Photo by Carol Chan.
The 2009 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review process, a web-based interactive dialogue designed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to allow your opinions and ideas to inform and strengthen the Department’s relationship with its vast array of partners and stakeholders, has been up and running for a few weeks now. The online portal, however, will stop taking comments this Sunday, September 6.
Sadly and predictably, the website’s comment section is being filled up by the same template xenophobia that plagues so many of the comments section of online newspapers and blogs all over the web. At best, the comments are tinged with racism and anti-immigrant sentiment. At worst, the comments are totally irrelevant to DHS’s goals for which they are seeking comment.
Much has been said about DHS, which has received tons of criticism (often earned) over the past several years. So when DHS opens up an avenue for constructive dialogues, it seems like those who care most about the tactics of the largest law enforcement agency in our nation should take the time to read through their goals and thoughtfully comment on the content.
In an earlier post, Mary Giovagnoli, Director of the Immigration Policy Center, thoughtfully shared her perspective on the goals outlined by DHS. Now it’s up to the wider community to add their own perspective on DHS goals and strategies. What do you think about employment verification programs like E-Verify? What impact has immigration enforcement had on your community? What do you think of local police enforcing immigration laws? How can DHS do more to encourage legal immigration?
It’s rare when a government agency is asking for criticism. So when they do, it’s up to all of us to join the dialogue and show DHS that there is more reason and thought about immigration and homeland security than fear-mongering, scapegoating and paranoia. Your opinion matters, so log onto the website and share your thoughts.
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Roxanne Lynn Doty says:
September 4, 2009 at 9:32 am (UTC -5 )
Stop the 287G program, the raids, and the breaking up of families. These programs/policies are cruel and counterproductive, not to mention extremely expensive. They make a mockery of our professed values. We desparately need comprehensive immigration reform, but in the meantime innocent people should not suffer for a system that has been in place for years and years. We are losing our humanity and one day will look back on this time period and these enforcement policies as a black mark on this country.
Ron Gotcher says:
September 4, 2009 at 9:47 am (UTC -5 )
While I heartily applaud efforts to root out and punish illegality (such as fraud) by persons seeking immigration benefits, the singles biggest lawbreaker in this field remains the USCIS. I find it hypocritical in the extreme that the USCIS seeks to gather information using flagrantly illegal “boilerplate” data collectors.
The template RFEs issued by the USCIS are flatly prohibited by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The USCIS continues to use them, even though they are aware of this. How can an agency that shows complete disregard for the law expect to have any respect from the public?
The boilerplate RFEs that are being used could never pass Office of Management and Budget review and approval. They are overly broad, seek information that is not relevant, and are confusing. Why does USCIS management tolerate this practice? Are they deliberately sending a message that they are above the law and can do anything they want?
Consider also the agency’s refusal to deal with the many rogue adjudicators who disregard the law and issue illegal decisions. The AC21 legislation strips petitioning employers of all rights with respect to withdrawing I-140 petitions after the petition beneficiary has filed for adjustment of status and that application has been pending for 180 days or more. Nonetheless, when an employer notifies the USCIS that it wishes to withdraw such an I-140, many adjudicators reflexively deny the I-485 even though they have no legal authority to do so on that basis. They do this despite this issue having become a well known problem and all such denials having been automatically reversed following motions to reconsider. Why? Why aren’t these adjudicators sanctioned? Why aren’t their supervisors sanctioned?
The only message that is coming through is that the USCIS could care less about complying with the law.
Elizabeth Calderon says:
September 4, 2009 at 9:59 am (UTC -5 )
I live in Miami, FL where I practice immigration law and am surrounded by immigrants from the housekeeper to the lawn guy as well as my clients. What I see are people willing to make enormous sacrifices for a better life. They work hard and have great hope that the USA will be kind to them. Most are bewildered by the USCIS system and do not understand why Cubans have special laws that grant them refugee status whereas Haitians, Mexicans, Guatamalans, and others are immediately deported. I hope that the Obama Administration will treat people equally and abolish the ‘wet foot’ dry foot’ special priviledges for Cubans.
Mary Adams says:
September 4, 2009 at 10:00 am (UTC -5 )
Federal agents are violently violating what I understand to be DHS directives to not grab immigrants from churches, schools or health centers. This practice continues in Wayne Co. NY (between Syracuse and Rochester)routinely and as recently as this past weekend. I support amnesty for all immigrants and an absolute stop to “joint” force approaches across law enforement. The idea of “border security” is being abused in WNY — the resources on this need to be focused on border crossings and scaled WAY back. Please email me for more info on community members including farm owners and health professionals who can give extensive detail.
Sincerely,
Mary Adams, RN, MPH
Alex says:
September 4, 2009 at 10:05 am (UTC -5 )
Dear DHS, I am an American citizen and a veteran. I support giving most of the current undocumented workers in our country a legal status. As long as they have not committed any crimes other than the obvious of entering illegaly or overstaying a visa, I say give them a legal status and let them get to the back of the line for citizenship. This is America and it is the right thing to do.
Annette Vitale-Salajanu says:
September 4, 2009 at 10:11 am (UTC -5 )
I am an immigration educator. I would like to request that the N-400 be available in languages other than English since certain permanent residents are allowed to take the test in their own language. This would empower these individuals to complete, or at least verify more thoroughly that the information contained on their N-400 is accurate. Thank you.
