San Quentin News

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SQ holds symposium addressing immigration

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A symposium held at San Quentin State Prison discussed how restorative justice should shape U.S. immigration policy.
“The first step is our country taking accountability—a lot of the reasons why people are fleeing violence in their countries is because of what this country has done,” said guest speaker Nayeon Kim, a paralegal who works on immigration issues for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of San Francisco. “We need to take care of these people because we caused it.”
Dwight Krizman, an incarcerated Restorative Justice (RJ) facilitator, described restorative justice as a process that takes into consideration the needs of all parties. It requires people who have harmed someone to take accountability. RJ also considers the underlying reasons why the person did the harm and seeks to heal them and all parties hurt by their actions for the betterment of the whole community, instead of focusing on punishment, which often just does more damage.
“The thing that’s powerful about restorative justice is that it sees the human first,” Kim said. “I loved to see a justice system where justice is decided by the people in the community who are proximate to the pain.”
The event which took place on Aug. 4 in the Catholic Chapel was hosted by the San Quentin Restorative Justice Roundtable’s incarcerated facilitator Louis Scott.

White House


The audience heard from Kim, fellow guest speaker and Mexican immigrant Enrique Yarce Martinez, and several incarcerated men who face immigration issues.
Martinez opened with a description of the fear he lives in each day as an immigrant. In 1998 his parents both had visas that didn’t include him when he was three years old, so they smuggled him into the United States in the trunk of a car.
Martinez addressed the racism involved with immigration.

Flag of Mexico


“The narrative is always Mexicans are jumping up over the border,” Martinez said. “If a Russian gives birth in the United States, it’s called birth tourism, but it’s an anchor baby when Mexicans do it.”
Martinez also fears the system won’t change as long as people profit off deportation.
“The way this country benefits from undocumented people is disgusting,” Martinez said. “There’s a lot of dehumanization once people are put in second-class status. Private prisons have a quota in order to get money from the state; it’s the same with detention centers. This country incentives deportation.”
Martinez is now 23 years old. The only thing keeping him from being deported right now is a plastic card that allows him to stay under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). However, DACA is not a path to citizenship, and his card, which cost $500, expires in November. Renewal of his status is in jeopardy because he was arrested during a 2017 protest while helping a friend get medical attention. His friend was injured by a White supremacist.
“The way this country benefits from undocumented people is disgusting”
“I can’t fight for what is right [without risk of deportation] and I hate it,” Martinez said.
Kim discussed the difficulties immigrants face getting into the country both legally and illegally. She said that while working in Texas on immigration issues for a year, only one person, a torture case, received asylum due to the difficulties of proving the need for the status.
“The American dream is more like a myth in practice for those who can’t buy it,” Kim said. “The immigration system is stacked against you from the moment you arrive. The right way is to go to a port of entry and present themselves, but our government turns people away or gives them ankle monitors.
“People who climb the fence and weren’t apprehended are vulnerable to arrest. If you are poor, like most dream seekers, it’s really hard to find counsel.”
Kim suggests that the community should have a say in who gets to stay in America.
For incarcerated facilitator Darnell “Moe” Washington, seeing fellow incarcerated friends who came from other countries being deported really hurts.
“There’s a lot of guys right here who have changed their lives and can be productive citizens, but they’re sending them back,” Washington, in tears, said from the podium. “We have people that support us; no matter what crime we committed, they welcome us back into the community; why can’t we do the same for immigrants?”
Three men incarcerated at San Quentin discussed their immigration struggles.
Martin Walters cried as he described how his case led to his mother and aunt being deported.
Eusebio Gonzalez, who was found suitable for parole on May 2, will be deported back to Mexico. Now 33, he’s lived in the United States since he was 15 years old.
Gonzalez took a life while driving drunk and served 18 years.
“These years I lived in prison have not been easy because of the heavy weight of the pain I caused,” Gonzalez said. “I’m happy that I’m going home, but I’m sad my 13-year-old is staying behind. I accept my deportation because this is the ultimate outcome of my wrong choices.”
RJ facilitator Mike Webb isn’t incarcerated anymore. He announced at the symposium that he would parole on Aug. 7, after serving 29½ years in prison.
The way I came in isn’t the way I’m going out,” Webb said. “Going out to a new world I know nothing about but I’m willing to accept the challenge.”

