Feature Archives

February 20th, 2005 marked the 4th National Day of Solidarity with Muslim, Arab and South Asian Immigrants, as is called for by the Blue Triangle Network. Samina Faheem is the founding Executive Director of the American Muslim Voice, and Co-founder of Fear To Friendship, a group that dedicated to subsiding the fear after 9/11 by forming life long friendships. She invited the community to a Day Of Solidarity Open House in Palo Alto on Saturday, Feb 26th, 2005.

"While our current administration and some of our fellow Americans are trying to divide us by creating a culture of fear, suspicion and anxiety between us they are simultaneously destroying faith in humanity. We need to replace this mistrust with a culture of understanding, mutual respect, friendship, faith, peace and harmony in our world and hope for a better future. On behalf of the targeted community American Muslim Voice would like to thank all of our fellow Americans who have been standing by us since 9/11 by holding an open house. Lunch will be provided. No forums, no teach-ins, no lectures and no speeches - just family and friends having lunch and fun together." (From an American Muslim Voice Statement)

Blue Triangle Network | American Muslim Voice

On Saturday, February 26th, there was a Symposium on the Deportation of Southeast Asian Refugees, titled Exiled Once Again. This annual event examined "US Immigration Law, its impact on the Southeast Asian community, and the pending deportations of more than 1,500 Southeast Asian refugees." The Symposium was organized by Boalt Hall's Asian Law Journal. One panel discussed the political and historical contexts of deportation policy in the U.S., and another addressed issues related to community activism and education. The day's events included a short clip of the film "Sentenced Home", which follows Cambodian-Americans as they are deported back to Cambodia; discussion, lunch, and a reception after the event. Flyer | Read more

February 11, 2005: The United States House of Representatives voted yesterday to approve H.R. 418, which would "establish and rapidly implement regulations for State driver's license and identification document security standards, to prevent terrorists from abusing the asylum laws of the United States, to unify terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, and to ensure expeditious construction of the San Diego border fence." It would make states verify that they're not giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and it would grant judges broader power to deport political asylum seekers they suspect may be terrorists. H.R. 418 also would waive environmental hurdles in order to allow the completion of a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border south of San Diego. The legislation, which was called the Real ID Act by its sponsor, Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), passed by a 261-161 vote and next it must be passed by the Senate.

States would have three years to comply with the new federal standards dictating what features driver's licenses must have. They could still issue special driving permits to illegal aliens, but those permits would not be recognized as identities for boarding airlines or allowing entry to federal buildings. A number of nasty amerndments were added to the bill. Republicans said the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers had multiple driver's licenses that enabled them to slip through security and board the planes they flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and that crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania. However, not of their driver's licenses were falsified, nor were the men were all in the country legally. Opponents to the legislation, who include a broad coalition of groups supporting immigrant rights, civil rights and states' rights and environmentalists, say the bill would drive the country's 8 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants further underground, deprive legitimate asylum seekers of protection and gut environmental laws and endanger illegal immigrants' lives by allowing border fence construction.

Articles about the bill Organizations such as the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund (NALEO) have written to President Bush to ask him to oppose the Real ID Act and to work towards immigration reform.

3/15/05: Samuel was sent home to Chiapas with money given by supportive community members to support his wife. Read more
Fernando Perez is a day laborer who is owed over $2000 for work that he did in San Bruno over the course of a month. On Wednesday, February 9th, supporters met at 8am at the trailers of the Day Labor Program in San Francisco's Mission District to carpool to the work site. They held a picket to demand the wages that are owed to Perez.

On Sunday, February 27th, supporters of Manuel and Samuel Hernandez planned to travel to Fairfield, California to picket the home of Ruben Cruz. He owes over $12,000 to these two men for work that they have done, and he has not followed through on commitments that he has made to make partial payments. One of the men needs to return to Mexico to assist his wife, who is very ill. They are not the only people who have been affected by this employer, so the Day Labor Program encouraged people to accompany them to Fairfield to say, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" Read more
More info
Day Labor Program

A boycott of Monday purchases at gas stations in California was started in December of 2004 to raise awareness of immigrant rights struggles in this state. The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) and other organizations have called for people to observe "Dark Mondays" and not purchase gasoline one day a week in an economic boycott, which targets the energy industry throughout California and in any state where the message is well received. Organizers say that because the energy industry is the most-watched industry in terms of the ups and downs of the market because of how it reflects such aspects as prices, supply, and consumption, it is a relatively simple way to ascertain the effectiveness of a boycott.

Organizers see Dark Mondays as just a first step in organization- and consiousness- building within Latino and immigrant communities and the general population about the contributions made by immigrants. Organizers intend for the boycott to last through all of 2005, until the state of California becomes a hospitable state to immigrants and permits driver's licenses to persons irrespective of their immigration status.
Read more | Discussion on Indybay about an economic protest against gas prices in 2004.

On Friday February 20th, a roving mini-rally thru San Francisco today marked the Blue Triangle Network's third National Day of Solidarity with Muslim, Arab & South Asian Immigrants. These communities have been the targets of mass roundups, indefinite detentions, and secret hearings, leading to deportation through the selective enforcement of "Special Registration.“ Families have been torn apart, jobs and homes lost. Neighborhoods continue to be raided by INS officers, thousands are still detained over minor visa violations, and many people have fled the United States in fear of being persecuted. Following a press conference in Chinatown, the mini-rally stopped in the Tenderloin and the Mission (Photos).
American Muslim Voice held an event on Sunday 2/22.

81-year old Joseph Dantica came to the United States as an asylum seeker, but he found only suffering and the peace of death. He arrived in Miami on October 29th, was held overnight in Miami International Airport, then was placed in detention at Krome North. He was isolated from his family, friends and legal help. He was pronounced dead on Nov. 3. After facing what the National Coalition for Haitian Rights calls "Immigration bureaucracy that from the top down has been hostile to Haitians' claims of fear of persecution," Joseph Dantica died. He had been a frequent visitor to the US since the 1970's, and maintained a close relationship with his famous niece, the celebrated Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat.

Jocelyn McCalla, the Executive Director of the NCHR says, "We call on the Justice Department to conduct a full and impartial investigation into the tragic death of Mr. Dantica...we urge a review and overhaul of the policy that singles out Haitian refugees and immigrants for discriminatory treatment. Cuban asylum-seekers can walk away happily after applying for asylum whereas Haitians are held behind bars. For the fifth time since 1999, the US government has granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Nicaraguans and Hondurans because of the earthquake damage in their countries since then. Yet it has repeatedly denied TPS to Haitians whose country undoubtedly meets the conditions for such considerations: ongoing armed conflict and environmental disaster. Haitian asylum-seekers deserve to be treated fairly and equitably. Non-immigrant Haitians in the US should be granted TPS."

Amnesty International's Page About Joseph Dantica urges people to call for an investigation into the circumstances of Rev. Dantica’s death, and ask for clarification of the Department of Homeland Security’s policy regarding release of asylum seekers with no criminal background.

National Coalition for Haitian Rights | Human Rights First | Beatrice.com | More of Rev. Dantica's story | Haitian American Grassroots Coalition | Info about "Operation Able Sentry" | TransAfricaForum | Haiti news page