Written by Haroon Saqib

Despite promises to change its detention and deportation policies to focus on convicted dangerous felons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to waste to detain people who are merely accused of minor violations.

SCSJ staff attorney Marty Rosenbluth recently defended the case of S.O., an immigrant woman who was arrested by local police after a minor domestic quarrel that happened to be witnessed by a law enforcement official. S.O. had been living in the United States for over 10 years and was married to a U.S. citizen.

A local court judge agreed that she was not a threat and decided to release her with an oral promise to return to court for her pending trial. Despite this, ICE stepped in by taking custody of S.O. An immigration judge, contradicting the local court, set an extremely high bond and, when her husband could not pay it, she had to remain in detention awaiting deportation.

This case raises serious questions about whether ICE is meeting its promise to focus its detention and deportation efforts on dangerous criminals, and its assurance that it would pursue deportation only after a person is convicted of a crime in court. Rosenbluth raised this issue at a recent White House meeting on immigration reform and was able to use the case as a real example of how ICE was not keeping its promises.

Fortunately, Rosenbluth was recently able to win S.O.’s release from an Alabama detention facility. However, she was released late in the day without any money or transportation to return to her home in North Carolina. A friend of SCSJ was fortunately able to meet her and make sure he arrived home safely.

Still, her husband was ecstatic and left SCSJ a heartwarming message.

This recent success provides support that our efforts are changing the immigration rights landscape, even though ICE is dragging its feet on reform.

“This case is a powerful example of the strength behind SCSJ’s community lawyering model of combining advocacy with legal representation,” says Rosenbluth.

Two SCSJ attorneys, four SCSJ legal interns, and four law student volunteers conducted a pro bono wills’ clinic July 9-11 in Tarboro, North Carolina. With a huge assist from the Edgecombe County Cooperative Extension office, attorneys and students discussed end-of-life issues with 13 Edgecombe County residents.

These discussion led to the production of more than 40 documents, including wills, living wills, powers of attorney, and health care powers of attorney, for residents who otherwise could not have afforded the services. “End of life planning is a key to preventing problems we frequently see in our office, such as heirs’ property and associated African-American land loss. This clinic was a great way of not only dealing with the source of these problems, but also providing pro bono legal assistance to an underserved community,” says SCSJ staff attorney Becky Jaffe, who coordinated the clinic.

Recently, the Immigrant Justice organizing interns attended two events. On Friday, June 18th, we went to action with the NC DREAM Team at UNC-Chapel Hill where Senator Kay Hagan was the keynote speaker for a luncheon hosted by Action for Children, an organization that works to benefit the education of all children in North Carolina. We hoped to get Senator Hagan to support and co-sponsor the DREAM Act. While she did hold a brief meeting with the young women on a hunger strike, she still refused to support the bill. Later that day, we joined activists and allies at Senator Hagan’s office hours in speaking to her about the DREAM Act and immigration reform.

These two meetings turned out to be the only opportunities that the activists had to meet with Sen. Hagan over the span of their two-week hunger strike. Although this day was seemingly frustrating, Hagan has since released a statement saying, "I believe the Dream Act should be considered in the context of comprehensive immigration reform.”

On Saturday, we led a "Know Your Rights" training in Zebulon at a Latino church which has been targeted for police checkpoints scheduled during church services. We had adapted some aspects of the training based on the previous one held in Winston-Salem and found the changes to be more interactive. The congregation had plenty of questions for staff attorney Marty Rosenbluth about their rights and the state of immigration enforcement. Towards the end of the presentation, the focus shifted to organizing for immigrant justice and the level of energy reflected the need for reform.

Written by Lauren Traugott-Campbell, Organizing Intern

My Friday morning began about 10 blocks from Detroit's JP Morgan Chase headquarters. Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and Moratorium NOW called for a march and rally and were met with the enthusiasm of hundreds of activists chanting "Bail out the people, not the banks!" and waving red flags that read "Hasta la Victoria!" Energized by the presence of local percussion band, Cakalak Thunder, we descended upon Chase's skyscraper.

Members of FLOC condemned Chase's investments in Reynolds American, one of the US' biggest tobacco corporations which profits from the exploitation of tobacco field workers', and threatened them with a boycott set to begin in the fall. Moratorium NOW also spoke to their demand that Chase Bank immediately stops all foreclosures, evictions and utility shutoffs in Detroit.

Looking around at the empty homes throughout the city coupled with hearing testimonies about the working conditions in the NC tobacco fields, the reality of Chase's priorities became painfully clear and the reason for the union of these two groups' seemingly different demands was evident.

I then spent my afternoon at Oakland Sister Circle's workshop entitled "Addressing Misogyny and Counter-Organizing in the Movement." This was space for activists to share and react to the ways in which patriarchy manifests in the social justice sphere, even despite men's & queers' good intentions and feminist labels. Discussion centered on the reality that the personal is political and the need for restorative justice infrastructure within organizations. I left with a copy of their powerful magazine entitled "Undefeated" and a better understanding of the way patriarchy and other forms of oppression can manifest, even in the movement.

After the workshops were over, I had the opportunity to see some of Detroit's artwork. We headed out to see the Heidelberg Project, an outdoor art project that spans across vacant lots and foreclosed homes in Detroit's East Side. Tyree Guyton started the project 24 years ago and has since filled it with discarded objects ranging from stuffed animals to shopping carts. The withstanding presence of ovens filled with shoes instead of food and the plethora of junk that inhabits these homes instead of people emphasized the priority that capitalism places on things instead of people.

Our art sightings continued as we visited the Detroit Institute of Art Museum and marveled at Diego Rivera's mural that sprawled across all four walls of the room. The piece, funded by Henry Ford, depicts the dichotomy of the auto-industry with its images of workers and bosses along with other themes that plague the city of Detroit and the US at large.

I left Detroit with new skills, new visions, new connections and a rejuvenated commitment to fighting for social justice in the South.