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Deportation Crimes Explained

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Veronica Zepeda and her children

Veronica Zepeda and her children

In Trump’s first six months of 2017, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than 65,000 immigrants, up 37.6 percent from the same period last year, reports The Washington Post.

Almost three out of four of those arrested have criminal records.

Immigration advocates question whether ICE is truly prioritizing the most serious criminals.

“We see a ton of people deported for misdemeanors, probation violations, petty theft, shoplifting,” said Alisa Wellek, executive director of the Immigrant Defense Project, a legal services group that advocates for immigrant rights in the criminal justice system to the Pew Charitable Trusts. 

ICE says it targets noncitizen “criminal aliens” who have committed aggravated felonies and are serious or repeat offenders. Under this definition, many crimes can get immigrants detained and deported, even after they have served a jail or prison sentence for the crime — and even if they are in the country legally.

Thirty offenses qualify as aggravated felonies, including theft, failing to appear in court, or offenses that most states consider a misdemeanor. Any new offense Congress adds to the list is retroactive. So a noncitizen can become deportable even if he or she already served the sentence for the crime years before, reports the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Since 2014, the Department of Homeland Security has prioritized deporting noncitizens who pose a serious threat to public safety or national security. For example, from October 2014 through September 2015, 59 percent of the 235,413 people deported had criminal convictions, according to Pew. But for those who have committed crimes, it’s hard to get a clear picture of whether they are serious or misdemeanors, violent or nonviolent.

What constitutes a “criminal alien” is not defined in U.S. immigration law or regulations, and the term is used broadly, according to a September 2016 report by the Congressional Research Service.

A criminal alien may be someone who is undocumented or an authorized immigrant who may or may not be deportable, depending on the crimes he has committed. He or she may be incarcerated or free, or have already served time.

ICE long has relied on laws that allow it to seek automatic deportation based on certain offenses in a person’s criminal background. Aside from major crimes, the guideline is that an offense that carries a potential penalty of a year or more and that ICE decides to classify as an “aggravated felony” meets the threshold. That’s true whether the immigrants charged with violations are in the country legally, with student visas or green cards, or illegally. It’s also true if the actual sentence was for less than a year, reports the Denver Post.

ICE has wide discretion on how to interpret the term “aggravated felony.” Congress expanded the term’s definition in 1988, so that people can be deported for a crime that may be neither “aggravated” nor a “felony,” according to Joshua Breisblatt, policy analyst for the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration research group, reported Pew.

Julie Gonzales told the Denver Post, “The fear right now is that all that discretion has now gone out the window.” Gonzales is the policy director for the Meyer Law Office, a Denver firm that specializes in immigration cases

Under Trump, many of the discretionary limits on deportations enacted during President Obama’s last two years in office are gone — with the exception of a program that protected undocumented immigrants who came to America as children, aka DACA.

“The men and women of ICE are law enforcement officers sworn to enforce the law. And that’s what we’re going to do, and we’re not going to apologize for it,” said Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan.

HOW BIG IS THE PROBLEM

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimates that of the roughly 1.9 million noncitizens who are eligible for deportation based on their criminal history, about 820,000 are undocumented. Of those, 37 percent, or roughly 300,000, were convicted of a felony, which can range from murder to attempting to re-enter the country illegally, said Faye Hipsman, an MPI policy analyst.

Another 47 percent, or about 390,000, were convicted of a significant misdemeanor, such as drunken driving. However, what constitutes a misdemeanor can vary greatly from state to state and can be anything from shoplifting to minor drug possession, Hipsman said.

ICE says about 85 percent of people in detention facilities are there because they were considered “top priority” for removal. ICE defines them as people who posed a threat to public safety or national security, attempted to cross the border illegally, were members of a criminal gang, had been convicted of a felony, or were considered “aggravated felons.”

