PrernaLal.com

Spending X-Mas in Detention

// December 26th, 2009 // 1729No Comments »http://prernalal.com/2009/12/spending-x-mas-in-detention/Spending+X-Mas+in+Detention2009-12-26+21%3A56%3A33Prerna // Immigration

Carl contacted DreamActivist through our contact form to share the story of his legal immigrant friend who was in detention. His point was that the system isn’t just broken for undocumented immigrants here but even for those who try to play by the rules and still end up getting burned.

I have cross-posted his story at Change.org and Promigrant.org and sent him an intake form, which he will fill with the help of his friend in detention. I also admire Carl for realizing the business of immigrant detention in his few encounters with the system. We hope to have his friend out soon.

Is Geogetown University Working with ICE?

// October 6th, 2009 // 1436No Comments »http://prernalal.com/2009/10/is-geogetown-university-working-with-ice/Is+Geogetown+University+Working+with+ICE%3F2009-10-07+08%3A13%3A20Prerna // Immigration

Given that Juan Gomez–an undocumented student from Florida–is studying at Georgetown University, I found this bit of their law school application quite fascinating:

It’s the only law school out of the 30 applications that I have looked over for Fall 2010, that has such ‘verification requirement’ statements.

The U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) has actually clarified  that federal law did not prohibit undocumented immigrants from attending colleges. When North Carolina community colleges were battling with allowing undocumented students into colleges, ICE issued statement, stating that “it is left for the school to decide whether or not to enroll out-of-status or undocumented non-immigrants…The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not require any school to determine a student’s status.”

So even USCIS agrees that the role of college officials is to educate and does not require them to adjudicate. Georgetown, when did you sign a contract to serve as the e-verify of college admissions?

Even the Fear is Gone

// August 1st, 2009 // 1212No Comments »http://prernalal.com/2009/08/even-the-fear-is-gone/Even+the+Fear+is+Gone2009-08-02+00%3A17%3A10Prerna // Immigration

“The more I’m afraid of something, the more I know I have to do it. I figured that out when I was a kid. I can lead a protected life, hiding away from the scary world. Or, I can take on the things that scare me the most. The more it might hurt, the more I might die doing it… the more worth doing it must be.”

-Marlee Matlin

I am officially as out as I can be and it’s actually a downer. People somehow think I am brave. What? There’s nothing brave about being yourself.

Is it lack of fear or just downright recklessness? Maybe a bit of both. I am so numb that I no longer care. At the same time, I realize that I have nothing left to lose so it doesn’t matter.

I actually don’t understand what all the hype and fear is about. It’s actually quite like being ‘gay and closeted’ — nothing really happens after you come out, besides the occasional slur, marginalization and deprivation of basic civil rights. But we knew that already.

Why do we give the state so much control and power over our lives? Why do we stoop to the terrorists at ICE? When we fear the system that oppresses us, we have lost already. And I don’t do losing. Despite several layers of systemic inequities, there are some things that I can control–being open, direct and honest about myself is one of those things. Not supporting a bureaucracy and system with my hard-work and taxes is another one of those things.

Now, if I have to stay true to myself, I have to find something that really scares me and just do it. Leaving everything I know is scary–I must do it again.

Stop the Deportation of Convicted Felons!

// July 13th, 2009 // 11865 Comments »http://prernalal.com/2009/07/stop-the-deportation-of-convicted-felons/Stop+the+Deportation+of+Convicted+Felons%212009-07-14+02%3A35%3A10Prerna // Immigration

The immigration rights movement, forced into a defensive posture, is down on its knees begging for crumbs. Pleading to keep only the “good” immigrants in the country, those who will labor with their heads down, without asking for rights. DREAMers are in the business of selling an image as a class of exceptional, pristine high achievers. The language of the DREAM Act demands that those who would benefit from its passage be of “good moral character.”

-Julianne Hing writing for RaceWire.

