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Panel of Local Experts Drills Down on Current Immigration Issues

Panel offers deatailed information and practical advice for local residents fearing deportation

Published on Friday, March 10, 2017 | 6:24 am
 

A panel of immigration law experts and activists Wednesday evening painted an anxiety-filled picture of life for local undocumented immigrants under the current presidential administration, then dispensed practical advice for residents who may be fearing deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The discussion, “The Right to Remain,” part of the YWCA Southern California Pasadena-Foothill Chapter “Talking the Talk” series, reviewed the current immigration policies of the federal government, as well as personal actions one might take “against harmful policies.”

As if to hammer the point home, The YWCA distributed “emergency packets” for undocumented workers with children who are U.S. citizens.

Prison Education Project Coordinator Ernst Fenelon, Jr. moderated the presentation at Longfellow Elementary School, which featured immigration attorney Nora Phillips, attorney Tarek Shawky, All Saints Church Senior Associate for Peace & Justice Juliana Serrano and Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).

“Immigration law is the most complicated thing, on so many levels,” said Phillips, “It is extremely complicated, with policies that make no sense, and sometimes contradict each other.”

Phillips gave the overview of the current immigration picture in America, explaining to the audience that “only specialized immigration attorneys can give you the legal advice you need, not real estate attorneys, not paralegals, not legal assistants, and not ‘notarios.’”

Giving several examples of unusual and varied circumstances in which a client’s citizenship status was either misunderstood or misinterpreted, Phillip stressed the need for the undocumented to seek the advice of an attorney specializing in their specific type of immigration case, as there are many.

Phillips also explained that there are a number of low-cost non-profits in Southern California now available and certified to give immigration advice.

Speaking to the city’s current ongoing “Sanctuary City” discussion, Juliana Serrano stressed to the group that, officially, “Pasadena is not a sanctuary city,” despite recent statements from City Hall explaining the City’s oft-declared position that Pasadena Police refuse to assist immigration enforcement efforts.

“The City should officially declare it, and make laws toward it,” she said, firmly. “The City needs to enact a policy to ensure that Pasadena police never works with ICE.”

She also said the City currently has no agreement in place to assist ICE in local operations, as the most recent Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Homeland Security was not approved by City Manager Steve Mermell, who is granted the power by the City Charter to authorize City contracts.

(The Memorandum of Understanding was originally signed by Chief of Police Phillip Sanchez late last year; ICE officials have told Pasadena Now that as far as the federal government is concerned, the agreement is in fact in place and binding.)

Serrano said pointedly, in response to a question from Fenelon, that the idea of only “serious criminals” being deported was one of “vocabulary,” asking, “Who is defining what that term means?”

“Deportation should not be the method of punishment,” Serrano continued, asking, “What is solved, what is helped by deportation, which could return ‘bad guys’ to their home countries to do more bad behavior? What if we instead had a criminal justice system that worked, that actually rehabilitated people so that they would not re-offend?”

Phillips also pointed out that many recent deportations are being made for years-old DUI convictions or marijuana use. She reminded the audience that one can be deported without having committed a crime, for simply being in the country illegally.

According to Serrano, the Pasadena City Council will take up the discussion of a “bias-free policing policy” at its March 20 meeting.

CHIRLA’s Salas, herself a Mexican immigrant described her own history, telling the story of how her mother, a worker in a factory on Colorado Boulevard, was deported when Angelica was 11.

“I just want to let you know that deportation is devastating for families,” she said, “and many families are living this, and have been living this, since (the U.S.) has refused to fix our immigration laws, and what we are dealing with today is the result of the lack of courage by elected officials whose responsibility is to make laws that are just and humane, and actually uphold the Constitution and the civil rights of all involved.”

Salas then detailed the current Department of Homeland Security executive orders now in effect, explaining the first one, issued soon after the change in administration, “targets everyone who is undocumented regardless of any criminal record, and punishes cities which do not cooperate.”

The second, she said, is the order to build a wall along the Southern border with Mexico, and to increase the strength of Border Patrol officers.

The third is what she referred to as the “Muslim Ban,” which she described as “clearly discriminatory,” since she sees it as singling out a “group of people purely on the basis of religion.”

“But,” explained Salas, “Don’t be fooled by all these complicated executive orders and the horribleness that come with them. What (the administration) wants to change is the legal migration system so that people like myself cannot become a citizen. I was undocumented, and now I am a US citizen. And that is what is at stake. So, let’s be clear about what is happening right now.”

Fenelon then proffered the question, “What can the undocumented do now, to avoid problems and perhaps avoid deportation?”

“We need to move from fear to action,” Salas told the group, as she explained, “Learn your rights, know your legal situation, and if you have a green card status, become a US citizen as soon as possible. Then use that citizenship to contact your politicians about immigration reform.”

Attorney Shawky then offered simple, practical information for those who are pulled over by police or detained by immigration agents.

“Your most important right is the right to remain silent,” he said. “Don’t make a fuss or argue. Be calm. Be cool. Be polite.”

“Being silent is probably your most important right of all,” repeated Shawky. “No one can force you to speak.”

Following a video which explained in detail the rights of those detained, the panel took specific questions from the group on their own personal situations.

Members of the audience then left the presentation with a “rights card,” a wallet-sized card to be presented to police or immigration agents, which began, “I am giving you this card, because I do not wish to speak with you or have any further contact with you. I choose to exercise my constitutional right to remain silent and refuse to answer your questions…”

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