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Press Contact:
Mackenzie Baris, Washington, DC. 202.213.6476
Lucero Beebe-Giudice, Arlington,VA. 571-572-6882
Angela Chan, San Francisco, CA. 415.848.7719 / angelac@asianlawcaucus.org
Jazmin Segura, San Clara County, CA. 408.453.3003 ext.102
| Thursday, October 28, 2010
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The following statement is from rights groups in Washington, DC. Arlington, VA. Santa Clara, CA. and San Francisco, CA in support of the emergency injunction filed today in NDLON vs. ICE requesting all documents concerning opt-out procedures in Immigration and Customs Enforcement's controversial "Secure Communities" program:
We are four municipalities that have formally requested to opt-out of the federal immigration enforcement, "Secure Communities" (i.e., "S-Comm") program. We did so after participating in town hall meetings, debate, testimony, research, and democratic processes that culminated with representatives in Washington DC, Santa Clara, California, Arlington, Virginia, and San Francisco clearly voting to opt-out of sharing information with ICE. We did so because we believe in preserving public safety for everyone in our diverse cities, and also because we reject a program that disguises a record number of deportations (392,862) as a safety initiative rather than a humanitarian and moral crisis.
To be clear, our counties never "opted-in" to this dangerous ICE program in the first place. This program, which has been shrouded in secrecy, was imposed on our counties without the input of our local government, communities, local law enforcement and in the case of San Francisco against their explicit written requests. Now that Washington DC has formally opted out, we ask that ICE immediately and without further delay let our counties and any other counties requesting to do so out of S-Comm.
We are committed to moving ahead with the opt out process despite ICE now contradicting itself and claiming the program is compulsory. We support CCR, NDLON, and Cordozo Law School going to court today to demand release of what ICE has refused to divulge. The emergency injunction filed today does what should be automatic in any democracy, it seeks to make public information on S-Comm and our ability to opt-out by stopping the sharing of any fingerprints by these jurisdictions with ICE.. This necessary injunction comes at the beginnings of negotiations with ICE and local jurisdictions scheduled for Nov. 5th to Nov. 9th.
Democracies do not govern in secret. Open the record and uncover the truth now. For more information, visit www.uncoverthetruth.org.
Signed,
Arlington Coalition Against "Secure Communities" (S-Comm) Program
Asian Law Caucus
Asian Law Alliance
Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center
Causa Justa :: Just Cause (CJJC)
Center for Employment Training- San Jose
Central American Resource Center
Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA)
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto
Communities United Against Violence (CUAV)
DC Jobs with Justice
Empower DC
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Instituto Familiar de la Raza, Inc.
La Raza Centro Legal
National Lawyers Guild, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Plymouth Congregational UCC Board of Social Action
Sacred Heart Community Services
San Francisco Day Labor Program
Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network
Silicon Valley Alliance for Immigration Reform
Silicon Valley DeBug
Somos Mayfair
Steering Committee for Immigration Reform, JFI San Jose
Tenants and Workers United
Young Workers United
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ASIAN LAW CAUCUS (ALC) - The mission of the Asian Law Caucus is to promote, advance, and represent the legal and civil rights of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Recognizing that social, economic, political and racial inequalities continue to exist in the United States, the Asian Law Caucus is committed to the pursuit of equality and justice for all sectors of our society with a specific focus directed toward addressing the needs of low-income and Asian and Pacific Islanders. Visit: asianlawcaucus.org
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