Immigrants to rally over law enforcement concerns in Knoxville
Immigrants to rally over law enforcement concerns in Knoxville
Posted: Aug 28, 2012 8:31 AM PDT<em class="wnDate">Tuesday, August 28, 2012 11:31 AM EST</em>
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Undocumented immigrants will speak out Tuesday afternoon in Knoxville about their concerns over federal programs they say erode trust between immigrants and law enforcement.
Several groups will speak in front of the Knox County Sheriff's Office on Main Street at 3:00 p.m. They: No Papers No Fear Riders, Knoxville United Against Racism, Allies for Knoxville Immigrant Neighbors (AKIN) Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and the Unknowns Working to be Known.
Their focus is such programs as 287(g) and Secure Communities, which they say lead to increased separation of families and promote collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
The 287(g) program is one component of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ACCESS (Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security) program. It provides local law enforcement agencies an opportunity to team with ICE to combat community challenges.
The Secure Communities program uses an existing federal information-sharing partnership between ICE and the FBI. It helps identify criminal aliens without imposing new or additional requirements on state and local law enforcement, according to the ICE website.
One of Tuesday's speakers will be Alejandro Guizar, 19, of Knoxville, an undocumented immigrant in deportation proceedings. All criminal charges were dropped in a case against Guizar, but he continues to fight deportation.
Following the press conference, there will be a rally and march against 287(g), racial profiling and deportations. It kicks off at Krutch Park, by Market Square, at 6:00 p.m. and goes through downtown.
Immigrants to rally over law enforcement concerns in Knoxville
3 cited, 1 arrested in immigration advocates' demonstration
3 cited, 1 arrested in immigration advocates' demonstration
Knoxville News Sentinel
- Posted August 28, 2012 at 10:16 p.m.
Three people were cited and another was arrested for blocking traffic at a Knoxville intersection Tuesday in an act of a civil-disobedience that was the latest in a series of downtown protests against local immigration policing.
The four demonstrators unfurled banners, holding back afternoon traffic at the corner of Gay Street and W. Hill Avenue, near the City County Building and the office Knox County Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones.
For several months now, Jones has refused to meet with a coalition of immigrant rights groups to discuss his application to the 287(g) Immigration and Customs Enforcement program, which authorizes and trains local police to enforce federal immigration laws.
"He keeps saying, 'When the time is right,' " said Frances Ansley, 66, a retired University of Tennessee law professor who was among those cited for blocking the intersection. "We feel the time is right now."
Speaking for the sheriff Tuesday, Chief Deputy Eddie Biggs reiterated Jones' position that he is willing to meet with the group once he's received a memorandum of understanding from ICE on how the program would work.
"We're still waiting on that before we make any decision on where we're going or what we're going to do," Biggs said. "No matter how many rallies they have, it doesn't change our status."
Also cited were Maria De Vesus Huerta, 65, of Haywood, Calif., and Maricela Lou, 52, of Memphis. The three women were briefly detained and released.
Alejandro Guizar, 19, of Knoxville was the only member of the group arrested because he had no form of identification, according to the Knoxville Police Department.
For Guizar, an undocumented resident born in Mexico, the arrest further jeopardizes his chances of remaining in the United States, where he has lived the past 10 years. He previously was arrested earlier this year for public intoxication as he walked home from his high school graduation party. The criminal charge has since been dismissed, although he still faces a deportation hearing, according to rally organizer Tania Unzueta.
"We knew the risk he was taking," Unzueta said.
The arrest also highlights just the sort of scenario that demonstrators say has created a climate of fear for millions of undocumented residents.
Rather than nab serious criminals, Ansley said the 287(g) program more often has led to the deportation of undocumented workers over minor offenses. The effect has left many immigrants afraid to report crimes to authorities, or unsafe working conditions, said Ansley, highlighting the deaths of two immigrant workers on the Henley Bridge project last year.
"They're people who get sort of sucked up into this system because they don't have a driver's license or they get a minor traffic violation or something," she said.
After years of fearing the same fate, 45-year-old day laborer Eleazar Castellanos joined the No Papers No Fear campaign, whose members stopped in Knoxville to join the Tuesday demonstration, which was followed by a rally at Volunteer Landing. An estimated 175 people attended the evening event.
The cross-country campaign, which began last month in Phoenix, Ariz., is traveling the South en route to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., next week.
"If I'm going to be deported, it's going to be for a good reason," said Castellanos, a native of Mexico who has lived in Tucson since 1996.
The undocumented immigrant said he, like millions of others, only wants to make a better life for himself and his family.
"They need to come out of the shadows," Castellanos said. "Why not all get together and show we are honest people?"
3 cited, 1 arrested in immigration advocates' demonstration » Knoxville News Sentinel