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What's going on in Alabama forwarded message
#1
10-27-2011, 06:29 PM
Moderator
From Illinois/Florida
Joined in Jul 2009
2,219 posts
Hi all:
So a quick report back from folks here on the ground. Right now there are just a few of us, but several of you have said you'd be joining us soon so excited! We've been here for a full week now but it seems like forever. There is so much going on and each day is really draining.
At first when we arrived we met with a few local organizers and found out a few things. 1. Shuya from the National Immigration Forum apparently had been going around spreading not so nice things about NIYA / DA.org to local folks. So that helped burn many bridges before we even arrived. The local DREAMer group was -and might still be- totally against us. Lots of the similar parachuting in kinda bs. 2. The same local folks also told us that Alabama was different but in a 'ICE doesn't detain folks here.' Our first question to them was do you have any END cases and they affirmatively told us none exist here. That the local cops do not turn folks over to ICE and that they haven't heard of any DREAMers in deportation. We were really surprised. We spent the next day talking to local mexican stores and things in Birmingham and were told the same, ICE doesn't get involved here.
This past weekend though we ventured out of birmingham just a bit and now we can't go a day without finding a case. We have several DREAMer cases right now. One of them is a father of 37 years old. Has been living here since he was 14. The jail he was held at told the family it was a waste of money to pay the bond so instead of the 48 hour ticker the guy sat in jail for 8 days. We advised em about the limit but ICE picked up the guy yesterday just hours away from the hold expiring. We were able to work with them family to get him on the way to being bonded out and possibly fixing his status. A lot of misinformation going on here and a lack of interest from the larger groups to address it.
Another big issue is the black and brown divide. It is super big here, like big #twss. We got two warnings in our new neighborhood, namely don't walk around at night as the black folks come in and just beat up the latinos for fun. Other was to not open the door for a white womyn crying because the black folks are hiding in the bushes. Apparently last week in the evening a black dude ran over a 16 year old dreamer walking home from library and sped off, he later said he thought it was a deer. He was released on 15k bond. The black leaders here are clueless it seems, many use the term illegal (at gutierrez event) and apparently several in the legislature voted for the bill to pass.
ICE Abuse:
So in addition to the normal ice issues there is some pretty bad stuff going on here. The trailer park we live in we are told ICE shows up once a month and pretty much picks up anyone they see out and about. If they want to go into your house they knock and if you don't open they'll try to let themselves in. We have had several families tell us that they'll be in their house and ice will try to force their way in. So people here have huge ass dogs, they say it stops ICE as well as black folks from coming in. So the ICE issues here aren't even about know your rights, it goes way beyond that. Folks don't have the choice of opening their doors or not, ice will just do whatever.
There is another larger issue which pretty much goes hand in hand with the attrition model being implemented across the country. So we are somewhat finding what folks initially told us to be true. We are hearing a lot of stories, even in the rural areas, of ICE just letting folks go. Apparently they just ask for ID and then run your information. They have let folks go even with a mexican drivers license. However if you have anything pending, even a $100 parking ticket they will take you in and deport you. This is then creating a narrative in the community of 'if you are a criminal then ice will take you, otherwise you are safe.' Very dangerous as the community is buying it and pretty much blaming themselves for 'getting in trouble.'
Alabama is interesting for sure.
On the police side of things apparently a lot of corruption shit going on. A very common theme that many folks have verified for us is that cops pull you over and either get you out and search you and take money out of your wallet or they will tell you to put $120 where the camera can't see and they'll leave you alone. Apparently the sheriff in our county got jail time for corruption recently. We're trying to find a creative way of catching this on video.
