Petition: Protect Philly, Don’t Make Police Immigration Agents with PARS circulating
by
Baba Bob Shipman | 08.13.2011
Resumen:
"This summer, Philadelphia should join the growing number of cities and states around the country that have demanded an end to the controversial practice of turning local police records over to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – essentially turning community safety officers into immigration agents."
stated Maria Quiñones-Sánchez.
Maria Quiñones-Sánchez has been active in her the community for decades. She currently serves here community as a elected representative to city council.
She has posted this petition around the web and she sent me copy via Facebook.
In January, 2011, 200 people marched in Philadelphia to protest the deportation of four Cambodians. Linking their demonstration to the human-rights theme of Martin Luther King's Birthday, about 200 members of pro-immigrant groups marched Monday from Center City to the regionaloffices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to protest the pending deportation of four Cambodian men.
Outside the office at 1600 Callowhill St., they festooned a fence with placards - "Stop Tearing Families Apart" - and hundreds of yellow ribbons.
"Education, not deportation," they chanted.
Demonstrator Steve Scaffone, pastor of Living Water Church in the city's Logan section, said his congregation of about 50 people is mostly Cambodian. He said he found it "ironic" that he learned about the four men on the same day that Eagles coach Andy Reid announced that convicted dog-fighter Michael Vick would be his starting quarterback - saying in effect "that our country is all about second chances."
That protest included the Asian Student Association of Philadelphia; Central High School's Students Against Unjust Deportation; the United Taxi Workers Alliance; and other groups.
Citing King's famous 1963 "Letter From Birmingham Jail" - in which he wrote about the difference between just and unjust laws - the demonstrators released a Dec. 4 letter from York County Prison written by 30-year-old Chally Dang, one of the men facing deportation.
"I entered the United States as an infant, made my mistakes as a juvenile and was punished for those mistakes as a young adult," he wrote. "And as I now embrace life as a reformed, tax-paying civilian, the actions of my past still haunt me with what my fate might be. I can only implore mercy from a system in which I trust forgiveness and second chances still exist."
There has been a number of protest followed by the media here is one written by a Inquirer Staff Writer
Phila. rally protests sting arrests of immigrant cabdrivers
The American Civil Liberties Union is exploring whether it can file a lawsuit on behalf of 26 immigrant cabdrivers, mostly from Africa, lured into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sting by the Philadelphia Parking Authority.
"I think it's outrageous," ACLU attorney Mary Catherine Roper said after a rally Wednesday by more than 100 drivers and supporters outside a Parking Authority building at 31st and Market Streets.
"For one government agency to send out a lie, a false promise of money to the drivers it regulates in order to bring them in so they can be handcuffed and deprived of their rights - it's outrageous that they lied to these people," Roper said.
That's not the way immigration officials see it.
"It's not uncommon to set up operations to bring the people you want to you," said agency spokesman Mark Medvesky. "It keeps the public safe, it keeps the officers safe, and it keeps the subjects safe."
Medvesky said Immigration and Customs Enforcement set up the operation as part of its antiterrorism mission to increase security at Philadelphia International Airport, where cabs have access to areas unavailable to most of the public.
"They can linger in areas like the airport unnoticed for long periods of time," he said.
Ms Sanchez is one of the latest activist to bring light and pressure to the issue. In December 2010, The Institute for Community Justice, Prison and Re-Entry group held Brown bag lunch sessions to adress this very issue. Topics included, How do new policies of collaboration between immigration enforcement and the
criminal justice system work to criminalize communities and reduce public
safety? What is being done to fight the criminalization of immigrant
communities in Philadelphia and the rest of the state? Come hear more from
New Sanctuary Movement and Pennsylvania Immigration & Citizenship Coalition
(PICC) at a brown bag presentation hosted by Philadelphia FIGHT’s Institutefor Community Justice.
More information and links to the petition follows.
More Info
CLICK HERE TO SIGN AND READ THE PETITION LETTER:
Petition
In Philadelphia the Mayor, Court system, and District Attorney have an agreement that lets ICE access Philadelphia police arrest records through a database called PARS (Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System). PARS lists the country of origin of all people in police custody, and ICE uses this system to identify “deportable” immigrants.
It may seem harmless at first, but an individual that is in police custody merely for a traffic violation -- or as a result of language miscommunication or other mistake that never results in criminal charges -- can be deported because of PARS! Even if that person has lived in Philly for decades, has U.S. citizen children or family members, and has been a contributing, tax-paying member of their community.
Here’s the problem: the basis of community policing is trust, and Philly's partnership with ICE destroys that critical trust between local police and immigrant communities. When residents fear that they or their family members risk deportation through any contact with police, they will avoid reporting crimes, even as victims or witnesses. Additionally, they may avoid contact with any local government, undermining efforts to encourage equal access to city services for all residents. Human rights issues aside, everyone's public safety is compromised when communities do not feel safe reporting crimes and cooperating with police.
Immigrants have been central to reversing the trend of Philadelphia’s declining population, increasing entrepreneurship and revitalizing many neighborhoods. The City of Philadelphia has created policies aimed to make the city welcoming to immigrants and capitalize on their promise. However, this controversial data-sharing with ICE will undermine these efforts and threaten the city's future growth.
Tell Philadelphia's leaders to end the agreement with ICE when it expires on August 31, 2011 - sign this petition and share it on Facebook! asks Ms. Sanchez
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