The term “illegal immigrant” (1930s- ) means an undocumented immigrant, one without papers to stay in the country. The older term was “illegal alien”, common in English in the 1970s and 1980s, rare in American news stories since 2003.
An illegal immigrant can mean someone who:
- crossed the border illegally,
- overstayed a student or tourist visa,
- was brought to the country as a child,
- is waiting for a green card,
Etc.
It was first applied to Jews in Palestine in the 1930s. In America it first appeared in the Republican platform in 1986, in the Democratic one in 1996.
Since the 1980s there has been a push to get rid of it: actions are illegal, not people. Huffington Post got rid of it in 2008. The Miami Herald and MSNBC no longer use it. Then, on April 2nd 2013, the Associated Press (AP) stylebook got rid of it, saying in part:
illegal immigration Entering or residing in a country in violation of civil or criminal law. Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant. Acceptable variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission.
That is huge: most American news reporters and editors follow the AP stylebook. The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, two of the country’s biggest newspapers, are now thinking of getting rid of the term.
“illegal immigrants” – brought to America as children by their parents
Why get rid of it:
- It makes racism respectable. It dehumanizes not just the 11 million people in America who are without papers, who are mostly people of colour (3 million are black), but 52 million Latinos, whom many assume to be undocumented even though most are American citizens. It has become a slur: Just before Marcelo Lucero was killed in a hate crime on Long Island he was called a “fucking illegal”. Yet, as Touré points out, no one calls Martha Stewart an “illegal business woman” – even though she was found guilty of insider trading in a court of law.
- It frames the debate on immigration: It pins the blame on immigrants, not those who employ them and often take advantage of them, whom no one ever seems to call “illegal employers”. Nor does it blame the American government’s immigration policy, which is at least 11 million cases behind in meeting the country’s labour needs. It makes it seem like the answer is to punish immigrants – even though some are undocumented through no fault of their own. It makes police raids on Latino neighbourhoods seem reasonable – as well as racial profiling (Arizona SB 1070). It makes it easy for Republicans to kill reasonable reform by calling it “amnesty for illegals”, as they did in 2006. And, worst of all, it makes it seem like undocumented immigrants should have no rights at all.
Linguist John McWhorter of Columbia University says in ten years “undocumented immigrant” will seem just as dismissive as “illegal immigrant”.
Linguist George Lakoff of UC Berkeley says that in debating and making laws framing is huge: words matter.
See also:
Abagond 
I think they should keep the term simply because it shows we the people want to do something about it. But I also believe we need to address the Gang problems in the same way we deal with terrorists. In my opinion Gangs are terrorists in the same sense as terrorists are. They are destroying the safety and sanctity of America. And gang bangers should be treated as terrorists.
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How about “illegally present alien”? Or “IPA”?
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Yet more emotional porn. Does the fake pain of words compare to reality? Do you think you are going to curry favor with the up and coming new majority? Will pretending to feel their pain make them grateful? Good luck guys, meanwhile in the world of physical pain:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/04/chicago-grandma-accused-of-commissioning-grandson-to-kill-grandpa/
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Linking in with the recent post about Magaret Thatcher, under her government, my MIL and others like her who came to the UK from a country that was part of the British Commonwealth, faced being deportation due to legislation that was introduced at the time. She had to re-apply for citizenship otherwise, I guess she would have been classified as an ‘illegal’. She got a passport which was practically identical to the one that she came here with as a child!!! *SMH*
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I’m glad there’s a movement to drop the I-word, but they will find ways around to create another term that is just as racist.
As a side note, what does gangs and the link posted have to do with the topic? (As if I didn’t know.)
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As nice as it is to hear that major news companies are dropping this, I doubt it will fall out of favor with most white Americans or politicians. The word seems far too entrenched in a lot of peoples vocabularies.
@Mark
Not a single word of that was even remotely related to the topic. Try again.
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They should definetely get rid of that term.It dehumanizes and objectifies people.Remember when they were calling victims of katrina refugees?When other people had to move because of floods or fires they didn’t call them refugees,they called them american citizens.This country was built and inhabitated by “illegal immigrants”.The europeans were not of this country when they came and the natives did not call them illegal immigrants they welcomed them.
They should crack down on the people who continue to employ the undocumented workers.IF there is no demand there will be no supply.They are always talking about putting up more fences and electric fences.That is expensive and guess who will foot the bill on that,yep tax payers.The cheaper alternative will be to go after the companies who hire them and the places that house them.
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I agree that this term dehumanizes people. In my opinion it is another form of marginalizing people. It is racist. This term should be done away with.
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Here I am torn, because the other term for someone who breaks the law is criminal. I prefer illegal immigrant over Criminal because yes the law was broken yet we have set it so people have to break the law. It is not easy to get into this country and that is sadly humorous since the majority of the people who live here native country lies somewhere else. The whole reason Native Americans have the word Native infront is because this was originally whose country? I think we just want to control who gets into the so called promise land, like a jealous father guarding his daughter so called honor.
I have never been anywhere illegally but if it came down to better life for my kid then I can’t say I wouldn’t look into it.
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Another excellent article Abagond. I’m sharing widely.
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[…] "It frames the debate on immigration: It pins the blame on immigrants, not those who employ them and often take advantage of them, whom no one ever seems to call “illegal employers”. Nor does it blame the American government’s immigration policy, which is at least 11 million cases behind in meeting the country’s labour needs. It makes it seem like the answer is to punish immigrants – even though some are undocumented through no fault of their own. It makes police raids on Latino neighbourhoods seem reasonable – as well as racial profiling (Arizona SB 1070). It makes it easy for Republicans to kill reasonable reform by calling it “amnesty for illegals”, as they did in 2006. And, worst of all, it makes it seem like undocumented immigrants should have no rights at all."- MORE – […]
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Reblogged this on Dennis R. Hidalgo.
