On Monday September 18, 2017, the Decatur City Commission voted unanimously to adopt a resolution that, among other things, condemns white supremacy. The City can now put that condemnation to action by passing a non-detainer policy whereby local law enforcement will not prolong the detention of an immigrant per request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without a judicially issued warrant. Six counties and cities around metro Atlanta, including DeKalb County, already have resolutions and policies limiting collaboration with ICE. However, Decatur has yet to act. In the wake of Trump’s revocation of President Obama’s EO granting Deferred Action to Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Atlanta City Council voted overwhelmingly to adopt a non-detainer policy drafted by Project South, the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, and the Georgia Not1More Coalition. Now it’s time for Decatur to do the same. Members of the Georgia Not1More Coalition provided Decatur City Mayor Patti Garrett and Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss a similar Non-Detainer policy over three months ago and yet the City has made no affirmative steps to adopt it. This is unacceptable. As our immigrant friends and neighbors live in fear of ICE raids and arrests we must show our love and support for them by urging the City Commission to adopt the resolution below, drafted and presented to the Decatur City Mayor and City Manager by Project South, the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, and the Georgia Not1More Coalition, which is in compliance with current state and federal law. The City needs to adopt this policy as a statement of support to our immigrant friends and neighbors, who live in fear of ICE coming into their homes, places of work and worship, brutalizing them and their families and communities. If this City truly believes it is a Welcoming City and a Compassionate City, then it is time for them stand behind their words and adopt this resolution. Otherwise the resolutions declaring the City as Welcoming and Compassionate are empty. Based on the foregoing, we, the signers of this petition, demand that the City of Decatur and the City Police of Decatur adopt the following non-detainer policy: The Decatur Police Department shall not detain or extend the detention of any individual at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless ICE first presents the Decatur Police Department with a judicially issued warrant authorizing such detention. In particular, Decatur Police Department officials shall not arrest, detain, extend the detention of, transfer custody of, or transport anyone solely on the basis of an immigration detainer or an administrative immigration warrant, including an administrative immigration warrant in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. At no time may the Decatur Police Department detain a subject for additional time beyond when the criminal matter allows release solely to notify ICE of the subject’s release or to facilitate transfer to ICE. The Decatur Police Department shall not treat a detainer or request for notification as an indication that an individual is unlawfully present.Prior to any investigative interview of an individual in Decatur Police Department’s custody, ICE must notify the subject inmate’s attorney, provide a reasonable opportunity for counsel to be present during the interview, and certify to the Decatur Police Department that this notice and opportunity has occurred. Any person who alleges a violation of this policy may file a written complaint for investigation with the Decatur Police Department and with the internal complaints division of the Decatur Police Department.

Recently, Rosa Maria Hernandez was freed, after our national outrage and the #FreeRosa campaign forced Border Patrol to allow her to return to her parents. But the truth is, every day families in places like Corpus Christi, Texas, are either avoiding taking their sick kids to the hospital or dealing with inhumane separation as a result of an out-of-control enforcement system that forces ambulances to stop at immigration checkpoints and arrests sick family members. At Driscoll Children's Hospital, in Corpus Christi, Texas, two parents were arrested by Customs and Border Patrol while waiting for a critical operation on their two-month old son. Irma and Oscar Sanchez, were told that they would travel outside their residential area to the children's hospital two hours away to have the operation performed on their son, Isaac. But, it meant they would need to travel through a border patrol checkpoint. And after crossing through the checkpoint in an ambulance with their son who was getting intravenous fluids and had a tube in his stomach, they were "escorted" to hospital only to be arrested one-by-one and placed in deportation proceedings. Months later, ten-year-old Rosa Maria Hernandez was detained, 150 miles away from her parents, after Border Patrol was alerted while she was on her way to a life-saving gallbladder surgery. Border Patrol agents allowed Rosa Maria to continue to Driscoll Children's Hospital but followed the ambulance the rest of the way there, then waited outside her room until she was released from the hospital. This is horrific and inhumane. The Border Patrol has been violating many of its own guidelines around avoiding sensitive places like hospitals and keeping children and families together whenever possible, and the public deserves assurance that they will stop. Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security must stop making immigration arrests at sensitive locations, including ambulances and emergency vehicles going through Border Patrol checkpoints, hospitals, schools, churches, public demonstrations, and more.

