Thread: 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

I wonder who funds them.



http://www.alipac.us/f9/soros-funded-marxists-%93occupy-rnc%94-263217/

Back up the ICE buses.

One arrested in immigration protest in downtown Knoxville

4:48 PM, Aug 28, 2012
Written by WBIR.com

At least one person has been arrested and three people were cited at a protest in downtown Knoxville Tuesday afternoon.

The group is speaking out against the 287(g) Immigration Program, that would allow officials to run any inmate suspected of being foreign-born through an immigration database, and then hold them for possible deportation.

The program is not currently being used in Knox County, but the sheriff's office was considering it.

The protest was planned to send a message to Sheriff JJ Jones, and took place in front of the City-County Building, where his office is located. The group then marched down the street.

A 10News crew saw at least one person from that group being arrested at the intersection of Gay St. and Hill Ave. in downtown Knoxville.

This is how the group describes their mission in a press release about the event:

Undocumented immigrants, including one from Knoxville, Tennessee, will be speaking out in front of Sheriff J.J. Jones' office about the harm that programs such as 287(g) and Secure Communities cause the Knoxville community. These two programs promote collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, leading to increased separation of families, eroding trust between immigrant and police enforcement. One of the speakers will be Alejandro Guizar, 19, an undocumented immigrant in deportation proceedings living in Knoxville, Tennessee, who was placed in removal while walking home from a graduation party, and continues fighting his deportation even after all criminal charges were dropped.

"It's not that I'm not scared about speaking publicly about my story, but sometimes we have to face fear to let others know the situations that we are facing every day as immigrant communities. The Sheriff has not made it clear when he will meet with us, has refused to share information with the community, and he needs to hear from undocumented immigrants living in his county, and those who have experienced the implementation of programs like Secure Communities and 287(g) around the country," said Guizar.

Guizar and supporters of the immigrant community also urge Sheriff Jones to welcome and listen to the 'No Papers No Fear' riders, a national delegation of undocumented people and allies who left Phoenix, Arizona on July 29th, travelling across the south to rally the migrant community to overcome fear and organize to challenge anti-immigrant policies.

One arrested in immigration protest in downtown Knoxville | wbir.com

"These two programs promote collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, leading to increased separation of families, eroding trust between immigrant and police enforcement."

How many times are we going to have to hear them blame anyone but themselves for the seperations of their families? They absolutely refuse to take personl responsibility for their bad choices. They come here illegally and risk having their families seperated. No one else did that, THEY did it themselves.

Do they honestly think we will have sympathy for them after breaking our laws, taking our jobs and draining the system? Do they honestly think WE re going to feel guilty about their families being seperated when we had nothing to do with that?

The Sheriff has not made it clear when he will meet with us, has refused to share information with the community, and he needs to hear from undocumented immigrants living in his county, and those who have experienced the implementation of programs like Secure Communities and 287(g) around the country," said Guizar.

That's because his duty lies with the American citizens who elected him and not with illegal immigrants who have no right to influence our elected officials.

Protesters Arrested at Demonstration For Sheriff's Attention

• By Paige Huntoon
• Posted August 28, 2012 3:57 PM

Local undocumented immigrants and members of the No Papers, No Fear bus ride for freedom gathered in front of Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones' office this afternoon to send a message: undocumented immigrants just want to talk.

Former law professor Fran Ansley spoke in support of the group's aim: to prevent the policy 287(g) from being enforced in Knoxville. The policy involves U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement training and delegating responsibility to local police forces. The Knox County Sheriff's department filed for a 287(g) grant in 2009, and this year protests against adopting the policy have been going on since April.

Ansley said programs like 287(g) entangle local law enforcement in federal issues as well as "invite and encourage racial profiling."

While Sheriff Jones continually refuses direct communication with local undocumented immigrants, Ansley said, "the arrests and deportations grind on and on."

Arrests happened this afternoon, and Ansley was among those taken to the Knox County jail. Also among those arrested was young activist Alejandro Guizar, whose struggles with deportation we wrote about earlier in August.

Police officers arrived after the protesters blocked traffic at the intersection of Gay St. and E. Hill Ave around 3:30 p.m. At least four people who were seated in the middle of the road were handcuffed and taken to police cars. All went without a physical fight.

Among the approximately 80 protesters were members of the "undocubus" group. When the No Papers, No Fear riders heard about locals' impasse with the sheriff, they decided to make a stop in Knoxville while on their way to Charlotte, N.C.

"We don't want [the policy] to have the same effect here as in other cities," bus rider and Arizona resident Natalie Cruz said, referring to the 287(g) policy.

In her own family, two people have been deported in towns that apply 287(g) and similar policies.

"It affects families every day," she said.

Miguel Carpizo, the East Tennessee organizer for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said Sheriff Jones has refused to respond to hundreds of letters asking him to communicate with local undocumented immigrants.

"We want to restore human dignity," he said. "We're going to stay here as human beings."

A police officer would not comment on what, if any, charges the arrested protesters will face, or whether the undocumented protesters arrested will be deported.

Another rally will be held at Krutch Park at 6 p.m.

Metropulse.com: The Daily Pulse

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