We have had a few cases of families bonding out folks only to have the release order not sent to the jail for a number of days which local folks are using as an excuse to extend the 48 hour ice hold. "the hold was never placed until just now blah blah blah"
HB56 Issues:
So the ri4a type nclr group here is HICA. A lot of folks in the community dislike them, a lot. Apparently the director's husband is a lawyer and we have met several folks who were referred to him by HICA and they report not getting help and being used. But to get to the issues there are several. There is a very strong disconnect with the talking heads and the community. The talking heads are saying that the bill no longer allows for schools to check status but on the ground we are hearing story after story from everyone as young as k to 12 that other kids are bullying and demanding papers. A lot of mental abuse to kids. Pretty much everyone we have talked to has mentioned it. One 10th grader said she even talked to teachers and principle who totally ignored it. It got to the point where she just punched the other kid and told her to fuck off. Luckily she wasn't suspended or anything but in other schools we have heard kids get expelled etc. for this same kind of stuff.
Overall Alabama is the epicenter of the whole enforcement through attrition we always talk about. Yea the law may not be in effect but the purpose was never for the law to drive folks away but the sentiment around the law is doing just that, namely making life unbearable for immigrants here.
Another common theme is folks telling us they aren't as much afraid of ice and leaving because of ice but rather just the not being able to rent a house/car, register their vehicles for tags. people are worried what's gonna happen to their water service. folks that have set up companies are no longer allowed to register them. So all of this attrition stuff is in force here hardcore. We had a family tell us yesterday that a guy fell off a roof and was taken to the hospital, they denied him care because of his status. He was taken to a different hospital and is still in serious condition.
Lots of other attrition themed stories, the scary part is that it seems everyone is in the loop about this on the back-end. It seems like ICE has made an internal policy to cool down in some cases who they detain so as to give the community a false sense of hope. A lady yesterday told us the ICE officer found her prior deportation order and gave her order of supervision again. An attorney i just talked to said for the first time ever he is finding clients in Etowah county (near detention center Gadsen) being released with no bond, only order of supervision. He has never seen it before.
Very interesting dynamics at play here.
Next Steps:
Hot-line:
So pretty much we are doing a few things here on the ground. There was a hotline set-up initially with Southern Poverty Law Center with calls going through NILC i believe. The issue is that even though they have received over 3,000 calls they haven't turned any END cases over to advocates. We connected with a few organizers who shared that frustration with us. So instead of depending on them we have started a new hotline that is managed by our folks specifically to find cases of folks in deportation. The hotline # is 512-NOMIGRA (666-4472).
We need volunteers to take these calls. Right now the calls are routed to Santiago and Isabel, however we only started promoting this two days ago so soon we'll need a lot more help.
Text system:
We are going to work with several trailer park communities to set up a defense system with a text message type service so they can warn each other about ice and other police abuses. We are going to test this out with the park we live in first, many parents are willing to organize and work with us on stuff so this will be a good one. They feel very defenseless and really big dogs are all they have now. A few families have even said they would video tape ICE when they show up. So folks are down to fight back.
Free Legal Support:
We have reached out to numerous attorneys around the country to get free legal advice. Pretty much many folks here are down to pay for a local attorney however they are getting the run around or charged a lot for consultations. What we've been doing has been outsourcing the calls to about 7 - 10 attorneys who then talk to the folks and tell them what they can expect from a local attorney. It helps us build trust with the community while at the same time getting them good advice and helping them direct their local attorney.
If you know of an attorney who would be down to do this please let me know, we pretty much need all the help we can get right now.
Workshops:
We are going to do a series of workshops for both youth and adults. The theme of these is along the same lines as the above points, but also to start teaching the local communities some of the other tools we all use so that they can start doing them themselves. Were going to work with them on how to do END cases. Felipe is going to help a lot on the mental health front and we hope to incorporate some race/identity stuff into it as well. Pretty much the bottom line would be to pass on tools instead of centralizing them.
End:
This is just a small part of what we've been exposed to and it has only been a week. If folks want to come down and help we could use it, pretty much we are going trailer park to trailer park. We have a trailer rented for $350 a month now and can stay as long as folks are interested in contributing. Right now the goal is to be here until near the end of November.
Will send another note as soon as we get some other stuff. Our first workshop / training is tonight so wish us luck! We are also going to put up a huge undoc and unafraid banner on our trailer so if we die in the middle of the night file those U visas!
