By Becky Straus, Legislative Director, ACLU of Oregon at 10:29am
Today in front of a packed room of supporters, Gov. John Kitzhaber signed into law HB 2787, a law that brings access to in-state tuition to all Oregonians, regardless of immigration status. The governor's action marked the culmination of an over ten-year-long campaign for tuition equity in Oregon. It is about time.
A Democratic majority in both chambers and the rising political influence of Latinos in the electorate contributed to this great victory, but ultimately it was the leadership of a few key legislators that cleared the path for this bill's passage. Sen. Frank Morse (R-Albany) and Sen. David Nelson (R-Pendleton), each now retired from the legislature, departed from the prevailing view of many in their caucus, and co-sponsored the tuition equity bill in the 2011 session. Their sponsorship demonstrated to Oregonians that tuition equity is about fairness rather than partisan politics. And their public support for the bill invited their colleagues to follow so that, despite the fact that Morse and Nelson are no longer in the legislature, eight Republicans (including Nelson's successor) helped tuition equity pass in 2013.
By Michael Tan, Staff Attorney, Immigrants' Rights Project, ACLU at 5:18pm
Last week, Ohio officials confirmed that young immigrants who came to the United States as children—or “DREAMers”—will be eligible for driver’s licenses. The decision impacts an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 young people who stand to benefit from the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Ohio joins the overwhelming chorus of states that have gotten with the DACA program. Generally, states limit driver’s licenses to immigrants who can show they are “authorized" or “legally present” in the United States. Consistent with guidance from the federal government, the overwhelming majority of states like Ohio have rightly acknowledged that immigrants granted DACA are legally authorized to be in the country, and thus eligible to drive.
Two years ago, Georgia passed one of the most stringent immigration laws in the country, House Bill 87. Both supporters and opponents of the bill now agree that it has a major flaw which needs to be fixed quickly. As written, the law subjects U.S. citizens renewing a professional license to months of delay, costing many of them their jobs and livelihood.
Legislators from both sides of the aisle wisely pledged to work together to do away with this unacceptable consequence. Straightforward, fix-it bills were introduced in the state House and Senate. Unfortunately, a few legislators have pushed for last-minute changes to the bills, sending them in a completely different direction. The changes threaten to embroil Georgia into another protracted and rancorous debate.
Where would you expect to find half-a-dozen patrol cars on New Year's Eve? In Bakersfield, California, ranked in the highest ten percent of the most violent cities in America, you'd hope they'd be responding to incidents of violence and preventing murder, rape, and other violent crime. At the very least, you'd expect them to be patrolling for drunk drivers.
Not so. At least not when it comes to prioritizing such matters as "barking dogs." On December 31, 2012, the Kern County Sheriff's Department deployed six police cars and numerous officers at the behest of a resident who called for help from, well, the sounds of two small barking dogs. Her neighbor, Ruth Montaño, a Latina farm-worker, and her three American children owned the dogs.
By Dulce Matuz, Chairwoman, Arizona Dream Act Coalition at 12:00am
Create obstacles to access higher education? Check. Require outrageous tuition rates? Check. Make immigrants live in fear of being deported for simply driving to work or school? Check. Ban DREAMers from the roads? Check.
It seems that officials like Arizona Governor Jan Brewer must carry this checklist of anti-immigrant policies with them at all times. That's certainly how I felt growing up in Arizona as one of many immigrants who came to this country as children known as "DREAMers," named after the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act."
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing entitled "Building an Immigration System Worthy of American Values," where I will testify. The hearing will address how our immigration system currently fails to live up to our Constitution because it does not ensure the due process right to a fair day in court before locking someone away for months in an immigration prison or permanently banishing them from our country. Furthermore, although immigration law is formally termed as "civil," this is legal fiction; in reality, it has the hallmark harshness of the criminal justice system. The outcomes of this system are often devastating, not only for the immigrants themselves, but also for their families.
By Jenny Zhao, Liman Public Interest Fellow, ACLU of Northern California at 4:01pm
This week a federal judge ordered a bond hearing for a woman who has been detained without due process by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for nearly a year and a half. Bertha Mejia, a grandmother with deep family ties in California and with no violent criminal history, was classified by ICE as a “mandatory detainee” because of misdemeanor convictions for stealing groceries. That classification made her ineligible for a hearing before an immigration judge where she could present evidence that she posed no danger to the community or risk of flight—even as her immigration case dragged on for months with no end in sight.
By Michael Tan, Staff Attorney, Immigrants' Rights Project, ACLU at 10:18am
This week and next, the House and Senate will hold hearings (including this one today) to address the reported release of between several hundred and several thousand immigration detainees from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") custody. Although complete information about the releases is not yet available, ICE's justification that it had determined these individuals could be "placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release" raises a fundamental question, posed among others by Secretary Janet Napolitano herself: why were these individuals detained in the first place?
By Michael Tan, Staff Attorney, Immigrants' Rights Project, ACLU at 4:24pm
Alabama officials have announced that young immigrants who came to the country as children—also known as DREAMers—will be allowed to apply for state driver's licenses. The decision affects an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 DREAMers who stand to benefit from the federal government's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ("DACA") program.
The decision is a huge victory for young immigrants like Victor Palafox, a community organizer and aspiring history teacher who lives in the suburbs of Birmingham. Born in Mexico City, he was raised in Alabama, and is actively involved with helping organize communities throughout the state. Alabama's decision will help Victor and DREAMers like him get on with their daily lives—drive to work, go to church, buy groceries, and attend school—and make even greater contributions to their communities.
By Michael Kaufman, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Southern California at 11:45am
Apparently as a result of sequester-induced budget cuts, Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently released hundreds of immigration detainees that it found were not risks either to flee or endanger public safety. The fact that these detainees were locked up in the first place confirms a startling truth about our immigration detention system: the government routinely detains people for no good reason. Even Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano promised to examine why these detainees were in jail, saying: "That's a good question. I've asked the same question myself...so we're looking into it."
