For the past ten months members of the North Central Florida Social Service/HIspanic Alliance (NCFSS/HA) have attempted to address an incident that occurred Easter Sunday 2018 (4/1/2018) impacting the immigrant community. On Easter Sunday the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) blundered in its response to a domestic violence case. A call was made from a non-English speaker, explaining her fear at the hands of her companion’s abuse. GPD made poor choices and the following unraveled: -The appropriate translation was not obtained even though GPD has a language line available to use in policing. This led to a misinterpretation of the level of danger the abuser posed. -Due to the misinterpretation of the level of danger and in an inappropriate and unnecessary use of force, SWAT was mobilized, closing down a residential street where the domestic violence incident occurred. -Contrary to protocol, the victim was not provided a Victim’s Advocate and was brought into the police station for an interview. -News media went on to expound on immigrant status, based on statements made by GPD that were harmful for the safety of the victim and witnesses. -The physical address of the domestic violence victim was made public on GPD Facebook, contrary to protocol. In response to the domestic violence incident, GPD spokesperson Ben Tobias announced: -The location of where the abuse occurred. -That the situation involved “illegal” Guatemalans. Although Tobias stated to the NCFSS/HA that he never asked their status, he made the statement based on an assumption that they were “illegal”. -Investigators were “working to verify the status of the Guatemalan nationals involved in the incident. We will forward all pertinent information we discover to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” The outcome of the domestic violence case is as follows: -The survivor fled the area immediately after being interviewed by GPD and without having received Victim Advocate support. -Several witnesses to the case also fled the area for fear of reprisals by ICE and anti-immigrant sympathizers. -Due to the poor management of the case; there were no victims or witnesses to participate in prosecution. The accused perpetrator was also released back into our community. Both the Chief of Police and the Mayor vowed to correct the situation by rewriting and updating police policy to protect victims and witnesses of crime who are not English-speaking and/or not US Citizens. From a Gainesville Sun article published April 3rd, 2018: [GPD Chief Tony Jones said Tuesday afternoon the agency will change the last part of the policy regarding forwarding the information to federal agencies. He added other aspects of it, including officers noting their contact with a foreign national in their reports, may also be changed. “We’re changing the policy. Everything is in flux right now,” Jones said. “When you change a policy, there are some hurdles you have to go through.”] Mayor Poe posted on his Facebook page the same day: “This is not who we are. Please know that I was led to believe that we, as a police department, did not get involved with determining the immigration status of our residents. I was misled. I will address this issue at our regular meeting on Thursday and make sure that this policy is changed. This type of approach is contrary to our community policing model and has a significant chilling effect on our victims' ability and willingness to report crimes, including domestic violence and battery. We have to do better, and I will make it my top priority that we do. We need to embrace this brave woman, not threaten her with deportation. I am sorry, Gainesville. I will work to serve you better.” Ten months have passed and there has been no tangible action. Over the course of the past ten months members of the NCFSS/HA have spent countless hours meeting with the Chief, revising policies, meeting with elected officials, the City Manager and City Attorney. Since October 2018, GPD has ceased communication with the NCFFSS/HA, not returning calls and emails requesting to meet.

Although he way overstayed his visa, he has proved to be a talented musician who is essential to the growing and evolving music industry. It offensive that the Trump Administration waited this long to deport him, and detain him. It was inhumane and just as unjust as the Trump Administration deporting and locking immigrants in a cage.

The Trump administration has put the lives of over 325,000 people who have been living, working and studying legally in the U.S. for years, some for decades, under TPS (Temporary Protected Status) at risk of deportation by terminating their legal status. This means that long-time, valued members of our community could lose their jobs, homes, be kicked out of classrooms and separated from their loved ones. But Congress can stop that from happening. Minnesota alone is home to thousands of TPS holders from 13 countries, including El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Syria and Nepal. Deporting people from designated TPS countries would negatively negative impact the United States economy. More than 80% of the approximately 325,000 immigrants are tax payers working in crucial industries for the U.S. The U.S Bureau of the Census estimates that 1 in 5 TPS holders have a citizen child and the top occupations TPS holders hold are nursing, psychiatric and home health aides and also 70% of those under 25 are in school which contributes significantly to our society. The United States could see a reduction in its GDP, ‘banks would see defaults in mortgages” and foster care would see a cost increase due to thousands of orphans left behind by the immigrants. It’s a lose-lose-lose scenario. Tell your member of Congress that TPS must be extended until a permanent solution is in place. Sign this petition, call 1-888-204-8353 & tell Congress to act quickly & #ProtectTPS To learn more about COPAL's mission visit www.copalmn.org

We need a better more humane and efficient way to deal with caravans of asylum seekers. This facility would provide that as well as open up many many jobs.