“There should be no doubt at all that anyone who has a criminal history in this country should be deported,” said Harold Eavenson, sheriff of Rockland County, Texas, who became president of the National Sheriffs’ Association in 2017.

“I’ve seen illegals who have been deported seven or eight times,” he said. “The reason they keep coming back is they know there are no consequences.”

COURTS ARE LIMITING ICE’S POWER

Two recent unanimous Supreme Court decisions have narrowed ICE’s power to revoke citizenship or deport non-citizens convicted of a crime. 

The court overturned a deportation order when it held that any false statement must be material and have influenced the award of citizenship in a case involving a migrant that had lied on her immigration paperwork.

The ruling will give greater security to “millions of naturalized Americans,” Christopher Landau, the attorney who argued the case, told The Wall Street Journal. Census data show that more than 43 million foreign-born people now live in the U.S., and close to half of these are naturalized citizens, according to the newspaper.

In a second unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that people convicted of having consensual sex with youths over 16 are not subject to mandatory deportation.

“Absent some special relationship of trust, consensual sexual conduct involving a younger partner who is at least 16 years of age does not qualify as sexual abuse of a minor” under federal law, concluded Justice Clarence Thomas, according to The New York Times.

While California sets the minimum age of consent at 18, “Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia set the age of consent at 16 for statutory rape offense that hinged solely on the age of the participants,” he wrote. Thomas concluded that the federal law, like that in most states, should treat the age of consent as 16, as least where the sex was consensual.

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS LIMIT ICE’S IMPACT

California lawmakers are working to shield the nation’s largest population of illegal immigrants from a newly energized ICE under the Trump administration.

California is home to about 2.6 million of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., according to the Center for Migration Studies, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Because local law enforcement often will not turn over the undocumented in their custody, ICE makes most of their arrests at homes, workplaces and on the street. This is more difficult and potentially dangerous, reports the New York Times.

“Arrests in the Los Angeles region are up only 17 percent since Mr. Trump took office,” (compared to a national average of 40 percent) reports the Times. Many California sheriffs and police departments refuse to cooperate with ICE, saying it erodes trust in law enforcement among immigrant populations, reports the Times.

Both houses of the Democratic-controlled California State Legislature passed bills to block the growth of immigrant detention facilities in California and added $15 million a year to the Department of Social Services to pay for attorneys to provide deportation defense, The WSJ reports.

Denver is set to change its sentencing ordinance to help some immigrants avoid deportation, the Denver Post reports. Immigrant advocates came up with the idea. Convictions that carry a potential penalty of at least a year in jail can put an immigrant on the ICE radar for deportation. This risk is true even for either undocumented or for legal immigrants with student visas or green cards.

Because most of Denver’s ordinance violations carry penalties of less than a year — a sentence rarely given for them anyway — the city could help immigrants who commit petty offenses avoid ICE attention.

“The goal is that we ensure people are receiving appropriate punishment for their crime — and that we are not unnecessarily tagging people for deportation or punishing the homeless for low-level offenses,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock told the Denver Post.

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A nightmare for one incarcerated dreamer

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Luis Ojeda, 23, is serving a six-year sentence in San Quentin State Prison after a conviction for assault with great bodily injury. Upon his release, he faces deportation to Mexico. His sister, Jennie, 21, is a law-abiding resident of San Jose, where she is studying and working.  Nevertheless, she also fears deportation.

“I wanted to be a lawyer and help out my parents,” Luis said. “But, I messed up the opportunity DACA offered me. I feel ashamed for committing a crime. I squandered the opportunity given to me in this country. And, I feel bad they are using us as an excuse to not renew DACA. I don’t think it is fair.”

Jennie Ojeda, Luis Ojeda, and Lourdes Ortiz

Jennie Ojeda, Luis Ojeda, and Lourdes Ortiz

Former President Barack Obama created DACA in 2012 to protect undocumented children from deportation if they entered the U.S. before they turned 16-years old.

