My family and I are still living the results of the broken immigration system and its events from 2006. My uncle was detained and deported as product of the meatpacking plant raid that took place in Marshalltown, IA. This was a very difficult time for our family, as we have always been close. My uncle’s absence left a strong impact on my cousin, who was then 2, who stopped talking and needed to regularly attend therapy.

I found this old letter, from when my aunt was in a detention center prior to her removal proceedings. I think this is very illustrative of the situation at that moment:

My very dear sister, the purpose of this letter is to greet you, with hopes that you are well, as those are my best wishes. I am well, thank God. The days pass by and I feel calmer, here we pray the rosary every day. And I always pray a lot and I know that God is giving me lots of strength to go through this situation, which isn’t by any means easy. In the beginning I would cry a lot. The thought of going to Mexico terrorized me, but now God has cleared things up in my mind. And the most important thing is to be with my children. If God wants me to go then that is how it will be. God never abandons us and I know things will get better. I know that in the beginning it’s going to be difficult but not impossible, I’m going to fight so that my children are well. They will become accustomed to the lifestyle [in Mexico]. I only ask of God that they don’t suffer and that they don’t miss this life too much.

I don’t want you guys to worry — you did all that you could. And this is how God wanted things to happen. Here I send you these addresses of some women that I met and I told them I’d write them. I send you these so that you can keep them for me, in case I were to lose my little notebook, that I have here. Well, please take care, later on with calm we can come upon an agreement on how you can send me my children. I miss them so much. I know that you’re going to visit Alex. I wish that everything does well with her, that her baby is born well. Send her my greetings and pass on my wishes that everything goes well. Take lots of care and God bless and God willing we see each other soon.

Your sister that loves you very much.
Elizabeth

My cousins were ages 2 and 4 at the beginning of these events, and were 4 and 6 by the time their mother was deported. They moved in with my family, where we cared for them, until finally deciding that they needed to be with their parents. They were reunited with their parents in Mexico in 2010.

Today, February 6th, is his birthday. His second birthday in Mexico and he is now 10. As citizens of the United States, it is truly a shame that both of these children are being denied their rights and benefits to have brighter future as a result of our outdated and broken immigration laws.

Richard Cohen from the Southern Poverty Law Center told Yahoo News the state-wide hotline has received several calls reporting families have been denied food stamps by the state.

From Yahoo News:

Five people have called into the group’s Alabama hotline to say they were denied food stamps because they couldn’t prove they were legal residents, even though the food stamps are for their children, who are citizens.

[...] Illegal immigrants are prohibited from accessing most welfare benefits, including food stamps, non-emergency Medicaid and cash welfare programs. Their children, if born in America, can access welfare programs as citizens. (The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that about 4.5 million American citizens under 18 years old have at least one undocumented parent.)

Last month, Kansas kicked more than 1,000 mixed-status families off its food stamp program when it joined three other states in adopting a stricter food stamp eligibility policy. A low-income family of five made up of two undocumented parents and three citizen children now has to show that its income is close to the poverty level for a family of three–not a family of five–in order to access food stamps. This is intended to prevent illegal immigrants from benefiting from food stamps, but immigration advocates say it will leave citizen kids hungry.

This is exactly what Alabama law makers had in mind when they proposed HB56. It’s just a further point in the anti-immigrant restrictionists’ platform to make lives so miserable for immigrants that they self-deport.

On February 14, our friends at Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice will Rally to Repeal HB56. Stay tuned to our blog or Facebook page to find out more information as the struggle for immigrant rights in Alabama continues.

Last night, Rachel Maddow spoke for nearly 20 minutes about the origin of self-deportation. Apparently, a satirist going by the name of Daniel D. Portado coined the phrase in 1994 to by a satirist to mock the Governor who was attempting to pass Proposition 187, the pre-cursor to SB1070, HB56, and dozens of other anti-immigrant bills around the country. Her thesis: self-deportation is satire.

I’m sorry, Rachel, but this time, I’m going to have to disagree with you. Self-deportation is not a joke, it’s a framework from which states are building their own immigration policies because Congress refuses to act. States across the country are passing their own immigration laws specifically designed to encourage self-deportation of our nation’s immigrants.