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Every nation has a right to determine who enters its borders and who gets to stay. No amount of changing words will change that fact. “Illegal immigrant” is not racist because it doesn’t apply to any one group of people nor does it make any claims about superiority and inferiority based on birth. It’s merely an accurate description of someone who has entered the nation without permission and won’t leave.
If we believe that nation states shouldn’t exist at all or that the US in particular has no right to deny any number of immigrants despite the fact that it currently allows more immigrants in than anywhere else, that’s a different discussion.
The immigration debate does not easily fall along the usual political lines as some of the biggest cheerleaders for increased immigration, legal or illegal are big business and the Wall Street Journal, neither of which tend to be progressive.
I do think that if the majority of immigrants today were relatively right-wing Ukranians or Russians, who were helping to turn blue states red, that many people on both sides of the current debate would start singing a different tune.
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All those African slaves captured and torn away from their homelands surely must qualify as some of the first truly “illegal immigrants” into the Americas and Caribbean.
While it may not have been thought of such at the time certainly by today’s standard it would!
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I think I’ll use “deportation candidate” from here on.
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[…] "It frames the debate on immigration: It pins the blame on immigrants, not those who employ them and often take advantage of them, whom no one ever seems to call “illegal employers”. Nor does it blame the American government’s immigration policy, which is at least 11 million cases behind in meeting the country’s labour needs. It makes it seem like the answer is to punish immigrants – even though some are undocumented through no fault of their own. It makes police raids on Latino neighbourhoods seem reasonable – as well as racial profiling (Arizona SB 1070). It makes it easy for Republicans to kill reasonable reform by calling it “amnesty for illegals”, as they did in 2006. And, worst of all, it makes it seem like undocumented immigrants should have no rights at all." – MORE – […]
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“All those African slaves captured and torn away from their homelands surely must qualify as some of the first truly “illegal immigrants” into the Americas and Caribbean.
While it may not have been thought of such at the time certainly by today’s standard it would!”
**********
Kwamla
Nah! The prevailing thought back then was that blacks were not fully human … we were on par with horses, cows, chickens, pigs .. livestock.
Today it is implied or suggested that blacks are “illegal” by those who insist that we return to Afrika because blacks are naturally lazy, criminally inclined, dumb, unemployed takers who live to enjoy the lucrative welfare benefits that hard working, bootstrap pulling, honest white taxpayers pay into the pot! SMH
: )
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I do not view my enslaved African ancestors as immigrants, illegal or otherwise. The word “immigrant” implies, to my mind, anyway, a person who, of his own free will, has entered into another country with expectations of residing there; this certainly doesn’t define an enslaved person who is chained, shackled, and brought in against his will.
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I say all illegals should return to their homeland.
Bye, bye Europeans.
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@Fiamma
My parents were immigrants from Jamaica and yes they came here legally but there were some family members who didn’t come to this country legally. I know the issue of immigration and illegal immigration is a hot topic in this country but I don’t know what will fix this problem?
And I am so sick of people thinking that only Mexicans are illegal immigrants. There are illegal immigrants from other races and nationalities that come here illegally. No, I am not Mexican but I don’t like racial stereotypes because as a Black woman, I have been racially stereotyped before.
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@Kwambla
Can you please give me the reason behind your logic? It doesn’t make much sense to me at all. Africans kidnapped and taken from their homelands and being shipped to the ”New World”(lands in the Caribbean, Latin America and the Americas) doesn’t qualify as ”illegal immigrants”. They didn’t have the free will to decide whether or not they want to move to these unfamiliar lands. So there was no way that they were illegal immigrants. And unknowingly you are disregarding the struggle of your ancestors.
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As an international student, I am definitely glad that there is conversation happening around getting rid of the “I” word. Yes, it dehumanizes people and ignores the genocidal history of this country. At the same time, I do not think changing the word is going to have any substantial impact on how immigration is framed. The U.S. immigration system is a disgrace. It is broken, completely based on the interests of big moneyed corporations and, of course, racism. Immigration reform has become a joke, with the same outdated crap being repackaged over and over again, with no real attempt at creating a sustainable solution. Has the Obama administration really done anything radical? No. Except, perhaps drastically increased deportations. Unless the entire system changes, getting rid of the “I” word seems almost disingenuous.
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[…] "It frames the debate on immigration: It pins the blame on immigrants, not those who employ them and often take advantage of them, whom no one ever seems to call “illegal employers”. Nor does it blame the American government’s immigration policy, which is at least 11 million cases behind in meeting the country’s labour needs. It makes it seem like the answer is to punish immigrants – even though some are undocumented through no fault of their own. It makes police raids on Latino neighbourhoods seem reasonable – as well as racial profiling (Arizona SB 1070). It makes it easy for Republicans to kill reasonable reform by calling it “amnesty for illegals”, as they did in 2006. And, worst of all, it makes it seem like undocumented immigrants should have no rights at all." – MORE – […]
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[…] The term “illegal immigrant” […]
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The so called Untouchables of India were renamed “Harijans” (Angels) by Gandhi. This latter word did not improve their status, rather, it was often used as a term of abuse. Now, this group of people is known as “Dalits”. They themselves have coined this name, which is holding up very well.
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[…] Read original story here. […]
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The first thing I want to say is, nice segue.
The ‘illegal’ term may be strictly correct according to federal code and such, but it shifts the blame from the hotels, farmers, restaurants, some temp agencies i’ve seen, and other myriad small business that are supposed to pay payroll tax on people working for them, regardless of the employee’s status. And we know people come here to work. That is obvious. The smaller companies will cry poor, saying, “I cant afford all that.” Marriott et al. has no such excuse.