We attempted to get a visa for Canadian theater artists to come to the United States to perform their award winning disability theater play "Crippled." Even with the support of Actors' Equity Association, the Canada Council on the Arts, academics and professors in the field, disability activists, and theater practitioners we were denied by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. You can read their denial letter at http://www.theexit.org/uscis-denial-ltr-2-2-2019.pdf . US immigration policy for artists, as interpreted by USCIS, is unduly restrictive, does not protect the security of the US, and impedes international cultural exchanges. This petition seeks to create a clear and limited policy that would allow theater and other performing artists, who already have the legal right to be in the United States, to perform for a limited period of time.

The hundreds of ICE assaults and detention of Black immigrants is an endemic in the United States, and is too often carried out with the assistance of local law enforcement. On February 3rd in the early afternoon, organizers were alerted to the arrest and detention of rapper, father, community activist and friend She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph -21 Savage. The circumstances of Mr. Abraham-Joseph's detention stand as a testament to the consistent and historically under-reported harassment and targeting of Black immigrants. The US' violent history of criminalizing Blackness intersects with its deadly legacy of detaining and deporting Black and Brown immigrants. This needs to stop today! There are around 4.2 Million Black immigrants in the U.S. - 619,000 are undocumented. Mr. Abraham-Joseph has been in the United States since he was a young child. Atlanta is his home. He has no current or prior criminal convictions and he is beloved by his friends, fans and family. It is shameful that he and so many Black immigrants are separated from their families on a daily basis as part of the US's heartless and racist immigration policies. Demand that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stop the deportation of She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph - 21 Savage NOW!

The only crisis at the border is the humanitarian crisis fueled by the Trump administration's attacks on immigrants, separation of families, and criminalization of asylum-seekers. Yet, Trump—in his crusade for a racist, wasteful, unpopular wall—is now planning to declare a fake "national emergency" to seize broad executive power to circumvent Congress and grab funds from other agencies for his wall. The American public does not want this wall and Congress doesn't want to fund it. So Trump, who has been attacking immigrants as a core part of his governing agenda, is now taking extraordinary action to disregard Congress and the Constitutional balance of power. Even Republicans have said this would be vast overreach. Fortunately, there is a Congressional remedy—under the National Emergencies Act, Congress can vote to cancel the state of emergency. Congress can, and must, act now.

As Utahns, we all know at least someone who has been affected by the increased border protections. No one should have to live in fear of their livelihood or LIVES. We must come together to make our voices heard!

In a stunning revelation, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says that not only were "thousands" more migrant children separated by the Trump administration than previously known, but that they don't even know how many children were taken away from their families because of failures to track families as they were being separated! To date, no one has been held accountable for this ethical and humanitarian disaster. Instead President Trump continues to demand more funding for the very agencies that separate children as a condition for reopening the government, including demanding funding that would pay for 52,000 detention beds to jail immigrant families, money to hire more agents for separating kids, and even seeking to eliminate protections for asylum seeking kids arriving at the border without a parent! The Trump administration’s policy of purposeful child separation is a moral failure for our nation, inflicting deep trauma on already vulnerable children. Moreover, the anxiety and distrust children suffer when they are institutionalized away from loved ones can cause long-lasting mental and physical health problems, particularly for small children who need personal attention in their formative years. Children who experience extended separation from their parents as a result of incarceration or detention are at increased risk of facing a variety of physical, mental, and behavioral health issues throughout the rest of their lives. In fact, this type of child-parent separation is classified as a specific type of trauma: an adverse childhood experience (ACE). Family detention is not only cruel, but also more expensive than alternatives to family detention, such as the Family Case Management Program (FCMP) that the Trump administration terminated it in 2017. Under the Family Case Management Program, children and their parents were placed into a program that provided individualized family service plans and had a proven 99% success rate ensuring the family attended their hearings. The Family Case Management Program cost only $36 per family per day, in comparison to family detention, which costs on average $798 for a family (2.5 individuals). Take action! Say NO to family separation!

The Trump Administration is purposely choosing to inflict harm on children in a misguided attempt to deter refugees from coming to America. Arresting family members who seek to sponsor the kids. Jailing them indefinitely in violation of current court orders. It was all part of their plan. Senator Jeff Merkley just released a previously-undisclosed memo showing that the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department had outlined the horrific family separation policy back in 2017—despite claims from Secretary Nielsen that there was no plan. This is unacceptable. These are not our American values. Sign the petition and tell Trump: Fire Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

The U.S. government is being threatened with a complete shut down by the Trump administration in order to strong-arm funding for the US-Mexico Border Wall. There is no end in sight for what is essentially a manufactured crisis. If Mr. Trump wants HIS wall SO BADLY that he is willing to hurt his constituents over it; then he should provide all the funding for it.

To stand up for the American people