Pinal County Jail: Demand Dignity, not Detention.

Every first Sunday afternoon  from 2-4pm I meet with some of these folks for a letter writing session - they write to the prisoners in detention, and I write to my state prisoners. We meet at the Worker Rights Center at 331 E. Willetta St. in Phoenix, 85004. Feel free to join us - these are some awesome peeps.

The ACLU of Arizona, by the way, put out this statement in January on the abuses occurring in the Pinal County Jail - it's worth the read, and has links to more comprehensive documents. There's good reason for ICE to terminate the Pinal County Jail's contract to detain people for immigration violations. If you're interested in joining future such vigils asnd other efforts to end immigrant detention and abuse in Arizona, please contact the Arizona Detention Working Group.

Imagine...

 Vigil for Dignity, not Detention

Pinal County Detention Center 

July 7, 2011

----from SanTanValley.com---

Vigil to Ask ICE to Drop Pinal County Jail Contract

San Tan Valley.com
by: Robert Haasch
March 4, 2012

Saturday afternoon on March 3rd, thirty-five migrant rights activists converged on Sheriff Paul Babeu's Pinal County Jail in Florence, Arizona. This was the fifth monthly vigil meeting at the jail to bring attention to the conditions under which immigration detainees are being held.

Members of the Arizona Detention Working Group (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arizona-Detention-Working-Group/280858511963997) are calling for the cancellation of the contract the Pinal County Jail has with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Pinal County Jail is run by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. Sheriff Babeu has recently been in the news over allegations by the Phoenix New Times and ABC 15 that he has engaged in inappropriate behavior with students from a boarding school he used to help manage in Massachusetts (http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2012-03-01/news/babeu-s-reckless-behavior-has-enmeshed-him-in-what-may-be-a-career-killing-scandal/).

Prior to these recent revelations, the mistreatment of inmates was surfaced in 2011 by a report from the ACLU which cited a number of human rights violations. On the ACLU website (http://acluaz.org/issues/immigrant-rights/2012-01/1693), the issues cited were "inadequate medical care, insufficient hygiene supplies, no contact visits with family, no outdoor recreation and verbal abuse by jail personnel.

"These problems have persisted in the jail for many years. For example, in the winter 2010, ICE transferred hundreds of immigrant women out of PCJ after the women submitted petition letters complaining of abusive treatment. In the spring 2011, men detained at the same jail began a hunger strike to protest many of the same problems."

In addition, they released a nearly forty page report (http://www.acluaz.org/sites/default/files/documents/detention report 2011.pdf) detailing many of the abuses and shortcomings specifically about Pinal County Jail. Some of the complaints detailed vulnerable populations such as LGBT detainees who had been assaulted while in the care of Babeu's prison system. In addition, there were numerous complaints about sub-standard medical and mental health care.

On September 7th, 2011, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit (http://www.acluaz.org/issues/prisoner-rights/2011-09/1159) against Sheriff Paul Babeu accusing the Pinal County Jail of not allowing inmates to receive books, magazines, or documents exceeding one page long. According to the ACLU release about the lawsuit, one of the plaintiffs, Paul Wright, editor of Prison Legal News, stated "Publishers have a well-established First Amendment right to send their publications and books to prisoners, and it is unfortunate that rather than respect the rights of publishers to communicate with inmates Sheriff Babeu continues to try to defend the indefensible by banning our books and magazines."

I spoke with Leah Carnine in December 2011 at the third vigil and interviewed her about the conditions at Pinal County Jail (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42IxI6DVkQA). Some examples she gave were the lack of quality food, the lack of outdoor recreation areas, medical neglect, and the lack of contact visits between inmates and visitors. She mentioned that when these vigils were held, they would lock down the jail while they were out in the parking lot.

Leah suggested that at a minimum she would like to see a reorganization of the way the facilities are run along with incorporating community oversight. Leah mentioned that it should include an advisory board which would keep track of the conditions, regulates, and evaluates to make necessary changes. The advisory board would include input from people outside of the system.

At Saturday's vigil, Dorien Ediger-Seto of the Florence Project described that there were multiple facilities in the area which housed immigration detainees. There were approximately 1,500 immigrant detainees in Florence and 600 in Pinal County Jail. She stated that Pinal County Jail has the worst conditions of all of the facilities.

