Thread: Feds Allowing Deportees to Return to California

Feds Allowing Deportees to Return to California - Tea Party News
teaparty.org


August 28, 2014 10:38 am

• Invasion U.S.A.

ACLU: ‘Historic settlement will end a practice that tears families apart’

(LA Times) – Homeland security officials will not use threats and intimidation against immigrants facing possible deportation, and will allow some — perhaps thousands — with ties to Southern California to return under an agreement announced Wednesday.
The government admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, which came in response to an ACLU lawsuit filed last year, but it agreed to take several measures to protect migrants’ rights.
The agreement covers only Southern California, but some of the reforms in the deportation process are likely to be adopted nationwide, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.

This is a historic settlement that will end a practice that tears families apart.- Norma Chavez Peterson, executive director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial counties
It was unclear how many people might be allowed to return under the agreement, but advocates estimated that it would be a small fraction of the 250,000 deported voluntarily from Southern California between 2009 and 2013, the period covered in the lawsuit.
Although critics called Wednesday’s announcement yet another Obama administration move to mollify immigrant advocates at the expense of border security, American Civil Liberties Union leaders said the changes would result in a fair process that protects immigrants’ rights.
“This is a historic settlement that will end a practice that tears families apart,” said Norma Chavez Peterson, executive director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial counties.
In its lawsuit, the group alleged that federal agents in recent years had turned to intimidation, threats and misinformation to persuade immigrants in this country illegally to agree to voluntary deportation. Many deportees were longtime California residents with no serious criminal records who didn’t know that they could challenge their deportations in court, according to the lawsuit.
Among the reforms the settlement requires: Federal agents will be prohibited from using threats or pressure. They must advise people of their right to a hearing and provide them access to an informational hot line and a list of free legal service providers.
The settlement also calls for the United States to launch an outreach effort through Mexican media, aimed at informing deportees that they may be eligible to return if they are part of the settlement class.
Homeland security officials said in a statement that coercion and deception by the two agencies that handle most removal proceedings, ICE and Customs and Border Protection, are “not tolerated.”
“In an effort to address the issues raised in this litigation, both agencies have agreed to supplement their existing procedures to ensure that foreign nationals fully comprehend the potential consequences of returning voluntarily to Mexico,” the statement read.
The class of deportees who qualify for repatriation is limited mainly to longtime California residents with relatives who are U.S. citizens and to young migrants whose parents brought them into the country illegally.
The number of repatriations could reach into the hundreds or thousands, said Sean Riordan, senior staff attorney at the ACLU office in San Diego. All of those repatriated are potentially subject to deportation proceedings when they return.
So far, eight deportees have returned to California from Mexico, including 51-year-old Isidora Lopez-Venegas, who was deported after being stopped on the street in San Diego while walking with her U.S.-born children. She said agents threatened to place her autistic son in a foster home if she didn’t agree to be deported.
In Mexico, Lopez-Venegas said during an ACLU news conference Wednesday in San Diego, she met other deportees with similar tales. “I became aware that there are many in my situation. It’s very sad.”
Critics called the settlement the latest in a series of policy shifts from the Obama administration designed to appease migrant rights groups. Some border agents dispute allegations of widespread abuse, saying homeland security officials are undermining their mission by allowing deportees to return to the U.S.
“At every turn, they’re tying our hands,” said Gabe Pacheco, a spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing border patrol agents.
The Obama administration in recent years has worked to demonstrate its commitment to border security. Migrant advocates argue that agents resorted to abusive tactics to satisfy deportation quotas.
Among those represented in the ACLU lawsuit was a grandmother who was deported after being arrested at a bus stop and allegedly tricked into signing an English form that she couldn’t read. One man said he was falsely told that his visa petition had been lost.
Many others weren’t informed that once they left the U.S. voluntarily, they would be barred from returning for 10 years, the ACLU said.
“We kept hearing story after story from people … who had deep family ties, no serious criminal history — everything to lose by taking voluntary departure — who had been pressured into taking this instead of having their day in court,” Riordan said.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-d...828-story.html

- See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/feds-allowin....YkNHgryS.dpuf

by Tony Lee 28 Aug 2014, 2:04 PM PDT
breitbart



As part of a legal settlement that will allow some illegal immigrants who deported themselves from Southern California to return to the United States, the federal government has agreed to advertise the settlement on various Mexican and Spanish-language media outlets.

The ACLU filed a class-action lawsuit last year on behalf of eleven illegal immigrants who deported themselves. The settlement reached on Wednesday will only cover "longtime California residents with relatives who are U.S. citizens and... young migrants whose parents brought them into the country illegally" who deported themselves between 2009 and 2013. An ACLU official has indicated that there were nearly 250,000 people who were "deported voluntarily from Southern California between 2009 and 2013" and estimated to the Los Angeles Times that the "number of repatriations could reach into the hundreds or thousands."

The U.S. government, through ad buys online, in print, on billboards, and on radio stations, will hope to reach "friends and family of the affected class" in Southern California and Mexico. According to the settlement, the federal government will advertise on television channels like Univision, ESPN Deportes, MundoFox, El Universal, and the Univision Deportes Network. They will also partner with People en Espanol and even the Mexico National Football Team in addition to placing billboards "in high population Mexican border cities of Tijuana, Tecate and Mexicali, as well as focusing placements near border crossings."

