Aurora City Council considering criminalizing day laborers

City Council Hearing and Rally TONIGHT

WHAT: Rally and Testimonies at City Council Meeting to Oppose Anti-Day-Laborer Ordinance

WHERE: Steps of Aurora Municipal Building 15151 E. Alameda Parkway, Aurora, CO 80012

RALLY: 6:30pm
HEARING: 7:30pm

SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS
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UPDATE 7/15/2008

The City Council delayed their vote on this issue last night. Several City Council members were not present. The Council expressed a desire for "more community input". Several members of the council who are opposed to a change in the ordinance wanted to have the vote. Several members, including the sponsor, voted to postpone the vote. Stay posted for more details on the next hearing date. Thanks to all who gave up their Monday night for the rally and testimony!

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7/10/2008
The Aurora City council will consider a new ordinance which would place El Centro, and other non-profit employment centers, under the same code as for-profit temporary employment centers. If passed, El Centro will not be able to purchase property close to where day laborers and employers currently meet.

Come out on Monday to the Rally and stay to give testimony.

WHAT: Rally and Testimonies at City Council Meeting to Oppose Anti-Day-Laborer Ordinance

WHERE: Steps of Aurora Municipal Building 15151 E. Alameda Parkway, Aurora, CO 80012

WHEN: Monday, July 14, 2008 Rally at 6:30p.m. (7:30p.m. City Council Meeting)

BACKGROUND
For the last two years the City of Aurora has been escalating their constant harassment against the day laborers who congregate in the intersection of Dayton Street and Colfax Avenue.

Their actions include wrongfully ticketing of day laborers for trespassing; threatening to close down the business owned by a Hispanic woman who gave supported workers by allowing them to seek refuge on her property while waiting for work; and police calling building owners to intimidate them into not renting or selling their buildings to Centro Humanitario.

After the Peter Boyles Show, which hosted Mayor Ed Tauer and other city officials, the Colorado Minutemen Project has shown up to harass the day laborers at Dayton and Colfax.

Since our first call for help on June 16, 2008, the City of Aurora has amended their current laws regarding the control of temporary employment agencies to include non profits, specifically agencies that provide assistance to day laborers.

The City of Aurora is meticulously reviewing and amending their current laws to make sure the ordinance against day laborers is “perfectly enforceable.”

For more information, please call Centro Humanitario:

Photo Taken by Heather A. Longway-Burke

Raids in Loveland

On July , 2008 ICE raided a concrete plant in Loveland Colorado and arrested 18 people. Those detained are being held in various different detention centers from Park County to Teller to Aurora.

It remains to be seen whether Immigration, Control and Enforcement will be pursuing criminal charges for "identity theft" or simply trying to bully people into signing their own deportation forms.

Some workers are being allowed to bond out. The families of those who could bond out have now spent all they have to bond the workers out. The workers cannot work while out on bond. Many of the families are without money to pay rent for August.

If you want to help, please send checks to:
Fuerza Latina Relief Fund
c/o First National BankP.O. Box 578
Fort Collins, CO 80522

These types of "enforcement" actions are meant to terrorize workers and their families. Why else would they have called in "air support" from the Border Patrol to arrest 18 people?

The raids do not change our broken system. Raids do not make people leave the United States.

Raids make it easier to exploit us all by making immigrant workers more vulnerable to exploitation and unsafe working conditions, lowering the bar of what is acceptable. Raids make people afraid to demand their labor rights, afraid to be a part of the community, afraid to speak with people they don't know. Raids divide us.

The question is Who do these raids benefit? Who gains from weakened worker's rights? Some of the answer is: consumers who want to buy more stuff for less money. Some of the answer is: those employers who are unscrupulous. A big part of the answer is: multi-national corporations who pit workers from all over the world against one another in a race to the bottom.

More info
Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition
News articles

Detention Centers Violate Human Rights

Undocumented immigrants have not broken a criminal law, but rahter a civil one. Civil law encompasses such offenses as parking tickets, speeding and jaywalking. Most immigrants come here, build their family and work. They become integral parts of their communities. It is our immigration laws and procedures which make them vulnerable to abuses.

Ask if the "crime" of working and building fits the punishments being inflicted?

A report released today details the human rights violations that occur once immigrants are in detention.

The Tacoma Center was built over neighborhood objections that a toxic-waste site was not an appropriate place for detention. Now the center has been found to violate many human rights.