Dorien went on to say, "Unless you are an attorney or a clergy member, it is very difficult to get in for visits. Any visits you will have are by phone with a video screen. The food is really bad. Medical care is bad.

"That is the reason we decided to make PCJ our target in this campaign. The other reason we really want to talk about PCJ is because there is a really rich, strong history of folks on the inside organizing for better conditions.

"Pinal County Jail used to hold women and over the course of a couple of years, the women organized themselves, wrote letters, petitions, describing their experience inside. They sent them to the Florence Project, the ACLU, and anyone they could think of.

"Ultimately, after two rounds of this, PCJ was investigated. And mysteriously, a few months later, the women were released or sent to Eloy. So we wanted to honor that struggle, Today there are people organizing and going on hunger strikes all the time that we don't hear about because they are so far away. So we wanted to recognize that today."

Dorien has worked with the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project (http://www.firrp.org) since July 2010. As an intern in 2009, she co-authored a thirty-five page paper detailing the abuses of unaccompanied children by the Border Patrol (http://www.firrp.org/media/BPAbuseReport.pdf). The Florence Project provides free legal services to people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arizona.

Organizer Carlos Garcia said, "I wanted to remind people that this may not seem like a normal protest with a lot of us here, chanting and running around. It's just significant how we took a whole Saturday to come out here to a place that most of us didn't even know existed.

"Even some of us who work on immigrant and migrant rights didn't know this place was here. We often forget what these folks go through. Every person who is in here has someone somewhere missing them.

"Their family members may be in there or their family members may also be undocumented and they can not come visit. There is no way that they have contact except by phone which also costs money. They are trying to raise funds for lawyer fees and so there is not much there."

Local Hip-Hop MC, Vpro Lific, then performed several spoken word rhymes for the group. Vpro Lific has been active in the Phoenix area with civil rights causes and is a regular performer at local actions.

Following Vpro Lific was local activist, Fernando Lopez. Fernando has been active working with Puente Arizona, performs spoken word rhymes, and also is a photographer. Recently, he spent a month inside Pinal County Jail and was at the vigil to speak about his experiences.

He described it, "I was just telling my friends daughter." She asked "How is it inside?" Fernando replied, "Can you feel the wind right now, and the warmth of the sun?" And she said, "Yeah." "Well those people can't feel that. We are so privileged right now to be outside and to feel the wind. I think everyone deserves that, right? The people in there are not able to feel that way. Some of them have been like that for over two years."

"I want to share a story. I don't talk about it very much. I've told a few people. Three days before my court date, the seventh of July, it was one of my cellies birthday. He was up for deportation and had been locked up for over a year. He wanted to be in Mexico for his birthday and that didn't happen because they didn't work weekends and it was a holiday three day weekend.

"We organized a whole tank, about fifty to sixty people. And we said we were all going to save our bread and peanut butter and we were all going to buy soups. So the day we were making the food, we were up early collecting food, collecting plates, and all kinds of stuff. We got fifty or sixty soups. We even got sausage and coffee. We just everything together in bags and with all the bread and peanut butter we made a cake.

"It was really nice because we had nine to twelve tables and even if they didn't have anything, we were inviting everyone to join us, and eat with us. The week before a few people had just come in there. And when you get in there you feel alone and you don't know anybody. A few of us had just come in there and a few of us had court that week and so we were wishing everyone good luck. So we prepared everything. We lined up all the tables.

"And then they locked us up. We were so ready to have our dinner and we were really mad because we had been working for this dinner since last week. It was some kind of sergeant who was kind of new. He replaced someone who was really bad. He got so many complaints that he got moved.

"This new guy was really nice. He came up to us and said as long as you guys keep it clean and quiet you can do it. So we did it. We had all these soups and this big cake. We were all lined up and sitting down. So we all sat in there and there was this guy from Jamaica. We used to call him Brother. He was a Christian man. He did all these prayers. He did a prayer in English and another guy in Spanish.

"Honestly, I can tell you it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. There are not only brown people. There are Asian people, people from Vietnam, Jamaica, and Germany. It was all kinds of people, united in just one community.

"We all sat and ate and it was so powerful. These people still have hope. It's just the situation of having to be in there. It is all they are thinking. They can not talk about much anything else.

