Nicole Garcia Aguilar is a trans woman who fled Honduras after surviving a violent attack and death threats. Despite being granted asylum in the U.S., ICE detained her unlawfully and placed her in solitary confinement for months. Coverage by the Associated Press and the Guardian: https://apnews.com/04032e8265fe45789a581c2e7ada3823?fbclid=IwAR0tPJ5C-00AQiQ5kl7RK4k9rWbFJKuki5lo6HuhZOkUFptXjdP29Gj-XnI https://amp.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/19/honduran-transgender-woman-nicole-garcia-aguilar-freed-us-detention?CMP=share_btn_tw&__twitter_impression=true

Berwyn is a Welcoming City that should be a safe place for all people to live and thrive. Everyone who lives in and visits our city should be free from any type of racial profiling or discrimination. We strongly condemn any practice by the City of Berwyn to encourage the police force or residents to engage in any type of racial or ethnic profiling. In our current era of criminalization of Latinx and other communities of color, we in Berwyn stand strong with our neighbors, family, and community members of color. ****ESPAÑOL**** Berwyn es una ciudad santuario que debería ser un lugar seguro para que todas las personas vivan y prosperen. Todas las personas que viven y visitan nuestra ciudad deben estar libres de cualquier tipo de discriminación o perfil racial. Condenamos cualquier práctica de la Ciudad de Berwyn para alentar a la fuerza policial o los residentes a participar en cualquier tipo de perfil racial o étnico. En nuestra era actual de la criminalización de Latinxs y otras comunidades de color, en Berwyn nos mantenemos firmes con nuestros vecinos, familiares y miembros de la comunidad de color.

Last spring, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) took comments from the public on its proposed Criminal Enterprise Database (CED), beginning on April 11 through May 11, 2019. The comments obtained through the use of the Freedom of Information Act show major discontent with CPD’s plan to implement a new gang database. Alternatively, an overwhelming number of suggestions point to the need for solutions that center investment in public education and mental health resources instead of more systems of biased surveillance and criminalization. According to a memo prepared by the campaign to Erase the Gang Database, approximately 86% of the people who submitted comments opposed the creation of any database, including the Criminal Enterprise Database. A remaining 11% of the comments opposed the CED, but appeared open to the creation of a different database and 3% supported the CED as proposed by the law enforcement agency last year. Last spring the Chicago Office of Inspector General published a partial audit of the Chicago Gang Database, confirming the information that community organizations have been highlighting for years: That it mostly targets Black and Latinx people (at 95% of the list), that it shares information with over 500 agencies, and that instead of being a tool to make communities safer, it is used to criminalize, intimidate, and denigrate Chicagoans. In response, the Chicago Police Department stated that they will only comply with a partial list of the recommendations, by creating a new gang database that is supposed to follow the guidelines but ignoring any grievances of people for the current gang database, with plans of continuing to share the inaccurate data with over 500 agencies indefinitely. Read the public comments here: http://bit.ly/CEDPublicComments Read memo here: http://bit.ly/MemoCEDPublic Find full OIG report here in English and Spanish: https://igchicago.org/2019/04/11/review-of-the-chicago-police-departments-gang-database/

Luis has lived in East Austin since he was a baby; English is his first language. After Luis’s abusive father left the family, Luis’s mother raised him and his siblings as a single-mother. Luis struggled as a teenager, but after meeting his wife Ana Marie, he fell in love and became a father to her two little girls. They built a stable and loving home, and in 2017, Luis was overjoyed to learn that his wife was pregnant and their family would grow. Last year ICE began monitoring Luis on social media and asked the Austin Police Department for help surveilling him without a warrant. Instead of following their own protocols as a Freedom City, the Austin Police Department decided to proactively collaborate with ICE and used a mental health call at a wrong address in the neighborhood to get information on Luis and his family. APD’s unethical behavior helped ICE arrest Luis and he now faces prosecution for “illegal reentry.” If found guilty, Luis could face up to 20 years in prison. Luis is part of a growing trend. Currently, more than 63% of all federal prosecutions are for immigration related charges. Many immigrants facing prosecution feel like they have no support or options, so they plead guilty. But Luis has said “I was unjustly arrested in front of my 8-month pregnant wife. She had a seizure as I was being taken, and I haven’t met my son. I want people to know what APD is doing and how they are helping ICE separate families. I am fighting because I want nothing more than to go to my home in East Austin and hold my wife and son.” Please stand with him so that he knows he is not alone. Luis is a part of our community; he should be allowed to stay in the United States to meet his son and help raise him. Sign here to demand Assistant US Attorney Grant Sparks drop all charges against him, and call on the Austin Police Department to demand they stop doing ICE’s dirty work.

