Thread: Georgia rally protests of ICE fingerprint program

Georgia rally protests of ICE fingerprint program
KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press
August 16, 2011

ATLANTA — Chanting and waving signs, about a dozen people on Tuesday protested a program that gives federal immigration authorities access to fingerprints, which could mean .

The demonstration in Atlanta was one of several planned at Democratic Party offices around the country as part of a national day of action. The groups are calling for an end the Secure Communities program which allows the FBI to share fingerprints with Homeland Security to identify illegal immigrants accused of crimes. Local law enforcement agencies routinely send fingerprints to the FBI for criminal background checks when an individual is arrested.

Organizers in Atlanta want President Barack Obama to keep his promises of comprehensive immigration reform.

"President Obama must hear from Georgia Democrats what it is like as the country is facing a hateful crisis over failed immigration policies and broken promises," said Adelina Nicholls, executive director of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, which organized the demonstration.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said the Secure Communities program simplifies information-sharing between local and federal law enforcement agencies and is meant to identify illegal immigrants accused of committing crimes.

Opponents say it can lead to the detention of illegal immigrants arrested during the investigation of minor violations and erodes their trust in police. They have also criticized the administration for giving the impression that local governments could choose whether to participate when the program is actually mandatory.

ICE is currently running the program in 44 states and plans to achieve nationwide coverage in 2013. It's in place in 43 of Georgia's 159 counties. Georgia's seven Republican congressmen have been pushing ICE to roll out the program more quickly in the state, saying Georgia should be a priority because of its relatively high estimated number of illegal immigrants.

Georgia Democratic Party officials welcomed the demonstrators Tuesday and said they'd pass on a petition bearing 439 signatures collected in the state to the president.

"I wish there was more we could do at the state level," state Democratic Party Chairman Michael Berlon said. "This is really a federal issue but we'll make sure that we pass this on."

Berlon pointed out that state Democrats are planning a "Hope and Unity rally" next week, in part to express dissatisfaction with a law cracking down on illegal immigration signed this year by Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. Most parts of that law entered into effect July 1, but two parts were blocked by a federal judge until a lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality can be settled. The state on Monday appealed that ruling.

Rallies to call for an end to Secure Communities were also planned Tuesday at Democratic Party offices in Chicago, Houston, Boston, Miami and Charlotte, N.C.

http://ap.onlineathens.com/pstories/sta ... 4341.shtml

Related Thread
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-247131-georgia.html+rally

Atlanta rally targets fingerprint program
Metro Atlanta / State News
12:31 p.m. Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The Associated Press

About a dozen people rallied outside the Georgia Democratic Party headquarters to protest a program that gives immigration authorities access to the fingerprints of arrestees.

The demonstration in Atlanta was one of several set for Tuesday at Democratic Party offices around the country. The groups are calling for an end the Secure Communities program.

Opponents of the program say it sends immigrants arrested for investigation of minor violations into detention and erodes their trust in police.

Georgia Democratic Party officials welcomed the demonstrators and said they'd pass on a petition bearing 439 signatures collected in Georgia to the president.

The federal program is in place in 43 of Georgia's 159 counties, and Georgia Republican congressmen have been pushing the federal government to roll it out faster in the state.

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-rally-t ... 14075.html

Only about a dozen?

Deportation protests on the other foot?
Written by
Paul Crawley
6:47 PM, Aug 16, 2011

(Video @ link)

ATLANTA - Usually they are marching and protesting against Conservative Republican-led illegal immigration reform laws like Georgia's and Arizona's.

But on Tuesday Latino and other civil rights groups protested outside Obama re-election and Democratic Party offices in several U.S. cities, including Atlanta.

Just over a dozen showed up at Georgia's Democratic Party Headquarters aiming their wrath at President Barack Obama.

They are upset that his administration has deported more than one-million illegal immigrants since he took office in 2009, which they called a record.

They brought hundreds of petition signatures demanding that he scrap a federal fingerprint sharing program known as Secure Communities.

They accused him of going back on his campaign promises to reform immigration laws.

"This is a very strange way of keeping a promise and offer a commitment to bring these people out of the shadows like President Obama said," said Theodoro Maus, President of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights.

The group accused the President of breaking up families.

"Mr. President, you are doing damage and we need you to stop and we need you to rethink and we need you to go back," Maus added.

Ironically, some anti-illegal immigration groups basically agree with the deportations.

Among them is D.A. King of the Dustin Inman society who called the Latino protests hypocritical and revealing.

"Having marched in the streets demanding an end to state and local enforcement because it's a federal responsibility, they now show us that they are against federal enforcement," King said.

"There has never been a more clear view into their true agenda; this is why we call them the anti-enforcement mob," he added.

Michael Berlon, Chairman of Georgia's Democratic Party, accepted the group's petitions and promised he would pass them along to the President.

But Berlon added that he could do nothing himself other than that.

Obama campaign spokesperson Gabriela Domenzain sent 11 Alive News an e-mail response to the protests defending the President's policies.

"The President remains committed to fixing our broken immigration system," it said, going on to attack GOP Presidential candidates and Republicans in Congress for being opposed to "a comprehensive solution".

The Obama campaign statement said, "criminal deportations have increased over 70% while non-criminal deportations have significantly decreased as a result."

Forty-three of Georgia's 159 counties are now part of the Secure Communities program with most, if not all, expected to join within two years.

http://www.11alive.com/news/article/201 ... other-foot