On Wednesday, July 11, 2012, the San Mateo County Coalition for Immigrant Rights held a county-wide forum to urge the Board of Supervisors and Probation Chief Stu Forrest to stop reporting youth to ICE. More than 250 people attended. Check out the video below, and to see other media coverage of the campaign check out our storify! And to stay posted in our progress, check out www.stopdeportingyouth.com!
ACJP Original Media
“Evidence is Suppressed” — Charge Dropped
Congrats to another ACJP family! Charge beat after questionable investigation exposed. Took this photo yesterday at our Sunday meeting. The text reads, “evidence is suppressed.” The family came regularly to meetings, stood strong together, and stayed in constant communication with the various public defenders who represented the young woman through the arraignment, pre-lim hearings, early resolution hearing, and preliminary examination. The suppression of evidence was based on a motion filed by the attorney, who was responding to the family’s recommendation that the attorney file a motion based in their review of the police reports.
College Dream Made Real Through Community Intervention in the Juvenile Justice System
For months, his mom and brothers would come to ACJP on Sundays, and we helped gather community support from his teachers, community mentors, and youth organizations that he was a part of to show Probation and the Courts another side to the picture that was being painted. At one court date, 25 people showed up — most were other young people of color involved with Youth United for Community Action that stood by this young man. ACJP helped communicate with his attorney, organize continuous community support, push for a rigorous education plan while he was in the hall, and convinced his school administrators to halt expulsion. All these collective efforts even resulted in the creation of an Educational Consultant position to the San Mateo County Private Defenders Program staffed by Aria Florant, a community advocate in East Palo Alto with Live In Peace.
This resulted in a sentence that makes real the promise of second chances that juvenile justice system administrators often espouse. It is one that restores young people to a productive path during a critical and transitional moment in their lives.
Thus, last Friday, this young man went from the hall straight to his freshman year at Cal State East Bay at Hayward. He will be the first one in his family to attend college.
Community support sustained him, supported him, and ultimately brought him home. We are excited to see the future he will create! — Submission Post by Charisse Domingo
Walking Away With The Win
On Friday, July 20, this family stopped the deportation of their brother and son, through their unstoppable will, and successfully beat the process that makes criminal courts a waiting room for immigration court. This was a long road, but their loved one will be home next week as a result, and they created a blueprint for other families. Submission Post by Raj Jayadev
Three Strikes Sentencing Looses.Family Wins.Father Home to Raise Baby Girl
This smiling young father was facing a shakespearean tragedy just 8 months ago. The same day his daughter was born, he was told he was facing a life sentence. The extreme sentencing came from California’s Three Strikes Law — the sentencing scheme that is on the ballot for reform this November. ACJP organizer Gail Noble worked with the family to create a “mitigation packet” which was comprised of a biography of the young man’s social history, support letters, photos of his life, and a description of his intention if allowed to return to his family. The packet, through the attorney, was given to the court for review when determining sentencing. The life sentence went down to an 8 month county sentence — the amount of time the charge would normally hold without 3 Strikes. The defense attorney told ACJP, “That packet is the reason he is coming home.”
The Danny Pina Story: How a De-Bug/ACJP Member Won A Federal Trial Against Police for Excessive Force
Danny Pina recounts his journey that started when he got is arm dislocated and nose cartilage broken by a San Jose Police officer in 2009, to the ultimate jury verdict win in federal court a couple years later. Pina, a member of Silicon Valley De-Bug’s Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project, recounts the reasons why he pursued the case, and the role of community in his victory. — Video by Marlo Custodio.
Two Realities, One Child
Just last April, ACJP’s youngest member was at immigration court fighting deportation charges. Yesterday, he graduated eighth grade. In the fall of this year, he came back from an ICE detention facility after being referred there by San Mateo County probation. It’s been one tough year for this young man, but he’s got the love of his family and community to pull him through. Check out the campaign to stop juvenile ICE holds that ACJP De-Bug is working on with our allies in San Mateo County at www.stopdeportingyouth.com — Submission Post by Charisse Domingo
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Vote to Build New Jail
Last Tuesday, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted to spend approximately $155 million to build a new jail in the county. Proposed by Sheriff Greg Munks, the construction of a new jail is supposed to relieve overcrowding in the current jail, create space for a women’s facility, and address the potential overflow as a result of AB109, the California realignment plan that makes counties deal with low-level offenders.