We are calling on you to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus, who committed genocide against indigenous people. He enslaved, raped, and killed them without mercy. There should be a standard of behavior behind the people we choose to celebrate. We shouldn’t idolize someone who enslaved, raped, and killed indigenous people. Leaving the Columbus statue up makes it seem like the things he did were okay. It’s a sign of hate that shouldn’t be on public display. We understand that, to some, Columbus represents also Italian heritage, but Italian Americans don’t have to rely on Christopher Columbus’s legacy in order to be proud of their heritage. The statue should be taken down because NYC is a very diverse place, with all types of people, including Native Americans who feel hurt or intimidated by the display of this statue.

Our Indigenous People deserve it.

An undocumented immigrant who was recently arrested and accused of a felony had been released after previous arrests by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. Attorney General Jeff Sessions blamed Sheriff Reese for releasing him instead of holding him until ICE could detain him. But to do so would have been illegal: Sheriff Reese needed a court-issued criminal warrant to proceed, but received only a civil detainer, which has no legal standing in Oregon. In their war on immigrants, the DOJ and ICE are demanding that counties and states break their own laws. Thanks, Sheriff Reese, for refusing to detain immigrants unlawfully.

In his 2018 proposed budget, Trump has requested A LOT more money to fund the detention and deportation of immigrants, including: • funds to hire new ICE and Border Patrol agents to terrorize our communities, • more local police to focus on immigration enforcement, • a massive increase in immigrant detention—the equivalent of locking up the entire population of New Orleans over the course of a year, • $1.6 billion to build a southern border wall, and • further border militarization including aircraft and surveillance technology At the same time, the administration is seeking drastic cuts to vital housing, education, nutrition, and health care programs that help communities grow and thrive together. Trump has also already made the decision to take away DACA, putting at risk hundreds of thousands more to detention and deportation. Congress is taking action on this budget right now. The bill which recently passed the House of Representatives gives Trump almost all of what he asked for, even though ICE and CBP have put the detention and deportation machine on steroids, regularly lie, hide information from the American public, and retaliate against anyone who speaks out. It's now up to the Senate to make sure that Trump does not get the resources to launch his hate-fueled attacks on immigrants. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is a leading voice in the Senate and advocate for progressive immigration, criminal justice, and education reform. We believe he is in the position to be a progressive champion in opposing the immigration enforcement budget and to influence how much taxpayer money will end up going towards Trump’s anti-immigration agenda. We are asking you to sign this petition in order to tell Senator Booker that his constituents in the state of New Jersey want: 1) For Senator Booker to publicly call for significant cuts to the detention and deportation machine. 2) For Senator Booker to be a voice within the Senate for divesting from the detention and deportation machine and investing in healthcare, education, and housing programs and other vital programs.

In his 2018 proposed budget, Trump has requested A LOT more money to fund the detention and deportation of immigrants, including: • funds to hire new ICE and Border Patrol agents to terrorize our communities, • more local police to focus on immigration enforcement, • a massive increase in immigrant detention—the equivalent of locking up the entire population of New Orleans over the course of a year, • $1.6 billion to build a southern border wall, and • further border militarization including aircraft and surveillance technology At the same time, the administration is seeking drastic cuts to vital housing, education, nutrition, and health care programs that help communities grow and thrive together. Trump has also already made the decision to take away DACA, putting at risk hundreds of thousands more to detention and deportation. Congress is taking action on this budget right now. The bill which recently passed the House of Representatives gives Trump almost all of what he asked for, even though ICE and CBP have put the detention and deportation machine on steroids, regularly lie, hide information from the American public, and retaliate against anyone who speaks out. It's now up to the Senate to make sure that Trump does not get the resources to launch his hate-fueled attacks on immigrants. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is a leading voice in the Senate and advocate for progressive immigration, criminal justice, and education reform. We believe he is in the position to be a progressive champion in opposing the immigration enforcement budget and to influence how much taxpayer money will end up going towards Trump’s anti-immigration agenda. We are asking you to sign this petition in order to tell Senator Booker that his constituents in the state of New Jersey want: 1) For Senator Booker to publicly call for significant cuts to the detention and deportation machine. 2) For Senator Booker to be a voice within the Senate for divesting from the detention and deportation machine and investing in healthcare, education, and housing programs and other vital programs.