<3
Mo
--
Mohammad Abdollahi
Co-founder DreamActivist.org
Youth & Online Organizer | Manager
http://twitter.com/DREAMAct
http://causes.com/DREAMAct
So a quick report back from folks here on the ground. Right now there are just a few of us, but several of you have said you'd be joining us soon so excited! We've been here for a full week now but it seems like forever. There is so much going on and each day is really draining.
At first when we arrived we met with a few local organizers and found out a few things. 1. Shuya from the National Immigration Forum apparently had been going around spreading not so nice things about NIYA / DA.org to local folks. So that helped burn many bridges before we even arrived. The local DREAMer group was -and might still be- totally against us. Lots of the similar parachuting in kinda bs. 2. The same local folks also told us that Alabama was different but in a 'ICE doesn't detain folks here.' Our first question to them was do you have any END cases and they affirmatively told us none exist here. That the local cops do not turn folks over to ICE and that they haven't heard of any DREAMers in deportation. We were really surprised. We spent the next day talking to local mexican stores and things in Birmingham and were told the same, ICE doesn't get involved here.
This past weekend though we ventured out of birmingham just a bit and now we can't go a day without finding a case. We have several DREAMer cases right now. One of them is a father of 37 years old. Has been living here since he was 14. The jail he was held at told the family it was a waste of money to pay the bond so instead of the 48 hour ticker the guy sat in jail for 8 days. We advised em about the limit but ICE picked up the guy yesterday just hours away from the hold expiring. We were able to work with them family to get him on the way to being bonded out and possibly fixing his status. A lot of misinformation going on here and a lack of interest from the larger groups to address it.
Another big issue is the black and brown divide. It is super big here, like big #twss. We got two warnings in our new neighborhood, namely don't walk around at night as the black folks come in and just beat up the latinos for fun. Other was to not open the door for a white womyn crying because the black folks are hiding in the bushes. Apparently last week in the evening a black dude ran over a 16 year old dreamer walking home from library and sped off, he later said he thought it was a deer. He was released on 15k bond. The black leaders here are clueless it seems, many use the term illegal (at gutierrez event) and apparently several in the legislature voted for the bill to pass.
ICE Abuse:
So in addition to the normal ice issues there is some pretty bad stuff going on here. The trailer park we live in we are told ICE shows up once a month and pretty much picks up anyone they see out and about. If they want to go into your house they knock and if you don't open they'll try to let themselves in. We have had several families tell us that they'll be in their house and ice will try to force their way in. So people here have huge ass dogs, they say it stops ICE as well as black folks from coming in. So the ICE issues here aren't even about know your rights, it goes way beyond that. Folks don't have the choice of opening their doors or not, ice will just do whatever.
There is another larger issue which pretty much goes hand in hand with the attrition model being implemented across the country. So we are somewhat finding what folks initially told us to be true. We are hearing a lot of stories, even in the rural areas, of ICE just letting folks go. Apparently they just ask for ID and then run your information. They have let folks go even with a mexican drivers license. However if you have anything pending, even a $100 parking ticket they will take you in and deport you. This is then creating a narrative in the community of 'if you are a criminal then ice will take you, otherwise you are safe.' Very dangerous as the community is buying it and pretty much blaming themselves for 'getting in trouble.'
Alabama is interesting for sure.
On the police side of things apparently a lot of corruption shit going on. A very common theme that many folks have verified for us is that cops pull you over and either get you out and search you and take money out of your wallet or they will tell you to put $120 where the camera can't see and they'll leave you alone. Apparently the sheriff in our county got jail time for corruption recently. We're trying to find a creative way of catching this on video.
We have had a few cases of families bonding out folks only to have the release order not sent to the jail for a number of days which local folks are using as an excuse to extend the 48 hour ice hold. "the hold was never placed until just now blah blah blah"
HB56 Issues:
So the ri4a type nclr group here is HICA. A lot of folks in the community dislike them, a lot. Apparently the director's husband is a lawyer and we have met several folks who were referred to him by HICA and they report not getting help and being used. But to get to the issues there are several. There is a very strong disconnect with the talking heads and the community. The talking heads are saying that the bill no longer allows for schools to check status but on the ground we are hearing story after story from everyone as young as k to 12 that other kids are bullying and demanding papers. A lot of mental abuse to kids. Pretty much everyone we have talked to has mentioned it. One 10th grader said she even talked to teachers and principle who totally ignored it. It got to the point where she just punched the other kid and told her to fuck off. Luckily she wasn't suspended or anything but in other schools we have heard kids get expelled etc. for this same kind of stuff.
