Tag: ProtectImmigrants

JHISN Newsletter 12/14/2024

Posted on December 14, 2024 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

 As New York City sits on the precipice of the largest mass deportation in US history as threatened by Trump, the city’s Mayor—indicted under federal charges of corruption and abuse of power—sat down this week with incoming “border czar” Tom Homan. Discussion topic: Adams’ cooperation with the feds’ deportation plans. Already on record saying, “I’m not going to be warring with this administration, I’m going to be working with this administration,” Mayor Adams declared after the meeting that he will consider using executive power to change the city’s sanctuary laws to expedite deportations. Homan declared that the meeting “went great.” 

Immigrant justice activists, including Make the Road NY and Adhikaar, rallied outside City Hall during the Adams-Homan meeting to oppose our city’s collaboration with Trump’s promised spectacle of punishment, caging, and exile.

JHISN will continue to highlight, and fight for, immigrant justice struggles as the enemies of justice gather power and popular support. This week’s newsletter reports again on the draconian Operation Restore Roosevelt and its militarized presence in our neighborhood. We then look at how national immigrant advocacy organizations are stepping up in the face of the incoming administration’s anti-immigrant violence and scapegoating.  

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Roosevelt Avenue: new home for NYPD and NY state troopers
  2. Immigrant advocates gear up for the struggle

1. Political Fault Line on Roosevelt Ave.

Roosevelt  Avenue, along with its plazas, has long been known for its vibrant street life. It’s a microcosm of working-class New York: a human tapestry of immigrant vendors from all over the world, creating an ever-changing, 24-hour open-air market and food destination in the shadow of the elevated 7 train. Today, the Avenue is mostly blank concrete and asphalt. And cops, hundreds of cops. Cops hassling street vendors and sex workers. Cops supervising the bulk seizure of unregistered e-bikes and mopeds. Cops just standing around, in pairs and groups, owning the street.

Answer Triangle, Roosevelt Avenue, May 2024

 

Answer Triangle, December 2024

This new, dreary, police state version of Roosevelt Avenue comes to us courtesy of Operation Restore Roosevelt, a 90-day enforcement crackdown previously described by JHISN (10/26/24). The crackdown is the brainchild of an energetic conservative initiative called the Let’s Improve Roosevelt Coalition, led by disgraced right-wing politician Hiram Monserrate, local church groups, embattled Mayor Adams, and City Councilmember Francisco Moya.

Operation Restore Roosevelt represents another advance for a spreading right-wing politics of respectability and scapegoating of recent immigrants. The current cop takeover of Roosevelt Avenue builds on an earlier conservative victory: largely destroying the internationally famous and much-loved vendor marketplace at Corona Plaza. Operation Restore Roosevelt is an even bigger spectacle of morality policing and criminalization, again directed at the poorest and most vulnerable immigrants in our community.

Acknowledging that there are long-standing problems with crowding and trash on Roosevelt, progressive politicians have attempted to get ahead of the conservative groundswell by promoting their own improvement plans for the Avenue. After Operation Restore Roosevelt was announced in mid-October, State Assembly member Jessica González-Rojas held a roundtable discussion on how to prevent sex trafficking in the community without police action. City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan and Assemblymembers Steven Raga and Catalina Cruz quickly announced a “7 Point Plan,” emphasizing social services, licensing, inspections and infrastructure improvements rather than massive police presence. Cruz told the Queens Eagle:

“I think historically, there has been a relationship of fear, and that’s the reality of the members of the community with the police. It cannot be the only measure or solution…because if the only approach is enforcement, we’re going to have the exact same result that we’ve had for the last 10 years.”

Conservative organizers told news outlet QNS that they “repudiated any efforts by ‘radical fringe groups’ to oppose the policing plan and ‘return control’ of Roosevelt Avenue to cartels and street gangs.” Nevertheless, the 7 Point Plan has had recent mainstream successes. It was endorsed by Leslie Ramos of the 82nd St. Business Improvement District. Also, Governor Hochul just agreed to provide a million dollars to support four local grassroots organizations in implementing the Plan. The organizations include New Immigrant Community Empowerment, AIDS Center of Queens County, Korean American Family Service Center, and Commonpoint. 

