context the reactions of Americans to the various waves of immigration from the rise of the antiforeign Nativists, the restrictive immigration laws and quotas of the 1920s; through the World War II era, the Bracero Program, the Amnesty declared by Republican President Ronald Reagan to the present concerns with the War on Terror. This excellent work is an effective tool for increasing multicultural awareness and should be an effective teaching guide for social sciences and humanities.

This book provides the first comprehensive, Mexican American historical perspective of the Mexican illegal immigration to the United States during the last 50 years and how this history and current situation impact on current Mexican Americans political articulation and discourse.

John Cise, University of California, Berkeley

Floricanto Press is a Latino publisher of books on Mexican illegal immigrants, Hispanic Americans, Mexican immigration, Mexican immigrants, Mexican American books, Hispanic books, Latino books, on Latino and Latina contemporary issues,
Latino books, Mexican American books, Hispanic books, Latina books, Chicano books, Books on Mexican immigrants, Mexican immigration and Mexican illegal immigration, Mexican American History, Mexican American education, Mexican immigration, Mexican illegal immigration, Mexican American books, Hispanic books, Latino books, Latinos, Latinas, Chicano Studies.

NEWS Nation

Bush pushes for immigration deal

Senate due to vote in coming week on contentious issue

10:28 AM CDT on Saturday, May 12, 2007
Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Bush, promoting bipartisan immigration talks as they reach a critical stage, said Saturday that Republicans and Democrats are building consensus that could produce a bill this year.

"I am optimistic we can pass a comprehensive immigration bill and get this problem solved for the American people this year," Bush said in his weekly radio address.

Bush used the address to put pressure on senators as they prepare to hold a vote on the contentious issue next week. Signing an overhaul into law would be viewed as a marquee domestic achievement for the president.

He has dispatched two members of his Cabinet, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, to Capitol Hill for almost daily closed-door meetings with a handful of Republicans and Democrats to cut an immigration deal. The group is eyeing a Tuesday deadline for a compromise.

"These meetings have been productive. We've been addressing our differences in good faith, and we're building consensus. Both Republicans and Democrats understand that successful immigration reform must be bipartisan," Bush said.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., thanked Bush for "addressing the nation on this critical issue and emphasizing the common goals that we share.

"The American people will be watching and waiting to see if the Senate can come together on immigration reform and strike the right balance between strengthening our security and our economy and enacting laws that uphold the humanity and dignity of those who come here seeking a better life," Kennedy said.

Both sides have an interest in addressing the topic, which polls show is among Americans' top concerns. It's also a top issue for Hispanic voters, a fast-growing segment of the electorate that is being hotly contested by the two parties.

"The politics are pointing to action. What's difficult is that squaring the circle on the policy differences between the two parties is hard," said Frank Sharry, the executive director of the National Immigration Forum.

"Politically it makes sense for the key players to get it done this year, and before the next election season kicks in," Sharry said.

Still, the negotiations have proceeded in fits and starts, with key players agreeing on broad principles but not always specifics, and both parties' core constituencies becoming increasingly nervous that their leaders will compromise too much on an emotional and highly complicated issue.

Talks were to continue throughout the weekend on a possible deal that would first secure the U.S.-Mexico border and implement an elaborate high-tech identification system for immigrant workers, and only then give an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. a chance at legal status – after paying high fines, returning home and waiting as long as 13 more years.

The proposal would also create a guest worker program for new arrivals, but it would prevent many of them from staying in the U.S. The ability of immigrants to bring their families into the country would be limited.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has set a vote for next week to bring up an alternative plan that passed the Senate last year with wide support from his party but substantial GOP opposition. Republicans have said they would block the move, arguing that the bipartisan talks should be given time to bear fruit.

Without a deal by Tuesday, the stage would be set for a partisan clash over immigration when the vote occurs, expected on Wednesday.

Bush has long called for an immigration overhaul that would create a guest-worker program and allow illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship, as well as bolstering border security. He supported the 2006 measure, which died in the House amid opposition from his own party's conservatives.