After watching new sheriffs across the state reject local collaboration with ICE, Speaker Tim Moore and NC’s Republican Party want to turn sheriff deputies across the state into immigration agents. A veto by Governor Cooper may be our best and only way of preventing this anti-immigrant bill from passing. HB 370, also known as the “Show Me Your Papers” Law [1], would: - Require sheriff deputies to ask people about their immigration status regardless of criminal charge - Require sheriff deputies to report and detain individuals for ICE. Deputies would have to report the presence of undocumented people to ICE, hand them over to ICE, and comply with any ICE request accompanied by a detainer or ICE hold, which under federal law are voluntary administrative requests and are not the same as criminal judicial warrants. In the last 2 years, two people from North Carolina have died in ICE custody after being turned over by local law enforcement; this bill is literally a matter of life and death for our communities. [2] It would also dramatically increase racial profiling, detentions, deportations, and the separation of families and communities in North Carolina. Rep. Destin Hall who drafted the bill admitted he “took direction from ICE” in sponsoring it - literally working for ICE agents, not the people of the state. [3] The NC GOP wants to use this law to enlist the sheriffs of every county into Trump’s deportation force, and are retaliating against voters across the state who elected a wave of progressive sheriffs in November. They have a legislative majority, and want to use this bill to score political points. We won’t stand for this. On April 3rd the bill was approved by the House. We’re calling on Governor Roy Cooper to stand against it if it passes the Senate, using his veto to stop the bill, and we’re calling on every NC House Democrat to stand with him to sustain his veto. Sign this petition to take a stand against HB 370, to show House Republicans they don’t speak for us, and to demonstrate to Governor Cooper that he should veto this bill. #StopHB370 Coalition includes: Comunidad Colectiva CIMA (Compañeros Inmigrantes de las Montañas) El Pueblo Siembra NC ACLU NC Carolina Justice Policy Center Blueprint NC [1] Updated info & resources on HB 370: http://tiny.cc/HB370info [2] Macon Adkinson, “A Raleigh Man Died of an Apparent Suicide While in Solitary Confinement at a For-Profit Immigration Prison in Georgia” Indyweek, Jul. 13, 2018, available at: https://indyweek.com/news/archives/raleigh-man-died-apparent-suicide-solitary-confinement-for-profit-immigration-prison-georgia/; Jeremy Redmon, “ICE detainee who hanged himself had history of mental health problems,” AJC, July 11, 2017, available at: https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/ice-detainee-who-hanged-himself-had-history-mental-health-problems/MF8JWWpA8v3wefl5BjgLhO/ [3] Statement at 4:33: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triangle-sandhills/capital-tonight-interviews/2019/03/21/rep--destin-hall-on-ice-cooperation-bill#

Last week members of the coalition to Erase the Cook County Gang Database known as RGID (Regional Gang Intelligence Database) learned of the Sheriff's Office plans to destroy the database before the Cook County Board of Commissioners holds a mandatory public hearing required by the Ordinance approved last month. This expedited approval and comments by the Sheriff's Office should raise red flags to anyone that believes in transparency and processes of accountability of law enforcement. Just because the RGID is destroyed doesn’t mean the harm stops to exist and the Sheriff’s department should follow the proper steps to dismantle the database. For criminalized communities, such as in the case of people included in RGID without due process, having knowledge of which agencies accessed their information can be instrumental to defend their rights in front of agencies such as ICE, FBI, DHS, and State’s Attorney among others. Check out the new report on the Regional Gang Intelligence Database (LINK). Sign and share the petition today.

