National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
310 8th St. Suite 303 * Oakland, CA 94607 * (510)465-1984 * (510)465-1885 fax* www.nnirr.org

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Releases Scathing Report
On the Consequences for Immigrant and Refugee Communities
Of Placing Immigration Enforcement and Services in the DHS

NNIRR's report shows that abusive and discriminatory immigration enforcement has become even more entrenched, seriously jeopardizing community safety and compromising access to services

(Oakland, CA - Sept. 5, 2003) - The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) today announced the release of a new national report on the impacts and consequences for the immigrant and refugee communities of placing immigration enforcement and services under the Department of Homeland Security. (See Report Executive Summary below of Human Rights & Human Security at Risk.) [PLEASE EMAIL agarcia@nnirr.org for full copy via email. also available soon at: www.nnirr.org.]

NNIRR's report, Human Rights & Human Security At Risk: The Consequences of Placing Immigration Enforcement and Services in the Department of Homeland Security, demonstrates that since placing immigration enforcement and services within the DHS just six months ago, abusive and discriminatory immigration enforcement has become even more entrenched, seriously jeopardizing community safety and compromising access to services. Immigration policies and practices that have been prone to abuse and human rights violations may now be even more difficult to reform or to establish government accountability within a structure that cements immigration policies to a war against terrorism.

Combined with new multi-agency and immigration police collaboration, patterns of human rights abuses that pre-dated the September 11 terrorist attacks continue unabated and are worsening. The NNIRR report shows that:

• The pattern of separation and devastation of immigrant families and communities growing at an alarming rate, affecting an even broader range of diverse communities through an escalation in raids, detentions and deportations;
• Accessing immigration and public services and options for legalizing immigration status continue to dramatically decrease while the policy and resource emphasis on immigration restrictions and enforcement continue increasing significantly.
• The militarization of U.S. borders and the criminalization of border communities have further escalated, contributing to a record number of migrant deaths and human rights violations. This emphasis on border enforcement has also fueled patterns of hate violence and vigilante actions that terrorize immigrant and refugee communities in border and non-border areas.
• Border-type immigration policing has become more prevalent in the interior of the U.S., contributing to the criminalization of particular immigrant communities and an over-reliance on incarceration.
• DHS enforcement power could grow exponentially with federal pressure to engage local and state police agencies in immigration enforcement  a practice that would seriously undermine public safety.

While illegal raids, detentions and deportations and immigration-police collaboration have long been a source of concern, linking immigration enforcement and services to efforts addressing national security and anti-terrorism in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks have exacerbated an already troubling pattern of abuse based on race, religion, and national origin.

"Immigration enforcement under the guise of national security undermines public safety and destabilizes immigrant communities," said Heba Nimr, a co-author of Human Rights & Human Security at Risk. "The DHS and its immigration enforcement and services agencies must be accountable to impacted communities. Community-based monitoring and oversight of immigration enforcement is indispensable to end the abuses."

The co-authors and representatives of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights are available for interviews to discuss the policy implications of the report, Human Rights & Human Security At Risk, and present its recommendations calling for the safeguarding of the civil rights of all communities, an end to racial profiling, and the inclusion of immigrant communities in monitoring and oversight of immigration enforcement and services.

What: Interviews with the Press by appointment, in person or by telephone with contacts.

When: Starting Friday, September 5, 2003

Where: In person or via telephone

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
310 8th Street Suite 303, Oakland, California 94607

Who: Heba Nimr, co-author of report, Soros Justice Fellow, La Raza Centro Legal, San Francisco

Catherine Tactaquin, editor and co-author, NNIRR Executive Director

Arnoldo Garcia, editor and co-author, NNIRR Enforcement and Justice Project coordinator

NNIRR National Board Members and representatives of community organizations (see partial list below) in Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and other states are available for press interviews and comments.

Why: NNIRR Report criticizes placing immigration enforcement and services under the Department of Homeland Security and linking immigration to national security and anti-terrorism policies undermines the safety and rights of immigrant and refugee communities.

Additional Contacts

Sung E Bai, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities: (718) 220-7391 ext 22, New York, NY
Sara Campos, National Immigration Law Center: (510) 663-8282, ext. 304; Oakland, CA
Eduardo Canales, Mountain West Regional Council, United Brotherhood of Carpenters: (303) 944-0072, Denver, CO
Isabel Garcia, CDH co-chair, or Kat Rodrmguez, Coalicisn de Derechos Humanos: (520) 770-1373, Tucson, AZ
Marma Jimenez, former director of Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project: (713) 923-8132 or (713) 923-9473, Houston, TX
Monami Maulik, DRUM: Desis Rising Up & Moving: (718) 205-3036, New York
Greg Simons, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of L.A. (CHIRLA): (213) 353-3919, Los Angeles
Aarti Shahani, Organizer, Families for Freedom, (212) 898-4121; New York.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Human Rights & Human Security at Risk