Lea Webb says:
September 4, 2009 at 10:11 am (UTC -5 )
Dear Secretary,
My name is Lea Webb. I am an attorney who has worked with immigrant victims of crime since 2000. I want to congratulate the Department on having incredibly professional staff in many parts of the agency, especially in the VSC VAWA unit and also in supervisory roles in ICE offices in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Northern Kentucky. It has been my pleasure to work with agents to help victims and prosecute abusers, traffickers-of-persons, and abusers of vulnerable humans.
The very professional and reasonable people I have encountered in the agency have been highly effective. They have worked hard for victims and with advocates, while always maintaining proper perspective and following law and regulation. They stand in stark contrast to agents who seem to have political goals and inappropriately disregard law – or worse become angry at the suggestion that they might be violating the law. Our laws are not perfect, but they are not entirely bad, either. Professional, thorough attention to law and regulation in combination with objective, respectful, and professional behavior needs to be demanded of many people working within ICE and the DRO division as well as from ICE attorneys.
We have cases of civil rights violations by state actors resulting in detention and removal proceedings. This is clearly illegal under the US constitution and DRO and ICE regulations. Everyone in the chain of command should be under strict orders not to let violations of 4th amendment rights result in the detention of anyone or in the issuance of an NTA. If DHS will stop tolerating state officials’ disregard of the constitution, then state officials will stop violating our most sacred principles for law and order and will use their resources to seek out actual criminals and keep our communities safer. When there is no rule of law in relation to one population (Latinos), then we all suffer, by having victims and community members who are too afraid of law enforcement to report crime or other community problems.
For example, in Springdale, Ohio, we have clients who are afraid to call the police to report gang activity directed at their children, because they are afraid of police retaliation and being arrested and turned over to DRO.
We have seen people go without medical care because they are afraid to go out of their homes and to the doctor.
There is also disregard of basic bond rules in terms of Mexicans and Latinos. Non-criminals who are arrested for driving without a license, are denied immigration bond later EVEN when they have US citizen children and spouses, because it is easier to simply remove them. Most cannot afford an attorney. DRO and local 287g officers have told numerous detainees that they will not be released for months or be allowed to see a judge for months if they do not agree to be removed. 287g officers have also refused to respect recision of Stipulated Orders of removal and have beaten foreign nationals into submission in carrying out the removal over the foreign nationals pleas to rescind the order.
Professionalism and respect for the rule of law can go a long way in making our system work. Where there are professional and reasonable managers in your agency, there is good work. Where there is not, you can see problems continually.
Thank you for accepting my feedback. I hope it is helpful.
Sincerely, Lea Webb
Ned Hamson says:
September 4, 2009 at 10:18 am (UTC -5 )
I did participate in both phases – not an easy task to be sure. I have a cable hook up and it was still a slow process.
Phase two was pretty lame. They could and should have learned from Survey Monkey or somebody. Way too long to rate ideas and provide input.
A Soto says:
September 4, 2009 at 10:29 am (UTC -5 )
I think American people it’s getting dehumanized, because it’s giving more value to a dog than children left behind by DHS doing raids, I think it’s time that DHS do a better job than just catch working people that just try to feed their family. Ilegal people are humans too. I think it’s time to DHS try Inmigrants like native Americans did with people from other continent came to steal land and kill natives.
John Perry Howland, Jr. says:
September 4, 2009 at 11:43 am (UTC -5 )
As the apples here in Wayne County, New York are almost ripe and to the picking stage, many of us who are landowners of orchards, as well as small, medium and large mostly family-owned fruit farms, are again concerned for the safety and security of farm-workers who are critical to the upcoming harvest. Due to circumstances beyond our control, many of those farm-workers are undocumented for reasons that only they know. Many of these farm-workers have been coming to our area for years, and have families that accompany them. They are being subjected to what I feel is unwarranted harrassment, when they shop, when they travel from place to place, and most egregiously, when they try to attend the Spanish-speaking Mass at the Catholic Church in nearby Sodus, NY. Just last week a farm-worker, his wife and child mistakenly came to church on Saturday, thinking there was a Mass. He was taken from the front steps of the church, probably to a federal detainment center. It was unclear as to who the officials were that perpetuated this detainment. As this type of action has been going on for a long time, a small group of both religious and secular individuals has taken it upon themselves to ‘stand watch’ in the parking lot and in the sidewalk by this Catholic Church to try and deter officials from harrassing families attending the Spanish-speaking Mass on Sunday. It is very discouraging to see the fear and watch families looking over their shoulders as they come to this Mass. One can only surmise that these farm-workers are being singled out because of the color of their skin, as there is no other distinguishing characteristic that would warrant them being harrassed. As we are only one small county in NYS and knowing that fruit and vegetables are grown throughout the US, one wonders if this type of activity by state and federal law enforcement officials with regards to farm-workers is the exception or the rule?
Sally Morrow Gomez says:
September 4, 2009 at 12:32 pm (UTC -5 )
After living as an illegal resident for more than 11 years, my husband decided to apply to fix his legal status. We did not want to live in fear any longer and we wanted him to become a legal resident who could get an education, job and more.
During the past 5 years, we have fought hard for our application – paying 2 different lawyers – just to get him home. Several mistakes have been made on the part of Homeland Security and we have spent thousands of dollars – not to mention the emotional toll on both of us – but we are still being denied his return into the country.
Question: Does any immigration reform include the idea that making things a bit easier for those who wish to enter LEGALLY may decrease the number of illegal entrants?
What can you do for my husband and others like him, who want to do the right thing – live here legally and contribute to society – and are trying to enter LEGALLY?
As a U.S. citizen, my country is supposed to protect and defend me, but instead my life has been torn apart by your immigration policy and the Homeland Security Department.
What can you tell me?
Thank you for your time.