In response to Mitt’s comments, we wrote about self-deportation:

We’ve already seen states like Alabama turn off water services to the homes of undocumented immigrants, and implement policies to scare families away from public schools and even health facilities – risking the public health of an entire population in order to demean the undocumented. And as Mother Jones points out, “This approach is notable for its complete lack of discretion and flexibility. Unauthorized immigrant parents with citizen children who need to go to school? Americans who are married to an undocumented immigrant who needs medical treatment? ‘Self-deportation’ hits them all with the same mailed fist.”

Rachel, immigrant families across this country are making tough choices and uprooting their lives because politicians make living conditions unbearable for them and their families.

This morning, our friends at Make the Road NY had a heartbreaking op-ed published in The New York Times:

“From the time I was just a baby in Mexico, I lived with my grandparents while my parents traveled to other Mexican states to find work. I was 6 in 2000 when they left for the United States. And it took five years before they had steady jobs and were able to send for me. We’ve been together in this country ever since, working to build a life. Now I am 17 and a senior in high school in New York City. But my parents have left again, this time to return to Mexico.

[...]You could say that my parents have self-deported, and that it was partly a result of their working conditions. It’s not that they couldn’t find work, but that they couldn’t find decent work. My dad collected scrap metal from all over the city, gathering copper and steel from construction sites, garbage dumps and old houses. He earned $90 a day, but there was only enough work for him to do it once or twice a week. My mom worked at a laundromat six days a week, from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., for $70 a day.

But the main reason they had to leave was personal. I have a brother, 16, a year younger than me, still living in Mexico. He was too little to cross the border with me when I came to the United States, and as the government has cracked down on immigration in the years since, the crossing has become more expensive and much more dangerous. And there was no hope of his getting a green card, as none of us have one either. So he stayed with my grandparents, but last year my grandmother died and two weeks ago my grandfather also died. My parents were confronted with a dilemma: Leave one child alone in New York City, or leave the other alone in Mexico. They decided they had to go back to Mexico.”

Antonio’s family self-deported and it is not a joke. Because of our nation’s immigration laws and the anti-immigrant restrictionists in office, we have a broken immigration system and outdated policies like the 3 and 10 year bars that will prevent Antonio from seeing his family for a very long time, and they may be permanently separated.

Immigrants in our country don’t have what they need to thrive because legislators stop them at every chance they can. Deportations are up. Anti-immigrant rhetoric is increasing. States are passing their own laws restricting educational access and even access to water.

What started as satire has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Now, in attempts to slash spending, Congress is ready to change the eligibility of families for the child tax credit, and block immigrant families from continuing to take part. Legislators would balance the budget on the backs on 5 million children.

Nearly half of all families who take part in this credit earn less than $25,000 a year, and the average annual credit for each family is about $1,800 — the difference between rent and eviction, healthcare and bankruptcy, and food and starvation for millions of families. Anti-immigrant zealots are pushing as hard as they can to make sure these devastating changes are passed.

We need to remind our officials why they need to keep the child tax credit available for our families, so we’re asking people across the country to tell us: What could $1,800 mean for you and your family? A stocked pantry, a full tank of gas every week, or mortgage payments? Below are some of the photos submitted so far — Here’s how you can submit yours:

1. Send an email to info@reformimmigrationforamerica.org
2. Attach a photo of your family and/or what $1,800 means to you
3. Write 2-3 sentences describing the photo
4. Send!

This campaign started receiving major attention and support for last week’s text-a-taco action and delivery to Mayor Maturo’s office, but it quickly focused attention on the serious underlying structural problems in the police department of East Haven. Let’s be clear: Chief Gallo resigned because his department had a history of racism and that those issues have not been seriously addressed.

The resignation is a welcome step, but the institutional racism running rampant in East Haven will not be overcome by a single act. We are committed to making sure it becomes a step forward in rebuilding the respect and trust desperately needed between East Haven leadership and the Latino community.