In his 2018 proposed budget, Trump has requested A LOT more money to fund the detention and deportation of immigrants, including: • funds to hire new ICE and Border Patrol agents to terrorize our communities, • more local police to focus on immigration enforcement, • a massive increase in immigrant detention—the equivalent of locking up the entire population of New Orleans over the course of a year, • $1.6 billion to build a southern border wall, and • further border militarization including aircraft and surveillance technology At the same time, the administration is seeking drastic cuts to vital housing, education, nutrition, and health care programs that help communities grow and thrive together. Trump has also already made the decision to take away DACA, putting at risk hundreds of thousands more to detention and deportation. Congress is taking action on this budget right now. The bill which recently passed the House of Representatives gives Trump almost all of what he asked for, even though ICE and CBP have put the detention and deportation machine on steroids, regularly lie, hide information from the American public, and retaliate against anyone who speaks out. It's now up to the Senate to make sure that Trump does not get the resources to launch his hate-fueled attacks on immigrants. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is a leading voice in the Senate and advocate for progressive immigration, criminal justice, and education reform. We believe he is in the position to be a progressive champion in opposing the immigration enforcement budget and to influence how much taxpayer money will end up going towards Trump’s anti-immigration agenda. We are asking you to sign this petition in order to tell Senator Booker that his constituents in the state of New Jersey want: 1) For Senator Booker to publicly call for significant cuts to the detention and deportation machine. 2) For Senator Booker to be a voice within the Senate for divesting from the detention and deportation machine and investing in healthcare, education, and housing programs and other vital programs.

Motel 6—which is controlled by the CEO of the Blackstone Group, one of Donald Trump's biggest supporters—is suspected of calling ICE to report undocumented guests. Employees at two locations in Arizona, where more than 20 arrests by ICE have been made in recent months, confirmed rumors, telling local media: "We send a report every morning to ICE -- all the names of everybody that comes in." Let that sink in for a minute. Motel 6 is literally taking money from immigrant customers, and then calling immigration agents to come round them up, jail them, and deport them if they can find a reason. This is unacceptable. Adding insult to injury, Motel 6 has released a statement claiming this was an isolated incident and the practice "was discontinued." That's it. No change in policies, no employees disciplined, no increased oversight. We can't let Motel 6 get away with these anti-immigrant practices. Demand that Motel 6 ensures none of their branches are cooperating with ICE. Together we can show callous companies and CEO's that they are not above basic decency.

Motel 6--which is controlled by the CEO of the Blackstone Group, one of Donald Trump's biggest supporters--is suspected of calling ICE to report undocumented guests. Employees at two locations in Arizona, where more than 20 arrests by ICE have been made in recent months, confirmed rumors, telling local media: "We send a report every morning to ICE -- all the names of everybody that comes in." Let that sink in for a minute. Motel 6 is literally taking money from immigrant customers, and then calling immigration agents to come round them up, jail them, and deport them, if they can find a reason. This is unacceptable. Sign the petition to tell Motel 6: Stop calling ICE on your immigrant customers, and apologize, immediately. Together we can show callous companies and CEO's that they are not above basic decency.

This affects our U.S. born spouses and their children by separating families who have tried to do the right thing when applying for family based residency. My husband was denied his permanent residence and a ten year bar placed because he had been here more than once and over one year. We have now been separated and are having to make the decision to move our children to Mexico in order to remain a family unit.

The NY State Assembly passed these two bills, intended to protect "Dreamers" living in the state of New York, in February 2017. However, when the bills got to the NY Senate, the eight members of the "Independent Democratic Committee" - a bloc of Senators who have turned away from the Democratic voters that elected them to join Republicans on this and many other legislative issues - joined with their Republican colleagues to block these bills. I am asking my Governor, Andrew Cuomo, to act quickly to convene a special session to pass the NY Dream Act and the NY Liberty Act. I also ask our Governor to denounce the turncoats who call themselves the IDC and to support primary challengers for each of their seats. These Senators, who ran and were elected as Democrats, have abandoned their duty to the voters that elected them to office. Let's make New York a beacon of progressive values by providing sanctuary to those who did not choose to come here but have since contributed to their communities as New Yorkers. We need a unified Democratic government that truly represents the voters that elected them, and that will stand up for all New Yorkers. (see "Assembly Dems pass series of immigrant rights and protections," The Legislative Gazette, February 27, 2017, http://legislativegazette.com/assembly-dems-pass-series-of-immigrant-rights-and-protections/)