“According to a RAND analysis, every $1 invested in such [inmate] education generates at least $4 in economic return,” reports Fast Company.

“The state typically spends $71,000 a year to house an inmate. It costs about $5,000 total to help put one [incarcerated] student through community college”, reports Fast Company.

The Ojeda family’s story shows how ending the DACA program could separate a family. Luis and Jennie are among the 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought by their parents to the U.S. at a young age, and who are called Dreamers.

Since President Donald J. Trump’s administration announced his intention to end the humanitarian program known officially as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA), the Dreamers are facing an uncertain future.

Siblings Jennie and older brother Luis are facing eminent separation if DACA ends.

“I feel worried,” Jennie said. “If they don’t do anything, not just my family will be affected, but a lot of people. It will crush our dreams. We will not be able to go to school or to work.”

Jennie remembers how DACA changed her life. The program allowed her to work legally in the US. She works now as a secretary at a plumbing company during the day, and attends De Anza College at night. Her goal is to become an archeologist and an anthropologist.

“I like learning about people that were here for a long time ago, about the significance of religions, their views, ancient civilizations,” Jennie said. “If I become an archeologist I will get to explore the world,” Jennie said.

“Some 70 million Americans have a criminal record – a number equal to Americans with a college degree,” according to the Brennan Center for Justice. NEW YORK TIMES July 27, 2018 “Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance”

The majority of Dreamers contribute to the U.S. economy. Ending DACA would affect all Dreamers — even those who have not committed a crime.

“Since DACA was implemented in 2012, a total of 2,139 (about 0.3 percent) Dreamers have lost their status because of criminal behavior,” according to the article “The Numbers Behind The Dreamers” By Will Racke of the Daily Caller.

Although in prison, Luis said he also benefited from DACA. He thought his future lay in the American Dream.

Hoga Ojeda, Lourdes Ortiz, Hilario Ojeda, and Luis Ojeda in San Quentin’s visiting room

Hoga Ojeda, Lourdes Ortiz, Hilario Ojeda, and Luis Ojeda in San Quentin’s visiting room

Luis acknowledges his wrongs and accepts the punishment for his bad choices. However, Trump’s threat “plays an emotional” game with the Dreamers, like his sister Jennie, who contributes to the country’s economy and obeys the law.

“I am super afraid. It makes me sad,” Jennie said. “When I just saw the news — they are playing with our feelings. They are not taking us serious. How can we have a future? It makes me sad, worried, stressed out.”   

Harvard researcher Roberto G. Gonzalez surveyed 2,000 DACA participants.

Gonzalez found that 22 percent of Dreamers have earned a bachelor’s degree, compared to about 32 percent of the US population as a whole who hold a bachelor’s degree, according to National UnDACAmented Research Project.

Jennie and Luis came to the U.S. like most Dreamers with their parents and a little brother. They became part of the fabric of America. They attended American schools, learned English and embraced the dominant culture.

“First day in school I was super nervous,” Jennie said. “I didn’t know how to speak English. The next day, I didn`t want to go back to school. I didn`t know anyone. I didn’t know how to communicate.”

Ending DACA creates stress for Dreamers because many would have to make sudden changes in their lives. Some would have no alternative than to return to living in the shadows — in constant fear of deportation. For others, it might mean going back to countries from which they fled or know little about.

“Before DACA at 11-years old, I often stressed thinking about La Migra (ICE) coming to get me and separate me from my family,” Luis said. “I received DACA at 18-years old. This helped me to get a driver’s license, and a work permit with which I got my first job as a cook in a restaurant while I continued with my education.”

However, the future of Dreamers like the Ojeda siblings lingers in limbo since the Trump administration announced the termination of DACA. The issue of DACA’s future is a topic of debate in Congress. It is also tied up in the federal courts.

“I was brought to this country by my parents when I was 9-years old,” Jennie said. “My baby brother, Luis and I were fortunate because we didn’t have to climb the fence like my mom and older brother did. My father brought us to this country to have a better future. My mom helped me start doing the research for DACA, gathering all documents and we have to pay a lawyer and DACA fees,” Jennie said.