The potential compromise being discussed now is an effort to meld key elements of that plan, including allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. legally, with tougher provisions that could draw GOP support.

18 held as suspected illegal immigrants

BY MITCHELL FREEDMAN.mitchell.freedman@newsday.com

May 12, 2007

Federal immigration officials confirmed Friday that they raided five houses on the East End this week, picking up 18 people who authorities said were illegal immigrants.

Those arrested were either named on warrants as illegal immigrants or were found in the houses during the raids.

Southampton Village police provided two marked cars as agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency - a part of the Department of Homeland Security - went to two houses in the village at 5:30 a.m.

The raid comes at a time when Southampton Town and Southampton Village are embroiled in a legal action over efforts by the village to allow day laborers to use a park as a gathering place to seek work.

Three other houses, two in Southampton outside the village and one in Hampton Bays, also were raided, according to Michael Gilhooly, a spokesman for the enforcement agency.

Of the 18 arrested, six were found to have criminal records and two others were charged with re-entering the United States after previously being deported, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

The other 10 were determined to be in the country illegally, although Gilhooly did not say how that was determined. He said it was his agency's policy not to identify the people who were picked up. Several of them were released after processing and face hearings in federal immigration court later this month, according to a source familiar with the operation.

Earlier this week, the village board was to have discussed a resolution making it illegal to stop on a village street to pick up a day laborer, but that action was put off until July on the advice of the village attorney, who noted that a lawsuit over the park filed by neighbors is still unresolved.

The timing of the raid - which follows a similar action in East Hampton earlier this year - was upsetting to Sandra Dunn, executive director of Organizacion Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island, an advocacy group. "We can't say there is a connection, but it's striking how ... when the hiring site is big in the news, the East Hampton raid happens. Then, once again it's in the news and this happens," she said.

Gilhooly said there was no connection between the raid and the local political situation.

Long Island Southampton Day Labor Hiring Site Closed

BY MITCHELL FREEDMAN
mitchell.freedman@newsday.com

May 3, 2007, 12:39 PM EDT

Yellow "caution" tape was strung across the entrances to the informal day labor hiring site built by Southampton Village in a little park across the street from the 7-Eleven on North Sea Road Thursday, and no workers could be seen in the area. The site had been in use for a few days only.

The village was served with a temporary restraining order from State Supreme Court Justice Peter Fox Cohalan, blocking it from allowing the use of the property for "non-park purposes or non-recreational purposes." The order will last until a court hearing on May 8, according to Village Administrator James Van Nostrand.

The village has also put up no standing and no parking signs along much of the northern part of North Sea Road -- the main entrance to the village -- in an effort to end the use of the 7-Eleven and the streets near it by day laborers and the contractors who stop to hire them.

Van Nostrand said that, for the time the hiring hall was in use, the crowds of workers on the street each morning had dropped significantly.

There are no structures in the small parcel of land, just a circular dirt driveway with two entrances onto Aldrich Lane, a dead end street at the corner of North Sea Road by the 7-Eleven. The edge of the property is somewhat screened by small bushes.

The lawsuit against the village was filed by three people living on Aldrich Lane, who complained that the park was purchased through the Community Preservation Fund, and can not be used for anything but park purposes. They objected to the extra traffic brought into the area each day by the day laborers, Van Nostrand said.

Severed head found in Mexico

The Associated Press

Veracruz, Mexico - A severed head accompanied by a note of defiance from organized crime gangs and two hand grenades were found outside a military barracks in Veracruz state on Saturday.

The head was found in a box outside the army base in Veracruz city, shortly after the government announced it was sending troops to respond to a shooting attack. The box also held a message saying gangs would continue operating despite the presence of troops.

"We are going to continue, even if federal forces are here," state Public Safety Secretary Juan Manuel Orozco quoted the note as saying.

The body of the victim - a 37-year-old auto mechanic who had been kidnapped four days earlier - was found on a street in another neighborhood, wrapped in a sheet.

