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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Immigrant rights activist Gabriela Pacheco and family rounde

    http://www.pslweb.org

    Immigrant rights activist Gabriela Pacheco and family rounded up by government
    Tuesday, August 1, 2006
    By: John Peter Daly

    Miami

    In the early morning hours of July 26, Gabriela Pacheco, a student activist and advocate for immigrant rights, was taken into custody along with her family by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami. Pacheco, 21, became an ICE target because of her activism to gain rights for undocumented workers. The ICE took Gabriela, her mother and father, and two sisters to the Miami immigration center to begin the issuance of papers that would lead to their deportation. They have since been released and are challenging these illegal measures.

    After many years as a student leader at Miami Dade College, early last year Pacheco was elected president of the

    Gabriela Pacheco

    Florida Junior and Community Colleges Association, representing over one million community college students. She frequently traveled to Tallahassee, Fla., lobbying for a bill that would have allowed students of undocumented families the right to pay in-state tuition fees. In March 2006, she organized a student rally at the Capitol in support of this effort. Just days before being targeted by ICE, she organized another protest about the same issue.

    "She is a wonderful young person who has been very much involved in special events and important causes here for a long time," commented Juan Mendieta, director of communications for Miami Dade College, where Gabriela is a student. "Miami Dade College is committed to speaking with lawmakers and federal officials on her behalf."

    "I can only imagine that many students are concerned for her and worried as they are likely to find themselves in the same situation … that they could be detained or ‘dealt with’ by immigration officials," said Mendieta.

    Immigration officials chided Gabriela’s family members, asserting that her activism caused their detention. The ICE refuses to comment on this and states that they were searching for another "fugitive" before discovering Gabriela and her family. Gabriela has been studying under a student visa for several years and does not have undocumented status.

    "Our belief is that her family was targeted because of Gabriela’s outspoken support for immigrant rights and her public appearances on issues related to immigration," said Ira Kurzban, the attorney representing Gabriela and her family.

    Kurzban told PSLweb.org that he will be attempting to obtain a prosecutorial grant of deferred action. If granted, this would mean that the U.S. government wouldn’t be able to deport Gabriela’s family. Kurzban also stated that now is the time to build support for Gabriela and her family and to inform the public about their case.

    The Party for Socialism and Liberation, along with its partners in the ANSWER Coalition, will be following this case closely in the days and weeks to come.
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  2. #2
    MW
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    Senior Member MW's Avatar
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    "Our belief is that her family was targeted because of Gabriela’s outspoken support for immigrant rights and her public appearances on issues related to immigration," said Ira Kurzban, the attorney representing Gabriela and her family.
    Guess she should have stayed in the "shadows."

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**

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    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/ne ... 169006.htm

    Posted on Tue, Aug. 01, 2006
    Targeted for speech?
    OUR OPINION: RAID RAISES VALID QUESTIONS ABOUT FAMILY'S ARRESTS
    There's no question that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a tough job to do, namely finding and deporting people who shouldn't be in this country. But with 12 million immigrants as potential targets, ICE's top priority after terrorists should be undocumented immigrants with criminal records and final orders of deportation.

    ICE doesn't improve national security by zeroing in on law-abiding people who have lived here so long that they would be eligible for legalization under proposals now being considered in Congress.

    Yet that's what happened to Gabriela Pacheco's family last week. Was ICE really looking for a fugitive at the Pacheco's address, as ICE's spokeswoman claimed after the raid? Or was the agency trying to send a message by targeting Ms. Pacheco, 21, an outspoken activist who has lobbied for, among other issues, legalizing undocumented students?

    Ms. Pacheco and her brother have legal status. Yet, ICE and Miami-Dade police surrounded their house early in the morning. Now ICE has placed the activist's father, mother and two sisters in deportation proceedings. One sister said that an ICE agent mentioned Gabriela Pacheco's activism and told her, ``You can thank your sister for everything that is happening.''

    Ms. Pacheco says that she has ''to speak up when I see something is not fair.'' What's now happened to her family is unfair. ''We could have done bad things. My sisters and I could have married; we could have used fake documents,'' she said. ``No, we were sincere. We tried to find a way of becoming legal, but there wasn't any.''

    Their lawyer, Ira Kurzban, plans to challenge the arrest as a violation of free-speech rights. This will be a test case, unless ICE officials come to their senses and defer the family's deportation.
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    Ms. Pacheco says that she has ''to speak up when I see something is not fair.'' What's now happened to her family is unfair. ''We could have done bad things. My sisters and I could have married; we could have used fake documents,'' she said. ``No, we were sincere. We tried to find a way of becoming legal, but there wasn't any.''
    You mean, a way that is quick, cheap and easy. Believe it or not, the process is long, drawn-out, sometimes even expensive.... for a reason.
    I know someone from Latin America that finally, after 12 years of H1-B/Green Carding-it, working hard and playing by the rules was recently sworn in as a US citizen.

    Graciela, no one said gaining 'status' was ever supposed to be painless.
    What's worse, is that you were actively aiding other people here illegally to continue to break US law - and, for me at least, that is reason enough to ask you to leave.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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