Here it goes. One of our good allies is pointing out the fallacy of the good immigrant/bad immigrant logic in the DREAM Act.

I won’t agree that it is inherent–just because an act rewards good behavior and hard-work, does not mean it necessary negates anything to the contrary. There is nothing wrong with wanting skilled and educated professionals in this country and making a special category for those students brought here without their consent. So I won’t be apologetic about it and neither should any other student who has overcome the odds and not succumbed to becoming a stereotype.

Truth be told, I feel like we are between victims of trafficking and paperless refugees in this country. If there can be U-visas and T-visas, why not a category for teenagers and young adults brought here without their consent, who now find themselves assimilated with nowhere to go? Why use that against us?

As people of color, it’s a double bind. If we don’t succeed, we are deemed as immigrants who are a burden on the social system. If we do succeed, we are ‘too white and assimilated.’

History lesson. Civil rights for African Americans was not won as a ‘comprehensive package.’  Actually, we are still fighting the war, winning or losing one battle at a time.  It’s a perpetual war–the DREAM Act is just one step in the right direction, one victory that we need to sustain momentum for more victories.

But I can’t blame Julianne Hing entirely for her discourse though I do wonder what sort of organizing Racewire is doing to promote citizenship for all immigrants. Unfortunately, this is the kind of commentary we get when we let DC orgs control the messaging for our movement. Why thank the terrorists at DHS for sparing ‘honors students?’ Actually, why even say ‘honors student ______’ is beyond me. Does a non-honors student matter less?  Sure, it is offensive to be portrayed as a serf who says ‘yes sire’ to the U.S. government upon getting legalized but I cannot really take issue with Julianne Hing for pointing out how some of our more privileged allies like to talk about us.

Still, clarifications are in order. We DO NOT plead to just keep the ‘good immigrants’ in this country– we never make that distinction. Pardon us, if we don’t have convicted felons coming to us, but to this day, I don’t think we have refused a campaign simply because someone was a C-student. This is about our basic civil rights as people who were brought to this country without consent, without will, without a choice and told to ‘adjust.’ At 18 we realize we are undocumented, we realize there is no line for us. At 21, some of us realize that we ‘age out.’ Then, kids are filing lawsuits to keep their parents here and parents (mine included) are filing lawsuits to keep their children here. It’s a whole lot more complicated than the binary of good immigrant/bad immigrant.

The ‘good moral character’ clause has less to do with the DREAM Act and more to do with the requirements of citizenship as per the retrogressive 1996 law that targets even permanent residents with age-old misdemeanors. Remember perfectly legal till they applied for citizenship? Why is it suddenly the responsibility of underfunded, underprivileged and overworked (without pay) undocumented students to make an all-encompassing argument for immigration reform? Ask the people with lots of money in PR to lead the way.

Last, please don’t put me in the same category as a convicted felon. I am sure that the deportees in Jamaica have their own pain and suffering, but we don’t need to go there to see the devastation of not enacting immigration reform. I see it daily in my own family and community. I see gay students thinking about getting a marriage of convenience to stay in their home; I see some wishing to be victims of abuse so they can get U-visas … I am sure plenty of us do blunts, have DUIs, steal (especially copyright infringement), and I am usually so much more emphatic to racial dimensions. But I will no longer apologize for standing out.

I(we) was cheated by the system. I(we) beat the odds.  I(we) survived without killing anyone. I(we) have been working tirelessly without funding, without support to lead this movement. We stand out. We deserve this.

That doesn’t mean anyone deserves it less. But we aren’t talking about a perfect world without arbitrary borders. We are talking about making actual policies.

I hope Julianne Hing and Racewire do put their energy and efforts where their writing is and take the lead on getting immigration overhaul for all. That would be the non-hypocritical thing to do.

We win some. We lose many more.