Judy Kading says:
September 4, 2009 at 12:36 pm (UTC -5 )
The way immigration enforcement is being carried out by Homeland Security is unfair to the individuals being targeted and to their communities. I feel like we as a country are funding a “bounty hunter” mentality of seeking out people who are NOT criminals, but are working in their new communities of residence and trying to maintain their families as anyone does.
The worksite enforcement raids imposed upon Iowa in Postville and Marshalltown have torn apart families and caused unneeded suffering. People who are working in a packing plant are doing this nation a favor by making sure we have food to eat!
When parents are detained in a raid, it is traumatic for their children. The schools have to deal with this trauma and help children to make sense of their parents being hauled off. No one from Homeland Security helped schools in Postville or Marshalltown find extra counselors or helped the teachers to deal with the depression felt by their young students. As a matter of fact, when Homeland Security carries out a large raid or comes to a business in a town and arrests an immigrant, there is no sense at all of what the results of that action will be for the family or the community.
People who are undocumented but are working and maintaining an apartment or home are NOT criminals and should not be treated as though they are.
My understanding of enforcement of the immigration laws was that it would focus on the small per cent ( the same for any social group) of people who have broken criminal laws. Homeland Security in Iowa is tracking down people who have not committed felonies and whose only crime is to be in the country without permission, a permission they would gladly pay a fine for if we could go back to the situation before the passage of IRAIRA of 1996, in itself a drastic over-reactions.
It is time to refocus Homeland Security on protecting America from terrorists and not hard-working immigrants and their families. The kind of enforcement we have be subjected to in Iowa is a travesty of justice and a waste of tax payer dollars.
Michelle Skole says:
September 4, 2009 at 2:46 pm (UTC -5 )
I am an Immigration Attorney. I have had several problems with RFEs that don’t arrive. I get an e-mail that says an RFE has been sent with no information about what evidence was requested. And the RFE does not arrive, for unknown reasons. Under the current system I am not even allowed to report the problem to the 800 number until 15 days have passed. Then they tell me I may call back in 30 days (which is probably the due date when my case will be inactivated) unless I can convince somebody one of their accepted reasons is applicable in which case I might be able to call in five days. And I am given all kinds of warnings that this does not excuse me from answering the RFE on time with complete information. If I guess at what the questions were and give them a partial reply they will inactivate my case for incomplete information. Which also makes it dangerous to write any letters about the missing rfe problem because the mailroom will take the case out of the file.
I realize that someone may pretend they didn’t receive their rfe to stall for time, but this system is a rediculous over reaction to that risk, because the agency knows that rfes fail to show up regularly.
In one case the only way I could fix this mess was to let them deny the case for an incomplete reply because they pulled the file when I complained, and then appeal the decision. They decided to approve the case “this time” on appeal. But why should my client have to pay for an appeal and be unnecessarily freightened, and why should I have to worry about next time. I am missing another rfe now. It’s 18 days late and I don’t know if I will get an answer. There is a big attitude problem here, and the mechanism to complain is designed to be useless.
Deborah Sherman de Santos says:
September 4, 2009 at 2:54 pm (UTC -5 )
I don’t know what DHS’ intentions are, but I know what their product has been and continues to be. There is a dream that is America. DHS is turning that dream into a nightmare.
Homeland Security needs to understand the meaning of “homeland” and perhaps even “security”. We have had one man taken from our small NH town and what ICE has done to him and is still doing has rocked his friends and family as badly as a bomb blast.
I am a citizen with roots that go back to before the revolution and my whole life has been turned upside down by this. My neighbors are discouraged, shocked and afraid – and they are all Americans with deep roots in this country too.
This *is* our homeland and the actions of DHS and ICE have made it far less secure for those of us who have seen what they are doing to our friend and others. When even descendents of America’s founding families no longer trust, and even fear their government because of the actions of DHS something is terribly wrong.
manuel salta says:
September 4, 2009 at 2:55 pm (UTC -5 )
sept 5, 2009
as an online volunteer/supporter during Obama’s united states election campaign, it is high time now to fix the broken immigration law and/or policy. may i respectfully to get to your attention (OBAMA ADMISTRATION)to abolish the visa limitation to all intended approved family based immigrant visa to all categories. as you can see it takes many, many years the visa becomes available like for instance under F-3 (married sons & daughters of US Citizens) and as far as this is concerned IT IS TOTALLY ANTI HUMAN THEY SEPARATED THE FAMILY FOR MANY MANY YEARS (20 YEARS MINIMUM) WHAT THE HECK?! ONLY IN THE UNITED STATES! i thought the united states government is the first advocacy in human rights but here, is the only one who broke family reunification! if the present administration has the power to legalized all the illegal aliens in the united states so he has also the power to change/overhaul said broken immigration policy to abolish said visa limitations to all legally approved family based immigrant visa.
Wendy says:
September 4, 2009 at 2:56 pm (UTC -5 )
Excellent comments on DHS priorities. If you haven’t already, please do remember to post these up on the QHSR website as well: http://www.homelandsecuritydialogue.org/dialogue2/immigration.
Helen Marrow says:
September 4, 2009 at 3:23 pm (UTC -5 )
My main criticisms of DHS — which I hope the department will take constructively: We desperately need to eliminate the 287g program, employment raids and crackdowns on immigrants, racial profiling of all Latinos, and the breaking up of families. Furthermore we desperately need to stop collecting and spending billions of federal dollars on border enforcement, criminalization, and deportation policies that have now been proven (with vast amounts of social science data) to be not only ineffective but also wasteful. Our taxpayer money would be far better used to create jobs and invest in education in 21st-century America.
