Immigrant activists and community groups delivered an open letter to Felicia Escobar, President Obama’s top immigration policy advisor, during an event this afternoon at Fair Haven School in New Haven, Connecticut. We hoped to shine a light on the many questions surrounding the “discontinuation” of Secure Communities (“S-Comm”), the failed deportation dragnet program. The event with Ms. Escobar, which was organized by the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, did not provide many opportunities for the people directly affected by Obama’s immigration policies to speak.

“For too long, the immigration reform debate has excluded immigrant workers and the people directly affected by these policies,” said John Lugo of Unidad Latina en Accion (ULA). “We are delivering an open letter to Ms. Escobar with questions from the families who have been torn apart by deportations and the immigrant workers who have been fighting for equality.”

Open Letter to Felicia Escobar and President Obama

March 9, 2015

We address you today to seek answers about federal policies that are undermining our human and civil rights for which we have fought so hard, and won, in Connecticut.

ICE has a history of retaliating against Connecticut’s pro-immigrant policies and deporting our community members in violation of DHS directives. We are concerned about recent reports that ICE officials refuse to comply with Obama’s new DHS mandates. We need to know the truth about ICE, given that President Obama’s budget request will not scale back ICE operations, and ICE will continue to target over 7 million undocumented immigrants in our community who are excluded from the President’s November 20th immigration relief.

We hope you will respond promptly to the Freedom of Information Request delivered on Friday March 6, 2015 at ICE Headquarters in Washington, DC, to “uncover the truth about PEP-COMM”, and more immediately, provide public answers to the questions included below.

1) Secure Communities (“S-Comm”) and now its successor Priority Enforcement Program (“PEP-COMM”) are undermining our public safety and our equal rights by forcing local police and local agencies into the business of immigration enforcement. In November, DHS Secretary Johnson issued a memo that S-Comm was being “discontinued” because of widespread opposition by civil rights groups, government agencies and courts. Yet the Secretary also said that this was a “re-branding.” If police continue to share fingerprints with ICE at the moment of arrest, which was the core element of S-Comm, has the program really ended? The President’s own Task Force on Policing called for a firewall between police and immigration enforcement. Will the President take the advice of his own advisors?

2) New Haven is proud to be the first city in the nation to create a municipal ID card for all residents regardless of immigrant status. We created policies in New Haven (2006), Hartford (2008), and East Haven (2014) to keep our police separate from ICE, to prevent police from engaging in racial profiling and warrantless detentions. Will there be an “opt out” for PEP-COMM if communities like New Haven want to opt out? Will there be an “off switch” if we see terrible police abuse and civil rights violations, like we saw in East Haven, Connecticut?

3) Since November 20, the President has stated repeatedly that his new policy focuses on deporting “felons and not families.” Does he believe that deportation should be used as a form of punishment? What if immigrants have paid their debt to society? What about places where convictions were based on unlawful or biased policing? This was the case of Edgar Marin who was almost deported because of an abusive East Haven Police officer. Many members of our community have criminal charges in their past, but we don’t believe that anything is achieved by tearing apart their families. The President’s rhetoric and actions contradict Governor Malloy’s “Second Chance Society” initiative.

4) There have been reports across the country that local ICE offices are disregarding ALL of Secretary Johnson’s memos although the injunction issued in the Texas case only applies to DAPA and DACA 2.0. What are the consequences for ICE officials that refuse to implement the Secretary’s priorities?

5) With so many of us left out of President Obama’s immigration action and news of heightened ICE raids, we need answers. If nearly 80% of Americans favor a pathway to citizenship or permanent legal residence for undocumented immigrants, and only 18% favor deportations, will you continue to target and detain our community? Some of us have lived and worked here for decades. Just because we don’t have children, do we not have human rights? Do we not have workers rights? Will the President meet with those of us who have been left out to make clear that we all deserve equality?

6) Some of our community members are suffering because their mom or dad was deported. Suidy and Jesslyn Jimenez, US citizens who have lived their whole lives in Connecticut, are devastated since their mom was deported. She was deported a second time when she tried to reunite with her family in the United States. Will DHS continue to press criminal charges against people who come to this country to reunite with family or flee difficult conditions, even if they may qualify for humanitarian parole or asylum? Will President Obama close down the immigration prisons, starting with the new “family detention centers” that deprive women and children of a chance to seek asylum?

7) Will President Obama meet with immigrant workers to discuss the root causes of migration? Why is the President pushing for trade policies like the Trans Pacific Partnership that keep wages low and destroy jobs in our countries, forcing displaced workers to migrate?

We are confident that immigration reform will be possible when the United States reckons with the causes of migration and the harm of ICE operations in our communities.

From Unidad Latina en Accion, Comunidad Inmigrante de East Haven, Ecuadorean Civic Committee, and members of the Connecticut immigrant rights community

From January through December, here are some of the most important things that happened in 2014. Be sure to scroll down and click “READ NEXT PAGE” and then keep scrolling down to see the whole year!