// July 11th, 2009 // 11811 Comment »http://prernalal.com/2009/07/we-win-some-we-lose-many-more/We+win+some.+We+lose+many+more.2009-07-12+03%3A51%3A50Prerna // Immigration

As part of the weekly DREAM Act series on Change.org, I just read quite a moving story about a couple that now has to leave their home, simply because one spouse had been brought here at the age of 13, accrued illegal presence and had no chance of legalizing their status, not even through marriage to a U.S. citizen. The U.S. citizen has to abandon their home along with her.

Some of us don’t need to go to Jamaica or Bahrain to see the nasty consequences of U.S. immigration laws–we see them in the stories of people like Brian and Anya, whose only crime was to fall in love. And now they may also have to deliver their (future U.S. citizen) baby in unsafe conditions:

I cry because there are people with the power to destroy other people’s lives in our government that have become obsessed with their power and have no compassion. Sirce Elliott, the Assistant Chief Counsel in this case, had the legal power to postpone the deportation until after the birth of the baby. This would have hurt no one and would have helped insure the safe delivery of the baby. When asked if she would show mercy and allow this, she replied that there was no way that she was going to allow that to happen. She had initially agreed to allow 60 days from the final court date for voluntary departure, but when she saw that the judge had set the court date in July, she changed it to 30 days to make sure Anya didn’t have the opportunity to have a safe delivery in the U.S. This makes no difference on the citizenship of the child. My son can go to the U.S. Embassy and fill out a form wherever the child is born, and she will be a U.S. citizen. So I can’t understand why this lady is being so hateful. Anya has done nothing wrong and has always done everything the courts have instructed her to do. All this will do is perhaps put a poor innocent baby’s life in jeopardy if she needs health care that is unavailable.

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In Real Life, Sandra Bullock Would Be Deported

// July 7th, 2009 // 11573 Comments »http://prernalal.com/2009/07/in-real-life-sandra-bullock-would-be-deported/In+Real+Life%2C+Sandra+Bullock+Would+Be+Deported2009-07-07+15%3A50%3A48Prerna // Immigration

Dear Ms. Bullock,

I have been a fan since Speed back in 1994 when I was barely 9. So it pains me to see one of my favorite actors make a movie that doesn’t paint a fair picture of U.S. immigration policies.

I took my mother out to see The Proposal yesterday–she had fun but even she recognized that it is not so easy to gain legal residency through marriage.

Forget the fact that this option is not even available to bi-national same sex couples for a second.

First, you wouldn’t be allowed to ‘jump in line’ ahead of the so-called gardeners and construction workers. “They are looking for terrorists, not book publishers” is just a line in the movie.

Second, the immigration official would have asked tougher questions, called your bluff within a minute and charged you with marriage fraud. Even if you wanted to return to Canada, you would be placed in an ICE detention center on taxpayer money to serve time for the felony. For meals, you would get peanut butter and jelly and that too, quite infrequently. You would also see people in the center that have been kept there indefinitely. You might even see children who should be in school, rather than locked away in detention.

In the meantime, ICE could lose your paperwork so even if you wanted to go back to Canada, you might not be able to do so voluntarily. Then you would wait for months more at the detention center to get a new passport or prove that you really have Canadian residency.

Finally, after many months, you would be allowed to go back on your own money.  But once outside the United States, you would not be able to come back for another 10 years, due to the 10-year ban for accruing illegal presence. The only way to circumvent this would be an I-601 waiver that no one could have filed for you.

So there is really no happily ever after here, except for the fact that Canada is just like the United States, only with free health care, a better banking system and same-sex marriage.

Stop the Deportation of Walter Lara

// June 26th, 2009 // 1113No Comments »http://prernalal.com/2009/06/stop-the-deportation-of-walter-lara/Stop+the+Deportation+of+Walter+Lara2009-06-27+06%3A39%3A38Prerna // Immigration

“…doesn’t matter what they tell you. YOU belong here.”

Advice

DO NOT SIGN A VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE. EVER.