Valerie Heinonen says:
September 4, 2009 at 3:50 pm (UTC -5 )
The Immigration Department never should have been put under Department of Homeland Security. DHS was set up with DOD contractors and obviously, intended to control movement of people in the U.S., whether or not they are citizens. Outsourcing the facilities to private prison companies e.g. GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America adds to the incentive to round up people so as to fill beds and to increase the corporate bottom line. Immigrants are not criminals. The children of immigrants are not criminals. The military, police and special “forces” that round up persons alleged to be without U.S. legal residence have been wrong countless times. It is cruel and unusual punishment to ship people to sectors of the U.S. where they are NOT living and working, where family members cannot find them. The rise in cruelty,racism and false information created by DHS actions serves nothing, least of all U.S. security.
Nathalie Beck says:
September 4, 2009 at 4:20 pm (UTC -5 )
Please look into the SEVIS program (the tracking system of international students in the US). International students come over here on F-1 visas — they believe that they will be able to fulfill their educational goals and dreams. International students know the importance of maintaining their visa status. Speaking for myself, as an international student from Europe (at a highly political government-funded institution in the Western part of the US), I made sure I followed every single immigration rule in order to maintain my visa status. What I was not prepared for was to be dragged into internal political conflicts at the college and that the school abused SEVIS by falsely revoking my visa.
Please look into the credibility of those handling SEVIS at the colleges — please help stop the misuse of SEVIS. I don’t think that the Department of Homeland Security intended that SEVIS should be used for terminating students’ visas based on some college admininstrators’ personal dislike of a student. I thought visas could be terminated through SEVIS if a student had violated immigration regulations — not if the school wanted to get rid of someone of political and personal reasons.
My major was broadcast journalism (and I had indicated to the school prior to my arrival at that school that I was particularly interested in investigative journalism). I am from a country in Europe where the freedom of speech is practically taken for granted and I assumed that this freedom also was valued in the US (apparently, despite the fact that the college catalog promotes the freedom of speech, this right didn’t seem to apply to me at that college). I was very, very stupid by trusting some teachers and staff in regards to writing slightly critical pieces to be published in the school paper and/or Online. These college employees encouraged me to write about certain problems (issues affecting students directly) at the college. I was incredibly stupid and believed these employees — I believed that it would be safe for me, as an international student, to engage in critical/political writing — writing that only concerned the internal workings of the college — it had nothing to do with politics outside that college campus (I should completely have stayed out of it!). Not until later did it occur to me that I was being used by these employees to bring up issues none of them clearly had had the guts to bring up — issues that most people on campus seemed to want to address (but none did because they did not dare to). Several employees of that college told me that if they spoke up too freely about what they viewed as injustice on campus, they feared losing their jobs and their health insurance. That happened quite a bit, according to local newspaper articles (mainstream media, outside of the school), that college employees the administration did not like (because of their outspokenness) actually got fired (but the school’s administration of course blame the individual employees’ performance for getting fired… They never admit to any wrongdoing).
There has been a lot of media attention about such firings in the city’s newspapers over the past few years, and I think most employees at that college agree that there are some serious issues going on (such as racism, sexism, and discrimination based on disability and national origin — actual cases that have been written about in local media and some cases also taken to court by the parties involved). It is a college with a very long history of turbulence on the administrative level (college presidents coming and going at a very high rate, and more and more protection of institutional politics and individual administrators’ political ambitions and careers rather than protection of the welfare of the campus community as a whole (including its students). It is basically a college that is “sued every day,” according to a former employee — a college that tolerates no criticism whatsoever. For example, a professor at that school started a blog against one of their former college presidents — a blog where college staff could vent their frustration about the college’s administration. The administration banned that blog from appearing on any of the school’s computers. Someone sued, and won (documents regarding that lawsuit are public).
To me the unthinkable happened: Not only did the school abuse SEVIS by revoking my visa on false grounds, but everyone who saw it happen (or knew about it through other employees) kept quiet about it. They told me about the injustice (a professor used the term “abused SEVIS” for instance, when talking about the administration’s action in my case, but the same professor has kept quiet publicly — in fear of losing their job). Furthermore, the administration had their lawyers change some of my grades to F’s so it would look like on paper that I was at fault — that I hadn’t kept up, which in fact, I had. The college employees knowing about that have begged me not to tell, and they themselves do not want to do anything about that injustice. One employee said that my case reaches far beyond the college — that the problem lies with those who govern the college — elected officials in the board of regents, for instance, and a former college and university chancellor who has some “pretty deep pockets…” In other words, some employees at the college have told me I am a pawn in a very serious game within the college system — a game that might involve “under-the-table-deals.”
However, the DHS does not know about this, since no one at the college has dared to speak. I was informed, even by my own attorney, not to speak publicly about what happened (about losing my visa in this manner) — not to go to the media. I asked him why and his answer was, “because I have to look out for my career.” He was the only lawyer in town willing to take the case at the time (three years ago) — sometimes I wonder if he is part of the “under-the-table-deal” some people talk about. What “deal” I don’t know. All I know is that I am so scared, and this has taken a total toll on me, my health (I lost all of my long hair due to the stress this situation brought on — I got it back, but now I am losing my hair again…), and my parents’ finances (I am not allowed to work in this country).
I am the one who suffered for all the turmoil at that school. Yes, the professors and staff might be afraid of losing their jobs, but I am the one who lost my visa and was thrown in jail, and now my case is still in the court system — a case the judges seem to think is solely about my transcript, when in reality it has nothing to do with my transcript at all, but with dirty tricks and internal politics, and coward-employees at one of this nation’s largest colleges.