It’s a problem, especially when the individual with compromised citizenship status gets injured or sick because we know he is going right to the hospital. And then the whole medico-legal system is involved because apparently doctors, pharma companies, and other administrative adjuncts to the medical system feel entitled to hold the entire country basically as a hostage saying, we deserve those ungodly rates to treat you, and it’s the competitve nature of the US medical industry that keeps the quality of care so high! That is the straight-away effect. And unfortunately, with obamacare, they can just say, “write your congresscritter.”
The higher order effect is that social security is not being fed by undocumented workers, and that can’t continue indefinitely. We will all be old someday soon and I know damn sure I am not going to have $3000 a month for a old folks home.
So immigration reform? Yes. I think it would ease a lot of things if you know we just said, ok, you’ve been here, lets make something up that makes sense, and actually force the stress one notch up to the businesses and make them pay out, that is a glaring issue that corporations have more sway than people.
But if immigration reform goes south, so to speak, it will be what is it 11 million more applications for state medical insurance and WIC let’s say, if the employers just lay everyone off and say deal with it, I can’t afford that, a very difficult situation.
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To all those who commented on my statement:
African peoples were forcibly migrated to these foreign shores. Such a process today would be considered illegal but back then they were not considered to have any legal status. Of course this would appear to have changed today
So you could argue these were an illegally emigrated peoples!
Remember it all depends on how you define: illegal and immigrant…
Animals, insects, trees and plants have been moved globally and continue to be moved in this way with no really thought given to the impact on the native populations in the particular region they were moved to.
In the same way (as diaryofanegress stated) Europeans forced occupation and colonization of indigenous peoples lands brands them as illegal immigrants too!!!
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When one thing I will respectfully disagree with you @Abagond on the Martha Stewart point…. she did face alot of criticism and served time for what she did. I remember listening to talk radio when she was caught and white and black people alike were very critical of her. I do remember some of the most venom coming from black people who seemed to completely hate this woman. Like she was some false image of “wholesomeness in america”…. some people it was like they should have brought out the firing squad back, they wanted her to face 50 years or be killed.
Now insider trading has become commonplace and more people than ever are getting away with that as well as employing illegals.
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^^^^^^that first *when* up there shouldn’t be there I was going to start out saying something like “When MS was arrested….. blah blah blah” I didn’t delete the first *when*
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I will say that MS serving time has seemed to give her some street cred…. all the sudden she’s throwing parties with puffy and hanging out with busta rhymes.
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Our immigration laws are incredibly complicated. It can be difficult in many cases to know whether an immigrant is in fact here “illegally” or not. In particular, the procedures are so complex that they can frequently become substantive — that is, a missed date or wrong form can mean that an individual who might otherwise be here legally lacks proper documentation.
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@Abagond
I would have more sympathy for so-called illegal immigrants if the system was equal. The US government has no problem allowing mestizos from Mexico and whites from Cuba to break the laws of this country, but, that racial understanding does not apply to blacks from Haiti and other majority black nations. I’ve never allowed myself to get caught up in the PoC trap that many african-americans are blinded by. The current immigration system is upside down in many ways. If someone comes to the US legally, they have to jump thru all kinds of hoops to become citizens. Those that trespass get a slap on the wrist for misbehaving. If Mexicans were black, would they be treated in like fashion?
Ty
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Thanks for the laugh, because if I didn’t laugh I’d surely cry. I just had to do my own version of your oh-so-one-sided post. Tried reading the rest of your blog, but OMG, just not possible. My head now hurts.
http://ozziesaffa.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/the-term-illegal-immigrant.html
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@abagond you dont strike me as a marxist
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Abagond:
While perhaps technically true, in the common vernacular people can be referred to by the actions in which they are engaged. For example, if someone is currently trespassing unlawfully, they might be referred to as an “unlawful trespasser”. I’ve yet to hear any objection that the term is unfair because a person can’t be “unlawful”.
Such shorthand seems to be a not unreasonable replacement for a more precise but unwieldier term like “person engaged in the act of unlawful trespass”.
The term “undocumented immigrant” comes across like a politically correct attempt to obfuscate the illegality of the act, and invites comparisons to such absurdities as renaming shoplifting to “undocumented taking”.
In both cases, the salient issue is not the presence or lack of documentation, but rather the presence or lack of permission.
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I personally prefer the term “foreign invader.” Every other nation on Earth protects its borders. But because rich bankers on Wall Street want cheap labor to bid down the wages of the native-born working class, we are asked to believe that somehow, somehow a nuclear superpower that put men on the Moon is incapable of controlling its own borders, a feat even backwater borderline failed states like North Korea and Myanmar somehow manage.
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Randy: you are, of course, correct in your observations.
Political correctness is a creation of Gramscian cultural Marxists who wish to sow Orwellian linguistic chaos, just as they wish to sow societal chaos. “Cultural hegeomony” must burn, and if The Revolution requires turning the continent into one vast Somalia, so be it. They will impose order once “the masses” hand over power to them.
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I wasn’t going to post on this topic because being an immigrant to the US, the subject is near and dear to me. Even for those of us who came on a plane with legal status and documents, we were still called “resident aliens”.
My opinion, a political name change does not change the reality immigrants have to face coming to and living in America – and the ugliness that comes from American citizens who feel like their country is being invaded by foreign black and brown people.
The only reason this subject is even being brought up is because the Hispanic community now know they have power to affect change in this country (USA) and since the 2012 election, the Republicans see which way the wind is blowing and now will have to kiss the appropriate as’es to secure more votes.
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What the average American doesn’t realize is that it’s not necessary to “sneak” across the border to be considered “illegal”—that status is easy to achieve. People can become “illegal” based on the fact that Immigration Services did not process their application paperwork fast enough before their legal visa status expired!
I am tired of Americans thinking that immigrants get some sort of free ride living in America – Immigrating to the US is not free, nor is it cheap…it’s a business that the US government, lawyers, and corporations make a lot of money from.