Instead of addressing why there are high incarceration rates to begin with, the County chose to just figure out how to house the growing population. Community advocates such as All of Us Or None led by Dorsey Nunn, Critical Resistance, and Youth United for Community Action in East Palo Alto showed up at the Board of Supervisors meeting last Tuesday to state their opposition to the jail, saying the money put towards the jail only takes away from community services. “This is a jail for future generations,” Dorsey said. “Not only will they take our sons and daughters, but our grandkids.”
YUCA, a youth organization in East Palo Alto committed to environmental and social justice, first got involved about 2 years ago when the jail was being proposed to be built in East Palo Alto. They collected over 400 petitions and got the City to declare their opposition to the jail construction in the community. However, regardless of where the jail was in the county, YUCA youth were also opposed to the idea. Anna Turner, a longtime resident in the community and is a Program Director at YUCA, attended the Board meeting as well. “We should be spending the money on preventative measures, targeting the root cause of crime, not just locking people up. Plus, we don’t want this jail to target undocumented people as well.” YUCA and community advocates are looking to challenge the county’s decision.
At De-Bug’s ACJP, we’ve seen incarceration be too easy of an answer for San Mateo County. We have seen some of the harshest sentences imposed on San Mateo County defendants, and on the front end, some of the most extreme charges placed on people that will almost always guarantee a plea bargain. Compounded by this is ICE’s Secure Communities Program that has entangled immigration and criminal justice laws, and turned every police officer into an ICE agent. We have seen immigrants with ICE holds beat their charges, have their charges dismissed or dropped, or could have been eligible for drug programs like Prop 36 but because of their ICE holds have been sent away to federal detention facilities. We feel that this decision to build a jail is counter to what seems like a regional trend of dealing with criminal justice issues in a more holistic and progressive way. We hope the county rethinks this decision, and takes a more courageous, creative, and cost-effective stance to deal with the criminal justice system. — Submission Post by Charisse Domingo
A Day in Immigration Court with a 14-Year Old Defendant Facing Deportation
This is a photo of ACJP De-Bug’s youngest member — only 14 years old, who had an immigration court proceeding today in San Francisco. He’s been coming to our weekly meetings for months now with his family and we’ve grown to know and love his quiet strength.
Scanning the courtroom, he was also the youngest person there who was facing deportation. The air was thick with apprehension, of not knowing what was going to happen, and greater than that — of the fear of ICE agents coming into court right then and there. In the waiting room that looks like a doctor’s office, the brown faces from Mexico, Central America, and Asia are furrowed. But this young man has incredible courage, far more than what he realizes himself. He stares down at his paperwork the whole time. The pro-bono attorney of the day rapidly runs through paperwork to give him and says will ask for a continuance. She battle-runs through the same set of questions we had seen her ask the Chinese person before us, and the Latino couple right before him. “Where are you from?” “Where is your family?” — All questions that are loaded and sterile at the same time, given the place we were at this morning.
They call his name from the bench and the pro-bono attorney motions with two fingers to come to the front. “You’re not alone up there,” I told him. “I know,” he says. “God is with me.” And he smiles. It’s only 5 minutes that he’s up there, but the wait was about an hour and a half. From the audience, I tell myself it’s all procedural today, but every pause of the judge pushes me closer to the edge of my seat. At the end, another court date is set, and he breathes a sigh of relief outside. He looks up again and can’t wait to run to his mom.
Young people should be thinking about school, sports, what music they like — not deportation proceedings. I am hoping the human side of the immigration system breaks through for this young man, and for all young people and their families. — Submission Post by Charisse Domingo
Restless in Heaven: A Poem for Trayvon Martin and Other Victims of Crime
Set in the backdrop of photographs by Charisse Domingo at a recent San Jose rally calling for justice for Trayvon Martin, San Jose poet Miguel Gonzales recites an original poem dedicated to Trayvon, the 17 year old who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, and other young men of color lost to violence.
Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project 