For Immediate Release: August 15th, 2011
Contact: Julie Gonzales, CIRC, Julie@coloradoimmigrant.org, 720-891-2712 | Jessica Cook Woodrum, One Colorado, 720-412-3772, jessicaw@one-colorado.org
Denver, CO - Abandoned as a child, abused, and mistreated, a young lesbian woman made her way from Mexico to the United States and built a life alongside the woman she loves. However, Mrs. Hernandez's future (who asks that her full name not be used) now hinges on a decision from an immigration judge. But new prosecutorial discretion guidelines for bi-national same-sex couples from John Morton, the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, could prove to be crucial for her future, as they address the way immigration judges should apply and interpret the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
"It is absurd that someone like Mrs. Hernandez is facing deportation from her partner and the life they have built together, due to a traffic stop. This happens to thousands of families across the country as a result of increased local law enforcement collaboration with ICE. Unfortunately, DOMA makes our already broken immigration system even worse," said Julien Ross, Executive Director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, "DOMA denies committed same-sex couples any rights in sponsoring their spouse, and often leaves their families with few options for changing their situation."
Ross continued: "The real solution would be to recognize Mrs. Hernandez's marriage, and allow them the same rights as any other married couple under immigration law. But at the very least, ICE should follow their own guidelines on discretion and stop her deportation immediately."
Mrs. Hernandez met her partner, a US citizen born and raised in Denver, and fell in love in 2006. They were married in Iowa in 2010. However, as a result of DOMA, their marriage is not recognized for immigration purposes and her partner is barred from sponsoring Mrs. Hernandez for legal status.
When Mrs. Hernandez was pulled over for a minor traffic violation in 2008, she was detained and spent nearly 3 months at an immigration detention center. Since that time, the couple has spent more than $20,000 on the legal battle to fight her deportation case and to have their marriage recognized and respected by immigration courts.
"No loving, committed couple should be torn apart by the laws of our country," said Brad Clark, Executive Director of One Colorado. " Mrs. Hernandez and her partner have made a lifelong promise to take care of each other, and their marriage should provide them with security to build a life together. But because of these unjust, discriminatory laws, their family hangs in the balance. That's just plain wrong."
A decision on Mrs. Hernandez's case is expected on August 19th at the Denver Immigration Court. In the coming days, community organizations will be working to mobilize support. Please contact Julie Gonzales, Director of Organizing for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition at Julie@coloradoimmigrant.org, or Shannon Masden, Field Manager for One Colorado at Shannonm@one-colorado.org to get involved.
###
The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) is a statewide, membership-based coalition of immigrant, faith, labor, youth, community, business and ally organizations founded in 2002 to improve the lives of immigrants and refugees by making Colorado a more welcoming, immigrant-friendly state. CIRC achieves this mission through non-partisan civic engagement, public education, and advocating for workable, fair and humane immigration policies.
One Colorado is a statewide advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring equality and opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Coloradans and their families. With offices in Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and Grand Junction, One Colorado effectively improves the lives of LGBT Coloradans by lobbying the General Assembly, executive branch, and local governments on issues like safe schools, relationship recognition, and LGBT health and human services. Learn more about www.one-colorado.org.
Para Distribuicón Inmediata: Lunes, 15 de agosto del 2011
Contactos: Julie Gonzales, CIRC, Julie@coloradoimmigrant.org, 720-891-2712 (bilingüe) | Jessica Cook Woodrum, One Colorado, 720-412-3772, jessicaw@one-colorado.org (inglés)
Bajo un sistema roto de inmigración, DOMA agrega otra capa de injusticia
Pareja bi-nacional lesbiana espera una respuesta; DOMA tiene su futuro rehenes
Denver, CO - Abandonada como niña, abusada y maltratada, una jóven lesbiana salió de México, llegó a los Estados Unidos, y construyó una vida al lado de la mujer que ama. Sin embargo, su futuro ahora depende de una decisión departe de un juez de inmigración. Pero John Morton, el Director del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés) acaba de mandar nuevas directrices de discreción prosecutorial para parejas bi-nacionales del mismo sexo, y pueden ser decisivos para el futuro de Sra. Hernandez (quien pide que su nombre completo no sea usado) porque tratan de la manera que los jueces de inmigración deben interpretar y aplicar la Ley de Defensa del Matrimonio (DOMA, por sus siglas en inglés).
"Es absurdo que alguien como la Sra. Hernandez está enfrentando una deportación de su pareja y la vida que han construida juntas, por causa de una parada rutinario de tráfico. Esto pasa a miles de familias al nivel nacional por la mayor colaboración entre la policía local y ICE. Desafortunadamente, DOMA empeora el sistema de inmigración ya roto," dijo Julien Ross, Director Ejecutivo de la Coalición para los Derechos de Inmigrantes de Colorado (CIRC, por sus siglas en inglés), "DOMA niega las parejas comprometidas del mismo sexo cualquier derecho a patrocinar a su esposo o esposa, y por la mayoría de los casos, deja las familias sin la oportunidad de cambiar su situación."
