In an editorial in this newspaper, Rollie Atkinson stated a couple of months ago, “The immigration debate in Sonoma County is a real ‘bread and butter’ issue. At stake is supporting our county’s agriculture workforce, protecting immigrant families and preserving our family farms and ag-based economy.”
As you may be aware, detention and deportation has been ramped up since Trump took office. Several Sonoma County groups are working together to establish a rapid response network similar to one organized in San Francisco. This network requires numerous volunteers as legal observers. Legal observation can help stop a detention, deportation and family separation. It can help in the legal case if someone is detained.
Two legal observer trainings are being held soon: Tuesday, August 8, 6 to 8 p.m. at the Healdsburg Community Center, 1557 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, presented by Corazon Healdsburg and Thursday, August 24, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Mary Agatha Furth Center Rooms A & B, 8400 Old Redwood Highway, Windsor, presented by the Peace and Social Justice Ministry. Participation as a legal observer requires a smart phone. You are not expected to legally observe a raid that is greater than five miles from where you are.
The 2018 appropriation bill for DHS (Department of Homeland Security) approved by the House of Representatives calls for a 21 percent increase in spending (some $8 billion). These increases are for the wall Trump said Mexico would pay for, 1,000 more ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents, 500 more CBP (Customs and Border Protection) agents and the construction of more detention centers. According to Detention Watch Network, ICE and CBP are known to be untruthful; they actively hide information from the public and retaliate against anyone who speaks out.
The death toll in CBP and ICE custody underscores an immigration enforcement system plagued by poor conditions, a lack of accountability and a culture of violence. Immigration detention is the unjust practice of incarcerating immigrants while they await a decision on their immigration status or potential deportation.
Because of our overburdened court system, decisions are slow in coming and immigrants can be detained for years. Trump’s budget massively increases immigration detention to over 51,000 people every day (equivalent of the entire population of New Orleans over the course of a year).
Most detainees end up in a privately owned prison for which the U.S. government pays billions of dollars per year to the corporate owner. The Trump administration is carrying out what its officials promised: sweeping arrest efforts that do not exempt anyone, regardless of their criminal records or whether they’re the person ICE set out to detain.
The appropriation bill has not yet passed the Senate. Please call our California senators: Kamala Harris (415-355-9041 or 202-224-3841) and Diane Feinstein (415-393-0707 or 202-224-3841) to request that these increases be rejected and that the rounding up and deporting or detaining immigrants be defunded all together. Script: My name is __________. I am a constituent of Senator Harris/Feinstein in the _______ zip code. In light of President Trump’s efforts to drastically increase the funds for the Department of Homeland Security specifically for the wall, deportation, and detention I request that Senator Harris/Feinstein oppose the wall and defund deportation and detention of immigrants.
We believe we all do better when everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We believe in investing in strong families and communities by using tax dollars to support critical education, housing, nutrition and health care programs.
Vicky Groom is a member of Cloverdale Indivisible.