She continues to “have hope the Congress will do something about” DACA to bring relief to all the DACA participants and maintain their legal status in this country to make their dreams come true.

      –Taré Beltranchuc and Marcos Villa

 

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La pesadilla de un soñador encarcelado

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Luis Ojeda de 23 años, se encuentra en la Prisión de San Quentin cumpliendo una condena de seis años por asalto agravado. Después de cumplir su sentencia, Ojeda será deportado a la Ciudad de México. Jennie de 21 años, hermana de Luis, actualmente reside, estudia y trabaja en San Jose, Jennie, a pesar de ser una ciudadana modelo, teme ser deportada.

Hoga Ojeda, Lourdes Ortiz, Hilario Ojeda, and Luis Ojeda in San Quentin’s visiting room

Hoga Ojeda, Lourdes Ortiz, Hilario Ojeda, and Luis Ojeda in San Quentin’s visiting room

Luis comentó en una entrevista, “quería ser abogado para ayudar a mis padres, pero la regué y perdí la oportunidad que DACA me ofreció. Me siento avergonzado por haber cometido un crimen. Desperdicie la oportunidad que se me otorgó en este país. También me siento mal de que nos estén usando (DACA presos) como excusa para no renovar el DACA. Pienso que no es justo”.

En el año 2012, el ex-presidente Barack Obama creó el programa DACA para proteger de la deportación a los niños que entraron a los Estados Unidos antes de cumplir los 16 años de edad.

La historia de la familia Ojeda muestra como la cancelación del programa DACA puede llegar a separar a una familia. Luis y Jennie están entre los 800,000 inmigrantes indocumentados que fueron traídos por sus padres a los Estados Unidos a muy temprana edad, y ahora son conocidos como Soñadores.

Una vez que la admi-nistración del Presidente Donald Trump anunció su intención de terminar con el DACA (Acción Deferida para la Llegada de Adolecentes), los Soñadores enfrentan a un futuro incierto.    

Sí las amenazas de terminar con Daca se materializan, Luis y Jennie enfrentarán una eminente separación.

Jennie mencionó, “me siento preocupada”, “si no hacen nada al respecto, no solo mi familia será a-fectada, sino también mucha gente. Destruirán nuestros sueños, no podremos seguir asistiendo a la escuela y tampoco podremos seguir trabajando legalmente”.

Jennie recuerda como DACA cambio su vida. El programa le permitió trabajar legalmente en los Estados Unidos. Actualmente Jennie trabaja como secretaria en una compañía de plomería durante el día y por la noche asiste al Colegio De Anza. Una de sus metas es llegar a ser una arqueóloga y antropóloga.

Jennie enfatizó, “me gusta aprender acerca de las personas que vivieron aquí hace mucho tiempo, del significado de las religiones, sus diferentes puntos de vista y las civilizaciones antiguas”, “sí llegára a ser una antropóloga podría explorar el mundo”.

Es importante mencionar que la mayoría de los Soñadores contribuyen a la economía de los Estados Unidos y acabar con el DACA afectaría a todos los Soñadores –Incluyendo a los que no han cometido delito alguno.

De acuerdo al artículo The Number Behaind The Dreamers of the Daily Caller By Will Racke, “desde la implementación de DACA en el 2012, un total de 2,139 (cerca del 0.3%) Soñadores han perdido su estatus migratorio por un comportamiento criminal”.

A pesar de estar en prisión, Luis expresa que se benefició del DACA. Tenía en su mente que su futuro se basaba en el Sueño Americano.

Luis admite sus errores y acepta el castigo impuesto por sus malas decisiones. Sin embargo, las amenazas de Trump “afecta emocionalmente” a los Soñadores como Jennie, quienes contribuyen a la economía de este país y obedecen las leyes.

Jennie revela, “estoy muy asustada y me da tristeza cuando miro las noticias – parece que están jugando con nuestras emociones, no nos toman en serio. ¿Cómo podremos tener un futuro? Me da mucha tristeza, me preocupo y me causa estrés”.