"Some people just want to be sleeping all day because they are so depressed. They also have homes and families and people they love that are outside.

"This guy that just had his birthday, he left his kid when he was just two or four months old. Just imagine. I'm not a parent but just imagine not being able to see your kid for months, even years. And those people have hope that someone is doing something outside and I guess that's us."

Fernando also described how that he was writing letters to someone he had known inside. Fernando asked his friend to try to get a list of the A numbers (unique ID numbers given to immigration detainees) of the other people inside so that they could write letters to them as part of a pen pal program. The guards found out about it and took away his list and restricted his phone and library privileges as a result.

He mentioned that we all have it good outside and forget that there are people inside who need our help. We have the privilege to see the sunset and the people inside do not. So we at least have the opportunity to ask for something better for them.


Other Resources:

Photos of the March 3rd Vigil
http://sandangel.smugmug.com/Category/03-03-2012-Pinal-County-Jail/

Arizona Detention Working Group
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arizona-Detention-Working-Group/280858511963997

Puente Human Rights Movement
http://www.facebook.com/puenteaz

Vigil for Dignity, Not Detention
http://www.facebook.com/events/104497709674152/

ACLU-AZ: "In their Own Words" Detention abuse.

This broke my heart, and is sadly nothing new - except that it's so well-documented now. I have to say that the ACLU of Arizona has been earning their keep here recently...thanks to Dan Pochoda and crew for all their work. Sorry I don't always give you enough credit - you really did come through here. Victoria Lopez - you're especially amazing. You get our Human Rights Warrior award today.

------------from the ACLU-AZ website-----------

ACLU Urges Termination of Contract with Pinal County Jail

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 23, 2011

Contact: Alessandra Soler Meetze 602-418-5499 (cell) or 602-773-6006 (office)

PHOENIX – The U.S. government’s heavy reliance on immigration detention has led to inhumane conditions in Arizona’s five immigration detention centers, unnecessary and prolonged detention and abusive treatment of immigrants, according to a new report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. The 36-page report, “In Their Own Words: Enduring Abuse in Arizona Immigration Detention Centers." is the most comprehensive report documenting the experiences of immigrants detained by the federal government in Arizona.

“Many of the men and women that we spoke to are needlessly detained for many months to several years in terrible conditions that jeopardize their safety and well-being,” said ACLU of Arizona staff attorney Victoria Lopez, who authored the report based on 115 face-to-face interviews conducted with people detained in Eloy and Florence, Arizona over a two-year period from March 2009 through March 2011. “Until there is independent oversight and monitoring of facilities where immigration detainees are held, detainees have no choice but to speak up for themselves.”

As part of the ACLU’s documentation efforts, Lopez spent countless hours corresponding with detainees, interviewing their family members, and culling through hundreds of government records, including more than 500 grievances. The report illustrates the real stories of people, including vulnerable women and transgender detainees, who have suffered from abuses related to inhumane conditions and inadequate legal protections while detained.

According to the report, flawed immigration policies, including local immigration enforcement, have led to a 58% increase in immigration detention in Arizona over the past six years. In addition, because there are no legally-enforceable standards and the majority of immigration detention centers in Arizona are operated by either private corporations or a local county jail, there is very little oversight over the delivery of medical care, grievance procedures, and overall treatment of detainees.

One of the cases cited by the ACLU in its report documents the story of Leticia, a single mother of two U.S. citizen children with no criminal history who was detained for almost two years by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Pinal County Jail (PCJ), which is operated by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. During most of that time, she was not allowed contact visits with her children or outdoor recreation and endured deplorable conditions.

Despite statements by the Department of Homeland Security almost two years ago indicating initiatives to reform the immigration detention system, major failures persist in the Arizona facilities, the ACLU said. Among its recommendations, the ACLU-AZ called on ICE to terminate its contract with PCJ, which received “deficient” ratings in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and where the ACLU documented the most egregious examples of human rights abuses.

For example, in the winter 2010, ICE transferred hundreds of immigrant women out of PCJ after the women submitted petition letters complaining of abusive treatment by guards, insufficient hygiene supplies, and poor medical treatment. In the spring 2011, men detained at the same jail began a hunger strike to protest many of the same problems. Over the course of the past year, the ACLU-AZ has also received reports from PCJ involving excessive use of force against detainees and jail officials’ failure to accommodate detainees’ religious needs.