Ali Marounfa (also known as Ali Tera), was born in Niger, West Africa and has lived in the United States for the past thirty years. Ali, 58, has two teenage daughters who are US citizens. A political activist with the Moden Fa Lumana part and the past president of the Niger Association in North Carolina who has publicly denounced corruption in the governing administration, he has been held in Stewart Detention Center in Georgia since June 2017, reportedly detained at the request of the government of President Mahamadou Issoufou, who currently hosts US military bases in Niger. He is not a criminal or a terrorist. Ali has been ordered deported by April 4, 2019. In addition to cruelly separating his family to pay back a Trump foreign policy ally, Ali's family fears his deportation would result in his imprisonment and torture. According to Amnesty International, other members of Moden Fa Lumana have received prison terms for criticizing the government on social media: https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/africa/niger/report-niger/ Sen. Tillis has intervened to demand that ICE support other political activists like Liu Xia of China (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1587/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22%5C%22section+245+of+the+Immigration+and+Nationality+Act%5C%22+and+%5C%22for+the+relief+of%5C%22%22%5D%7D&r=23). He should act now to stop this politically motivated family separation.

Chicago Mayoral Candidate Lori Lightfoot has said she is a progressive, pro-immigrant candidate, and has committed to moving forward some pro-immigrant reforms. However, the presence of two Aldermen from Chicago’s most conservative Aldermen at a recent Lori Lightfoot endorsement caused the immigrant community concern. Alderman Sposato recently condemned Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city, stating that elected officials should ignore the immigrant community and work closely with ICE to deport Chicago residents. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk0WsYfQLTo Alderman Napolitano is the only Republican in City Council and held a press conference the day after the city created IDs that were inclusive of Chicago’s immigrant residents. To show that she stands with the immigrant community Candidate Lori Lightfoot should denounce these anti-immigrant stances and reject any possible endorsements.

Arlington County, Virginia is set to vote on the HQ2 bid on March 16th. Amazon HQ2 is bad news for the people of Arlington and Virginia. -HQ2 will add to increased living costs and displacement for our families -Amazon supports Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda, selling technology to ICE that enables family separation and deportations -A taxpayer-funded giveaway to the richest billionaire on the planet is theft of public money that should go to schools, housing, healthcare and benefits #ForUsNotAmazon New Yorkers already recognized the true impacts that Amazon HQ2 would have on them, and they organized and won. If enough of us come together to oppose this, we can run Amazon out of our town too. #NoAmazonInVA #ForUsNotAmazon