Unidad Latina en Accion (ULA) and undocumented mothers, fathers, children and workers who have been fighting deportations rallied tonight at the Federal Courthouse in New Haven, Connecticut in response to President Obama’s announcement that his administration will halt deportations for millions.

ULA also celebrated the news that President Obama had abolished the Secure Communities (S-Comm) program. Connecticut was the first state to create statewide legislation to resist S-Comm. The TRUST Act resulted from rallies and civil disobedience actions in defense of detained immigrants like Jose Maria Islas and Jose Luis Piscil. On Monday, Nov. 17, Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC) issued a memo further restricting S-Comm, after outcry about the imprisonment of Esvin Lima.

A new memo from Obama’s Homeland Security chief dated Nov. 20 states that S-Comm will be discontinued because,

“The program has attracted a great deal of criticism, is widely misunderstood, and is embroiled in litigation; its very name has become a symbol for general hostility toward the enforcement of our immigration laws. Governors, mayors, and state and local law enforcement officials around the country have increasingly refused to cooperate with the program, and many have issued executive orders or signed
laws prohibiting such cooperation. A number of federal courts have rejected the
authority of state and local law enforcement agencies to detain immigrants pursuant to federal detainers issued under the current Secure Communities program.”

“In Connecticut, we shut down S-Comm, and now nationwide we shut down S-Comm demanding Not One More Deportation,” explains Luis Luna one of the ULA activists who took over Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro’s office last year demanding Not One More Deportation. “We won’t stop until all of our community members and loved ones are free.”

Jose Luis Piscil a New Haven father with no criminal record in deportation proceedings said,

“I will hopefully benefit from this relief and be able to stay with my children and my wife. I am cautious because I could be deported any day now while I appeal the deportation order and sue Department of Homeland Security. If I lose my appeal, I will keep fighting, and I will keep fighting for all 11 million who deserve equal rights.”

Suidy Jimenez, a West Haven high schooler and US citizen said,

“I am devastated because my mother was deported yesterday. I contacted Senator Blumenthal months ago when she was jailed near the Texas border and nobody listened. We need to listen to the people who are detained and suffering. Obama needs to reunite families. He has the power. He deported 2 million, and he should bring back my mom and all the parents through humanitarian parole. We’re suffering.”

Obama could allow some of the 200,000 mothers and fathers he deported to reunite with their families in the US by expanding the policy of humanitarian parole.

Alejandro Gonzalez, an undocumented construction worker, resident of Meriden for 13 years, said,

“I probably will not qualify for relief even though I have lived in Connecticut for 13 years and worked hard. The visas are only for “highly skilled” workers. I am human. Immigrants are the economic motor of the United States. We want relief for all 11 million and equality, nothing less. I was not afraid to be arrested in a civil disobedience to ‘shut down ICE’ at Suffolk Detention Center in Boston in April. I’m not afraid to do it again. I will do whatever it takes to get equality.”

Juana Islas, an undocumented mother of 3 who fought to free her brother Jose Maria Islas from immigration prison.

“If Obama extends relief only to parents of US citizens, I will probably benefit, but my brother will not. This is the sadness that the immigration system will keep separating families and we need to keep fighting. I am proud that we ended Secure Communities in Connecticut and in the United States.”

In a major victory for ULA, New Haven Police arrested the owner of Gourmet Heaven on February 20 and 24. He is charged with more than 20 felonies and 20 misdemeanors for paying workers $4 to $6 per hour. As far as we know, this is the first time that NHPD has charged an employer with larceny for stealing wages from workers.

The owner, Chung Cho, paid two $5000 bonds and was released from custody. He was scheduled to appear in New Haven Superior Court on March 4. Former Gourmet Heaven workers went to court on that day, as did the New Haven Register. Mr. Cho did not show his face. His lawyer asked the judge for a continuance, and it was granted.

The prosecutor spoke with the former Gourmet Heaven workers and told them that their presence in court, as crime victims, was important. He said that he considered this a serious crime.

Mr. Cho returns to court April 8. On that day, we’ll rally at the courthouse at 9 am!!

Read the news in

• New Haven Register, “New Haven deli owner faces more than 20 wage violation charges”
• Yale Daily News, “Gourmet Heaven owner arrested for wage theft”
• Yale Daily News, “Cho faces additional charges”
• VIDEO Univision, “Robo de salarios en New Haven”

A federal magistrate judge has ruled that four ULA activists must pay a fine for blocking the entrance of Hartford Immigration Court on February 21, 2013 in a protest against the deportation of Jose Maria Islas.

At sentencing, the protesters made a motion to donate community service or funds to a local organization serving immigrants. The motion was denied.

The protesters argued that if the judge was concerned about public safety, she should be concerned about the hundreds of migrants whose lives are extinguished because of brutal US immigration policies. Greg read aloud the names of all the migrants whose bodies have been found on the border this year.

Megan read aloud a letter written by Jose Maria, who was present in the courtroom. In July this year, he was released from prison and granted a one-year stay of deportation after a year-long protest movement by Unidad Latina en Accion.

Read the article in New Haven Register