Authored by Lena Graber of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, the “All In One Guide To Defeating ICE Hold Requests” is designed to help communities disentangle local police policy and practices from immigration enforcement. ACJP at De-Bug has been one of the key organizations in the Santa Clara County FIRE (Forum for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment) Coalition that helped secure the most progressive detainer policy in the nation, spearheaded on the Board level by Supervisor George Shirakawa. Our Coalition’s yearlong efforts are featured on this guide. As we’ve always asserted, it’s not public safety vs. immigrant rights, but public safety THROUGH immigrant rights. Post submission by Charisse Domingo
Padilla decision
Juvenile ICE Holds Honored in San Mateo County
Unlike Santa Clara County that doesn’t honor ICE holds on juveniles, San Mateo County practices the unjust policy of honoring detainers for young people under 18. At ACJP, we’ve seen families come in with children as young as 12 who have had detainer requests placed on and honored in San Mateo County. This Sunday, we worked with two families from Redwood City whose children — ages 12 and 13 — both have ICE holds in San Mateo County. The younger one is so little that the clothes they gave him to wear at the hall don’t even fit him. This young man thought he just had to agree to the charges and then he could go home. But when he is released from the hall in mid-September, ICE has 48 hours to pick him up and he has to navigate the world of juvenile immigrant detention alone — a web of group homes, maybe a detention facility, maybe back home to fight his charges if he’s lucky. It is a policy that is cruel, and the community needs to raise our voices to stop it. Submission Post by Charisse Domingo
Stopping Deportations Before They Start ⎯ How Advocates Can Protect Immigrants Facing Criminal Charges
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.
“No One Can Do This Alone” — How a Young Immigrant Family Beat Deportation
“No One Can Do This Alone” — How a Young Family and a Supporting Community Beat Deportation from DE BUG on Vimeo.
Jeysson Minota, a permanent legal resident, faced deportation, stemming from a vandalism charge due to graffiti. After four years of being in and out of detention, he was able to beat the deportation order, and stay with his family in the US. The following mini-documentary shares the story of how Jeysson, his family, and his supporting community at Silicon Valley De-Bug were able to overcome the odds. Jeysson’s family participated in De-Bug’s Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project — an organizing model that promotes community involvement in the court systems. To read more on Jeysson’s case: sjbeez.org/ articles/2011/03/30/ stopping-deportations-before-they-start-how-advocates-can-better-protect-immigrants-facing-criminal-charges/
Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project 