Walter Lara, age 23, came to the United States from Argentina 20 years ago. Unless Congress or the Department of Homeland Security intervenes in his case, he will be required to leave the U.S. by July 6th.

Walter, having lived in the U.S. since he was three, speaks English without any trace of an accent. Miami is the only home he remembers. Walter graduated from Miami Central Senior High School in 2004 with a 4.7 grade point average, fourth in his class. He dedicated over 1,000 hours of service to his community.

After high school, Walter attended the Honors College of Miami Dade Wolfson Campus. He earned an Associates of Arts degree in Computer Animation having maintained a 3.7 cumulative grade point average and used this education to do freelance web design. On the side, he has found time to be involved in sports and teach himself many aspects of computing. Walter Lara has never broken the law and continues to be an active and important member of his community. He aspires to work for Pixar as a graphic designer, but without a Social Security number or visa, and therefore unable to attend a 4-year college, he has worked instead as a cable installer for Direct-TV.

On February 17, 2009, he was on his way to Fisher Island for an install when he was stopped by I.C.E. officials. When he admitted to them that he is undocumented, Walter was arrested and jailed for 20 days. He now faces deportation within days to a country he has never known.

Walter can probably get his case re-opened on that grounds that he never received proper counsel. In the meantime, please take the following actions to keep Walter Lara in this country:

1. Sign the online petition

2. Join the support group on Facebook

3. Sign and send this letter to my members of Congress demanding that they do something!!

4. Send a letter of support to mjlacayo@aol.com

More footage of Walter Lara will be up soon.

Warning: If You Were Born on a Military Base, You Might Be Deportable!

// April 22nd, 2009 // 8753 Comments »http://prernalal.com/2009/04/warning-if-you-were-born-on-a-military-base-you-might-be-deportable/Warning%3A+If+You+Were+Born+on+a+Military+Base%2C+You+Might+Be+Deportable%212009-04-23+07%3A36%3A35Prerna // Immigration

The US Constitution states that a US citizen can’t be deported unless he has committed treason or terrorism. Not one part of the US Government is looking into my case of a US citizen being deported. I was sent back to England where I have no family and had to live in the streets until I was able to get into a Hostel a few weeks later. I signed a wavier for deportation under great direst because they told me I would be deported anyway. I didn’t think a US Federal agent would lie or not do his job.

-Kevin Dale Cartee, Deported U.S. Citizen

Something is seriously wrong when a country deports its own citizens either through error or some misguided attempt to enforce immigration laws.

Meet Kevin Dale Cartee. He recently got deported back to the United Kingdom. Why? He happened to be born to a U.S. citizen and military officer on an army base.

Kevin holds a Citizen Born Abroad of a US Citizen certificate (DS-1359). But the United States could care less. Everyone from the officials at ICE to the office of Senator Chambliss were less interested in hearing his story and investigating his claims than simply deporting him back to where he was born.

In an email correspondence, Kevin describes his immigration nightmare:

I was pick up by (ICE) immigration on 14th FEB 2007 from Telfair State Prison in Georgia and taken to the Atlanta county jail where (ICE) leases part of the jail for immigration and kept there until they sent me to south Georgia to a private facility, which held only people for immigration. I stayed there a while until I was sent to Gadsden Alabama county jail and from there I was picked up and taken back to Atlanta, Georgia to be put on a plane and sent back to England. That was on the 19th of July 2007. The only officer I can remember is Agent Jeremy Blankly who was a federal officer with (ICE) who said he checked everywhere he could and there was no record of me at all ever being let into the USA legally.

The officer either lied or did not do a thorough-enough job. It turns out that Kevin Dale Cartee was a citizen of the United States by virtue of the fact that his father was a U.S. citizen serving in the USAF and shortly after Kevin was born on a U.S. military base, his Dad had filed a citizens born abroad certificate. It would have taken only a phone call to the Department of State to confirm this fact and prevent this wrongful deportation.

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