“No amount of cosmetic fixes will take care of the fact that immigration detention presents major fiscal and human costs for immigrants and citizens alike,” added Lopez. “DHS should take immediate steps to end its contract with Pinal County Jail officials who aren’t being held accountable and operate a facility that fails to meet even minimum constitutional standards."

With 3,000 people detained on any given day in ICE facilities in Arizona, the ACLU-AZ also called on the federal government to reduce the number of people subjected to detention in Arizona by utilizing more cost-effective alternatives to detention and ensure that conditions in Arizona detention facilities comport with basic human rights and needs.

Read the ACLU-AZ’s full report, “In Their Own Words: Enduring Abuse in Arizona Immigration Detention Centers."
###

Nuevo reporte de la ACLU de Arizona documenta condiciones inhumanas y políticas fallidas en los centros de detención de inmigración en Arizona

El grupo insta a la terminación del contrato con la Cárcel del Condado Pinal

PARA SU PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA
Jueves, Junio 23, 2011

Contacto: Alessandra Soler Meetze 602-418-5499 (celular) ó 602-773-6006 (oficina)

PHOENIX – El exceso de dependencia en la detención de inmigración por parte del gobierno de los Estados Unidos ha llevado a condiciones inhumanas en los cinco centros de detención de inmigración de Arizona, a la detención innecesaria y prolongada y al trato abusivo de inmigrantes, de acuerdo a un nuevo reporte de la Unión Americana de Libertades Civiles de Arizona (ACLU por sus siglas en inglés) publicado hoy. El reporte de 36 páginas, titulado “En sus propias palabras: soportando el abuso en los centros de detención de inmigración en Arizona”, es el reporte más exhaustivo que documenta las experiencias de inmigrantes detenidos por el gobierno federal en Arizona.

“Muchos de los hombres y mujeres con los que hablamos son detenidos innecesariamente durante muchos meses hasta varios años en condiciones terribles que ponen en peligro su seguridad y su bienestar”, declaró Victoria López, abogada del personal de la ACLU de Arizona, quien redactó el reporte basado en 115 entrevistas personales con individuos detenidos en Eloy y Florence durante un periodo de más de dos años, desde marzo de 2009 hasta marzo de 2011. “Hasta que exista una supervisión independiente y un monitoreo de las instalaciones en donde los detenidos de inmigración son recluidos, los detenidos no tendrán otra opción más que hablar por sí mismos”.

Como parte de los esfuerzos de documentación de la ACLU, López pasó incontables horas manteniendo correspondencia con los detenidos, entrevistando a miembros de sus familias, y seleccionando entre cientos de registros del gobierno, incluyendo más de 500 quejas. El reporte muestra las historias reales de las personas, incluyendo las de mujeres vulnerables e individuos transgénero detenidos, quienes sufrieron a causa de los abusos relacionados a las condiciones inhumanas y protecciones legales inadecuadas mientras se encontraban detenidos.

De acuerdo al reporte, las políticas fallidas de inmigración, que incluyen la aplicación local de leyes de inmigración, han llevado a un incremento del 58 por ciento en las detenciones de inmigración en Arizona durante los pasados seis años. Asimismo, a causa de que no existen normas que se hagan cumplir legalmente y de que la mayoría de los centros de detención de inmigración en Arizona son operados ya sea por corporaciones privadas o por una cárcel local de condado, existe muy poca supervisión sobre la prestación de cuidado médico, los procedimientos para presentar quejas, y el trato en general de los detenidos.

Uno de los casos mencionados por la ACLU en este reporte documenta la historia de Leticia, una madre soltera de dos hijos ciudadanos de Estados Unidos y sin historial de antecedentes criminales, quien fue detenida durante casi dos años por la Oficina de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de los Estados Unidos (ICE por sus siglas en inglés) en la Cárcel del Condado Pinal, la cual es operada por el Sheriff del Condado Pinal Paul Babeu. Durante la mayoría de ese tiempo, a ella no se le permitió tener visitas para tener contacto con sus hijos ni tener una actividad recreativa en exteriores, y soportó asimismo condiciones deplorables.

