Deportations of illegal immigrants have reached new heights for two years running under President Obama, statistics show, but Republicans say they’ll use their new majority in the House to press for more aggressive enforcement without any path to legal status. Read more
Portland, Oregon ICE detention jail stopped!
Secure Communities Agreements cancelled, participation still required
Updated: 8/5/11 04:25 PM ET Huffington Post
WASHINGTON –
Activists are outraged over a Friday announcement from the Department of
Homeland Security that it will move ahead with its controversial Secure
Communities immigration enforcement program, even if states do not agree to
participate. Read more
Bellingham reporter shares concern about secrecy of detentions.
I share your concern. The idea that the government protects “privacy” by
allowing people to be arrested and detained in secret is bizarre.
But the fact is that the policy here is the same. Detention of people on
immigration violations is cloaked in secrecy. When ICE raided a local
laundry years ago, we tried to use FOIA to get their names to no avail.
Read more
Border law agencies pledge more cooperation with Bellingham residents
JOHN STARK / THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
BLAINE – Representatives of federal border agencies pledged to work to improve their relationships with local residents, after hearing complaints and questions from an audience of about 150 people at the school district’s Performing Arts Center.
“I’m going to work as hard as I can to address your concerns,” said U.S. Border Patrol Section Chief John Bates. “We’re going to do everything we can to make our agents ambassadors. .. Read more
Obama Taking a Hard Line on Immigrants: “Secure Communities” program
By JULIA PRESTON and KIRK SEMPLE Published: February 17, 2011
After months of internal wrangling and confusion over an ambitious nationwide program allowing state and local police agencies to identify immigrants with criminal records, Obama administration immigration officials have decided to take a hard line against communities that try to delay or cancel their participation in the program, according to documents made public late Wednesday. Read more
Ellensburg, WA residents respond to immigration raids
7:59 PM, Jan. 21, 2011 | SHANNON DININNY Associated Press
ELLENSBURG, Wash. — More than 200 people turned out to a church in a central Washington college town Friday to discuss a series of immigration raids that resulted in more than two dozen arrests and left relatives scrambling to care for the children left behind.
Those attending the meeting at First United Methodist Church in Ellensburg, a city of 17,000 about 90 miles east of Seattle, included faculty members and students from the hometown Central Washington University.
“I have children. How would I feel if it happened to me and they snatched me and sent me somewhere and left my kids behind?” said attendee Raymond Hall, CWU professor of African-American folklore. Read more
Immigration Raid Has Ripple Effect on Ellensburg Economy
By Keegan Hamilton, Mon., Jan. 24 2011 @ 1:01PM
The residents of a mobile home park on the outskirts of Ellensburg received a rude awakening early last Thursday morning. A police helicopter hovered above their homes, shining a searchlight through their windows. Squad cars blocked the entrance and exit to the community, which is home to a large percentage of the city’s Hispanic population, and dozens of agents from local law-enforcement agencies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement eventually rounded up 30 people. Now, four days later, Ellensburg residents say that not only did the arrests cause widespread panic and outrage Read more
Republicans push for more raids
By Brian Bennett, Washington Bureau - January 27, 2011
Ellensburg, WA armed federal raids detain 30.
Federal raid leads to 30 being taken into custody
Federal raid leads to 30 being taken into custody By DAILY RECORD STAFF Daily Record | 15 comments
Federal agents early Thursday morning arrested 14 Ellensburg area residents related to criminal charges of manufacture and purchase of counterfeit identity and employment documents, according to a news release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Another 16 were taken into custody on administrative immigration violations, and three of those were later released Read more
Private Prison Profits behind Arizona’s SB1070
October 28, 2010
Last year, two men showed up in Benson, Ariz., a small desert town 60 miles from the Mexico border, offering a deal.
Glenn Nichols, the Benson city manager, remembers the pitch.
“The gentleman that’s the main thrust of this thing has a huge turquoise ring on his finger,” Nichols said. “He’s a great big huge guy and I equated him to a car salesman.”
What he was selling was a prison for women and children who were illegal immigrants. Read more