We are committed to holding the mayor and the town’s police department accountable in these next steps. We will be working with our allies at JUNTA for Progressive Action to plan the upcoming community dinner, and we invite the Mayor to use the dinner as an opportunity to begin serious conversations toward a future of greater racial understanding.

It took serious attention and outrage to address a problem that many thought would not be solved. Thank you all for stepping up to the challenge, and demanding the righting of years of wrongs in East Haven — please share this victory far and wide online, as a reminder of the power of immigrant families united!

Photo credit: The New Haven Independent, Melissa Bailey photographer

Yesterday, we delivered the 500 tacos you sent to Mayor Maturo of East Haven, CT. Your response was far more than we expected. So far, more than 4,500 people have texted us and, instead of sending the rest of the tacos to the mayor, we’re going to host a community dinner in your honor.

But this story isn’t over.

When we delivered the tacos to Mayor, he ran out the back door to avoid us. And, in an interview set to air on WFSB-TV this weekend, the Mayor’s comments continue to be tone deaf:

“I was voted in for my 11th year. I have an obligation as the leader of our community to do what is right for our community.”

“I’m going to be a better leader and we are going to heal. We are going to make East Haven a great place to live.”

East Haven cannot “heal” or be a “great place to live” until the institutional racism that plagues the town is gone. Mayor Maturo isn’t going anywhere. But the chief of police, Leonard Gallo, is another story.

Gallo, chief of police during Mayor Maturo’s first term from 1998-2007, was placed on administrative leave in 2010 when the Department of Justice investigated his police force. Because of the abuse by police under Gallo, Hispanics in East Haven have been fleeing the city for years.

When Mayor Maturo was re-elected in November 2011, Gallo reinstated as chief of police despite the ongoing Department of Justice Investigation. Gallo immediately allowed the police force to return back to its old habits:

Chief Gallo immediately restricted access to officers by the local commission that oversees the police. A scathing report by the Justice Department in December said Mr. Gallo and other officers created a hostile and intimidating environment for persons who wished to cooperate with our investigation.

We can’t stand for this anymore. Thousands of Latinos will still go to bed tonight living in fear of the very police department that’s supposed to protect them. If Mayor Maturo wants to move forward together, as he’s said he wants to do, he must get rid of Gallo.

Send a message to Mayor Maturo now. Tell him Gallo has to GO. Sign our petition to get rid of the East Haven chief of police to send a clear message that racial profiling won’t be tolerated.

Photo by Erin Cox of WTNH, @ErinCox8

Your outpouring of support was more than we anticipated. Your outcry was about much more than the tacos: it was about addressing the racial injustice that has been plaguing this town unchecked for years, and how to ensure local leaders will put an end to the terrorization and abuse.

With this delivery, we are sending an open invitation to Mayor Maturo to start an honest dialogue with the Latino community. With each additional text, we will donate to fund a community dinner, and we invite the mayor to attend. As for the tacos we brought to office today, our local allies at JUNTA for Progressive Action are making sure that they are not going to waste: the food will be donated to the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, a local soup kitchen that serves greater New Haven residents, including those from East Haven.

From JUNTA’s statement at the delivery:

The relationship between minorities and East Haven law enforcement is a strained one: one that does not serve to strengthen the police, the government you run, the people of East Haven or those who travel into your town. At Junta, we have worked to build strong community partnerships with police and with the state and city officials who represent us. We know how to work together to make our cities safer and productive.

With honest dialogue we can repair the damages caused by a history of abuse and neglect. We call on the City of East Haven to partner with us and other organizations to create meaningful change and to eradicate discrimination and injustice.

As always, we will keep you updated on the blog as this story develops. Keep spreading the word about this issue by sharing our posts and inviting friends to text TACO to 69866. Read the letter we included with today’s delivery below –

The Office of Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr.
250 Main St.
East Haven, CT 06512

Mayor Maturo:

The FBI said that because of four police officers, “life was made miserable for Hispanics” in East Haven. Years of federal investigation have uncovered numerous instances of terrorizing and abusing Latinos in your town.