No obstante las declaraciones del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de los Estados Unidos (DHS por sus siglas en inglés) hechas hace casi dos años indicando iniciativas para reformar el sistema de detención de inmigración, persisten muchas fallas en las instalaciones carcelarias de Arizona, informó la ACLU. Entre sus recomendaciones, la ACLU-AZ hizo un llamado a ICE para que dé fin a sus contratos con la Cárcel del Condado Pinal, la cual recibió evaluaciones “deficientes” en 2007, 2008 y 2009, y en donde la ACLU documentó los ejemplos más atroces de abusos a los derechos humanos.

Por ejemplo, durante el invierno de 2010, ICE transfirió a cientos de mujeres inmigrantes fuera de la Cárcel del Condado Pinal (PCJ por sus siglas en inglés) después de que las mujeres sometieron cartas de petición quejándose de un trato abusivo por parte de los guardias, de no tener suficientes artículos para la higiene, y de un cuidado médico inadecuado. En la primavera de 2011, hombres detenidos en la misma cárcel comenzaron una huelga de hambre para protestar en contra de los mismos problemas. Durante el curso del año pasado, la ACLU-AZ también ha recibido reportes desde la PCJ que involucran el uso de fuerza excesiva en contra de los detenidos y la falla por parte de los guardias carcelarios de proveer acomodo para las necesidades de carácter religioso de los detenidos.

“Ninguna cantidad de remedios superficiales resolverán el hecho de que la detención de inmigración representa grandes costos fiscales y humanos para inmigrantes y ciudadanos por igual”, añadió López. “El DHS debe tomar medidas inmediatas para dar fin a su contrato con los funcionarios de la Cárcel del Condado Pinal, a quienes no se les está haciendo responsables y operan una cárcel que no cumple aún con las mínimas normas constitucionales”.

Con más de 3,000 personas que son detenidas en cualquier día determinado en las instalaciones de ICE en Arizona, la ACLU-AZ también hizo un llamado al gobierno federal para que reduzca el número de personas que son sujetas a la detención de inmigración en Arizona al utilizar alternativas que sean más rentables a la detención y que aseguren que las condiciones en las instalaciones de detención en Arizona se adhieran a las necesidades y derechos humanos básicos.

El reporte completo de la ACLU-AZ “En sus propias palabras: soportando el abuso en los centros de detención de inmigración en Arizona”, está disponible en-línea en este nexo: www.acluaz.org/detention-report-2011.

Restoration Project - Florence: doing justice...

Hey all -

Let's turn out and support these folks - they're doing good work in our communities, and we can learn a lot from them. Below is an excerpt from an email telling you a little more...

------------------------------------------

...Basically, the Restoration Project in Tucson and the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project (www.firrp.org) are collaborating on a new visitation and hosting project, tentatively named Restoration Project - Florence. The website is http://www.restorationprojectflorence.blogspot.com/, and we are also on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Restoration-Project-Florence/148345411885866). The idea is to have a network of people in Phoenix and Tucson who are willing to support people in immigration detention, either by writing letters, visiting them, and/or hosting people upon release.

To do this, we're asking that people come to a training - the next two are scheduled for February 12th and March 5th, at 115 North 12th Ave, Phoenix, AZ. To RSVP or for more info, folks should contact Carol (restorationprojectflorence@gmail.com, or her phone number is 520.429.9792). I am also happy answer questions that people might have.

Just so you know, the Florence Project is a non-profit legal services organization that serves people in immigration detention. We work with adults processed through the Eloy and Florence courts, and up here in Phoenix with unaccompanied minors in detention. I work with the kids, and am always very happy to talk to people about what we do - its a little known aspect of the detention/deportation system.

I'd love to talk to you about this more, if you're interested. And feel free to forward on the fliers about the trainings...


dorien ediger-seto
dorienes@gmail.com

No More Deaths, detention, deportation, or violence against migrants.

