Crossing the line at the border: Part II

Crossing the line at the border: Part II

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuJClimdXp0

PBS Need to Know, Oct 25, 2012, Video 30 min.

This and other PBS Need to Know reports have sparked an official investigation by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security. This action on the part of the OIG is the latest in a series of increasingly serious calls for inquiries into alleged abuses along the border. Following our first Border Patrol report, 16 members of Congress sent a letter in May demanding the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security investigate allegations of excessive force. In July, a grand jury was convened to look into the death of San Diego resident Anastasio Hernandez Rojas. After our second Border Patrol piece aired, six members of Congress released a joint statement condemning the alleged abuses and called for action. Now, as Juan Carlos Frey reports, the in-house oversight arm of the Department of Homeland security has added an investigation of Rojas' death to its 2013 strategic plan. In the video, the second installment of our ongoing investigation into alleged abuses by U.S. Border Patrol agents from July 2012, correspondent John Larson investigates stories of physical abuse, sexual assault and even torture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuJClimdXp0

Crossing the line at the border: Part I: Anastasio Hernandez Rojas

 

Crossing the line at the border: Part I: Anastasio Hernandez Rojas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUyy85t8E_U

Oct 5, 2012- In partnership with the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute, Need to Know investigates whether U.S. border agents have been using excessive force in an effort to curb illegal immigration. Eight people have been killed along the border in the past two years. One man died a short time after being beaten and tased, an event recorded by two eyewitnesses whose video is the centerpiece of the report. Both eyewitnesses say the man offered little or no resistance. One told Need to Know that she felt like she watched someone being "murdered," and the San Diego coroner's office classified the death as a "homicide."

Dream Activism and Obama Deferred Action

Go to Dream Activism and Obama Deferred Action

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/8/8/dream_activist_i_infiltrated_florida_facility

A new Obama administration policy could stop the deportation of as many as 1.3 million undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. Starting on Aug. 15, students under the age of 30 may be eligible for a two-year reprieve from deportation if they meet certain conditions. We speak to Marco Saavedra, a DREAM activist who infiltrated a Florida detention facility and was arrested again over the weekend calling for the release of immigrants held there. We also speak with Tom Shea, director of training for the New York Immigration Coalition about the Obama administration’s new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and what it will mean for undocumented youth. [Includes rush transcript]

Crossing the line

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/security/video-update-crossing-the-line/13737/

An update of last week’s report about possible abuses by U.S. border agents. There have been at least 8 killings along the U.S./Mexico border in the past two years.

Our report focused on the death of one illegal immigrant whose beating and tasing by border agents was captured on videotape: Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, a 42-year-old Mexican was illegally crossing over the border when he was caught by U.S. border patrol. Eyewitness video caught the sounds of Hernandez Rojas pleading for help while he was, according to witness, being beaten by border agents. And this never-before-seen video of the incident shows him being tasered repeatedly, while surrounded by more than a dozen officers.

It turned out that at the time of the tasing Hernandez Rojas was handcuffed and according to witnesses, not resisting.

Since our broadcast aired, the story has received national attention: This past Monday, human rights advocates and Hernandez Rojas’s family held a press conference in San Diego demanding justice and a federal investigation into the incident. And a national online Latino advocacy group, presente.org, has been circulating a petition addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding that the justice department investigate the incident immediately. The petition has more than 31,000 signatures.

Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva is a member of the Hispanic caucus and represents a district in Arizona that shares a 300-mile border with Mexico. Grijalva tells us that members of congress have, in the past, inquired about the case of Hernandez Rojas, but have heard nothing from the justice department.

Punishment and Profits: Immigration Detention

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2012/04/201241081117980874.html

Fault Lines investigates the business of immigrant detention in the US

Immigration is a key issue in the US presidential election, with the Republican candidates trying to demonstrate their tough stance on undocumented immigrants.

But under the Obama administration, the detention and deportation of immigrants has reached an all-time high.

Every day, the US government detains more than 33,000 non-citizens at the cost of $5.5mn a day. That is a lot of money for the powerful private prison industry, which spends millions of dollars on lobbying and now operates nearly half of the country's immigration detention centres.

Fault Lines travels to Texas and Florida to investigate the business of immigrant detention in the US and to find out how a handful of companies have managed to shape US immigration laws.

Hundreds Protest Alabama Anti-Immigrant Law

Democracy Now

Feb 15, 2012

Hundreds of people rallied at the Alabama State House in Montgomery on Tuesday in protest of the state’s controversial anti-immigrant law. The measure has already forced thousands of undocumented immigrants, primarily Latino, to flee the state. The law’s provisions include requirements for the checking of immigration status during traffic stops by police or for state workers processing license requests, public school enrollment and driver’s permits. Activists came to the State House from across Alabama and say they plan to remain for several days. Alabama lawmakers have promised to modify the law, but opponents are calling for its full repeal.

ICE Enabled East Haven Police's Racial Profiling By Detaining, Deporting Targeted Immigrants

ICE Enabled East Haven Police's Racial Profiling By Detaining, Deporting Targeted Immigrants

A new investigation by Colorlines Magazine has revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement continued to detain and deport individuals rounded up by the East Haven, Connecticut police, even after the Department of Justice launched its investigation into racial profiling. Four East Haven police officers have been arrested for targeting Latino immigrants with false arrests, false reports and harassment, prompting the East Haven police chief to resign. We’re joined by Seth Freed Wessler, a senior research associate at the Applied Research Center and an investigative reporter for Colorlines.com. "East Haven, Connecticut has a long history of profiling people of color," Freed Wessler says. "Folks of color in the greater New Haven area know not to drive through East Haven, Connecticut: you’re going to get pulled over if you’re black or Latino."

Suspenden aplicarla hasta que la Suprema Corte llegue a una definición

Pl

 Periódico La JornadaMiércoles 21 de diciembre de 2011, p. 26

Washington, 20 de diciembre. Una corte federal de Estados Unidos determinó este martes aplazar la entrada en vigor de una rigurosa ley migratoria en Carolina del Sur.

Tras analizar los argumentos de los grupos en favor y en contra del proyecto, la magistratura decidió rechazar una petición del fiscal estatal Alan Wilson para que se aplique la regulación, mientras la Suprema Corte llega a una definición.

El tribunal federal se comprometió a anunciar su veredicto antes del primero de enero de 2012, cuando debe implementarse el proyecto legal, ampliamente criticado por la población.

Unos 200 activistas se concentraron en una plaza cercana a la corte federal para manifestarse pacíficamente y exigir la desaprobación de los estatutos.

Disminuirá EU el número de soldados en la frontera, pero enviará más drones

 La nueva estrategia entrará en vigor en 2012, anuncian Seguridad Interna y Defensa

Republicanos censuran la medida; empeora la situación, dice el congresista Lamar Smith

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Periódico La Jornada
Miércoles 21 de diciembre de 2011, p. 13

Washington, 20 de diciembre. Estados Unidos reducirá el año entrante el número de soldados que mantiene en la frontera con México, unos mil 200, mientras despliega más equipos de vigilancia aérea para garantizar la seguridad en la zona, informaron autoridades estadunidenses este martes.

La nueva estrategia prevé añadir equipos aéreos multiusos, equipados con las tecnologías de vigilancia y reconocimiento de más reciente creación, indicó un comunicado conjunto de los departamentos de Seguridad Interna y Defensa, que sin embargo no especifica la cantidad de equipamiento.