These are serious allegations against the state of civic affairs in your community – yet when asked what you personally would be doing to address racial discrimination in East Haven, you made a mockery of the crisis by suggesting that eating tacos is enough to help the Latino community in the wake of this tragedy.

Your subsequent apology isn’t enough to make up for allowing institutionalized racism in a police force and city government.

Thousands of individuals across the country have tuned in to the outrageous events unfolding in East Haven. The Latino community needs you to show your sincerity that you are ready to make amends, and speak openly on how to solve these deeply rooted problems. Our allies at JUNTA for Progressive Action invite you to work with them to host a community dinner to begin a dialogue that will address racial discrimination.

Please accept this open invitation, and let us move forward together for a just community.

- Reform Immigration FOR America

UPDATE: The mayor’s office has released a statement on the delivery, although the mayor himself was not there to receive it, falsely claiming that he arranged for the donation.

From CBS News:

The East Haven officers assaulted individuals while they were handcuffed, unlawfully searched Latino businesses, and harassed and intimidated individuals, including advocates, witnesses and other officers who tried to investigate or report misconduct or abuse the officers committed, according to the federal indictment.

These continual and deliberate patterns of racial profiling did not go unnoticed by the FBI. The federal investigation found “life was made miserable for Hispanics” by these officers in East Haven.

East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo immediately came out in support of the police department. Then, on a radio show later yesterday afternoon, the Mayor was asked what he is going to do to help the Latino community in wake of this disgusting racial profiling tragedy. His response:

“I might have tacos when I go home, I’m not quite sure yet.”

Let’s show him we won’t stand for racial profiling and public displays of ignorance by our elected officials. Text TACO to 69866 to send a taco to Mayor Maturo’s office this week.

In his 3rd State of the Union tonight, the President gave immigration a lot more room in his speech and demanded Washington put aside the politics to pass immigration reform and the DREAM Act, despite applauding an enforcement-only immigration strategy. Here’s what he said:

Let’s also remember that hundreds of thousands of talented, hardworking students in this country face another challenge: The fact that they aren’t yet American citizens. Many were brought here as small children, are American through and through, yet they live every day with the threat of deportation. Others came more recently, to study business and science and engineering, but as soon as they get their degree, we send them home to invent new products and create new jobs somewhere else.

That doesn’t make sense.

I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. That’s why my Administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That’s why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office.

The opponents of action are out of excuses. We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now. But if election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let’s at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, and defend this country. Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away.

What do you think? Can Washington put aside the partisan politics to fix our broken immigration system and help keep our families together? Will former sponsors of the DREAM Act answer the President’s call to push forth a path for our immigrant youth?

From America’s Voice 2011 report “‘Attrition through Enforcement’: Just Another Name for Mass Deportation” –

[The Center for Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark] Krikorian’s paper described a combination of policies, many of which have been systematically put into place by the Republican leadership of the House Judiciary Committee, and the rest of which are being proposed for the 112th Congress. His attrition doctrine would “combine an increase in conventional enforcement — arrests, prosecutions, deportations, asset seizures, etc. — with expanded use of verification of legal status at a variety of important points, to make it as difficult and unpleasant as possible to live here illegally.”

In addition to forced deportations, Krikorian argued that “additional measures would be needed to promote self-deportation”: “firewalls…that people could pass through only if their legal status is verified.” The primary example of such a “firewall” is the implementation of a mandatory E-Verify policy which would “require proof of legal status before starting a job.”

How bad can this policy get? We’ve already seen states like Alabama turn off water services to the homes of undocumented immigrants, and implement policies to scare families away from public schools and even health facilities – risking the public health of an entire population in order to demean the undocumented. And as Mother Jones points out, “This approach is notable for its complete lack of discretion and flexibility. Unauthorized immigrant parents with citizen children who need to go to school? Americans who are married to an undocumented immigrant who needs medical treatment? ‘Self-deportation’ hits them all with the same mailed fist.”

Reliable and safe access to food, water, health and education should not be luxuries in America — and denying them in order to promote self-deportation is a despicable solution to a far more complex problem. Jose Antonio Vargas summed up why he refuses to take part: