Local ICE Raid Raises Humanitarian

[Used to be broken 147]

Local ICE Raid Raises Humanitarian and Civil Rights Violation Concerns

*The raids are still going on, for those who contend otherwise, there is also a "theme" to the raids, workers who complain and try to organize or tenants who try to get decent living conditions.. simply call the government to clean up.. and then get new workers and new tenants.

TIRRC and ACLU-TN Denounce Government Action and Management Response to Tenants

For Immediate Release

October 28, 2010

CONTACT

David Morales, TIRRC, 615-833-0384 x 201, 615-775-1069 cell, david@tnimmigrant.org

Hedy Weinberg, ACLU-TN Executive Director, 615-320-7142, hedy@aclu-tn.org

NASHVILLE—The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN) today held a joint press conference condemning the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at the Clairmont Apartments off of Murfreesboro Pike. At the time of the raid, the apartment complex was already under investigation for deplorable living conditions and the raid raised numerous additional humanitarian and civil rights violation concerns.

Residents reported that ICE conducted the October 20 raid in the manner of a SWAT team, breaking doors and windows to force their way into apartments. They shouted racial epithets at women and children, interrogated a 13-year-old child, and detained an elder diabetic. No warrants were ever presented, and to advocates’ knowledge no criminal charges have been filed against any of the detainees.

“Our nation has the authority to control its borders and to regulate immigration, but the power to deport people must be exercised fairly and humanely. The constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection apply to all persons in this country – citizens and non-citizens alike,” said Hedy Weinberg, ACLU-TN Executive Director. “The Fourth Amendment prohibits warrantless intrusions into private homes, even the homes of undocumented immigrants. In the absence of a judicially-authorized warrant, there must be voluntary and knowing consent. ICE officers forcing themselves inside homes does not constitute consent.”

The ICE raid followed a long period of neglect and deterioration in the living conditions at the complex, which have worsened markedly since Tritex Realty Advisors purchased the property in July, Greystar Real Estate Partners assumed management responsibilities, and Crime Suppression Services took charge of armed surveillance.

Management has routinely ignored tenants’ complaints about chronic maintenance problems, water leaks, lack of essential services, mold problems and widespread pest infestation. Several buildings have had limited or no water supply and no heat for months. Three weeks ago, Greystar abandoned the onsite management office, posting a sign to call a number that, when dialed, rang inside the empty office. Calls placed weeks ago remain unreturned.

“Government actions such as raids that make life miserable for immigrants will not fix the problems with our broken immigration system. They only create more problems for society such as the public health concerns at Clairmont Apartments, where people are afraid to report appalling living conditions for fear of retaliation,” said Stephen Fotopulos, TIRRC Executive Director. “We need to decide which America we want to live in—one that makes life intolerable for millions of people who live here, or one that brings immigrants out of the shadows and enables them to be taxpaying, contributing citizens.”

ACLU-TN has developed an Immigrant Resource Center in English and Spanish that provides information to help people better understand the justice system and the safeguards it offers to ensure fair treatment. Resources cover obtaining visas in cases of abuse or human trafficking, encounters with law enforcement, the detention system, safety planning and raids. The Resource Center can be found at http://www.aclu-tn.org/immigrantresourcecenter.htm

TIRRC’s Know Your Rights and Raid Toolkits can be found at http://www.tnimmigrant.org/community-resources/2009/6/26/toolkits.html

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TIRRC is a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to empower immigrants and refugees throughout Tennessee to develop a unified voice, defend their rights, and create an atmosphere in which they are recognized as positive contributors to the state. Since its founding in 2001, TIRRC has worked to develop immigrant leadership, build the capacity of its immigrant-led member organizations, help immigrant community members understand and engage in the civic process, and educate the public about policies that would better promote integration of new immigrants and facilitate their full participation in US society. In just a few years TIRRC has grown from a grassroots network of community leaders into one of the most diverse and effective coalitions of its kind, a model for emerging immigrant rights organizations in the Southeast and throughout the United States.

ACLU-TN is making Tennessee more open and forward-looking. We are a watchdog against government abuse of rights, fighting for fairness in our laws & their enforcement through public education, advocacy, legislative lobbying and litigation.

[Danno 1,228]

Local ICE Raid Raises Humanitarian and Civil Rights Violation Concerns

While all people have "human Rights".......... "Civil Rights" are reserved for citizens.

And in the second place..... "You can't make a cake without breaking a few eggs".

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civ·il rights

plural noun

Definition:

basic rights: rights that all citizens of a society are supposed to have, e.g. the right to vote or to receive fair treatment from the law. These rights as conceived in U.S. law are set forth in the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and in some congressional acts.

[peejay 327]

Illegal aliens that jump over our border fences, hire criminal cartels to smuggle them into the USA, or lie to US embassy personnel in order to get visas to illegally immigrate should not be rewarded with permanent residency and a pathway to citizenship through yet another illegal alien amnesty. Seven previous amnesties are 7 too many. Why go for #8? It just encourages more illegal immigration by rewarding it.

After arriving here illegally or overstaying their visas, illegal aliens break other laws by committing fraud by buying counterfeit or stolen documents. They commit perjury by lying on I-9's claiming to to be US citizens or legal residents and stating they are authorized to work legally. This gets the sleazy employers off the hook and sets up the very thing that the O/P is whining about.

Yet the so called "immigrant" (illegal alien) activists fight tooth and nail to squash mandatory E-Verify and Social Security no-match enforcement that would hold these sleazy employers accountable along with the illegal alien. They whine that illegal aliens should be rewarded with amnesty for breaking all the laws listed above instead of fixing this corrupt system. These illegal aliens do it to themselves and are a major contributor to this problem. They should not be rewarded with amnesty. Yet amnesty is the main component of the Left's misnamed 'comprehensive immigration reform".

The fact is that until E-Verify is mandatory along with enforcement of Social Security no-match that allows multiple illegal aliens to illegally work with bogus or stolen Social Security numbers, employers will not be held accountable. When the illegal alien submits fake or stolen documents the employers are off the hook.

Until the corrupt cheap labor and cheap votes politicians are outed and thrown out of office on their arses I see no solution to this sleazy situation. Certainly rewarding illegal aliens is not a solution either. They are as guilty as the sleazy employers.

Investing in immigration and work authorization enforcement infrastructure along with actually enforcing the laws making both sleazy employers and illegal aliens accountable will turn the tide.

Anything else is just a continuation of this disgusting corruption. To think that America has degenerated to this low is troubling.

[Pooky 3,784]

I have little sympathy for the illegal aliens caught in the ICE raid.

I have none for the slum landlords profiteering from their desperation.

And I have utter contempt for the administration (no partisan rhetoric please - both sides in Washington deserve contempt allowing this state of affairs to continue) who persist in dealing with one and not the other.