We (immigrants) pay good money to get here, Thousands of dollars to apply for residency / citizenship, charged ridiculous amounts of money to go to American Universities and many are still harassed by customs or subject to deportation (both legal and illegal) whether you are Latino, Caribbean or European …Even professionals with H-1B work visas get stuck in one-sided, under-paid contracts or situations with no real legal protection.
Immigrants and their children have to assimilate quickly in order to reap the full benefits that America has to offer and that’s why we are here: to work and achieve what is difficult to do back home.
Unless you are native American, your ancestors were not indigenous to this continent.
America is a nation of immigrants that was founded on “illegal” occupancy, violence and lies; operated and grew rich on free and cheap labour provided by “unwilling” and willing immigrants, as well as immigrant “brain” power in the technology and science field that allowed the US to reach its current world leader status.
If America wants to now be a closed-off nation, then it needs to stop promoting itself as a “melting pot” and remove the inscription on the Statue of Liberty that says: “With silent lips, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”
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So being as curious as I am I decided to venture into lime lite’s supposed corrected blog of your post Abagond. Funny part is his was just as one-sided if not more so. He spent more time talking about you and your personal life and then later just reposts your blog. I should just laugh at the stupidity. Not just of him but the posters as well.
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@dave
I guess my experience was different because I heard more blacks give her the thumbs up and high five for her situation and insist she was right to want to protect her money.
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Hey Randy were you on vacation?
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Hi Herneith,
I wanted to wait until I thought I had something I thought was useful to contribute to the conversation. What’s your opinion on the term?
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Randy, when I hear that term I think of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Came_from_Outer_Space
Call it metaphorical!
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this one well he from ny and like the coke and psychadelics just like me he told howard stern my jawn from him is round the way girl
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@Linda
I agree with some of your points, but, this problem has real world consequences for blacks in the US. If we think that allowing mestizos and other spanish-speaking peoples to invade this country is good for black people, we’re mistaken. It’s funny how spanish folk like to yap about gringo this and gringo that, yet, are literally risking life and death to come to this country. I want Spanish folk to stop talking smack about whites in this country, and ask themselves the hard question. If the Spaniards are so much greater than their other european cousins, Why are the ex-slaves of their forefathers trying to get away from them? I know that a lot of blacks run away from this topic, because it contradicts what they’ve been taught in the terrible public schools in this country. Racism is a big problem in so-called latin-america, Why are we trying to import more anti-blackness to this country? I don’t understand my black people?
Ty
realhistoryww.com
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They are here illegaly. They have NO RIGHT to be here. Send all of them, and their American-born spawn, home IMMEDIATELY, before this stops being America.
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^ It sounds like you feel the main problem of illegal immigrant is that it will change the face of America until it is no longer recognizable. (That fear has never materialized, by the way).
It sounds like you are not opposed to illegal immigrants using government services, or otherwise costing the taxpayer money.
Re: American born spawn. Sorry, they are Americans. If you want to change that, then you have to get rid of the 14th Amendment. And it has been revalidated many times. There is little chance of reversing US v. Wong Kim Ark.
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Sorry, I did not mean to illegal immigrant. I meant persons remaining in the USA illegally.
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Abagond said in his “Mulatto Nation” post thst “the world already had a Spain. It needed a Mexico.”
The world already has a Mexico. It needs an America.
I don’t want a single dollar of my taxes going to illegals,
Deport all of them and their spawn, and we will have our country back
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Bobby M
Not all illegal immigrants are from Mexico. Many are from Russia and other countries. Those from other countries just get by with it a bit more easier than those from Mexico.
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Since I think a lot of us on this blog have citizenship privilege, this is good for us to read:
Jose Antonio Vargas @joseiswriting
why I won’t self-deport: http://on.fb.me/19BrPIv
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Serenata a un indocumentado by Los Jornaleros del Norte
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeEOcFsw6_A)
“The making of this extraordinary video
During one of the Los Angeles shows, a mother arrived with her two children to celebrate her husband’s birthday. She brought balloons, flowers, and love for her jailed loved one to see across the street from the tiny jail cell window. Omar León, lead singer of Los Jornaleros del Norte, approached her to ask why she was there and she shared with him her story.
Omar turned that story into this beautiful song. It serves as testimony that arts and culture enable people who face and struggle against injustice to turn circumstances of oppression into practices of emancipation. “Serenata a un Indocumentado” is not just a song; it is an enduring historical document that tells the world that beautiful acts of love can happen in the face of ugly suffering.
This is the sentiment and culture of protest, love, resistance, and struggle that we hope the Serenata concerts will replicate across the country. From San Diego to Maricopa County, from Texas to Alabama and beyond, music will serve as a tool to uplift immigrants’ humanity. We will highlight and redress family separation, unjust detention, inhumane incarceration conditions, criminalization of communities of color, and senseless deportations. We will confront dehumanization and unite in song to overcome walls that divide our community into deserving and undeserving, good and bad, winners and losers, “felons and families.””
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“Iowa Pastor Deported Back to Honduras”
http://www.latinorebels.com/2015/03/20/iowa-pastor-deported-back-to-honduras/
“Despite broad community support and calls to stop his deportation, reports have confirmed that Pastor Villatoro has been deported back to Honduras today.
This case served as the first high-profile test for the Department of Homeland Security’s guidelines on prosecutorial discretion.
Pastor Max leaves behind his wife Gloria and four U.S. citizen children. Is this the type of message that the Department of Homeland Security is trying to send to our communities? That a pastor who has committed himself to his church, community, state and this country should be deported? (Or even prioritized because of community support?)
This is the troubling part. The fact that cases like Max’s did not make ICE, DHS or the Obama administration blink. Please disregard 40,000 petition signatures and a letter signed by hundreds of Iowa faith leaders.”