"Conditions at the detention center violate obligations under international law, including customary international law and the refugee convention. The center’s holding of asylees in detention violates U.S.’s obligations under the Refugee condition and constitute Cruel, Inhuman and degrading treatment.”

Skinner also says the conditions at the center violate the 5th Amendment of the Constitution in that they amount to punishment... Other rights being violated include the right to counsel, the right to family unity, due process violations due to the forced signing of papers, right to medical treatment, especially emergency medical treatment and mental health treatment."

Many centers, including the GEO center in Aurora, have similar problems. There have been allegations of racism and harassment at the Aurora GEO Center. The waiting room at the facility is very small and visiting family members are forced to wait outside in the heat and cold if they want to visit their family. The facility also only allows two visitors at a time so families have to bring someone with them to watch their other children or not visit at all. Even prisons do not have such restrictions.

To read the executive summary click here
To read the full report click here

Court Intrepreter Relates Injustices During Potsville Raids

Erik Camayd-Freixas, Ph.D. has 25 years experience as a court interpreter. He also teaches interpreting ethics. He felt that the injustices perpetrated on Guatemalan and Mexican immigrants during the Potsville immigration raid were so egregious, he had to report them.

Professor Camayd witnessed immigrants coming into court 10 by 10 to be arraigned. They were all, men and women alike, in shackles.

On Democracy Now Professor Camayd-Freixas reported

"here were many (immigrants) in that same predicament. They were basically begging to be deported. And, of course, what made this case unique was that, for the first time, at least in this scale, they were not being deported but actually criminally prosecuted and sent to jail for five months or more. And the fact that they did not have a right to bail and that if they wanted to plead “not guilty” they would have had to wait possibly longer, up to six or eight months in jail without bail waiting for a trial, made this situation very, very difficult to really say that there was justice done in many of these cases."

We have to ask ourselves

• Is this what we mean by justice? Families hungry, workers jailed without proper proceedings
  
• Has the government reflected our values: liberty, equality, justice, pursuit of happiness?
  
• How much longer will we uphold unjust laws?

To read the full report of the Professor's experience click here

HUNGER STRIKE SOLIDARITY VIGIL

On Friday, May 30, at 12:00 pm, Colorado Jobs with Justice will have a vigil to show solidarity with "guest" workers from India who are engaged in a hunger strike in Washington DC. We will also discuss similar cases of human trafficking happening in Colorado. Read about one case here. More info about this local action will be posted here soon. For more information about the hunger strikers, visit the hunger strike blog here. This is day nine of the strike and there has already been one hospitalization. Keep these courageous workers in your thoughts.

DHS Rule Negatively Impacts All Workers

These comments were sent to the Department of Homeland Security on April 25th, 2008
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Coloradans for Immigrant Rights, a project of the Colorado office of the American Friends Service Committee, submits these comments in opposition to the supplemental proposed rule that reissues the rule on Safe Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter.

The mission of Coloradans For Immigrant Rights (CFIR) is to create a welcoming climate for all members of our community, to advocate for humane immigration policies and to eliminate unjust immigration practices. We build broad support for immigrant justice by educating and organizing citizens in support of immigrant rights. Many CFIR members have the privilege of citizenship; therefore, we believe it is our responsibility to take guidance from immigrant based groups, and to reach out to other citizens with a pro-immigrant message. We believe diverse pro-immigrant voices grow and strengthen the movement for immigrant justice.

Because of the SSA no-match letters, our staff and members have already received calls reporting increased fear and confusion as employees and employers struggle to understand the policy. Additionally, due to the current anti-immigrant climate, many citizens of Latino descent in Colorado have reported racial profiling across a number of areas. Reissuing this rule can only make it worse.

Relying on a flawed database to solve our nation’s immigration issues is a mistake. Rather the DHS should pursue worksite policies which would enable employers to help their workers adjust their immigration status. It would not only be a more productive and humane, it would recognize the enormous contributions immigrant workers make daily to our nation’s economy.

Coloradans for Immigrant Rights, joins the national American Friends Service Committee office in strongly opposing the Department of Homeland Security’s reissuance, without any substantive change, of the Safe Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter. The rule does not address the issues raised by the court. It has resulted in the firing of lawfully authorized workers. The proposed changes are not substantive, thus the rule will continue to undermine labor rights thereby causing a detrimental impact on all workers. Additionally, the rule will further overburden the Social Security Administration. Finally, the rule will be costly to workers and to our nation’s economy. At a time of crisis in our nation’s economy, we should be creating policies that strengthen our workforce and communities and that recognize the contributions that all workers make regardless of their status.