The National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (NNIRR) www.nnirr.org

is a national U.S. organization composed of local coalitions and immigrant, refugee, community, religious, civil rights and labor organizations and activists committed to immigrant rights. For more information about NNIRR, visit www.nnirr.org.

Northwest Herald
Local News & Video for McHenry County, Illinois

Nation & World

Churches Plan Sanctuary

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Churches in five big U.S. cities plan to protect illegal immigrants from deportation, offering sanctuary if need be, as they pressure lawmakers to create a path to citizenship for the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

Beginning Wednesday, a Catholic church in Los Angeles and a Lutheran church in North Hollywood each intend to shelter one person, and churches in other cities plan to do so in coming months as part of the “New Sanctuary Movement.”

Organizers don’t believe that agents will make arrests inside the churches.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has not tried to arrest Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant who has taken shelter at a Methodist church in Chicago since August 2006. Her son is a U.S. citizen, and he has lobbied in the Mexican legislature on behalf of families that would be split if parents are deported.

“We want to put a human face to very complex immigration laws and awaken the consciousness of the human spirit,” said the Rev. Richard Estrada of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Los Angeles, where one illegal immigrant will live.

At an appearance with representatives from some of the other denominations involved in the sanctuary movement, Arellano conducted a long speaker-phone conversation with the Los Angeles sanctuary-seeker, Jose Villalba, and urged him to persevere.

The Rev. Walter L. Coleman of Adalberto United Methodist Church, where Arellano has lived for nearly nine months, said he and Arellano celebrated news of the new movement Tuesday by ending a hunger strike they began April 6.

They were joined at their Chicago news conference by clergy from the Reformed Church in America, the Unitarian-Universalist Association, and the Nation of Islam.

ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice declined to say if agents would attempt to arrest others who take sanctuary in churches, although she noted agents had the authority to arrest anyone violating immigration law.

Anti-illegal-immigration groups called the sanctuary effort misguided.

The faith groups “don’t seem to realize that they are being charitable with someone else’s resources, and that’s not charity,” said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors limits on immigration.

“We are talking about illegal immigrants taking someone else’s job, filling up the classroom of someone else’s child,” he said.

The sanctuary effort is loosely based on a movement in the 1980s, when churches harbored Central American refugees fleeing wars in their home countries. Organizers of the current movement include members of the Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and other faiths.

Participating churches in San Diego, Seattle, Chicago and New York won’t initially house illegal immigrants. Instead, leaders will provide legal counsel, accompany them to court hearings and prepare plans to house them in churches if authorities try to deport them.

The plans come as immigration reform legislation has been stalled since last summer, and tens of thousands of illegal immigrants have been detained and deported in stepped-up immigration raids in recent months.

The first to receive refuge in Los Angeles will be a single father from Mexico who has two children who are U.S. citizens, said Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, executive director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, an interfaith association spearheading the national plans.

The churches sought immigrants who wanted to take part in the sanctuary movement and were screened to make sure they paid taxes and didn’t have criminal backgrounds, Salvatierra said.

In New York, churches will be aiding a Haitian man and a Chinese couple, who are facing deportation and have U.S. citizen children, said Father Juan Carlos Ruiz.

Though the immigrants won’t initially live in churches, three congregations are ready to take them in, Ruiz said.

“Depending on how immigration officials act toward us, we’ll be escalating our actions,” he said.

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006 www.democracynow.org

"I Fear God Much More Than I Fear Homeland Security"- Chicago Pastor on Why He is Allowing Mexican Mother to Stay in Church to Avoid Deportation

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A Mexican woman has taken refuge inside a Chicago church in an attempt to defy a government deportation order. Elvira Arellano has been living in the Adalberto United Methodist Church since last Tuesday -- the day she was supposed to surrender to authorities. We go to Chicago to speak with Arellano from inside the church as well as the Rev. Walter Coleman, the pastor of the church. [includes rush transcript]
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We go now to Chicago, where a battle for immigrant rights is gaining national attention. A Mexican woman has taken refuge inside a Chicago church in an attempt to defy a government deportation order. Elvira Arellano has been living in the Adalberto United Methodist Church since last Tuesday -- the day she was supposed to surrender to authorities. Arellano is president of United Latino Family, a group that lobbies for families that could be split by deportation. She was born in Mexico and came to the country as an undocumented immigrant. Her seven-year-old son, Saul, was born in the United States and is a U.S. citizen.
A rally was held Sunday in Chicago to support Elvira. One of those rallying to her cause is immigrant rights activist Emma Lozano of Pueblo Sin Fronteras.

