December, 07 2012, 02:14pm EDT
ACLU of Florida, FLIC and Coalition Call on Nelson, Rubio and Local Leaders to End Controversial Federal Immigration Program
Federal 287(g) agreements in Collier County and Jacksonville have led to thousands of deportations for minor offenses, increased potential for racial profiling
MIAMI
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida today called on local and federal officials to end agreements between two local sheriff's offices and federal immigration authorities because of damage to community trust in law enforcement, waste of local law enforcement resources, and the potential for increased racial profiling.
Currently, the Collier County Sheriff's Office and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office have agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of the program, known as 287(g), which deputizes local police officers to perform immigration enforcement functions on behalf of the federal government. The ACLU sent letters signed on to by 40 state and local organizations, as well as a petition signed by nearly 2,000 Floridians, to decision-makers including Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson urging them not to allow the agreements to be renewed when they expire at the end of the year.
"The year-end deadlines for the renewal or the expiration of the 287(g) agreements have created a critical moment for leaders to decide whether we allow these injustices to continue, or whether we ensure that police attention is 100 percent focused on public safety and leave immigration enforcement to federal authorities where it belongs," stated Howard Simon, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida. "This is our opportunity for our leaders to create a state that treats all residents with dignity and respect."
The 287(g) program allows state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into an agreement with ICE to enforce immigration laws within their jurisdictions, empowering local police to ask questions about the immigration status of individuals in their jurisdictions and detain them on behalf of ICE. The program has produced countless complaints about abusive police practices, racial and ethnic profiling, and the deterioration of relationships between police and the communities they serve.
57 law enforcement agencies in 21 states participate in the program. The Collier and Jacksonville agreements are the only 287(g) agreements in Florida. Collier County has participated in the program since 2007 and Jacksonville since 2008. Collier County's participation in the 287(g) program has resulted in 4,316 deportations, one of the highest rates of all the jurisdictions participating in the program across the country.
Some law enforcement officers such as Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk have touted the 287(g) program as an effective mechanism to remove criminals from neighborhoods and make the community safer. Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford similarly claims that participation in the 287(g) program is about taking criminals off the streets and not to prosecute individuals arrested for minor offenses.
However, the facts show that minor offenders are being targeted under the program. According to an in-depth study, in the first ten months of 2010, half of the detainers issued by 287(g) officers nationwide were placed on people apprehended for misdemeanors, traffic violations, and noncriminal immigration offenses.
"The large number of arrests for minor violations resulting in immigration consequences raises serious concerns about racial profiling in the implementation of the 287(g) program," stated ACLU of Florida Staff Attorney Shalini Agarwal.
The ACLU of Florida along with the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) organized a coalition letter, signed onto by 40 state and local organizations, calling on Florida Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio and Representatives Corrine Brown, Ander Crenshaw and Connie Mack IV to pressure the Department of Homeland Security to allow the 287(g) program agreements to expire altogether at the end of the year. The letter states that "[t]he most tangible effect of the program has been generating fear and a marked mistrust of police among both documented and undocumented individuals in the Latino community."
Along with the letter, the ACLU of Florida also sent the names of nearly 2000 Floridians who had signed onto a petition urging their Senators to take action to end the program.
"Like the infamous Arizona anti-immigrant law, this delegation of federal immigration enforcement power to local police officers is ripe for abuse and has fueled a toxic environment of mutual mistrust between police and the immigrant community here in our state," said Maria Rodriguez Executive Director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. "We urge our leaders to put a stop to this program that has fed the dual injustices of racial profiling and targeting of the immigrant community here in Florida."
The ACLU of Florida also sent a letter to Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford requesting a meeting with the sheriff to discuss why the city should not renew its 287(g) agreement, even if the federal program continues. The letter quotes former Miami Police Chief John Timoney, who has been a critic of local enforcement of federal immigration law: "All our citizens are directly affected, whether they are immigrants or not, by these policies. Immigrant victims and witnesses of violent crimes will not come forward if they fear their 'local police' will deport them. This affects everyone, as it hampers law enforcement efforts to thwart criminal activity in our neighborhoods."
The ACLU of Florida will continue collecting names on its online petition and pressuring local and federal officials to end participation in the program until a final decision is reached by year's end. The National ACLU also sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today calling on her to end the program. ACLU state affiliates in other states with participating jurisdictions have similarly called on their elected officials and law enforcement leaders to end the program.
A copy of the coalition letter sent to the Senators and Representatives is available here: https://aclufl.org/pdfs/2012-12-07-ACLUFL-287gLetter.pdf
The ACLU of Florida's online petition is available here: https://www.aclu.org/secure/FL-End-287g-anti-immigrant-agreements-petit...
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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"The latest evidence of unlawful airstrikes during Israel's most recent offensive in Lebanon underscores the urgent need for all states, especially the United States, to suspend arms transfers," said one campaigner.
Dec 12, 2024
Amnesty International on Thursday called for a war crimes investigation into recent Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that killed dozens of civilians, as well as a suspension of arms transfers to Israel as it attacks Gaza, the West Bank, and Syria.