Overall Alabama is the epicenter of the whole enforcement through attrition we always talk about. Yea the law may not be in effect but the purpose was never for the law to drive folks away but the sentiment around the law is doing just that, namely making life unbearable for immigrants here.
Another common theme is folks telling us they aren't as much afraid of ice and leaving because of ice but rather just the not being able to rent a house/car, register their vehicles for tags. people are worried what's gonna happen to their water service. folks that have set up companies are no longer allowed to register them. So all of this attrition stuff is in force here hardcore. We had a family tell us yesterday that a guy fell off a roof and was taken to the hospital, they denied him care because of his status. He was taken to a different hospital and is still in serious condition.
Lots of other attrition themed stories, the scary part is that it seems everyone is in the loop about this on the back-end. It seems like ICE has made an internal policy to cool down in some cases who they detain so as to give the community a false sense of hope. A lady yesterday told us the ICE officer found her prior deportation order and gave her order of supervision again. An attorney i just talked to said for the first time ever he is finding clients in Etowah county (near detention center Gadsen) being released with no bond, only order of supervision. He has never seen it before.
Very interesting dynamics at play here.
Next Steps:
Hot-line:
So pretty much we are doing a few things here on the ground. There was a hotline set-up initially with Southern Poverty Law Center with calls going through NILC i believe. The issue is that even though they have received over 3,000 calls they haven't turned any END cases over to advocates. We connected with a few organizers who shared that frustration with us. So instead of depending on them we have started a new hotline that is managed by our folks specifically to find cases of folks in deportation. The hotline # is 512-NOMIGRA (666-4472).
We need volunteers to take these calls. Right now the calls are routed to Santiago and Isabel, however we only started promoting this two days ago so soon we'll need a lot more help.
Text system:
We are going to work with several trailer park communities to set up a defense system with a text message type service so they can warn each other about ice and other police abuses. We are going to test this out with the park we live in first, many parents are willing to organize and work with us on stuff so this will be a good one. They feel very defenseless and really big dogs are all they have now. A few families have even said they would video tape ICE when they show up. So folks are down to fight back.
Free Legal Support:
We have reached out to numerous attorneys around the country to get free legal advice. Pretty much many folks here are down to pay for a local attorney however they are getting the run around or charged a lot for consultations. What we've been doing has been outsourcing the calls to about 7 - 10 attorneys who then talk to the folks and tell them what they can expect from a local attorney. It helps us build trust with the community while at the same time getting them good advice and helping them direct their local attorney.
If you know of an attorney who would be down to do this please let me know, we pretty much need all the help we can get right now.
Workshops:
We are going to do a series of workshops for both youth and adults. The theme of these is along the same lines as the above points, but also to start teaching the local communities some of the other tools we all use so that they can start doing them themselves. Were going to work with them on how to do END cases. Felipe is going to help a lot on the mental health front and we hope to incorporate some race/identity stuff into it as well. Pretty much the bottom line would be to pass on tools instead of centralizing them.
End:
This is just a small part of what we've been exposed to and it has only been a week. If folks want to come down and help we could use it, pretty much we are going trailer park to trailer park. We have a trailer rented for $350 a month now and can stay as long as folks are interested in contributing. Right now the goal is to be here until near the end of November.
Will send another note as soon as we get some other stuff. Our first workshop / training is tonight so wish us luck! We are also going to put up a huge undoc and unafraid banner on our trailer so if we die in the middle of the night file those U visas!
<3
Mo
--
Mohammad Abdollahi
Co-founder DreamActivist.org
Youth & Online Organizer | Manager
http://twitter.com/DREAMAct
http://causes.com/DREAMAct
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