SUPPORT ABMS-INC WORKERS FIRED AFTER DEFENDING THEIR RIGHTS! We are calling on you to support a group of South Suburban workers fighting back against discrimination and wage theft. On February 22nd, seven strong and united Latinx workers who worked many years to keep South Holland School District 151 schools clean were unjustly terminated by Alpha Building Maintenance Services Inc. When these workers organized and defended their rights and the rights of their colleagues, they were terminated by the company. ABMS-Inc. didn’t think twice about firing these hard-working employees. Over the past five years, these workers have organized against ongoing labor abuses, including wage theft. The company has robbed workers of their salaries by missing entire pay checks, expecting them to work through their unpaid breaks, not compensating them for working at additional sites (such as Pace buses), and more. Recently, these workers were discriminated against and harassed to fill out forms long after the statutory mandate to fill one out had passed. Only Latinx workers were targeted by their employer to sign these forms. Their non-Latinx colleagues were not intimidated in this way. // APOYA A EX-TRABAJADORES DE ABMS-INC DEFENDIENDO SUS DERECHOS! El 22 de febrero, siete trabajadores Latinos fuertes y unidos que trabajaron durante muchos años para mantener limpias las escuelas del Distrito Escolar 151 de South Holland, fueron despedidos injustamente por Alpha Building Maintenance Services Inc. Cuando estos trabajadores organizaron y defendieron sus derechos y los derechos de sus colegas, fueron despedidos por la empresa. ABMS-Inc. no pensó dos veces en despedir a estos trabajadores. En los últimos cinco años, estos trabajadores se han organizado en contra de los abusos laborales, incluyendo el robo de salario. La compañía les ha robado a los trabajadores sus salarios al perder cheques completos de pago, poniéndolos a trabajar durante sus breaks no pagados, no compensándolos por trabajar en sitios adicionales (como los camiones Pace), y más. Recientemente, estos trabajadores fueron discriminados y hostigados para llenar aplicaciones del trabajo mucho después de que el mandato legal para completar uno hubiera pasado. Sólo los trabajadores Latinos fueron seleccionados por su empleador para firmar estos formularios. Sus colegas no Latinos no fueron intimidados de esta manera.

Chancellor Johnson claims that she's assisting Puerto Rico with relief efforts following Hurricane Maria yet she collected nearly $300,000 as an AES board member and owns over $2.5 million in stock. She profits while the people of Puerto Rico are being poisoned. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.timesunion.com/news/amp/SUNY-Chancellor-Johnson-resigns-from-power-13671599.php https://youtu.be/996uiE8bL-4 https://news.littlesis.org/2019/02/18/suny-chancellor-sits-on-board-of-aes-a-coal-power-company-dumping-toxic-waste-in-puerto-rico/ http://periodismoinvestigativo.com/2018/03/toxins-from-aess-ashes-are-contaminating-groundwater-in-puerto-rico/ https://www.democracynow.org/2018/3/9/toxic_coal_ash_being_dumped_in

On Tuesday, February 5, 2019, the Council narrowly approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreeing to a pay increase for officers in the Santa Ana Police Department amounting to more than $25 million over the course of three years. At that meeting, council members were implored by members of the community to reject this MOU given uncertainty over Santa Ana’s current financial health; however, the majority of the Council disregarded the public’s input and moved forward with approving the MOU. As justification for approving this agreement, members of the Council majority offered explanations that ranged from incomprehensible to downright untruthful. Mayor Pulido was characteristically dismissive of members of the public and his colleagues. Councilmember Sarmiento spoke many words without making a cogent point or offering an explanation for why he felt that such a generous pay increase is warranted at this time or a legitimate use of Measure X revenue. Councilmember Solorio assured residents that these raises will not leverage Measure X tax revenue, despite the fact that the Staff Report accompanying the agenda item specifically identified this revenue as a source of funding. And Councilmember Penaloza was primarily concerned with where Santa Ana Police Department salaries will fall when ranked against other municipalities after the pay increase, indicating he is comfortable with the mark of distinction for our police department being how highly officers are paid rather than how well they serve our community. Given the lack of thoughtful discussion and public debate on this issue, residents of Santa Ana are rightfully displeased with the outcome of your decision to approve this MOU. We are also concerned that this decision was made without the benefit of an accurate understanding of our city’s current fiscal situation. The fact that the Council recently dismissed our City Manager, whose responsibility it was to provide an objective and fact-based assessment of our finances to enable the Council to make prudent and sustainable fiscal decisions, further erodes the public’s confidence that this MOU was approved based on a comprehensive understanding of its short- and long-term impacts to Santa Ana’s finances. As Santa Ana’s elected officials, they have an obligation to act in a manner that is aligned with the needs and values of the community they serve. Execution of the MOU to increase officer pay was not consistent with their obligations to our community, but they have an opportunity to make that right. For the sake of Santa Ana’s financial health and the well-being of its residents,they should move to restore the public’s trust by rescinding the current MOU and going back to the drawing board.