Roberto G. Gonzales un investigador de Harvard llevo a cabo una encuesta a 2,000 portadores de DACA. Gonzales descubrió que el 22% de Soñadores han obtenido un licenciatura, comparado con un 32% de la población total de los Estados Unidos que cuentan con un licentiatura, de acuerdo al National UnDACAmented Research Project.

Jennie y Luis llegaron a los Estados Unidos con sus padres y hermanito al igual que muchos Soñadores. Asistieron escuelas Americanas, aprendieron el idioma inglés, adoptaron la cultura Americana y llegaron a formar parte de la esencia de América.

“Jennie mencionó, “estaba muy nerviosa el primer día en la escuela porque no sabía hablar inglés. Al siguiente día no quería regresar a la escuela porque no conocía a nadie y no sabía cómo comunicarme”.

La cancelación del DACA creará estrés a los Soñadores porque la mayoría tendrán que realizar cambios drásticos en sus vidas. Algunos no tendrán otra alternativa que regresar a vivir en las sombras – en constante temor a la deportación. Para otros, significaría regresar a sus países de origen de los cuales huyeron y conocen muy poco.

Luis expresó, “antes de la creación de DACA, cuando tenía la edad de 11 años, me estresaba pensando que la migra (ICE) me iba agarrar y separar de mi familia. A los 18 años obtuve DACA y esto me ayudo a obtener mi licencia de manejar y un permiso de trabajo, con el cual obtuve un trabajo como cocinero en un restaurante y continué con mi educación”.

Sin embargo, el futuro de los Soñadores tales como Luis y Jennie es incierto a partir de que la administración de Trump anunciara la posible cancelación de DACA. El futuro de DACA es un tópico de debate en el Congreso y las cortes federales.

Jennie mencionó, “mis padres me trajeron a este país cuando tenía 9 años, mi hermanito y yo fuimos afortunados por no tener que brincar el muro fronterizo como lo hicieron mi madre y mi hermano mayor. Mi padre nos trajo a este país para tener un mejor futuro. Mi madre me ayudo a investigar acerca del DACA y a reunir todos los documentos necesarios. También contratamos los servicios de un abogado y realizamos los pagos por el trámite del DACA”.

Jennie agregó, “tengo esperanza que el Congreso haga algo respecto al DACA”, para traer alivio a todos los poseedores de DACA y así mantener su estado legal en este país para que sus sueños se vuelvan realidad. 

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Veronica Zepeda and her children

Veronica Zepeda and her children

Since Trump took office, the federal government has escalated its attacks on immigrant communities. Banning entry to the United States for people from eight countries, eliminating DACA, and increasing the number of ICE arrests by 43% are just some of the ways that the Trump administration has implemented its anti-immigrant agenda.

On the other hand, communities have come together in many ways to resist these assaults and immigrant people being held in detention centers have stood up against abominable conditions, fighting for their dignity and freedom.

In June 2017, a group of nearly 30 women detained by ICE at California’s Adelanto Detention Facility (run by GEO, the private prison group) started a hunger strike to protest their poor treatment. They demanded better medical care, lower bond amounts, to be reunited with their children and families, and to be treated with basic respect by the guards. The Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, also run by GEO through a contract with ICE, has seen a series of hunger strikes since spring 2017 to protest terrible conditions which include the reportedly rampant use of solitary confinement and guard assaults on detainees.

On July 20, 2017, a remarkable collection of persons gathered in front of the ICE offices in San Francisco to urge ICE to release Veronica Zepeda from Mesa Verde Detention facility in Bakersfield. Ms. Zepeda has a serious heart condition and the guards have not allowed her to get medical care. Veronica escaped death threats from gangs in her native El Salvador by going to Mexico.