If I had indeed violated immigration rules, I would have accepted the termination of my visa status and left the country voluntarily. However, since the school is 100% at fault (they misused the way SEVIS is supposed to work, in addition to tampering with my transcript), I cannot leave (leaving now will be the same as admitting guilt). I have to continue fighting for what is right. Imagine if my case becomes precedent — imagine if I lose all the way through the appeals courts (which my case is right now) — that means that any international student can risk losing their visa at any time for any reason, including not being liked by members of their college’s administration). I had planned staying quiet until the judgment was handed down (but I have a feeling I will lose since none of the college employees who know about the grade-tampering by the school’s lawyers have informed DHS about that), but I wanted to use this opportunity to introduce DHS to my story — to let DHS know that sometimes college administrators are the problem — not the students. Some people at that college have urged me to go to the media. I have been too afraid — afraid of all of the power-people involved — afraid of revenge. When my visa was revoked by the school because I wrote too much about issues at the school and stepped on administrators’political toes in the process, imagine what kind of revenge they will punish me with if I go to the media with what they have done?
Imagine how cases such as mine will look to potential international students. If I had heard of a case such as mine prior to applying to a US college, I would never have chosen the US at all, but gone to an entirely different country, such as Canada or Australia. I really feel compelled to warn students in other countries at this point — advise them against choosing a government funded public college in the US as long as it is so easy for administrators to abuse SEVIS. As it is right now, all it takes for an administrator to get rid of an international student they feel are “causing them trouble” politically is just a mouse-click away. As I have all due respect for DHS idea behind SEVIS, I wish that a lot of effort would be made from the government’s side to ensure that SEVIS is used appropriately, and that the students who lose their F-1 student visa status have indeed violated immigration rules. I wish that the DHS would look into the possibility of school using the visa status revoking method through SEVIS as a convenience-tool to rid themselves of foreign students they for one reason or another personally don’t like.
Fran says:
September 4, 2009 at 4:35 pm (UTC -5 )
I live in a rural farm community in Western New York State. Fruit Farming is out largest industry. Our farms cannot function without farm workers. White Americans do not have any interest in doing this kind of hard labor, therefore, our farmers depend on Latino, predominantly Mexican, workers to harvest the crops. Many of these workers are not here legally, yet, they are desperately needed, or the harvest could not happen. Without them here to work, all of the farms in western New York would fail. Americans would have no fruit. These workers are good people, who are here because they desperately need the work to feed their families. They just want to do their jobs, go to church, buy their food, wash their clothes, etc. while they are here. Yet, they live in fear and are constantly harassed. Immigration and Customs Enforcement SUV’s are very frequently seen patrolling the streets of our small towns, particularly the small village of Sodus, New York. The ICE vans hunt for these people as if they were prey. They are taken from parking lots, the Laundromats, and very recently, right from church steps. These ICE agents are obviously searching for Latinos. It is blatant racial profiling. Is this America? Are we really treating good people like this? If you are really listening, DHS, please let our workers do their jobs, and live in peace while they are here.
Alison DeMarree says:
September 4, 2009 at 4:51 pm (UTC -5 )
I am very concerned about the lack of trust that our community now has toward the local Sheriff’s Department and NYS police because of the extent to which they cooperate with Homeland Security in detaining “illegal” farm workers. I am also concerned that our county and state governments are encouraging this cooperation in order to fill local jails with the goal of receiving federal funds for housing these farm workers.
The local opinion is that Homeland Security does a very poor job recruiting, screening and training new hires. Picking up Latino farm workers in WNY is very easy work when you stop people because of their skin color.
Every time I read a blog commenting on a newspaper article about farm worker apprehensions that is racist, I now wonder if part of the job of a Homeland Security employee is to enter negative comments about farmers and farmworkers to try to influence public opinion.
Maybe as a part of your employee training you sould reuire your employees to work on a farm picking apples for at least two weeks.
Leslie Brinkerhoff says:
September 4, 2009 at 5:40 pm (UTC -5 )
I was born here and raised here from a family of immigrants that first arrived in 1643 without legal documents or permission. Like modern day immigrants who come without legal documents, they fled a difficult situation for a better life. Our present day strategies, like raiding homes in the wee hours of the morning for deportation to keep up our quotas for removal, are cruel, terrifying and destabilizing to our country – socially and economically. We have created an internal cold war that is tearing this country apart. As President Obama said, “There is no way we are going to remove 12 million people living here.” Our focus needs to be on the removal of those who are true criminals – dealing in drugs or gang members – rather than on hardworking families. Then let the government work out – if it will! – what should be done about the millions that we have allowed to come and establish themselves here. Allowing people to live here for years, contributing to the well-being of our country, then removing them abruptly is not justice.
Elaine Kimzey says:
September 4, 2009 at 6:57 pm (UTC -5 )
E-verify is fine if it will work accurately. I wouldn’t want innocent people caught in the middle if the system is not continuously updated and accurate.
Local police should not be enforcing immigration law, at least not as a priority, as this compromises their ability to get cooperation from the recently immigrated community. Down here in Texas, we need everyone helping with law enforcement on the streets.
We need a speedier way for people to come here legally. And a way for those who are here without papers, we need a way to allow them to come out of the shadows. And deporting parts of families just doesn’t make sense. Keep the families together.
The most heartbreaking cases are those where children have grown up here, don’t know that they are here illegally, don’t have a clue about their parents’ culture or language. They are really really caught in the middle. They absolutely should be given citizenship and allowed to get a job and/or go to college here.