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“Statement by the President on the Confirmation of Sarah Saldaña as Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/16/statement-president-confirmation-sarah-salda-director-us-immigration-and
“I applaud the Senate for confirming Sarah Saldaña as Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. With her years of experience enforcing the law – most recently as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas – Sarah is the right person to lead the dedicated men and women at ICE in securing our borders, keeping American communities safe, and upholding our values. Since I took office, illegal border crossings are down and removal of dangerous criminals is up. I’m confident Sarah will help us build on this progress while protecting our country in a smart, effective, and humane way.”
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“Coming Out As An Undocumented Immigrant – Latino Voices”
“Published on Mar 20, 2015
More than 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States, many in fear of being deported, losing jobs or getting separated from their family. Telling someone you’re undocumented can be emotional, cathartic or downright terrifying – these are the stories of several young people who took that risk, and why.”
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“Religious Leaders Seek Relief For Immigrants Living In Churches To Avoid Deportation”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/24/immigrants-sanctuary-churches_n_6930748.html
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“In the name of safety: the multi-national anti immigration industry and their billionaire profits”
http://tigerbeatdown.com/2011/10/07/in-the-name-of-safety-the-multi-national-anti-immigration-industry-and-their-billionaire-profits/
“In the US, G4S Wackenhut has a contract to provide ‘guard and transportation’ services on behalf of the Customs and Border Protection Agency. The contract covers the entire length of the south-west US–Mexican border and involves the provision of over 100 secure buses and other vehicles, their crews and over 575 G4S armed security personnel.
To put it in layman terms: G4S deports all undocumented immigrants forced to leave through the Mexican border.
On Wednesday, June 29th, a group of autonomously organized Tucson community members entered the offices of international private security firm G4S. Organized under the banner Direct Action for Freedom of Movement, the action was meant to demonstrate our opposition to the company’s profiteering off of criminalization of immigrant communities and the expansion of the prison-industrial complex, as well as its’ role in the proliferation of policies such as Arizona’s SB1070 through its’ membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
In case you weren’t aware, the “illegal alien” profit machine is in the hands of the same corporation that used to run the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. That’s right, the corporate tentacles of G4S are in charge of managing a whole variety of “non humans” to be subjected to unspeakable acts of violence.
All of this is done in the name of safety. Safety for the citizens of the Nation States that allow these atrocities; safety for national borders; safety for the politicians’ careers who appeal to an increasingly populist platform to gather support from a population who, in the absence of responses about their troubles have turned to immigrants as an easy scapegoat. Meanwhile, mainstream media continues pushing the “immigrant menace” and uncritically disseminating the figure of the immigrant as a criminal, a non person, an illegal. This dissemination, in turn, allows for the abuses to continue unchecked, with a population that has become desensitized to the injustices perpetrated over the bodies of “non people”, the illegals. And when people do anything in their power to avoid spending time in such environments, when it is clear that their very survival might depend on a well told untruth, they are also going to be penalized for doing so. Because the system has deemed that even the mere attempt at avoiding such fate is a punishable offense by itself. “Illegal bodies” deserve the abuse, we are told.”
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“Beyond Homan Square: US History Is Steeped in Torture”
http://truth-out.org/news/item/29863-beyond-homan-square-us-history-is-steeped-in-torture
“Corroborating this concern is an October 2014 report by the Guatemala Acupuncture and Medical Aid Project about the human rights violations of immigrants held in US Department of Homeland Security detention facilities in southern Arizona. The report is based on interviews with 33 adult migrants held in short-term detention from late May to late July 2014.
It found numerous human rights violations in immigration detention facilities. Migrant men, women and children “consistently reported” food and water deprivation. “Nearly eighty percent of adult immigrants reported being hungry when apprehended, and eighty-three percent reported being hungry when they left the custody of Border Patrol,” according to the report. Another 80 percent were given “no water, insufficient amounts of water, or undrinkable water.” Thirty percent of immigrants were psychologically, physically or verbally abused. Many reported sleep deprivation due to extremely cold temperatures in their cells (94 percent of adults reported this), bright lights in holding rooms, Border Patrol agents talking loudly, and “becoming over chilled due to the restriction of wearing only one layer of clothing.” Immigrants were also “purposefully and routinely awoken” in the early morning hours for Border Patrol agents “to inform them of their legal options,” the very time when people are least prepared to process complicated legal language and make “make decisions about their legal status.””
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Very sad article about the case of an undocumented Mexican woman separated by ICE from her U.S. born daughter, who was traumatized by being taken from her mother as a toddler, with parallels to Nan Hui Jo’s case:
“”I’m Here, My Children Are Over There”: Immigration and Its Impact on Families: While politicians continue to haggle over reform, the U.S. government deports people who have American children, sending mothers over the border and their children into foster homes—sometimes for good”
http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a12586/immigration-families/
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“Latinos say deportation a top concern: Survey underscores personal nature of immigration debate”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/25/latinos-say-deportation-a-top-concern/
“The vast majority also said they believe the U.S. in general harbors anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic attitudes.”
“The survey suggested one in three Hispanics avoids some aspects of public life for fear of being questioned about his or her citizenship status.
That included 13 percent who said they avoid talking to the police because they don’t want to be hassled over their status, and 10 percent each who said they are reluctant to get a driver’s license or go to an airport. Another 9 percent said they avoid doctor’s visits, and 7 percent said they avoid meeting with school officials.”
“With a majority saying they know illegal immigrants, and more than a third reporting someone they know has been put through deportation, the politics of immigration are personal to many.
In half of the cases, the respondents said the immigrant who was deported had been the chief breadwinner in his or her family.”
“Mr. Obama last year took steps he said would prevent most families from being separated by deportation.
