By Andrea Valderrama, Contributing
Columnist
“On August 12th,
2012 they arrested me around 2 a.m.,” the day laborer says. “I think they arrested
me simply because they noticed I was Latino, but they wrote down it was for
littering. The police officer told me I was being arrested but didn’t give me
the reason. I was arrested in Gresham, which is in Multnomah County, and was
taken to a jail in Hillsboro, which is in Washington County. I was in jail for
more than 48 hours, after which ICE agents finally arrived and took me to
Tacoma where I was held for one month. When I was there I saw several people
detained, many for a long time, who still were completely uncertain of their
futures or if they would ever experience freedom again. I also saw some who
fought their cases, some of which are still fighting them to this day and some
of which voluntarily sign deportation paperwork and are deported immediately.”
This Portland area
day laborer has been an active leader at the MLK Jr. Worker Center, operated by
501c(3) Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project. This worker, who wishes to
remain anonymous, was vice president of the Day Laborer Committee (one of two
committees that comprise the organization’s board of directors) in 2011 and is
a resident of Gresham. He has also participated in leadership opportunities
such as our vocational skills trainings and monthly Leadership School. This
Portland area day laborer specializes in landscaping and carpentry work.
“My arrest upsets me
because they didn’t arrest me to deport me. I thought I would have to pay a fee
or do community service but that was not the case for me. I have been in this
country for the past 15 years and it is not just that they deport me. My case
is still pending. I have already been to two hearings, but my future is
uncertain in this country.”
Impact on police, ICE collaborations in our communities
Local police have
become a primary gateway to deportation which seriously threatens our public
safety and civil rights. Police can get distracted from their primary
functions, resources can get diverted, and trust with immigrant communities is
broken when local police forces collaborate with ICE. Without trust, crimes go
unreported, investigations go unsolved, decades of community policing efforts
are destroyed, and we are all less safe. As in the testimony above illustrates,
families are not only torn apart through this collaboration, but the pursuit of
the American Dream becomes a path towards the criminalization of immigrants.
“Oregon law makes it clear that local
governments are not to be involved in immigration enforcement,” Multnomah
County Chair Jeff Cogen said. “This is because for local governments to be
successful in carrying out their mission of protecting public safety and
providing health and human services, we need to have good, strong, trusting
relationships with the community. And immigration law in particular, because of
the threat of forcible deportation, is very likely to cause fear in
communities.”
The collaboration
between Multnomah County and ICE has existed since May 18, 2010. In Portland we
see new cases every week of families being torn apart because of deportations
for jay walking, not being able to pay MAX fares, and even simply showing up
for work. What’s more, we see in our Portland community a growing distrust in
an agency meant to protect and serve us. As a direct result, cases of domestic
violence and other health-related situations are going unreported. Our
communities are suffering.
Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project
In 1996, the
Workers’ Organizing Committee formed in response to repressive tactics by
immigration officials and local police that discouraged day laborers from
seeking work on the corners of 2 major intersections in Portland. As day
laborers began to organize, they found they shared common incidences of
exploitation, wage theft, and homelessness. A plan emerged approved by the City
of Portland in 2006 that included the establishment of a worker center as part
of the solution towards community equity and safety. The Martin Luther King Jr.
Worker Center was then established in 2008, which has since connected hundreds
of workers a month with local employers and jobs. Members of the Workers’
Organizing Committee founded Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project in 2000 and
in 2008 we gained our 501(c)3 nonprofit status. Voz is a worker-led
organization that empowers immigrants and day laborers to gain control over
their working conditions through grassroots organizing, leadership development
and community education. Voz was chosen by then-Portland Mayor Tom Potter to
operate the center and has been doing so ever since.
Day laborer
community leaders unify and strengthen their families and community through
working with Voz, transforming their own realities and progressing immigrant
and workers’ rights. This remains true, particulary around our policy reform
and institutional change work, which includes our End Police/ICE Collaboration
campaign.
History of ACT Network
Voz was part of the
founding group that started the Safe Communities Project in 2010, charged with
ending Police/ICE Collaborations in Multnomah County. This project became the
Activists Coming Together for Justice and Dignity Network, or, ACT Network in
2011. Voz has supported the network’s efforts of ensuring those directly
affected by police/ICE collaborations are at the table with decision makers. We
have also seen the network grow over the years to include more community
leaders invested in this cause. The ACT Network strategically planned and
coordinated efforts this year to include marches and rallies that proved
successful. We saw a small victory this year in county policies regarding ICE
holds when the Multnomah Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a
resolution supporting Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton’s decision to stop
complying with federal immigration holds for low-level offenders in county
jails.
Under the new policy
being implemented by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, people suspected of
undocumented immigration will only be held for ICE if they have been charged
with a felony, a Class A, personal
misdemeanor or if ICE can demonstrate through an affidavit that an individual
poses a threat to public safety based on previous, non immigration-related,
convictions or current charges relating to:
- violence, threats, or assaults
- sexual abuse or exploitation
- Three or more misdemeanor convictions
- driving under the influence of alcohol or a
controlled substance - unlawful possession of firearm or other
deadly weapon - the distribution or trafficking of a
controlled substance
If the person was
charged with low-level misdemeanors, including non-person A misdemeanors, or if
the ICE detainer is issued based solely on immigration charges or convictions,
the Sheriff’s Office will no longer hold individuals for ICE after their
booking charges have been cleared.
The Multnomah County
Sheriff’s Office will not comply with I-247 detainer requests for individuals,
who only:
- Have been convicted of illegal entry pursuant
8 U.S.C. § 1325; - Have illegally re-entered the country after
previous removal or return (felony); - Have been found by an immigration officer or
an immigration judge to have knowingly committed immigration fraud.
The opening
interview with the day laborer was transcribed by Romeo Sosa, executive
director of Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project. For more information or for
information in Spanish please visit
web.multco.us/news/board-supports-sheriffs-policy-immigration-holds.
Andrea Valderrama
is the development director for Voz Workers Rights Education Project.
Formed in 2001,
the Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) is an alliance of culturally
specific community-based organizations with representatives from six
communities of color: African, African American, Asian and Pacific Islander,
Latino, Native American and Slavic. Representation on the CCC is determined by
individual communities, and all decisions are based on consensus.
This article appears in 2013-04-26.