Ross continuó: "La solución verdadera sería reconocer el matrimonio entre la Sra. Hernandez y su pareja, y darles los mismos derechos que reciben todas las otras parejas casadas bajo la ley de inmigración. Por lo menos, ICE debe seguir sus propios directrices de discreción y cancelar su deportación inmediatamente."
La Sra. Hernandez y su pareja, una ciudadana nacida en Denver, se conocieron y se enamoraron en el 2006. Se casaron en Iowa en el 2010. Sin embargo, bajo DOMA, su matrimonio no es reconocido bajo la ley de inmigración y la pareja no puede patrocinar a Sra. Hernandez por un estatus legal.
Cuando Sra. Hernandez fue parada por una infracción de transito en el 2008, fue detenida y pasó casi 3 meses en la cárcel de inmigración. Desde entonces, la pareja ha pagado más de $20.000 para batallar legalmente en contra del caso de deportación y para que las cortes de inmigración reconozcan y respetan a su matrimonio.
"Ninguna pareja comprometida y cariñosa debe ser separada por las leyes de nuestro país," dijo Brad Clark, Director Ejecutivo de One Colorado. "Sra. Hernandez y su pareja han hecho una promesa de por vida de cuidar la una a la otra, y su matrimonio debería de proveerlas con la seguridad de construir una vida juntas. Pero por estas leyes injustas y discriminatorias, su familia está en duda. Es una gran equivocación."
Esperan una decisión en el caso de Sra. Hernandez el 19 de agosto en la Corte de Inmigración de Denver. En los siguientes días, movilizarán varias organizaciones de base en apoyo. Favor de contactar a Julie Gonzales, Directora de Organizar con CIRC, julie@coloradoimmigrant.org, o a Shannon Masden, Manager de Campo con One Colorado, shannonm@one-colorado.org para involucrarse.
###
La Coalición para los Derechos de Inmigrantes de Colorado (CIRC, por sus siglas en inglés) es una coalición estatal de organizaciones de inmigrantes, fé, sindicatos, comunitarias, negociantes, y aliadas fundada en el 2002 para mejorar las vidas de inmigrantes y refugiados a través de asegurar que Colorado esté más acogedor y pro-inmigrante. CIRC alcanza nuestra misión por involucramiento cívico no-partidista, educación pública, y abogacía para una reforma migratoria justa.
One Colorado es una organización estatal de abogacía dedicada a asegurar la igualdad y oportunidad por Coloradenses lesbianas, gay, bisexuales, y transgéneros (LGBT) y sus familias. Con oficinas en Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, y Grand Junction, One Colorado mejora las vidas de Coloradenses LGBT a través de abogacía en la Asamblea General, el poder ejecutivo, y en gobiernos locales en temas como escuelas seguras, reconocimiento de relaciones, y salud y servicios humanos para la comunidad LGBT. Aprende más en one-colorado.org.
http://www.coloradoimmigrant.org/article.php?id=1135
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
In a Broken Immigration System, DOMA Adds Another Layer of Injustice Bi-national lesbian couple waits for answer; DOMA holds their future hostage (Seg
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Near the Border, A Trail of Tears
Denver Post
OPINION
Near the border, a trail of tears
By Chandra Russo
6/14/2009
It is the threatening hour of the day. At just 10 a.m., we plod on in 100 degree heat under a vicious sun. Even the desert insects have stopped their rattling below the dry burn.
I sip at my water bottle. I find it difficult to quench my thirst without filling my belly to sloshing. My lips are chapped. My joints ache as we continue into our fourth day.
About 50 of us are walking the Migrant Trail, a 75-mile trek over seven days through Arizona's border lands. We follow the general path taken by so many migrants forced into this remote, brutal desert. We begin in Sasabe, Mexico, a mile south of the border, and head toward Tucson, traveling just east of the Baboquivari range and the Tohono O'odham Nation.
Despite the discomfort, I recognize the immense beauty of this place, stark peaks, fierce but glorious cacti flowering everywhere. The land is saturated with the rich history of peoples and fragile ecosystems that have made this place home for centuries.
The Migrant Trail began in 2003 with about 20 members of this border community. After years of setting out water in a helpless attempt to curb migrant deaths, having recovered far too many human remains, these 20 wanted to experience the journey and expose the daily reality out here. They commit to walk yearly until the deaths stop.
In the years since, many have joined them. This year, five students and their professor from Manitoba, Canada, have come to learn more about the other U.S. border. A French sociologist has driven from California, motivated by his own immigration experience and the immigrant students in his classroom. Many are called by their faith to walk — an Argentine missionary living in the Mexican town of Altar, a nun from Chicago, and a Franciscan monk who walks in his robes.