No More Deaths Welcomes Department of Justice Lawsuit, Calls for Overhaul of Immigration Management and Moratorium on Raids and Removals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—July 7, 2010
Contact: Danielle Alvarado
Cell Phone: (408) 646-2175
Email: media@nomoredeaths.org

Tucson, Arizona—No More Deaths welcomes Tuesday's announcement that the Department of Justice is filing a lawsuit against SB 1070, the most extreme among recent discriminatory measures passed by the Arizona legislature. In addition to preempting the federal government's sole jurisdiction over immigration enforcement, the implementation of SB 1070 is predicated on racial profiling; it promotes distrust between local communities and law enforcement; and it fails to uphold basic principles of fairness and equality.

Between June 14 and June 22, 2010, humanitarian volunteers at the Kino Border Initiative migrant aid center in Nogales, Sonora conducted interviews with 125 men and women recently removed from the United States. Of those interviewed, 26% (32 individuals) were taken from their families and communities in the interior of the country. SB 1070 would simply exacerbate this trend, which has proliferated under the Obama administration.

While the Department of Justice lawsuit may lead to an injunction before SB 1070 is due to take effect, the unfortunate reality is that this law is merely a symptom of a larger climate of fear-mongering and ill-considered policies that extend far beyond Arizona. While Obama denounces SB 1070, nothing is said about 287(g) agreements or other federal policies that lead to the de facto implementation of many of the practices that SB 1070 enshrines. The culture of abuse and impunity that pervades federal immigration enforcement, from Seattle to Miami, is especially apparent along the Southwest border, which is overrun with border enforcement personnel and infrastructure with limited oversight, accountability, or institutional safeguards for protecting human and civil rights.

The administration's approach to immigration enforcement is fundamentally flawed and continues to criminalize workers and families while doing nothing to address the broken state of our immigration system or the root causes of migration. The recent deadly tasering of a man in California and shooting of a 15-year-old boy near Ciudad Juarez by Border Patrol agents are symptoms of the violence perpetuated by militarized border enforcement. Since 2006 No More Deaths volunteers have interviewed thousands of individuals leaving Border Patrol custody, documenting hundreds of cases involving excessive force, verbal and physical abuse, and denial of access to water, family members, and accurate legal information. The federal government must do more to hold its agents responsible for their actions, and should immediately suspend all immigration detention and removal until comprehensive immigration reform is enacted that protects the rights, life and dignity of every person.

---

No More Deaths provides direct humanitarian assistance to women, men and children forced into the remote Arizona desert by US border policies. More than 6,000 have died along the border since 1998. Since 2006, No More Deaths volunteers have received over 500,000 recently repatriated migrants in aid stations in Northern Sonora, and documented a series of abuses in the custody of the US Border Patrol Agents. In 2008 No More Deaths released a detailed report, Crossing the Line: Human Rights Abuses of Migrants in Short-Term Custody on the Arizona/Sonora Border, which presents over 400 individual accounts of Border Patrol abuses, along with analysis and policy recommendations. The stories were collected over a two-year period, beginning as a natural outgrowth of our direct aid work on the border.

Download a copy of the report at: http://nomoredeaths.org/Border-Patrol-Abuse-Report/.

The cost of fascist oppression - and mass resistance.

The Republic gives some credit to the potential damage of the boycott against Arizona, but I think they failed to take into account the cost of policing the resistance by citizens who plan to stay and engage in civil disobedience - not to mention all those folks coming from out of state without their own proof of citizenship (or even driver's licenses). If the police are required to investigate someone's citizenship status if they're suspicious (not showing state-issued ID is being undocumented), and they fail to do that with those of us who are blond-haired and blue-eyed, I believe SB 1070 lets us sue them for not doing their job. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but turning a blind eye to a woman who could be an illegal immigrant from Eastern Europe is just as negligent as letting a Latino with no documents go unchecked.

Just be prepared to go to jail if you're driving without your license (or even if your just wearing all black at a protest), because I don't think either the cops or courts are going to put up with Race Traitors any more than they'll tolerate resistance from the Indigenous and communities of color here. That means have the phone numbers you need to call written on your upper arm (you won't get to use your cell phone if they arrest you). Try and stick with a buddy or two, so if your comrade is arrested you can help mobilize support from the outside...

--------------------------------

Arizona immigration law costs and savings

Jul. 9, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

The upcoming enforcement of SB 1070 has caused many illegal immigrants to flee Arizona. The scope of the monetary effects depends on how much of the illegal-immigrant population leaves. Here's a look at the effects of various exodus scenarios:

Crime and courts
Education
Public opposition
The safety net
Wages and prices

Staff writers Alia Rau, Ginger Rough and Yvonne Wingett contributed to this report.