Human Rights & Human Security At Risk demonstrates that since immigration enforcement and services were placed within the new Department of Homeland Security just six months ago, abusive and discriminatory immigration enforcement has become even more entrenched, seriously jeopardizing community safety and compromising access to services. Immigration policies and practices that have been prone to abuse and human rights violations may now be even more difficult to reform or to establish government accountability within a structure that cements immigration policies to a war against terrorism. Immigrant communities, families and neighborhoods will likely find little or no relief from the mounting discrimination and abuse as a result of these profound changes, as DHS consolidates the management and jurisdiction of immigration matters.

The inclusion of immigration functions within the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded and deepened U.S. government policing and incarceration powers, accelerating a dangerous trend begun more than thirty years ago. Moreover, budget priorities are being skewed away from meeting human needs and towards policing and incarceration. In effect, there will be little "human security," including human rights, economic security, civil liberties, labor protections, health, safety and freedom from fear, for diverse immigrant communities --for those that had been the targets of restrictive immigration policies prior to September 11 and for those that have been the particular focus of national security and anti-terrorist policies.

As the Department of Homeland Security consolidates its jurisdiction in most immigration matters, Human Rights & Human Security At Risk finds that:

1. Families and communities continue to be separated and devastated by stepped up immigration policing, detentions, and deportations.

2. Access to immigration and public services, and options for legalizing immigration status, are dramatically decreasing.

3. Escalating militarization of U.S. borders and the criminalization of border communities cause more migrant deaths and human rights violations.

4. Military-style policing and criminalization of immigrant communities are expanding in the U.S. interior.

5. Government targeting of border and immigrant communities fuels hate and vigilante attacks against those same communities.

6. Federal pressure on local law enforcement to become enforcers of immigration law is exponentially widening the net of DHS' enforcement power, undermining public safety.

7. The U.S.'s over-reliance on incarceration continues to grow.

8. The scope of the United States' police powers in controlling migrants is extending beyond its physical borders, engaging other governments in U.S.-style policing, enforcement and detention that violate the human rights of migrants.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

The report's findings suggest that policymakers need to fundamentally shift policies away from criminalizing immigrants, de-link immigration policy from national security measures, and commit to upholding human rights and providing for human needs. In particular, the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights recommends that:

• Policymakers at all levels should recognize that racial, religious and national origin profiling takes many forms and should adopt policies that eliminate all such targeting of immigrant communities and communities of color.
• Secret arrests, detentions, or hearings must end, and the conditions of arrests, detention and access to legal processes and Constitutionally guaranteed rights must meet standards articulated in international human rights treaties and documents.
• The DHS should immediately cease detaining and deporting refugees, asylees and stateless persons.
• Congress should legislate routine programs of legalization that expand access to visas and permanent residency for current and future migrants.
• Local and state officials should reaffirm their refusal to ask about immigration status when providing public services, and widely publicize this policy to immigrant communities and the federal government.
• Policymakers must include the need for "human security" and human rights as a guiding principle in developing immigration policies and laws and setting budget priorities and allocations.
• Policymakers should cease promoting more border enforcement as an "alternative" to other immigration enforcement initiatives, and end all enforcement policies, practices, measures, strategies and laws that criminalize migrants and force them into dangerous crossing areas.
• DHS should enhance the safety of border communities and protect migrants by demilitarizing the borders, including tearing down the walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, and establishing accountability mechanisms for independent civilian and community-based monitoring and oversight.
• Government officials should clearly and publicly declare their opposition to private vigilante groups and the hateful acts they perpetrate, and prosecute any criminal activity against immigrants and others.
• Congress should create an independent monitoring and accountability mechanism that directly engages impacted communities in holding DHS accountable for its immigration enforcement and detention policies and initiatives.
• DHS and all law enforcement agencies should cease conducting sweeping surveillance, investigation and apprehension initiatives.
• Congress should forbid the entry of names into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) of people currently wanted solely for civil immigration law violations.
• Congress should abolish all incarceration of immigration law violators, except where there is a particularized finding of a high risk to public safety.
• Congress should pass legislation affirming dozens of years of legal interpretation that state and local police are forbidden from enforcing civil immigration laws.
• Local governments should pass resolutions or ordinances specifying their non-cooperation in immigration law enforcement.
• Policymakers at all levels should end all policies that unfairly punish and criminalize migrants for civil violations.
• Rather than collaborate with other countries to target migrants for arrest and detention, the federal government should cooperate with neighboring nations to implement economic policies that effectively resolve problems of unsustainable economic development, forced displacement and migration.
• Congress should make the United States a true partner in international cooperation by ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

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