Peace and Immigrant Rights Groups Condemn Workplace Roundups

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MEDIA ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 21, 2006

CONTACT:
Hany Khalil, United for Peace and Justice: 212-868-5545, 718-637-7351 mobile,
hanykhalil [at] igc.org
Aarti Shahani, Families for Freedom: (718) 858-9658 x204, cell 917-647-1627,
aarti [at] familiesforfreedom.org


Peace and Immigrant Rights Groups Condemn Workplace Roundups

April 24 Mobilization in DC and April 29 March in NYC to
Support Immigrant Rights and End to Iraq War

Today immigrant rights and peace groups condemned the Department of Homeland
Security’s launch of an aggressive crack down and round up of undocumented workers
on Wednesday. They deplored the roundups as yet another action by the Bush
Administration designed to chill dissent and derail a real debate in the Senate on
immigrant rights.

Judith Le Blanc, co-chair of United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), said, “This is a
transparent effort to scare advocates for immigrant rights into backing off, just as
the Bush administration tried to silence opponents of the Iraq war by labeling us
‘unpatriotic.’ How can the Bush administration claim it wants democracy in Iraq when
it has no respect for the rights of our people here at home?”

Immigrant rights groups and peace organizations are joining together to lobby and
march for justice and democracy. On Monday April 24, the day Congress returns from a
two week break, immigrants & citizens directly affected by deportation are
converging on Capitol Hill to challenge pro-deportation, anti-family proposals in
Comprehensive Immigration Reform bills pending in both the Senate and House.

On Saturday, April 29 peace, labor, religious, women, environmental, youth and
student, and immigrant groups will come together in a massive March for Peace,
Justice and Democracy in New York City.

Aarti Shahani of Families for Freedom said, “We are going to Capitol Hill on Monday
to set the record straight. Our families will bring their stories to those who can
end these very policies that are tearing families apart. And we will be out in force
on Saturday, April 29 in New York City to up the pressure on Congress to head off
anti-immigrant legislation and bring a close to the Iraq war.”

WHAT: Press Conferences

On April 24th, immigrants & citizens directly affected by deportation will converge
at the Capitol to challenge pro-deportation, anti-family proposals in Comprehensive
Immigration Reform bills pending in both the Senate and House.

On April 29th, a massive national demonstration in NYC will bring together
immigrants with labor, religious, women, environment, youth and student groups for a
March for Peace, Justice and Democracy.

WHERE/WHEN:

Washington, DC: Monday, April 24th at 2:30pm, Capitol (West Lawn, Grassy Area) –-
south of First St & Constitution Ave

New York: Saturday, April 29th at 10:30 AM Broadway and 17th Street

BACKGROUND:

Immigrant communities have played a vital role in the peace movement over the last
three years. Many immigrants have come from countries that have suffered from wars,
occupation and extreme poverty exacerbated by US foreign trade policies.

The Peace movement has also grown to incorporate the justice issues that are
interconnected with the Bush administration’s foreign policy of preemptive war,
applied first on Iraq and now possibly on Iran.

Over the last three years the immigrant rights and peace movements have brought
millions into the streets to compel the government to change its policies, both
foreign and domestic. With the new urgency to impact Congressional action on
immigrant rights, the April 24th and 29th actions are being backed by a broad range
of organizations leading these struggles.

April 24th, the first day that Congress reconvenes, is also the 10th anniversary of
the 1996 immigration laws. On April 24, 1996, one year after Gulf War veteran
Timothy McVeigh bombed the Oklahoma City Federal Building, Congress passed the
Anti-terrorism & Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) –- a sweeping anti-immigrant
bill that made deportation and detention mandatory minimums for classes of
immigrants. After September 11th, the government stepped up enforcement of this law.
As a result, 1.4 million people have been deported and countless families separated.

Families across the country who are already impacted by deportation are converging
to remember deported loved ones, and speak out against pro-deportation, anti-family
proposals pending in Congress. Deportation laws have been a consistent yet hidden
piece of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform debate raging on the Hill. Both houses
of the US Congress have been pushing immigration legislation that would devastate
countless immigrant families.

The families converging in the Capitol are seeking not just to prevent the laws from
worsening, but also to fix the current immigration system. Their only glimmer of
hope came on March 28th when, one day after the Senate Judiciary passed its
proposal, US Representative Jose Serrano introduced HR 5035, “The Child Citizen
Protection Act” in the House of Representatives. Described by Serrano as “common
sense legislation,” the bill restores limited discretion to immigration judges
(appointees of the Attorney General) in deportation cases where expulsion of an
immigrant is clearly against the best interests of a United States citizen child.
This legislation has yet to be incorporated into any “Comprehensive Immigration
Reform” measure in the House or Senate.

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE (New York, NY) is the country’s largest anti-war
coalition. It has organized the largest demonstrations against the war over the past
three years. On September 24-26, 2005, over 300,000 marched in Washington, DC, and
1,000 flooded the halls of Congress. Also among its activities is the building of a
grassroots legislative action network as well as countering the predatory military
recruitment especially in communities of color and immigrants. For more information:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org, or Hany Khalil (212) 868-5545 or cell (718) 637-7351,
hanykhalil [at] igc.org

FAMILIES FOR FREEDOM (Brooklyn, NY) was founded in September 2002 as a New
York-based multi-ethnic defense network by and for immigrants facing deportation. We
are immigrant prisoners (detainees), former immigrant prisoners, their loved ones,
or individuals at risk of deportation. We come from Latin America, the Caribbean,
and South Asia. FAMILIES seeks to repeal the laws that are tearing apart our homes
and neighborhoods; and to build the power of immigrant communities -- as communities
of color -- to provide a guiding voice in the growing movement for immigrant rights
as human rights. For more information: http://www.familiesforfreedom.org, or Aarti Shahani
(718) 858-9658 x204, cell 917-647-1627, aarti [at] familiesforfreedom.org

NEW YORK IMMIGRATION COALITION (New York, NY) is an umbrella policy and advocacy
organization for approximately 150 groups in New York State that work with
immigrants and refugees. As the coordinating body for organizations that serve one
of the largest and most diverse newcomer populations in the United States, the NYIC
has become a leading advocate for immigrant communities on the local, state, and
national levels. The NYIC’s membership includes grassroots community organizations,
not-for-profit health and human services organizations, religious and academic
institutions, labor unions, and legal, social, and economic justice organizations.
With its multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and multi-sector base, the NYIC provides both a
forum for immigrant groups to share their concerns and a vehicle for collective
action to address these concerns. For more information: http://www.nyic.org, or Avideh
Moussavian, tel: (212) 627-2227, ext. 244, amoussavian [at] thenyic.org

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MEDIA ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email