Rep. Curry Threatened After Standing up for Decency: Write or Call to Thank Her

After Rep. Bruce made repeated disparaging remarks about immigrants, Rep Curry asked him to address the bill in front of the House, HB1325. Rep. Bruce continued his anti-immigrant rhetoric and was gaveled down (not allowed to speak further) by Rep. Curry. (Details from the Denver Business Journal)

Today, Rep. Curry is under increased protection from the State patrol after receiving numerous calls and mail threatening her. (from the Grand Junction Sentinel)

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Send a letter, email or phone call to Representative Curry to:

1. Thank her and let her know you support her decision to uphold standards of decency and decorum on the House floor.
2. That while we oppose the bill, if she has decided to vote for the HB1325, then we are counting on her to vote for worker protections amendments in Committee.

WHAT IS HB 1325 AND WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

HB 1325 is a bill which would create a Colorado specific guestworker program. Many anti-immigrant bills were passed last year during a special session of the house including SB90, which encourages the police to act as immigration agents, and HB1310 which specifically denies State services to those who cannot prove legal residency. These bills sent a message. The message was received by migrant workers who decided Colorado wasn't worth it and didn't come to work.

As a consequence, we are now in our second season of leaving crops to rot in the fields due to labor shortages. For farmers this has been painful and prompted them to pressure the legislature for action. The farmers have not been able to get the necessary workers through the flawed federal H-2A VISA program, so they are asking for our own program in Colorado.

Guestworker programs are historically problematic and exploitative. This bill still represents a guestworker program and has the potential to be equally so. Now the Bill is heading to Committee where the House and Senate will hash out their different versions. There are several amendments on the table which would increase worker protections and make the bill less exploitative, at least on paper.

Event in Aurora

There is an awesome upcoming event in Aurora which will facilitate conversation in the community around day laborers. Over the last year an ongoing dialogue with city council, code enforcement and the police in Aurora resulted in a sort of truce. This event will spark conversation between all residents of Aurora, including those who work in day labor. I hope to see lots of new faces at the event and am really excited to see this multi-media display about the lives and work of day laborers.

Check out Alternet's Headlines

Alternet, a alternative news site, has 3, count 'em, 3, articles today about immigration and worker's rights.

Check out their website at: www.alternet.org You may have to search for the third article, which is specifically about Burger King.

Action: Call to support worker's rights

**This message was sent to us by an organizer**

Thank you so much to everyone who attended the janitors’ picket at Park Meadows on Saturday!!

We had a very successful event and the workers who attended were overwhelmed and energized by all of the support they felt from the community. The janitors have reported experiencing threats and intimidation in response to their efforts to organize for better working conditions and yet they have continued to courageously stand up to their employer to ask for change. We thank you for coming out and recognizing that courage and supporting them in their ongoing effort to improve the quality of their lives.

After the action, two workers entered the mall with a union organizer all wearing their justice for janitors t-shirts. They were approached by Security who required them to change their shirts in order to be in the mall. They all complied and returned to the mall so that the workers could pick up their paychecks. While the workers were in the office getting their checks the union organizer was surrounded by 6-8 security guards who ultimately banned him from the mall for a year. He was told that union activity is not allowed on Park Meadows property. This was all done in view of workers and has obviously further frightened and intimidated workers. Both the janitors’ employer, The Millard Group and the owner of the mall, General Growth Properties are already being investigated for violations of federal labor law and now additional charges are being prepared.

WE NEED YOUR HELP AGAIN!

PLEASE SUPPORT THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF JANITORS!

CALL Pamela Schenck the General Manager of Park Meadows Mall at 303-792-2999 or Pamela.schenck@generalgrowth.com.

TELL HER to STOP Abusing the Civil Rights of Workers!!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT =)

Events for August 25th through September 1st

August 25th Support
SEIU Janitors!

Time: 4:00pm
Action: Support Janitors in their right to organize by picketing with them against the Millard Group
Place: Park Meadows Mall
Directions: Map
Contact: Veronica Vera 303-698-7963 extension 134 or at wera@seiu105.org

AUGUST 31st Support
Citizenship Rights

Time: 11:00am

Action: Hearing to determine whether Mr. Mahd can receive his citizenship without delay.
Where: 901 19th Street Denver, CO, Rm A902

Links to details in this case: http://www.accesstojobs.com/media.html
Link to news coverage: http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6624187
http://www.denverpost.com/movies/ci_4813326