Loading list...

As much as any aspect of the new immigration law, its impact on police, jails and the justice system is little more than a guess. "Nobody has an idea as to what it's going to mean," said Amy Rex, the criminal-justice project manager for Maricopa County. "The county is looking at what we need to do. It's just that there are a lot of moving parts."

Local police and courts around the state could face a torrent of new misdemeanor cases. If they do, it will push up county jail populations. The law carries up to a 20-day jail sentence and $100 fine.

County authorities estimate that 19 percent, or 24,700, of the 130,000 inmates booked into the jail annually are illegal immigrants, Rex said. The cost to house each inmate for 20 days is about $1,600.

If the number of illegal immigrants booked into the jail rises 10 percent and each inmate serves 20 days, it would cost taxpayers an extra $3.8 million annually.

If the departure of many illegal immigrants causes crime to drop and jail bookings of them decline by 5 percent, taxpayers would save about $2.4 million, based on the current average jail term of 25 days.

Breaking the new law is a misdemeanor, so it seems unlikely to have a sizable effect on state prisons, which typically house felons. A 5 percent change in the 6,100 illegal immigrants in state prisons, for example, could cost or save taxpayers about $6.6 million.

Any cost changes figure to be dwarfed by the amount Arizona is underfunded by Congress each year for incarcerating illegal immigrants who commit felonies or are repeat offenders, state officials say.

The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program provided Arizona and its counties $19 million in fiscal 2009, according to the U.S. Justice Department. There are estimates that the Arizona Department of Corrections alone spends at least $130 million imprisoning illegal immigrants annually.

Gov. Jan Brewer hopes SB 1070 will shrink prison costs as illegal immigrants flee the state, said Paul Senseman, a spokesman for the governor.

There are mixed reactions in police circles as to what the law's effects will be.

Mark Spencer, president of a Phoenix police union, has predicted the law will have little effect on the state's largest city because officers already use a departmental policy that gives them authority similar to what is in the new law. Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris says the law will corrode relations with the Hispanic community and divert police attention from more-pressing duties.

Interim Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley has said that prosecuting the cases could be more difficult because of questions involving rules of evidence, standards of proof and the 70-year-old federal statute the law is built around.

Apart from SB 1070, Romley has said he will be more selective than his predecessor in prosecuting cases involving illegal immigrants. In minor cases, he will alert federal authorities rather than bring state charges, a policy shift that could affect jail and court costs in Arizona's most populous county.

This is a very long article - Read the rest at: http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/07/09/20100709arizona-immigration-law-costs-to-state.html?page=1#ixzz0tJpUvfIn

Human Rights Day Protest: Reeves Co. TX

This via Ken at Private Corrections Institute. It touches on one of the consequences of putting profit into the prison business. We should look at what we'll be doing here on International Human Rights Day, too.

--------

Grassroots Leadership Calls for Scrutiny of Pecos Prison 

 

 Posted by editor on Friday, December 04 @ 09:57:00 EST 

 

Friends:

For International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10), please join us in condemning the human rights abuses against immigrants incarcerated in the Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, Texas. At least nine deaths in the last four years have been reported at Reeves and countless prisoners live daily with fear for their lives.

Reeves is run by the private prison company GEO Group for the Bureau of Prisons. Those held at Reeves are segregated based on their immigration status. Many, including several who have died, served 5 or 10 year sentences for immigration violations.

We're on lock down 21 hours a day. When you're sick they don't call you till a week or a month later. There's people that put in request for surgery over six months ago and they still haven't gotten it. - Reeves County Prisoner

Grassroots Leadership joins with prisoners' families, the ACLU of Texas, Southwest Worker's Union, and the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights to denounce the serious human rights abuses at the Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, Texas.

Please join us in the coming weeks in a series of actions to stop these abuses.

We urge the Obama Administration and the Department of Justice to end the contract with the controversial GEO Group, investigate the abuses at Reeves, and ensure humane conditions for all inmates.

