Wednesday, October 16, 2013

In immigration news: California's new laws, the immigrant detention 'bed mandate,' diversity and TV ratings, more

In immigration news: California's new laws, the immigrant detention 'bed mandate,' diversity and TV ratings, more

In immigration news: California's new laws, the immigrant detention 'bed mandate,' diversity and TV ratings, more

Mayor Garcetti And Gov. Brown Sign Bill Allowing Illegal Immigrants Driver's License Eligibility

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

California Gov. Jerry Brown (C) signs bill AB 60 as Democratic State Senator Kevin de Leon (2nd L), state assemblyman Luis Alejo (L) and councilman Gil Cedillo (3rd L) watch on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall. The bill allows unauthorized immigrants to apply for a permit to legally drive in California.
Immigration bills benefited from a more engaged Gov. Brown - Los Angeles Times More on how California Gov. Jerry Brown shifted course this year on immigration-related bills, signing a long list of them when just a year ago he vetoed a key immigration proposal. From the story: "...with the fiscal crisis behind him, legislators describe the governor as more approachable and engaged. Instead of being handed off to his staffers, they hashed out differences with him face to face."
Controversial quota drives immigration detention boom - Washington Post On the so-called “bed mandate,” a congressional directive that requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to fill an average of 34,000 detainee beds in immigrant detention centers per day. Established in 2006, the quota has risen steadily, even as illegal immigration has fallen off.
States back off from enacting immigration laws - Los Angeles Times While California's governor recently signed a list immigration-related laws, other states are holding back, as outlined in a recent report: "It's a far cry from 2011, when states enacted 162 immigration laws, many following Arizona's controversial SB 1070...This year, 146 immigration laws have been enacted in 43 states and the District of Columbia."
Northern Colorado immigrants still without homes after the flood - Denver Post More than 300 immigrants lost trailer homes and apartments in the flooding that struck Colorado last month. Many are still "living in warehouses, churches or hotels or are crammed into the spare rooms of friends and relatives because there are so few rentals available. The flood ruined their vehicles, so they have difficulty getting to jobs."
Diversity on TV may be good for the ratings - Southern California Public Radio A UCLA study "looked at 67 scripted shows on cable and broadcast television during the 2011-2012 television season, and found that shows with larger minority casts posted above-average ratings." But non-white performers account for only 15 percent of lead roles on cable television, and 11 percent of those on broadcast shows.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Gov. Brown signs law to limit immigrant detentions

Gov. Brown signs law to limit immigrant detentions

Gov. Brown signs law to limit immigrant detentions

Updated 9:06 pm, Saturday, October 5, 2013
  • Thousands of supporters of an immigration overhaul demonstrate in Minneapolis, one of more than 150 rallies held nationwide. Photo: Jenn Ackerman, New York Times
    Thousands of supporters of an immigration overhaul demonstrate in Minneapolis, one of more than 150 rallies held nationwide. Photo: Jenn Ackerman, New York Times

Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a measure barring state and local law enforcement agencies from detaining undocumented residents solely because of their immigration status. The bill mirrors a similar measure passed last month by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
The new bill, AB4 by San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, was one of a handful of measures Brown signed Saturday that change the way the state deals with immigration issues. Earlier last week, he also approved a bill allowing undocumented residents to get a California driver's license.
"While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Brown said in a statement.
The governor vetoed a version of Ammiano's Trust Act last year, saying that it didn't allow police the discretion to hold people with a record of serious crimes for possible deportation. The new bill provides a long list of serious felonies that could keep people in custody on an immigration hold.
"The tide is turning," said Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, one of the organizations backing the measure. "California's historic legislation marks a shift of the pendulum away from the criminalization of immigrants and against the idea that police should have any role in immigration enforcement."
The federal Secure Communities program asks sheriffs to detain immigrants in the country unlawfully, but who are otherwise cleared for release, until federal authorities can pick them up for possible deportation.
The new bill garnered support, in part, because many undocumented residents are fearful of speaking with authorities, even when they witnessed or were the victim of a crime. The federal program was causing situations where they would call 911 to report violent crimes, only to be detained themselves.
Supporters of immigration reform held up those cases as reason California needed to withdraw from the federal program. Connecticut passed a similar law this year, and myriad cities and counties, including Santa Clara, already bar local police from cooperating with the holds.
That prohibition will now be statewide, going into effect Jan. 1.
"The Trust Act means that, at least in California, immigration removals will focus on serious criminals," said Thomas Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Some 10 million immigrants call California home, about a quarter of the nation's foreign-born population. Since 2008, the Golden State has accounted for about 35 percent of the 280,000 deportations made under Secure Communities.
On Saturday, supporters marched at more than 150 sites across at least 40 states in rallies nationwide to push for congressional action on immigration reform.
Another measure Brown put into law allows immigrants in California unlawfully to be admitted as attorneys at law. Last year, Sergio Garcia made headlines when he passed the bar exam only to be suspended from practicing law a few weeks later on account of his immigration status.
Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, put forth a measure which Brown signed that says threatening to report an undocumented resident to authorities can be the basis for an extortion charge.
Caleb Garling is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: cgarling@sfchronicle.com

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Majority of Detained Immigrants Have No Criminal Convictions - COLORLINES

Majority of Detained Immigrants Have No Criminal Convictions - COLORLINES

Majority of Detained Immigrants Have No Criminal Convictions

Immigrant detainees walk through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), detention facility on February 28, 2013 in Florence, Arizona. Photo: Getty Images/John Moore



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Comments


A report released today by TRAC Immigration shows that only one in 10 immigrants currently being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) meet the criteria of posing a serious threat to national security.  ICE issued new guidelines in December requiring officials to reserve immigrant detainers for those convicted of serious criminal offenses, and new data collected six months later seems to show ICE is not honoring that directive.
Among those in detention as of June 2013, 62 percent have no criminal convictions, and most others have been convicted of minor criminal offenses such as traffic violations and marijuana possession. As the government shutdown looms over the possibility of immigration reform this year, the findings of this report highlight a critical area of failed policy that keeps people behind bars.