National Policies

Stopping Deportations Before They Start ⎯ How Advocates Can Protect Immigrants Facing Criminal Charges

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by Raj Jayadev and Angie Junck

On the heels of the one-year anniversary of a historic Supreme Court decision, attorney Angie Junck and organizer Raj Jayadev share lessons learned from a case of a San Jose man who beat a deportation order.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Padilla v. Kentucky – arguably the most important U.S. Supreme Court decision to date in terms of the nexus between local criminal courts and federal immigration laws. This is also the first week of renewed freedom for Jeysson Minota, a 28-year-old legal permanent resident from Colombia who had been in and out of federal detention centers for the past four years due to charges stemming from graffiti. His detention and his ultimate freedom tell the story of the need and possibility of the Padilla standard.

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CBS News: Groups Tell San Jose Police Chief To Oust ICE Agents

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Having worked on, and won, deportation cases, De-Bug’s ACJP members have been sending powerful public messages about the need to keep local law enforcement and federal immigration separated. As De-Bug joined several immigrant rights advocacy groups at Sacred heart Services for a press conference, ACJP organizer Stephanie Flores was quoted by CBS News.

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — A coalition of San Jose community groups Friday gathered to send a loud message of disapproval to Police Chief Chris Moore on his decision to keep a pair of recently enlisted federal immigrations investigators.

“Our message is clear: we don’t want ICE here,” Stefanie Flores, a spokeswoman for Silicon Valley DeBug, said at a news conference Friday morning. “We want to work with the police to find real solutions.”

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Huffington Post: San Jose Homicide Rate: Silicon Valley City Battles Surging Murders

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ACJP organizers met with ICE supervisors around the San Jose Police Department’s participation in Community Shield — which would place two ICE agents in the gang enforcement unit. In the below AP story, we, along with our friends at SIREN, comment on why ICE and local law enforcement collaborations is a public safety danger.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose has dubbed itself the “Capital of Silicon Valley” and has for years prided itself on being one of the safest big cities in America. Yet, it is on pace for more than 50 killings in 2011, a rate not seen in about 20 years.

Few in the San Francisco Bay area’s most populous city know exactly why it has had 28 murders so far this year, already surpassing 2010’s total of 20. “You can’t put your finger on one thing,” said Sgt. Jason Dwyer, a police spokesman. It could be an increase in gang crime, Dwyer said. The department is hoping that the budget-related layoffs of nearly 70 officers in June will not have a negative impact. “It’s been a trying time for us,” Dwyer said.

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San Francisco Crime Lab Debacle Signals Need to Challenge Prosecutor’s Junk Science

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by Aram James

A compromised crime lab might be more endemic than an exception, and according to defense attorney Aram James, points to a larger flaw in the mechanics of the criminal justice system.

Recent revelations of a compromised crime lab in San Francisco has brought scrutiny and criticism to the San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney’s office. Investigations by oversight agencies as well as the media have shown that the lab had mixed up DNA sample, concealed criticisms from the American Society of Crime Lab Directors, and had insufficient security – with doors to the facility being left open, leaving DNA potentially exposed to contamination, opening up challenges to the evidentiary chain of custody and a variety of other attacks on its scientific reliability.

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Once Facing a Life Sentence, Man Given Factual Finding of Innocence

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Ramon Vasquez was an innocent man wrongfully charged with murder. Though his court appointed attorney told him to plea at one point, Vasquez remained steadfast in his belief that the truth of his innocence would be proven. His family dissected the case against him, and with the attorney, proved Vasquez could not have committed the crime. Here is his story. Video produced by Adrian Avila.