Bob Libal and Luissana Santibañez

Grassroots Leadership

The Least of These

This was passed onto me by my Immigration and Justice professor, and is highly recommended.

The Least of These
Film Screening and Discussion
Thur, Sept 17, 7:00 pm
Languages & Literature Bldg LL 2
Presented by the ACLU of Arizona

Moderated by

Paul Espinosa, Professor, ASU Transborder Chicana/o & Latina/o Studies


Panelists:

Victoria Lopez, ACLU-Arizona Immigrant Rights Advocate

Lindsay Marshall, Esq., Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project

Evelyn Cruz, Professor, ASU, Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law



The Least of These, a new documentary film, explores one of the most controversial aspects of American immigration policy - family detention.


As part of the Bush administration policy to end what they termed the “catch and release’” of undocumented immigrants, the U.S. government opened the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in May 2006. The facility is a former medium-security prison in central Texas operated by CCA, the largest private prison operator in the country. The facility houses immigrant children and their parents from all over the world who are awaiting asylum hearings or deportation proceedings.


The facility was initially activated with little media attention or public knowledge.  Soon, however, immigration attorney Barbara Hines was contacted by detainees seeking representation, and she became increasingly concerned about the troubling conditions there.  She joined forces with Vanita Gupta of the ACLU and Michelle Brané of the Women’s Refugee Commission to investigate conditions and seek changes.  Their efforts were initially hampered by a lack of openness and oversight within the Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) organization.  Undeterred, the three attorneys attempted to bring about changes in both policy and conditions, by making their findings public, encouraging involvement by activists and the media, and ultimately by filing a historic lawsuit.


As these events unfold, the film explores the government rationale for family detention, conditions at the facility, collateral damage, and the role - and limits - of community activism in bringing change.  The film leads viewers to consider how core American rights and values – presumption of innocence, the protection of children, upholding the family structure as the basic unit of civil society, and America as a refuge of last resort – should apply to immigrants, particularly children.


Paul Espinosa
Professor and Filmmaker
Arizona State University
Dept of Transborder Chicana/o & Latina/o Studies
P.O. Box 873502
Tempe, AZ  85287-3502
Tel: 480-965-3635
Fax: 480-965-3421

Paul.Espinosa@asu.edu

www.EspinosaProductions.com

Feds return to run detention centers

AP sources: Feds return to run detention centers
By SUZANNE GAMBOA and EILEEN SULLIVAN (AP) – 16 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department intends to put federal employees in charge of monitoring the treatment of detainees in the country's largest immigration detention facilities, two years after the government turned that job over to a private company.

The Obama administration plans to place 23 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at the largest detention facilities to supervise how the detention centers are managed, according to people briefed on the plan. Private contractors have been used since 2007, when they were hired to ensure impartial inspections. Before that, federal employees did the job.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned to announce details of the detention policy changes in a conference call with reporters Thursday.

While ICE is calling the switch to federal monitors and other changes to the detention system "major reforms," this, like the Obama administration's plan to enforce immigration law at the workplace, is not an overhaul. The new detention center plan includes a tweaking of past policies and some new positions.

The government has been criticized for its treatment of immigration detainees, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has made detention policies a top priority for her department.

ICE, which is part of Homeland Security, intends to hire a medical expert to review the health care protocols for the detention centers and give an independent review of medical complaints, according to the people briefed on the plan. They spoke only on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement explained some of the plan to immigration advocates in a conference call Wednesday evening. ICE said it plans to turn a detention center in Texas for parents and their children into a women's facility and no longer place families there, said a person who was on the call. A separate facility in Pennsylvania will continue housing families.

Shortly after Napolitano became secretary, she named Dora Schriro to advise her on detentions and arrests. Schriro headed Arizona's corrections department when Napolitano was governor of the state.

As part of its plan, the department will create another new position to be filled by Schriro: director of the Office of Detention Policy and Planning.

Detention has grown in recent years, with the federal government holding more than 32,000 detainees each day. Over the last four years, the budget for keeping immigrants in custody has nearly doubled to $1.7 billion, according to ICE.

Several bills were filed last week by Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to revamp the immigration detention system. The bills call for setting minimum detention standards and for the homeland security secretary to enforce laws on treatment of detainees.

Associated Press writer Anabelle Garay contributed to this report from Dallas.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.