Laura Villegas says:
September 4, 2009 at 7:27 pm (UTC -5 )
I am a US Citizen married to a man from Mexico. He took a voluntary departure over a year ago and returned to Mexico. During his recent Visa appointment, he was told he was ineligible due to the 3-10 year bar. After filing the 601 Waiver, we were told that I did not have enough evidence of extreme hardship in order for my husband to be allowed to return. We were told to resubmit additional evidence of extreme hardship and will receive a final decision in 15 months. Our 2 year old daughter and I are struggling emotionally and financially here in the US without my husband/her father. We have already waited 1 year and 3 months, an additional 15 months is unbearable. This process has been expensive and emotionally heartbreaking. At this point I wish we had never tried to make him legal. The immigration system is one of the most confusing and aggravating experiences in my life, I can never seem to get the same answer and his papers have been lost on numerous occasions. I don’t believe the 601 Waiver process is a fair one, considering I provided evidence for each of the suggested categories on the application. I doesn’t make sense to punish those of us who are trying to follow the law when we could have remained silent like the thousands of other undocumented immigrants here in my community. The time lost that immigration is taking to give us an answer can never be returned to us. My husband who committed no crimes in the US other than trying to better his life, will receive a 10 year ban from the Country. Statistically in the United States a person who commits a felony receives less prison time. This is not fair! This is destroying our lives! Our 2 year old daughter is now calling other men “DaDa” , because she doesn’t know her own father. There needs to be a faster process or a change in the rules! I am desperate to have my husband home!
Thanks for the opportunity to share my comments!
Laura Villegas
Luz M Morlet says:
September 4, 2009 at 8:25 pm (UTC -5 )
DHS Goals and Strategies should be aimed to bringing people out of the dark. This will benefit both, the nation and the immigrants.
How did the Pilgrims come to this wonderful country? Did they have to have a social security number to become new citizens of this country? How did Irish people come to this country? DHS and the government are not fixing the problem from the root. Raids, building walls, E-Verify, local police acting like ICE agents, etc, that won’t stop illegal immigration. This government has to be open to always receive immigrants because this is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Only the brave come to America and the government wants to reject those great people coming from all over the world that are true heroes trying to not only offer a better life for their family, but becoming model citizens, but just can’t find the way to do it. How can we ask God to bless America, if America is rejecting the Children of God?
Luz M Morlet
merle ayres says:
September 5, 2009 at 8:44 am (UTC -5 )
Good stories hard to come by.A group from my home town where I grew up took up a collection to help an immigrant get a kidney transplant. Most work in agriculture processing food for our nation. Yes we can work together. The stimulus can further help out workers. If someone is working for family its ok. If they are peddling drugs and causing mischief its not ok. Working is constructive and helping our economy. ICE is pulling people out of jobs. Families should not be broken apart if immigrants are contributing to our way of life. It takes a community to keep them here if no harm is done like the story above.
Mary Ellen Fava says:
September 5, 2009 at 10:07 am (UTC -5 )
Please stop this racial profiling in our county, Wayne County, New York. Border patrol and ICE seem to their kicks out of pure harassment of our Mexican community. We have proof, eye witness, and documentation of these acts of cruelty to human beings. Without our migrant community our farmers and produce will be destroyed. Please turn your duties of homeland security to that. Our migrants are here to help to provide for their families as well as our families. We need our migrants and we need our food harvested. They are not here to endanger our country’s security they are here because we need them and they need us . Please Stop Hurting Our Communities, we can all live in peace and help each other. Brightest Blessings, Mary Ellen Fava (Migrant Support Service) Sodus , New York
Mary Kelly says:
September 5, 2009 at 10:36 am (UTC -5 )
Law enforcement agents are going around to homes and arresting individuals who have lived in this country for many years, have never committed a crime, and are no threat to our national security. Many Latino families are now terrorized. Some law enforcement agents are not even using legal means in contacting immigrants, violating their rights. I am not proud of what Homeland Security is doing. I have seen the results of devastation in Postville, and many lives ruined. Please, let’s stop these needless arrests and work instead on positive immigration reform.
Dawn Peterson says:
September 5, 2009 at 11:03 am (UTC -5 )
These are all very good comments – but they should be placed on the Homeland Security site where the survey is – I think that is what comment 27 is trying to say.
John L. Ghertner, MD says:
September 5, 2009 at 1:41 pm (UTC -5 )
The persistent harrassment of the migrant population in Wayne County, NY at people’s homes, in their cars, in grocery stores, in business parking lots, and now at church must stop. This is a remarkable waste of resources for which our community gains nothing.
Our farmers are having difficulty finding labor at any cost. Our stores are losing valuable commerce. Our Catholic Church is unattended and losing parishioners.
It was my understanding that Janet Napolitano was stopping this, that it is the policy to not invade churches, and that our Congress had demanded that this profiling cease.
Graciela Martinez says:
September 5, 2009 at 3:03 pm (UTC -5 )
I speak on behalf of the many undocumented immigrants in my community, who are being forced to go underground because of the punitive nature of ICE’s tactics to identify, interrogate and apprehend human beings who were forced to our country for economic reasons, many of them caused by NAFTA. These are some of the best law-abiding people amongst us, who contribute so much and take back so little. ICE agents think nothing of busting down doors, terrorizing children, having their children see their parent(s) being taken off in handcuffs — sounds like actions taken in some third world countries engaged in battle. Leave the people alone and instead of terrorizing, give them a pathway to citizenship. Stop the deportations and tearing up of family units. Quit driving honest citizens to an underground world and making us citizens liable as to “aiding and abetting”, and converting otherwise decent human beings into whistleblowers against humanity. Get rid of 287g which will destroy the trust between local law enforcement and the immigrant community.