One part of his plan included a proactive amnesty, known as “deferred action,” which granted tentative legal status and work permits to as many as 4 million illegal immigrants. Another part of his plan ordered immigration agents to focus on serious criminals and repeat immigration law violators, leaving most rank-and-file illegal immigrants with little fear of being kicked out.
Just 4 percent said Mr. Obama’s policy changed how they feel about their legal status — and half of those even said they are now more worried about being deported than before.”
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“Matthew Kolken @mkolken Mar 28
This is President Obama’s current deportation policy as seen on the ground by lawyers that defend immigrants http://blogs.ilw.com/entry.php?8490-ICE-No-Longer-Honoring-New-Prosecutorial-Discretion-Memo …”
“Blogs: Matthew Kolken on Deportation And Removal: ICE No Longer Honoring New Prosecutorial Discretion Memo”
“UPDATE: The ICE ERO Detention Reporting and Information Line confirms the following:
Until further guidance is given, ICE will not consider the new DAPA and expanded DACA guidelines in cases for exercising prosecutorial discretion. ICE will also not use these guidelines to determine whether individuals may request deferred action or to refer individuals to USCIS.”
“ICE has indicated that this “no bond” policy is not a creation of local ICE and is coming directly from HQ in Washington. Individuals being held without bond include those that are DAPA eligible as well as having other forms of relief from removal outside of the expansion of executive action. There are multiple examples of individuals being detained by ICE and held with no bond that have a citizen spouse and children, and who have been inside the country for 10+ years rendering them eligible for cancellation of removal.”
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“BREAKING: Women in Karnes family detention camp start work strike and fast for Holy Week! Demanding freedom!
Click here to sign the petition in support of the women in Karnes!”
http://grassrootsleadership.org/blog/2015/03/breaking-women-karnes-family-detention-camp-start-work-strike-and-fast-holy-week
“In the name of the mothers, residents of the Center for Detentions in Karnes City, we are writing this petition whereby we ask to be set free with our children. There are mothers here who have been locked in this place for as long as 10 months.”
“The conditions, in which our children find themselves, are not good. Our children are not eating well and every day they are losing weight. Their health is deteriorating. We know that any mother would do what we are doing for their children.”
“The Karnes family detention camp has been at the center of many scandals since it opened in August 2014, including allegations of sexual misconduct by guards, the denial of life-saving medical treatment for children, and the recent banishment of a paralegal who sounded the alarm about the conditions inside.”
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“Why Mothers Are on Strike at Karnes Immigrant Detention Center”
http://colorlines.com/archives/2015/03/why_mothers_are_on_strike_at_karnes_immigrant_detention_center.html
Shady behavior recognizable to anyone familiar with oppressive institutions:
“An immigration officer I spoke with at Karnes who repeatedly declined to give her name laughed when I called on Tuesday. I asked why she was laughing and she answered, “These attorneys convinced them all to do stuff,” and shortly thereafter they hung up on me.”
“He says his 11-year-old stepdaughter has been questioned by immigration authorities without her mother or an attorney present. “They asked her questions like, ‘Are you a member of any gang?’ and pressured her to explain if she had ever killed anyone.” His stepdaughter was only 10 when authorities questioned her.”
Modern day encomienda system? Paying workers the exact amount needed to pay for their basic needs to survive:
“Although undocumented people are not authorized to work in the United States, undocumented detainees at Karnes help run the facility for just $3 a day. They clean and run the laundry facility—a big task for the 532-bed detention center.
Karnes City, Texas, is tiny: The population is roughly 3,500. But it’s home to major fracking operations. Residents have complained of contaminated drinking water. That’s why many detainees only drink bottled water. The cost per bottle, however, is $3—the exact amount of a day’s pay.”
Punishing whistleblowers and no accountability for abuse:
“In February, a paralegal named Victoria Rossi published a detailed account of what happens at Karnes for the Texas Observer. She’s subsequently been barred from visiting Karnes as a result. Other legal aid workers have reported similar consequences at Karnes.”
“Most of the guards at Karnes are men and they have access to women and children’s rooms at any hour. Since August 2014, when it reopened as a center to hold immigrant families, detainees have accused guards of sexually abusing them, including assaults in front of children. A federal investigation that ended last month found that there was no such abuse. But that conclusion is based on interviews with guards and current detainees, including those who fear deportation if they report abuse to authorities.”
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@Speak out
thanks. I look forward to thoroughly reading these.
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@sharinalr
Thanks for witnessing what’s happening.
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“Mothers in Detention Will Not Be Silenced, They Will Be Free”
http://www.latinorebels.com/2015/04/03/mothers-in-detention-will-not-be-silenced-they-will-be-free/
“When I visited in September and spoke with some of the women held at Karnes, they expressed a widespread fear of the facility personnel: many spoke of threats of having their children removed or facing jail sentences. The women were generally confused about the immigration process, the status of their cases and relief available to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and other forms of violence against women. They wondered how long they’d be detained and if the end result would be deportation back to the violence they fled.”
“There is a laundry list of what makes the specific facility unbearable: allegations of sexual abuse by guards and staff have emerged; many children experience weight loss and chronic despair; and the area where Karnes is located is a host for major fracking operations, where its residents complain of contaminated drinking water and unhealthy air. Fed up with this mistreatment and injustice, the women on hunger strike at Karnes are showing tremendous determination and courage. Their actions exemplify the beauty of women’s leadership—how women surge forward, motivated by love and community, resilient and unafraid of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.”
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“Some Hunger-Striking Mothers Were Put In Isolation At Karnes Immigrant Detention Center, Lawyers Say”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/02/karnes-hunger-strike_n_6994436.html
“Jonathan Ryan, the executive director of RAICES, a legal group that coordinates the pro bono program representing many women at Karnes, says the detention center’s staff punished three of the striking women by temporarily putting them in isolation rooms with their children.