Veronica sent a greeting to the gathering on July 20:

“I say this from my heart: I am an abused woman, but I am here looking for the opportunity to move forward for my beautiful children, whom I love so much….My life has changed so much in detention. I’m afraid to lose my life here in the Mesa Verde Detention Center. During the past six months that I have been here, I have had three mild heart attacks and several fainting episodes. I’m afraid that one day my heart will stop…The officers

here cannot take me to the hospital until they receive ICE authorization… I send hugs and blessings. God bless you today and forever! I love all of you. I wish God will allow me to meet you in person soon.”

Zepeda was released from Mesa Verde on July 28 after immigration Judge Dana Leigh Marks ruled that she should be released on her own recognizance. Mother Jones reported Zepeda will now move to Houston, and her case will move to the Texas immigration court docket.

CCWP stands in solidarity with all the courageous women and men who offer examples of courage and resistance that can inspire us all.

 

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Politicians work toward protection for young illegal immigrants

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The battle over immigration policy continues as some politicians work toward protecting immigrants who illegally entered the U.S., according to two recent Los Angeles Times articles by Sarah D. Wire and Jazmine Ulloa.

Referring to young immigrants brought here as children, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said, “There are people who are in limbo. These are kids who know no other country … and don’t know another home,” reported Wire.

A letter to Ryan signed by 10 House Republicans stated, “These individuals’ status in the United States should not be left to the political winds of different administrations that come to power.”

Central Valley Representatives David Valadao of Hanford and Jeff Denham of Turlock were among the 10 Republicans who signed that letter. They stressed that Congress must find a solution that will protect the hundreds of thousands of people brought to this country illegally as children, reported Wire.

These young immigrants, collectively known as “Dreamers,” are currently protected by DACA regulations initiated by former President Barack Obama.

Valadao and Denham also joined a handful of Republicans in a letter urging President Trump not to end the DACA program, while co-sponsoring legislation aimed at finding a fix.

Meanwhile, former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. filed a brief on behalf of the California Senate, in support of Chicago’s lawsuit against the Justice Department, according to Ulloa’s article.

Holder said current U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions does not have the constitutional authority to mandate that cities, counties or states participate in federal immigration efforts as a condition to receive their federal public safety awards.

In the brief, Holder said the California Legislature is particularly interested in the Chicago case due to State Senate Bill 54, which looks to limit state and local law enforcement agencies from utilizing resources to question, detain and provide information on immigrants illegally in the country.

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DACA repeal is a nightmare for Dreamers

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President Donald Trump’s announcement to repeal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a nightmare for Dreamers, according to withdreamers.com.

President Trump

An estimated 800,000 undocumented immigrants (Dreamers) will be in danger of deportation without the DACA protection. Deferred action is a legal term used to refer to the federal government’s discretion in enforcing deportation against undocumented citizens who register and meet a certain criteria.

On June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that people who were brought to the United States as children and met certain guidelines could request that action be deferred for two years at a time, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) website reports.

The president’s decision to rescind DACA is another assault on undocumented communities, opponents to Trump’s decision say.

Now the Trump administration is getting more aggressive in putting people into the deportation system, Vox reports. However, the deportation process is slowing to a crawl because of backlogs.

When an undocumented immigrant is taken into custody by federal immigration agents for the first time, they cannot be deported without their consent, and must go through an immigration hearing to determine whether they are deportable, according to Vox. During the immigration court proceedings, undocumented immigrants can present a case to stay in the country for claims seeking asylum, as refugees, or if they can show that they arrived in the country as a minor prior to 2012.

In a memo to immigration judges in July, the Trump administration encouraged the courts to issue continuances so that undocumented citizens could have more time to prepare their cases and expedite the process, according to Vox.

Trump issued a tweet in which he shifted the DACA and immigration dilemma to Congress. The tweet announced that he would “revisit” DACA if Congress did not pass legislation on the issue in six months.

In the meantime, immigration cases will continue to take years to resolve.

“From November 2016 to June 2017, someone who got an official removal order from an immigration court judge had started the court process 378 days earlier,” according to Vox. “The deportation system simply isn’t built for speedy deportations of people who’ve lived in the U.S. for years.”

The majority of people who the Trump administration has deported are those who were arrested under Obama’s last term of office, according to Vox.

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