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New report says that raids spun out of control

In today's NYTimes:

"The raids on homes around the country were billed as carefully planned hunts for dangerous immigrant fugitives, and given catchy names like Operation Return to Sender.

"And they garnered bigger increases in money and staff from Congress than any other program run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even as complaints grew that teams of armed agents were entering homes indiscriminately.

"But in fact, beginning in 2006, the program was no longer what was being advertised. Federal immigration officials had repeatedly told Congress that among more than half a million immigrants with outstanding deportation orders, they would concentrate on rounding up the most threatening — criminals and terrorism suspects.

"Instead, newly available documents show, the agency changed the rules, and the program increasingly went after easier targets. A vast majority of those arrested had no criminal record, and many had no deportation orders against them, either."

To read the full article, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/us/04raids.html?hp

Please sign local and national petitions for immigration reform and an end to raids

MAKE SURE TO SIGN BOTH PETITIONS. The national Progress by Pesach petition calls for humane, comprehensive, federal immigration reform. Jewish Community Action's petition calls for this, PLUS an immediate end to raids.

It only takes a minute to sign both!

Fact Sheet on Raids...

Background:

Since its creation in 2003, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained thousands of people in raids on businesses and residences throughout the country. According to ICE, these raids are designed to protect public safety and national security by enforcing federal immigration law. However, these raids cause a considerable amount of hardship for immigrants and their families- both in the U.S. and in home countries- and for U.S. citizens.

Raids separate families, violate U.S. due process laws, hurt the economy, waste taxpayer money, misuse local police, and threaten the basic human rights of U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike. The aftermath of a raid continues well after the operation is over, and towns are left to deal with the resulting humanitarian and economic crisis.

Obama and Congress have to power to change this by passing immigration reform, instead of relying on immigration raids to enforce a broken system. Additionally, Obama will only sign an executive order ending immigration raids if we make sure voices heard loudly along with the voices of immigrants and allies.

Facts: The Raids

• In 2008, 5,100 were taken into custody during workplace raids compared to 685 in 2004.¹

• Many raids involve violations of due process, including entering without a warrant, interrogation without reasonable suspicion of unlawful immigration status, and racial profiling.²

• Many ICE raids have resulted in the interrogation and detention of U.S. citizens. According to a recent report by the DHS Inspector General, agents rely on data that is outdated an inaccurate in up to 50% of cases.

Facts: The Costs

• In 2002, ICE’s budget was $2.4B, in 2008 it was $5B. That’s 80% more than the Environmental Protection Agency and $4B more than the Department of State. Failure to pass immigration reform has resulted in a bigger budget and a bigger problem.^3a

• Although ICE has not disclosed the amount spent on all of its 2008 raids, $5.2 million was spent on the raid on Agriprocessors in Iowa. 389 workers were detained, making the cost $13,300 per detainee.^3b

• It costs approximately $95 per person per night to keep a person in a detention center.

Facts: The Detention Centers

• Over 300,000 people are held in immigration detention facilities each year. The annual cost to the government is nearly $2 billion.⁴

• Approximately 67% of people detained in ICE raids are not held in Department of Homeland Security detention centers. Instead, they are detained in over 312 county and city prisons nationwide where DHS rents bed space. Detained immigrants are mixed in with incarcerated criminals. ⁵

• Immigrants detained in raids can remain in detention centers for as long as three years.⁶ During this time, detainees are held in severely overcrowded facilities, sometimes 50% over design capacity.

• Between January 2004 and November 2007, 67 people died while in custody in detention facilities. No government body is required to keep track of deaths and publicly report them.⁷

Facts: The Communities and Families

• Although ICE does allow for the release of some detainees for humanitarian reasons (including those who are sole caregivers or whose absence would cause undue hardship for the family), many undocumented immigrants are afraid to tell ICE agents that they have children. Children whose parents are detained and eventually deported, are sometimes put into the foster care system.⁸

• 5,000,000 U.S. citizens under the age of 18 have 1-2 undocumented parents. ⁹

• Small towns and local economies can be crippled by immigration raids. In towns such as Laurel, Mississippi and Postville, Iowa, sites of the two largest ICE raids in U.S. history, the loss of taxpayers, tenants, and workers at businesses have caused property values to plummet and general economic crisis. ¹⁰

For citations, email lauren@jewishcommunityaction.org

Progress by Pesach in JTA

Check out the JTA article on Progress by Pesach: http://jta.org/news/article/2009/01/29/1002624/progress-by-pesach-on-immigration-reform

and in Religion News Service:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/01/jewish-coalition-calls-for-imm.php

After you sign the letter to Obama at www.hias.org/progress, make sure to add this sentence:

"I am calling on President Obama to issue an excutive order ending raids immediately."

This will ensure the message to end raids gets heard in addition to calling for comprehensive, humane, federal immigration reform.

Thanks!

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