Mira C says:
September 5, 2009 at 8:59 pm (UTC -5 )
I am a leader in a faith community and I support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who are in the US. I urge the decriminalization of immigrants and the demilitarization of our borders and I ask that more visas be available for landless working people. More people do not come with authorization from the US government because there are simply no visas for which they qualify.
I believe that local law enforcement should not cooperate with ICE. In Oregon, where I live, many, many people are being released from county jails to ICE even though they are not legally permitted to do so. Our communities suffer when local law enforcement officials are not trusted by those living here. The fear and criminalization is compounded by the increased restrictions on drivers licenses.
Some of my closest friends are undocumented immigrants and I would like to see them and other neighbors of mine come out from under the shadows and live freely in this country that they now call home. They have experienced painful, frightening experiences at the hands of US border patrol agents and local law enforcement officers and I am appalled that this treatment is justified under current US law. Please recognize them as human beings with the same human rights we all have.
Pete Navarro says:
September 5, 2009 at 10:06 pm (UTC -5 )
We really need to fix the broken immigration system. The money we spend chasing and apprehending undocumented people would not be needed if there was a legitimate system in place to provide a legal workforce for the jobs that even unemployed American citizens do not want to do.
Mary Joan Reutter says:
September 5, 2009 at 11:05 pm (UTC -5 )
I am an attorney who has worked with many vulnerable people in asylum claims, family immigration and domestic violence cases. I also teach English, mainly to lower-income immigrants and refugees. As far as the immigration situation, some things can be looked at even before any new legislation. I applaud the efforts of the Office of Citizenship, which has emphasized education, outreach and acculturation. As an experienced educator, I can see the result of collaboration with stake-holders.
This kind of collaboration is necessary for other aspects of the DHS as well. Mostly, I would encourage a high-level look at enforcement strategies to be sure that problems are being attacked efficiently and more problems are not being created. For example, since the creation of the Fraud Unit, it seems that some of the most vulnerable domestic violence victims have been investigated rather than helped. Similarly, in some of the enforcement raids aimed at the undocumented which displaced efforts by DOL etc. it seems that this bettered the working conditions for neither US citizens nor others, of whatever immigration status. Please examine your strategies carefully to be sure that you are, in fact, accomplishing the stated goals. Thank you very much for your consideration of these ideas.
Chris says:
September 6, 2009 at 12:11 am (UTC -5 )
The delay in passing of any immigration reform bill – comprehensive or not – is creating more illegal immigrants. It’s the delay in processing of legal papers that caused a significant number of them anyway. Imagine receiving USCIS/INS decision to approve or deny your extension of stay more than a month after your approved duration of stay has expired – and that’s filing the petition 2-3 months before expiration of stay.
wayne Danley says:
September 6, 2009 at 8:24 am (UTC -5 )
I want to say that unless we have real immigration reform the far right will just continue to build its power base.
This enforcement only approach is making criminals out of hard working people. It is creating a fear of immigrants that is truly evil.
Callie Rabe says:
September 6, 2009 at 9:01 am (UTC -5 )
It is hard for me to find the words to express how despicable I find the Deptartment of Homeland Security and ICE to be. The raids, deportations and racial profiling of my neighbors, my friends and the agricultural workers who put food on my table is inhumane, illegal and immoral. I am ashamed to be a citizen from a country that treats people this way. You are destroying families, forcing others into abject poverty and breaking people. How would you like to have your daughter never come home one day and have no idea what happened to her? Shame on you.
merle ayres says:
September 6, 2009 at 10:43 am (UTC -5 )
Nathalie Becks Story needs to be reviewed by some lawyer who is independent of this college.
Bob Norris says:
September 6, 2009 at 2:29 pm (UTC -5 )
In Longmont Colorado in addition to businesses struggling because they have no hope of finding workers, we have many abuses by ICE agents. These abuses are magnified when local law enforcement are required to be present. As a result many in the Latino community, both documented and undocumented immigrants as well as citizens are afraid to report crime or go to our very understanding police department for help.
As an example, ICE agents went to a home and were angry that the person they were looking for was not there. They ended up arresting a permanent resident for closing the hosue door when he rentered with permission to retrieve his lunch to take to work. They charged him with interferening with a law officer.
The List of abuses is frightning long.
Carmen Roque says:
September 6, 2009 at 3:46 pm (UTC -5 )
Many members of my family, including myself, came to the U.S. from Cuba several decades ago. In the end, we are all immigrants or their descendants. It behooves us to treat others the way we wished our ancestors, and in some cases, ourselves, would be treated.
When non-U.S. citizens are taken into custody, they are detained for lengthy periods of time, even in cases when they already have removal orders, or when it can be shown that they should be released. At times people are jailed for weeks and no action is taken because files are not accessible. Detainees are often transported from jail to jail without notice. They are given erroneous or confusing information, or none at all. People who have never committed crimes or have committed very minor offenses are incarcerated for weeks or months. The policies in effect are often a waste of taxpayers’ funds and in many instances lack basic respect and appreciation for the humanity of detainees.