Emma Lozano, immigrant rights activist with Pueblo Sin Fronteras speaking in Chicago.

US Immigration and Customs enforcement officials have said Arellano is now considered a fugitive. ICE spokersperson Tim Counts said "We will take action at the time and place of our choosing."


Elvira Arellano, she joins us on the line now from the Chicago church where she's taken refuge.
Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor at the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago.

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AMY GOODMAN: A rally was held Sunday in Chicago to support Elvira. One of those rallying to her cause is immigrants rights activist Emma Lozano of Pueblo Sin Fronteras.

EMMA LOZANO: The deportation of Elvira Arellano is -- to me, it’s just retaliation for all her leadership. She has been at the head of the movement. She’s been like the Rosa Parks of the undocumented, of the movement for legalization. She’s calling for the moratorium. She did the hunger strike for 22 days. She’s like our Rosita Parks, and we should all be rallying around her to make sure they don’t deport her, because it may demoralize the movement.

AMY GOODMAN: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said Arellano is now considered a fugitive. ICE spokesperson Tim Counts said, "We will take action at the time and place of our choosing." Elvira Arellano joins us now on the phone from the church where she has taken refuge with her son. Joining us in a studio in Chicago is Rev. Walter Coleman. He’s the pastor at the Adalberto United Methodist Church. We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Elvira, can you talk about why you are in the church right now? And is your son with you?

ELVIRA ARELLANO: Hi. Good morning. I am still here. I’m deported in August 15. And I stay here with my son.

AMY GOODMAN: And why have you chosen to stay in the church?

ELVIRA ARELLANO: I don’t know. I stay here maybe one or two weeks more -- I do not know -- depending the immigration, maybe -- stay here.

AMY GOODMAN: Why are you there?

ELVIRA ARELLANO: Because the immigration deport me to Mexico.

AMY GOODMAN: And why are they saying they will deport you? Elvira?

TRANSLATOR: Hello? Good morning.

AMY GOODMAN: Hi. This is Amy Goodman from Democracy Now!

TRANSLATOR: Yeah. I’m going to translate for her.

AMY GOODMAN: Very good. Thank you.

TRANSLATOR: You’re welcome, ma’am. I put you on the speakerphone.

AMY GOODMAN: Very good. I’m asking Elvira why the government is saying they want to deport her and why she wants to stay in this country with her son.

ELVIRA ARELLANO: [translated] Because he is a U.S. citizen, and she wants for them to respect his constitutional rights.

AMY GOODMAN: Are you afraid that they will enter the church?

ELVIRA ARELLANO: [translated] Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: How have you prepared for this?

ELVIRA ARELLANO: [translated] I just know that I have to be with my son.

AMY GOODMAN: We're also joined in a Chicago studio by Rev. Walter Coleman, the pastor at the church where Elvira has taken refuge, the Adalberto United Methodist Church. Can you talk about your decision to make your church a sanctuary church, Rev. Coleman?

REV. WALTER COLEMAN: Certainly. And good morning. First of all, Elvira Arellano is a member of our church and has been a member of our church for three years. And as we approached the final hours and it seems that other options were being exhausted, she had decisions. As she could have any time over the last three years, when she was first arrested, when she was working at the airport, for being undocumented, she could have gone and just disappeared like 12 million other people. She could have accepted the deportation.

But she has always said that she would fight what she considers to be an unjust law, so that her son will know that he’s a child of God and not a piece of junk that can be thrown away. So the option of sanctuary when she requested it seemed like a good option to give her a holy space to continue a campaign of civil disobedience against an unfair law that is separating families throughout this country.