U.S. officials will also place "radio ads :60 in length... on top Spanish speaking radio stations near the Mexico/U.S. border." Those who search for "Lopez Case," "Lopez Class Action," "Voluntary Return to Mexico," "Rights for Detainees," "Detained by ICE," and "Returned to Mexico by ICE" will also be targeted with information about the settlement.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...owed-to-Return

I am getting sick and tired of all the myths and lies put out their by illegals and all their advocacy groups. I have written a letter to Governor Brown and I am working on another that I am going to send to every elected official in California. I requested a answer from Governor Brown but I am sure I will not hear from him. I am not going to stop until someone answers my main question. "Who represents me or speaks for me and all the others like me"? We the older generation of Californians that are legal, worked and contributed to California.
California families are being torn apart. Our children are fleeing California. Maybe our kids don't want to work in agriculture, but what about the other jobs. The jobs that Mexicans drive Americans out of by intimidation, threats and harassment. Jobs in canneries and construction. Americans can't complain or they are called racist. There is no advocacy group or the ACLU for normal everyday Americans. The deck is stacked against you if you are a legal American, especially if you are white.
The brightest of our children that want an education have to fight every step or leave California. Dreamers spread the word that American children cannot compete with them. An out and out lie. Starting in elementary through high school American kids are being denied a good education by students that don't even speak English. In college students are not getting the classes they need because they are so impacted. They have watched their tuition skyrocket and their grants shrink as the state now gives aid to illegal immigrant students. Contrary to the Dreamers myth this is happening to students on the Deans List. If you are not a hyphenated American scholarships are limited.
We are having a drought, wells are going dry. In Turlock the situation is so bad they are bringing in bottled water to drink. The state is telling us to watch and if we see someone wasting water to report them. If you waste water you will be fined $500 per incident per day. But our Governor say's everyone, every Mexican in the world is welcome.
We are not free to travel safely throughout California. Crime and gang violence is limiting our safety. There are parks and certain areas that have been taken over by illegal's and gangs.
The city of Stockton is so desperate for jurors that they have taken to intimidation. I don't live in Stockton, but I live in the same county and every other year I receive a summons for jury duty. I have a medical reason that limits me to how long I can sit for any length of time. I filled out the form and sent it in, with my Doctor's phone number. They did not bother to call my doctor but sent me a letter saying that I did not serve on a jury within 30 days they would send a Sheriff to my house arrest me and fine me $3,000. I am terrified of Stockton, I avoid Stockton. I have further sent letters and emails to the Jury Commissioner detailing all the reasons I cannot be a jurist. Now I am still waiting for a response or for the sheriff to show up and arrest me. Illegal immigrants that have crossed our border, numerous times which is a felony, are fined $10.00 and I am threatened with arrest and a fine of $3,000 for this.
Every social function I go to people are so afraid to speak out that they are whispering. This is still the United States of America, regardless of what the President of Mexico or our Governor says. We should not be living in fear. I and many of my friends want to know, who do we go to, who will listen to us?

by Kristin Tate 1 Sep 2014, 5:54 AM PDT
breitbart



HOUSTON, Texas -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is expected to allow thousands of illegal immigrant deportees to return to the U.S., so long as they have ties to Southern California. Taxpayers will additionally fund a media campaign in Mexico, alerting deportees that they may be eligible to come back to the United States.

An agreement outlining the new settlement was announced in late August, according to the Los Angeles Times. The plan, which only applies to Southern California, was reportedly drawn up in response to a lawsuit that was filed last year by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) relating to the rights of illegal immigrants.

The Times reported that an unknown fraction of the some 250,000 previously-deported illegal immigrants will be allowed to come back to the country under the new plan.

Under the settlement, Border Patrol agents will be required to inform illegal immigrants of their right to fight deportation in the U.S. court system. Agents also must "provide them access to an informational hot line and a list of free legal service providers," the Times reported.

A taxpayer-funded "outreach effort" will also be launched through Mexican media outlets. The ad campaigns will inform deportees that they might be eligible to come back to the United States.

Many believe the agreement will soon be adopted by areas around the nation.

The ACLU said in its lawsuit that illegal immigrants were being intimidated and threatened by federal agents. The group alleged that such treatment unfairly caused illegals to agree to leave the country, without informing them of their rights to challenge deportation in court.

The director of San Diego's ACLU reportedly said, "This is a historic settlement that will end a practice that tears families apart."

The DHS said in a statement, "In an effort to address the issues raised in this litigation, both agencies have agreed to supplement their existing procedures to ensure that foreign nationals fully comprehend the potential consequences of returning voluntarily to Mexico."

Breitbart Texas Contributing Editor and border security expert Sylvia Longmire pointed out that "some of the concessions being made by the U.S. government in this agreement are appalling. The agreement is limited to voluntary removals that occurred only in Southern California for now, but as word of this agreement spreads--and as the concessions spread to removals made in other border sectors--the floodgates will open once more."

"Some may say that justice is being served to the Border Patrol for using these tactics in the first place," Longmire continued. "However, the overall negative impact of this agreement on our already floundering immigration system and morale of agents who have been doing things by-the-book will be hard to recover from."

It is notable that what the ACLU asserted are mere allegations; according to the Times, some Border Patrol agents deny the alleged abuse. Many feel that the new settlement will undermine their National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) spokesperson Gabe Pacheco said to the Times, "At every turn, they're tying our hands."

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-T...Back-to-the-US

Added breitbart article to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/content.php?r=3...ome-Back-to-US