In a briefing paper titled The Sky Rained Missiles, Amnesty "documented four illustrative cases in which unlawful Israeli strikes killed at least 49 civilians" in Lebanon in September and October amid an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign of invasion and bombardment that Lebanese officials say has killed or wounded more than 20,000 people.
"Amnesty International found that Israeli forces unlawfully struck residential buildings in the village of al-Ain in northern Bekaa on September 29, the village of Aitou in northern Lebanon on October 14, and in Baalbeck city on October 21," the rights group said. "Israeli forces also unlawfully attacked the municipal headquarters in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on October 16."
Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty's senior director for research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns, said in a statement that "these four attacks are emblematic of Israel's shocking disregard for civilian lives in Lebanon and their willingness to flout international law."
The September 29 attack "destroyed the house of the Syrian al-Shaar family, killing all nine members of the family who were sleeping inside," the report states.
"This is a civilian house, there is no military target in it whatsoever," village mukhtar, or leader, Youssef Jaafar told Amnesty. "It is full of kids. This family is well-known in town."
On October 16, Israel bombed the Nabatieh municipal complex, killing Mayor Ahmad Khalil and 10 other people.
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In the deadliest single strike detailed in the Amnesty report, IDF bombardment believed to be targeting a suspected Hezbollah member killed 23 civilians forcibly displaced from southern Lebanon in Aitou on October 14.
"The youngest casualty was Aline, a 5-month-old baby who was flung from the house into a pickup truck nearby and was found by rescue workers the day after the strike," Amnesty said.
Survivor Jinane Hijazi told Amnesty: "I've lost everything; my entire family, my parents, my siblings, my daughter. I wish I had died that day too."
As the report notes:
A fragment of the munition found at the site of the attack was analyzed by an Amnesty International weapons expert and based upon its size, shape, and the scalloped edges of the heavy metal casing, identified as most likely a MK-80 series aerial bomb, which would mean it was at least a 500-pound bomb. The United States is the primary supplier of these types of munitions to Israel.
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The October 21 strike destroyed a building housing 13 members of the Othman family, killing two women and four children and wounding seven others.
"My son woke me up; he was thirsty and wanted to drink. I gave him water and he went back to sleep, hugging his brother," survivor Fatima Drai—who lost her two sons Hassan, 5, and Hussein, 3, in the attack—told Amnesty.
"When he hugged his brother, I smiled and thought, I'll tell his father how our son is when he comes back," she added. "I went to pray, and then everything around me exploded. A gas canister exploded, burning my feet, and within seconds, it consumed my kids' room."
Guevara Rosas said: "These attacks must be investigated as war crimes. The Lebanese government must urgently call for a special session at the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism into the alleged violations and crimes committed by all parties in this conflict. It must also grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over Rome Statute crimes committed on Lebanese territory."
"Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful airstrikes in Gaza and past wars in Lebanon taking a devastating toll on civilians."
Last month, the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Israel's 433-day Gaza onslaught, which has left more than 162,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing in the embattled enclave.
The tribunal also issued a warrant for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes committed during and after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which more than 1,100 people were killed and over 240 others were kidnapped.
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice is weighing a genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel. Last week, Amnesty published a report accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
The United States—which provides Israel with tens of billions of dollars in military aid and diplomatic cover—has also been accused of complicity in Israeli war crimes in Palestine and Lebanon.
"Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful airstrikes in Gaza and past wars in Lebanon taking a devastating toll on civilians," Guevara Rosas said. "The latest evidence of unlawful air strikes during Israel's most recent offensive in Lebanon underscores the urgent need for all states, especially the United States, to suspend arms transfers to Israel due to the risk they will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law."
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Echoing recent warnings from economists, business leaders, news reporting, and immigrant rights groups, Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee detailed Thursday how President-elect Donald Trump's planned mass deportations "would deliver a catastrophic blow to the U.S. economy."
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Citing recent research by the American Immigration Council and the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the JEC report warns that depending on how many immigrants are forced out of the country, Trump's deportations could:
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- Reduce the supply of workers for key industries, including by up to 225,000 workers in agriculture and 1.5 million workers in construction;
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Highlighting how mass deportations would harm not only undocumented immigrants but also U.S. citizens, the report explains that construction worker losses would "make housing even harder to build, raising its cost," and "reduce the supply of farmworkers who keep Americans fed as well as the supply of home health aides at a time when more Americans are aging and requiring assistance."
In addition to reducing home care labor, Trump's deportation plan would specifically harm seniors by reducing money for key government benefits that only serve U.S. citizens. The report references estimates that it "would cut $23 billion in funds for Social Security and $6 billion from Medicare each year because these workers would no longer pay into these programs."
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One advocate called the CFPB's new rule "a major milestone in its effort to level the playing field between regular people and big banks."
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"The CFPB is cracking down on these excessive junk fees and requiring big banks to come clean about the interest rate they're charging on overdraft loans."
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Similarly, in April Barr claimed at a hearing that "the vast majority of Americans" believe credit card late fees are legitimate after the Biden administration unveiled a rule capping the fees at $8.
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