This is my second year on the Migrant Trail. I was invited in 2007 to better understand human rights issues on the border. In returning, I am reminded of the urgency of fixing the nation's broken immigration system.
Our walk comes at a conspicuous political moment. A week ago, 700 people from around the country convened on Washington to meet with Congress, demanding a comprehensive immigration reform package be passed within a year. Yesterday, hundreds packed into a church in Northglenn as Colorado Congressman Jared Polis and Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez heard testimony from families torn apart by our immigration system. And this Wednesday, President Obama will pull both parties together to push this same idea. This reform has the potential to save lives.
Here's the bottom line when it comes to sealing our southern border: It doesn't work.
In the decision to cross to the United States, economic forces and familial ties trump walls, material or virtual. Since the mid-90s when we cut off the urban crossing points of San Diego and El Paso, and began implementing the latest in military technology, the number of undocumented in the country has more than doubled from 5 million to 12 million. While the most aggressive and expensive border enforcement has forced migrants into ever more perilous crossings, thousands of deaths have proven to be no deterrent to those facing dehumanizing poverty at home.
Pointing to a recent decline in immigration to the U.S., we see that the economy, not border policy, is the determining factor. Any measurable drop begins about four years ago, when our economy began to decline. There were no dramatic shifts in border policy at that time, making it obvious that fewer job opportunities are what stemmed the flow.
After being out here myself with all the comforts we are afforded as walkers, what is surprising to me isn't that people have died. It's that anyone makes it at all. I remark at this as we pass abandoned backpacks along Route 86, signs of migrants who likely survived many days in the desert to be picked up by vehicles.
We look back over the terrain we have walked on our final morning. "Our killing fields," offers a nurse who regularly resuscitates migrants near heat stroke in her hospital.
There is a policy fix for this. We can allot a realistic number of immigration visas so that needed workers and families can safely cross between countries. We can rethink the way we police our southern border.
Already this year, 79 of the dead have been recovered. The season of death, deep summer, has not even begun.
Chandra Russo is communications coordinator at the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC), based in Denver
David McCabe also posted some beautiful pictures from the Walk at the following link: http://www.dsmccabe.com/David_S._McCabe/Photos_From_the_Migrant_Trail.html
Tony put up some amazing pictures as well at http://www.tsjugephd.com/PCC_Courses/Migrant_Trail_2009.html
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Tom Kowal on the Migrant Trail Walk
Statement by Tom Kowal from Denver, at the press conference in Tucson at the end of the 5th Migrant Trail Walk, June 1, 2008:
There is a reason why we are here. We are here in memory of the 5,000 women, men and children who have died in the past 14 years on this border. These brave people committed no crime. They came across this desert because they need to feed their families. They died because the US laws are broken. These laws are unrealistic, inhumane and lethal. They serve only those who would exploit other human beings, and those who seek to divide us.
We are one community – somos un pueblo. So when these brothers and sisters -- these friends and neighbors -- suffer and die in the desert because the safe routes have been closed by failed policies, we all suffer this loss.
And so Coloradans For Immigrant Rights, the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and the American Friends Service Committee stand here in witness to those sacrificed in this killing field. We mourn with their families and we call for reform. We call on our government to end this evil madness; to immediately pass humane and realistic comprehensive immigration reform; to reprogram the billions of dollars being wasted on border militarization to human needs.
It is not too much to ask to stop the killing and to begin healing our border communities.
~ Tom Kowal
Monday, September 17, 2007
Challenge Greeley's Public Officials and Create Community
"Ixxxxxl Immigration-the Untold Stories"
Click here for their description of the event.
I believe it is critical to support the victims of crime while/and challenging the racist/nativist assumption that all undocumented persons are criminals as well as discuss how our broken system contributes to all of the above. Members of CIRC and CFIR will be heading up together. See below for details.
Carpool Information- Denver to Greeley
Time: 4:00pm
Date: September 18th
Place: 3131 West 14th Avenue, Denver
Event Information
Time: 6:30pm -8:30pm
Date: September 18th
Place: 4H Building at Island Grove Park, Greeley
Latinos Unidos is sponsoring a community building event that night.
Time: 7-8:30 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, Septemeber 18th
Place: Union Colony Civic Center, 701 10th Ave., Greeley.
Keynote speakers include Dwight Jones, state education commissioner; Polly Baca, CEO of Latin American Research and Service Agency; Steve Horan, director of Lutheran Family Services Refugee and Asylum programs in Denver, and Rolf Brende, chaplain and author of "The Gentle Heart Primer: Principles That Build Community."
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Photos from the recent CIRC Pop Ed Retreat...
Posts