The current system discourages many professionals, investors and U.S. companies from pursuing immigrant and non-immigrant visas. Many professionals who can be assets to the U.S., such as engineers, are deciding to move to other countries to pursue their careers, or not to come to the U.S. They rightly believe that the current system does not offer them and their families a sense of stability or future. They feel that the system is convoluted, adversary, capricious and hostile. Our loss is a gain for other countries that have a vision of the future. Companies that could benefit from petitioning for specialized workers from abroad are foregoing becoming involved in a complex, costly, punitive process. At times, they consider it more practical to move the positions to other countries. Investors are required to invest significant sums before a determination is made on their visa applications, thus putting at risk their capital when the adjudication of their visas are subject to the whims of the adjudicating officer. The regulations and their application often discourage the creation of new businesses in the U.S. In short, we are discouraging investment and growth that would be beneficial for our country.
Local offices as well as regional centers insulate themselves from contact with the public. Once a case goes off track, it is very difficult to seek and obtain information and secure resolutions. Seeking redress within the system is cumbersome, lengthy and costly. In many ways the current system bears no relationship to real life. Although there have been improvements made, and we are thankful for them, many more are needed.
Edwin F Gearhart says:
September 6, 2009 at 7:04 pm (UTC -5 )
Those immigrants who want to be here to work are our hope for the future and have been a backbone of the agriculture work force for many, many years. The current policy is discriminatory and is hurtful to our economy and endangers our borders. The policy does not allow for the number of workers needed for agriculture in favor of more high skilled workers. When we need more money in social security and as a tax basis, we are forcing people into an underground economy that does not benefit our society as a whole. It is dangerous because it creates a situaton where human trafficking is more profitable than the kind of bureacracy that could benefit both Mexico and other central America countries. It masks and enables drug trafficking that should be a primary target. It is contributing to the bankrupting of our economy.
Patricia Lemon says:
September 7, 2009 at 7:37 am (UTC -5 )
What we really need is enough immigration workers to process visa applications–so we can have a record of who’s actually in the country and where to start looking if we need to find them.
Amanda Atwell says:
September 9, 2009 at 11:31 am (UTC -5 )
I am a American citizen who is very disapointed with our failed immigration system. These undocumented immigrants are humans, lets not forget that. I believe in the DREAM ACT and amnesty to legalize undocumented immigrants. Lets bring these people out of the shadows, let them stop living in constant fear, and help give them a chance for a real life. We are all more alike than we are different. Put yourself in their shoes. Trying to deport every undocumented immigrant is not realistic, infact it is cruel and it is not going to work. Many undocumented immigrants have been here since they were babies. All they know is America, but it seems America does not want them. Ignoring the problem will not work either. Undocumented immigrants are not bad people who want to be criminals. They can even help stimulate our economy by working, spending money here and paying taxes. There is no excuse for our broken immigration system. Please, do everything you can to enable real immigration reform.
7th Generation Iowan, Carol Barrick says:
September 9, 2009 at 6:17 pm (UTC -5 )
I urge our law makers to pass comprehensive immigration reform which reunites families of undocumented immigrant workers and to get the Dream Act passed immediately. According to immigration studies done by our three Iowa universities and by the Iowa Policy Project, immigrants are helping our small, dying Iowa towns and revitalizing our economy. Federal Allies for Immigration Reform (FAIR), a controversial immigration group, has come in to Iowa making opposing statistical claims about immigration and immigrants which are not true. The information is slanted and does not at all match up with information found by all of the studies done in our own state. Legislators, please check this out carefully. FAIR is designated hate group by well-respected Southern Poverty Law Center and yet it makes unautorized claims that hurt immigrants and our Iowa communities. Please google John Tanton (founder of FAIR), FAIR, hate groups, Iowa Policy Project, Southern Poverty Law Center, and NumbersUSA to get some mind boggling information. And then, please follow the findings that are correct and helpful to all of us in passing immigration reform that helps our economy and helps people. Thank you.
Lissette Colon says:
September 9, 2009 at 8:45 pm (UTC -5 )
Please stop separating families, children need both parents and many basic rights are being violated by raids in the “land of the free.” We can all make this happen, let’s unite regardless of our backgrounds, “La union hace la fuerza”
ED Philipps says:
September 12, 2009 at 2:50 pm (UTC -5 )
I do SVDP volunteer work in my parish. We have seen men stopped for minor vehical infractions and subsequently turned over to immigration to be shipped back to Mexico,Quatemalo or other.They are forced to leave their families Wives and children (all American citizens)Who are usually then penniless .They then have no recourse but to try to leave the US to be with their husbands. the children then leave school here to live in a country where they may not speak the language and know nothing of the customs. Is this justice?
Rev. Diane McClanahan says:
September 12, 2009 at 4:52 pm (UTC -5 )
I appreciate the opprotunity to express my sadness in the way our country of immigrants is treating our immigrant population today. We desperately need Comprehensive Immigration Reform that provides those who are here a pathway to citizenship and keeps families together. We also need to look at policies that we support that creates the kind of systemic global injustice that forces people to make the tough decision to leave their own lands just to survive.
I am glad that large workplace raids are not occuring at this time, but I am deeply distressed at the number of people who are one-by-one being taken from their homes for dentention and deportation in a way that is chillingly similar to the Gestapo style of Natzi Germany. Many of the people I know who have experienced the terror of being pulled form their homes and families after answering a knowck on their door, have been in this country for years and have made wonderful contributions to their community. They are certainly not terrorists, but are simply here to work and provide for their families. Because this practice does not get the kind of media attention that a largescale workplace raid would, the public is unaware and unable to respond.
Until we have Comprehensive Immigration Reform, please stop the harm that is caused to families and to the very soul of our nation by these inhumane practices.
DHS is Listening thru Sun 9/6/09 | Immigrations Solutions Blog says:
September 5, 2009 at 12:04 am (UTC -5 )
[...] 2009 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review process, a web-based interactive dialogue designed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to [...]