“We’re talking about an isolation room with a bed, a toilet, a sink from which you have to cup your hands to drink water, and lights off until meal time,” Ryan told The Huffington Post. “They refer to it as a ‘cuarto oscuro’ — a ‘dark room.’”
Ryan also said that detention center staff told some women who participated in the strike that their children would be taken away if they continued, leading some women to abandon the effort.
Rebeca Flores, a member of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition, a religious organization in San Antonio that works with immigrants, drives an hour every week to visit women in the detention center. She said one of the women she has visited several times over the last three months was placed in isolation with her 11-year-old son because she had helped organize the hunger strike.
“She was humiliated because her son was 11 and she was having to use the bathroom in front of him,” Flores told HuffPost.”
“The vast majority of the migrants come from the so-called “Northern Triangle” countries of Central America — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — where homicide rates are among the highest in the world and problems with forced gang recruitment have pressed families to look for ways to send vulnerable children to the north.”
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Stand with Nan-Hui retweeted
Juhee Kwon @juhee_kwon 15h 15 hours ago
“I spoke w #Korean #undocumented man today who’d been arrested + detained w his son. His son was deported. (1/3)
Opend with “it’s a shameful story” as if he should be sry to the govt that deported his own son for trying to get a driver’s license (2/3)
When he heard abt #StandWithNanHui, he silently pulled out his wallet to donate. The generosity + love of ppl never ceases to amaze me (3/3)”
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Petition: “Help 13 Honduran migrants mutilated by “La Bestia” get a humanitarian visa & meet with President Obama” plus Manu Chao music video
http://action.ndlon.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=20008
“Help us send a message to the Director of ICE, Sarah Saldaña, and Secetary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, to grant a humanitarian visa to these brave men who represent many other migrants who have lost limbs or their lives while riding the “La Bestia” across Mexico to get the United States. These men want to meet with the President to order a halt to deportations so he and other Washington politicians can see, face to face, the real consequences of their policies of deportations, criminalization and militarized borders.”
“These 13 migrants are part of AMIREDIS (Association of Migrants Returned with Disabilities – Asociación de Migrantes Retornados con Discapacidad).”
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“Constantino Morales Warned He Could Be Killed If He Was Deported. Then He Was.”
http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/04/09/3644411/constantino-morales-death-after-deportation/
“Morales was “a former police officer in Mexico who publicly stood up against drug trafficking. After many attempts on his life, he came to the US in search of asylum and an opportunity to continue to work to support his family. He was a kind man. He never let his legal status limit his advocacy for immigrant rights.””
“Natalie Snyders, a CCI organizer, told ThinkProgress that since his arrival in the United States, Morales has worked at a local restaurant. He came to her organization’s attention because he was a victim of wage theft and “became quite involved in the organization as a leader speaking out about immigration reform and other issues related to the Latino community. … He was never afraid to speak out for the community, for the immigration system. A lot of people are afraid to speak out when they’re undocumented, but he wasn’t.”
Maria [last name withheld], a close family friend, mournfully told ThinkProgress that Morales came to the attention of immigration officials after the police pulled him over for a traffic violation and found out that he didn’t have a driver’s license. The police turned Morales over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation proceedings.”
“Although Morales faced deportation because he didn’t have a license, Iowa state law prohibits certain undocumented immigrants from receiving driver’s licenses.
Snyders said that Morales applied for asylum twice, with an immigration judge denying his application both times.”
“One Mexican domestic violence victim was found dead in a burnt-out car five days after she was deported in 2013…A Human Rights Watch report on deported Central Americans found that those deported “had fear so acute that they were living in hiding, afraid to go out in public.”
Asylum seekers from Latin America have a difficult time being approved for asylum in the United States based on a credible fear that they are being persecuted or feel threatened in their home countries… Still, a State Department travel warning advisory stated that the “state of Guerrero was the most violent state in Mexico in 2013, with 2,087 homicides and 207 reported cases of kidnapping.” Last month, a mayoral candidate was decapitated in Guerrero with a note found next to her body threatening any politicians who don’t “fall in line,” Reuters reported at the time.”
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“A Federal Judge and a Hunger Strike Take on the Government’s Immigrant Detention Facilities”
http://nyti.ms/1Cyqokd
“In early March, a young mother in a facility in Dilley, Tex., who had been in custody since December, attempted suicide after receiving a $5,000 bond that she could not afford to pay. The woman’s attorney, Bryan Johnson, told me that officials responded to her suicide attempt by moving the woman to a psychiatric hospital and placing her 4-year-old daughter in a program for unaccompanied minors.
The woman has since been released, but her daughter was already assigned to a foster family, she told me on Wednesday. “Now I can only speak with her two times a week,” the mother said. “She gets sad and cries and tells me to come get her. I miss her so much, but I have to remember to have faith and patience.” Officials at D.H.S. declined to comment on the case, citing privacy concerns. Corrections Corporation of America, which manages the Dilley facility, also declined to comment.
Immigration attorneys say that officials reacted to the hunger strike in a similar fashion. “They told the women en masse that if they undertook the fast, their children would be taken from them,” says Jonathan Ryan, the executive director of the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. According to Ryan, officials warned the protesters that if they refused to eat, “they would have reduced brain functioning, and if they had reduced brain functioning, they would be declared unfit guardians of the children, and the children would be taken.””
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“‘It was cold, very cold’: migrant children endure border patrol ‘ice boxes’ ”
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/26/migrant-children-border-patrol-ice-boxes
“Imagine being taken into a room. It is cold – very, very cold – and you shiver under the single layer of clothes that is all you are allowed to wear. The room is concrete and entirely bare: nothing on the walls, no furniture, no bedding of any sort other than the thin sheet you have been given. The only window allows guards to look in at you, but gives you no view of the world outside.