AMY GOODMAN: Just going through the list of politicians who are supporting Elvira, you have Senator Barack Obama, Congressmember Luis Gutierrez, even Mayor Richard Daley. Can you talk about the congressional action on this issue, Rev. Walter Coleman?

REV. WALTER COLEMAN: Right. Because of her leadership really, two private bills have been put in Congress on her behalf, one by Congressman Gutierrez and another by Congressman Bobby Rush. Congressman Rush’s bill includes a group of other families that Elvira actually organized, who are all in the same situation. That is, one or other of the parents is undocumented and facing deportation for doing nothing wrong, except entering this country and working and paying taxes, but their children are U.S. citizens.

And Elvira has worked very hard to dramatize this issue. She has led delegations to Washington, large delegations of 100, 150, seven times in the last year, talked to over 120 congressmen and over 40 senators. She has won the support of the Chicago City Council and the mayor, the Cook County board and Cook County president. The state legislature, the state senate have all passed formal resolutions. And the governor of Illinois is supporting it, as well as a wealth of other church and community leaders.

And I think, obviously, she has her own particular situation with her son, who she loves and who has a right and a need to stay here with his doctors and in his school. But also she said that she is fighting a fight of principle. And because of that, I think that she has won support throughout the state and really throughout the country.

AMY GOODMAN: Elvira Arellano, can you tell us what Saul is suffering from, your son, why he needs medical attention? We're talking to Elvira in the church where she has taken refuge.

ELVIRA ARELLANO: [translated] Because my son has HDAD, and because the federal agents, when they entered the house, they came with weapons when they raided the house, and this panicked my son.

AMY GOODMAN: How is he getting help in the church right now? Is he getting help?

ELVIRA ARELLANO: [translated] He hasn’t gone to the doctor yet. In case of an emergency, his babysitter will bring him to the doctor.

AMY GOODMAN: There are conflicting reports of what ICE will do, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Chicago Tribune has an AP piece that says, “They would apprehend Arellano at a time and place ‘of their choosing’ and that nothing prevented them from going into the church. But on Friday, a government official close to the case said immigration agents have decided against entering the church to remove Arellano. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it is against ICE policy to discuss operational matters, said the Arellano case carries ‘no more priority than any of the other 500,000 fugitives nationally.’”

Rev. Walter Coleman, what about that, how Elvira's case fits into the national picture? Chicago is a major center of immigrants rights activism, had perhaps the largest immigrants right -- the first large immigrants rights protest in the wave of protests we saw in the last months.

REV. WALTER COLEMAN: Well, I think we have to understand the situation generally. It's very hard for me to read the mind of people in immigration. But generally, we have this situation. The President of United States and the Senate have both said that they would like a program that legalizes at least a large part of those who are in this country. The President has spoken out against the separation of families and mothers and children, like Elvira’s family. At the same time, under pressure from House Republican leadership, the U.S. government is doubling and tripling its efforts to deport, arrest, to raid factories and to impose sanctions on employers.

We think that this is a contradiction, and part of why we think they are retaliating against Elvira is that she has been so successful in her call for a moratorium on deportations until they fix the law. It’s a contradiction to be deporting and arresting and traumatizing children and torturing children of those who may in a few months or a year be able to legalize. We have a broken law. Everybody recognizes that. So we’re in a very contradictory situation.

And when it comes down to the situation locally, there are a lot of people that they could go after. There are millions. There are many that they have already written orders for deportation, who haven’t shown up, who are going on living their lives. They have a lot of choices. They're running around like a bull in a china shop. And when a lot of light is shone, as it has on Elvira’s case, I think there’s -- we pray that they will respect the church and the family and the faith. But, obviously, they are looking at public opinion and fighting really a political battle, which unfortunately families and children are the victims of. So we really don’t know if they’ll choose -- the political winds will grow and they’ll choose to disrespect the church and come to get her or if they’ll do, as their latest spokesperson has said, that they’ll respect the sanctuary of the church.