You sit in the room, huddled on the cold, hard floor, seeking warmth under the sheet. The room is lit by neon lights that are kept on 24 hours a day, and after a while you lose track of time. Is it day, is it night – you no longer know. Though there are many other people in the room with you, they are all strangers and no one speaks to you. You are utterly alone.
And you are seven years old.”
““Nothing has changed in terms of the abuse and impunity of border agencies, and nothing has changed in terms of the brutal conditions that children endure in confinement,” said James Lyall, a staff attorney in the Tucson, Arizona, office of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
He added: “We consistently continue to hear stories of people locked in hieleras in isolation, without medical care, lights on all night, no blankets – that remains a constant theme.””
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“Detainees Strike for Freedom: Hunger strikes call attention to conditions at Karnes, elsewhere”
http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2015-04-17/detainees-strike-for-freedom/
“St. Andrew’s Minister Jim Rigby doesn’t mince words in describing the deterrence policy, labeling it as analogous to terrorism. “When you imprison people or do violence to send a message to another group of people, it’s the definition of terrorism,” he said. “When you let nationalism override humanism, this, to me, is an abomination; to me, it’s renouncing Christianity.” In contrast, he said, his parishioners are “looking for something that’s loving and something that calls them to care for their brothers and sisters around the world.””
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“Map: Breaking down the $11.8 billion in taxes paid by immigrants living here illegally”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/04/16/map-breaking-down-the-11-8-billion-in-taxes-paid-by-immigrants-living-here-illegally
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What should Greece do here?
http://news.yahoo.com/rising-tide-illegal-immigrants-swamp-greek-islands-084119390.html
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“Payoff: How Congress Ensures Private Prison Profit with an Immigrant Detention Quota: Human Cost”
http://grassrootsleadership.org/reports/payoff-how-congress-ensures-private-prison-profit-immigrant-detention-quota#6-marichuy
Horribly sad and disturbing article about 4 people’s experiences being abused in ICE detention centers: Marichuy Leal, a transgender Mexican woman living in the U.S. since childhood raped and driven to suicide; Solomon, an Ethiopian who crossed through the border with Mexico seeking asylum for political persecution; Muhammed Nazry (Naz) Mustakim, a Singaporean living in the U.S. since childhood who lost his green card because he wasn’t given legal counsel; Henry Taracena, a Mexican man living in the U.S. 20+ years unjustly deported for a suspended license who helped organize a hunger strike while working in the kitchen by sending messages to detainees in different areas:
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“ICE opens 400-bed immigrant detention center near Bakersfield”
“Immigrant advocates groups argue that the facility’s rural location will make it difficult for detainees to access legal help.
“It’s going to make it virtually impossible for us to represent the detained population,” said Ilyce Shugall, an attorney with Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, which helps low-income clients.
Because there are no immigration court judges based in the Central Valley, most immigrants at the new site, known as the Mesa Verde Detention Facility, will have their court hearings via live video feeds.”
“The private prison company…will be paid about $107 per day per detainee to operate the site.
In a news release, Florida-based GEO Group said it expects the facility to generate about $17 million in revenue each year.”
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They came to this country illegally. While their existence is not illegal, their presence in this country surely is. They should be deported, as their presence in this country is illegal. They have no right to be here.
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“Dying to Live”
http://www.blackalliance.org/dyingtolive/
“I find what’s notably missing from the stories I’ve scoured online are the root causes of mass migration that has soared exponentially. Why are people moving in such large numbers? What issues are motivating such treacherous journeys? Immigrants migrate for a number of reasons, particularly those related to the impact of global economic policies on their place of origin and their daily lives. These issues have failed to be mentioned. The reporting is solely around the ‘now’ rather than the ‘why.’
The reality is – and has been – that people are fleeing their home countries for genuine fear of their lives. Reasons including – but not limited to – humanitarian crises, war, extreme poverty, climate change, fear of persecution, poor living conditions, etc. In some countries, 2,000 – 3,000 people are fleeing each month. We must dissect the root causes of migration.”
“The smuggling industry – that trades human lives – has long capitalized on the misfortune of immigrants – exploiting people suffering severe prosecution in their home countries. People are suffering and we see the devaluation of their lives directly through the ignorance, manipulation and framing of stories widely circulated. We must stop vilifying migrants as a problem – a problem that no one wants to solve.”
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“Petitioning President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and 1 other: Stop the deaths at sea now!”
https://www.change.org/p/junckereu-david-cameron-stop-the-deaths-at-sea-restart-the-rescue-now-restarttherescue?
“They all have names, every one of the 700 people that drowned in the Mediterranean this weekend. A name and a story.”
“Sign this petition and ask the EU for the urgent deployment of a major search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean, as well as the opening of legal channels to prevent those fleeing conflict and persecution to address deadly trips.”
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“Million Shares Club: 36 Major Private Prison Investors”
http://prisondivest.com/2014/06/12/million-shares-club-36-major-private-prison-investors/
“Without the financial support of major investors like Vanguard and Wells Fargo, CCA and GEO alone would not be strong enough to successfully lobby for policies that increase the federal government’s demand for private prisons. With these powerful allies, however, they have been able to sway public policy in favor of more severe “tough on crime” laws and the increasing criminalization of immigrants.
The financial services industry now makes up a third of the US economy, and its members collectively own over two-thirds of CCA and GEO Group. It is the most powerful lobbying force in both Washington DC and in state governments. To address the root causes of anti-immigrant and other racist legislation, it is imperative that we expose and sever the financial ties that allow shareholders to cash in on the incarceration of immigrants and people of color.”
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“We must have strong borders and not let illegal immigrants enter the United States. As has been stated continuously in the press, people are pouring across our borders unabated. Public reports routinely state great amounts of crime are being committed by illegal immigrants.” Donald Trump
People are not “pouring across our boarders” nor are immigrants responsible for “great amounts of crime”.
With Trump in office “illegal immigrant” will become mainstream again.
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