It should be noted that Leslie Ramos and Hochul each originally supported Operation Restore Roosevelt––Hochul even supplied state troopers to beef it up. But they also are both aware that the police crackdown on the Avenue is due to end in January, while the 7 Point Plan aims for long-lasting solutions.

Looming in the background of the struggle over Roosevelt Avenue is the issue of big money real estate development. As JHISN previously reported, there has been major controversy over the proposed Metropolitan Park casino project, a giant development which would be adjacent to Roosevelt Avenue. The plan is slowly advancing, despite resistance by many progressives including State Senator Jessica Ramos. Part of the Senator’s concern about the plan, which a majority of her constituents oppose, is that it would bring the wrong kind of development and visitors to Roosevelt Avenue. “Why are casinos our prime economic development idea in New York City?”, she asks. Meanwhile, Mayor Adams’ new “City of Yes” housing plan, which was just passed by the City Council, eases zoning requirements and promotes larger scale real estate development along transit lines, such as the 7 train.

Battle lines on Roosevelt Avenue are being drawn according to where to assign blame for economic problems and quality of life issues. One group of activists has chosen to “punch down” at their most vulnerable immigrant neighbors, resorting to criminalization and demonization. While another group of activists is promoting social solidarity, demanding that all levels of government, community and business live up to their responsibility to provide work opportunity and social services in an environment free from repression and fear.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Consider volunteering with New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) here in Jackson Heights.
  • Subscribe to the Street Vendor Project’s newsletter.

2. Strategies for Future Immigrant Advocacy

“As the new Trump administration takes office, Adhikaar stands resolute in our commitment to grassroots organizing and providing essential, direct services to our community.” —Adhikaar Newsletter (11/15/24)

Last weekend the US president-elect stated clearly his intent to circumvent the 14th amendment in his pursuit to end birthright citizenship. This came after he proposed placing anti-immigrant hardliner and family separator, Tom Homan “in charge of our Nation’s Borders”. They plan to create the largest deportation force in US history, violating the rule of law, by using the US military on home soil despite knowing there are serious financial, legal, and logistical obstacles. Trump’s heartless strategy to avoid separating families that have a mix of undocumented members and citizens is to deport the entire family.

Also last weekend, in counterpoint, the National Immigration Inclusion Conference was held in Texas. The three-day gathering showcased immigrant groups’ intersectional approach to stand against the current and future administration. Building justice coalitions with unions and anti-racist, gender, housing, and youth groups, was a significant daily focus. Also on the agenda were sessions about turning arts and storytelling into impact strategies, examining how funders can support immigrant rights, and discussing various legal and mobilization strategies that the 1,500 people from 450 groups in attendance can implement.

Another organization that brings together immigrant advocacy support is Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees. At their two-day 2024 Convening, just a week before the election, they examined:

  • the state of the immigrant justice movement 
  • power-building strategies
  • how to intersect immigrant justice with racial justice
  • strategies for amplifying groups historically excluded from philanthropic investment. They called on funders “to act boldly, moving beyond financial investments to leverage their privilege and power to tackle the challenges that deny individuals the freedom to stay, move, work, transform, and thrive.”

Immigration Equality is an intersectional advocacy group that focuses on immigration rights for LGBTQ and HIV-positive people in the US. They recently published their Strategic Plan for 2024-2026 which includes demands for equity, secure paths to safety for LGBTQ refugees, robust resources for legal and self-help, and training enforcement officers and judges. They also demand the release of all LGBTQ and HIV-positive people from immigration detention centers.

Simply put—immigrant advocacy organizations are not silenced by Trump’s election victory and vicious rhetoric. They continue to work and provide the support their communities need.

According to Naomi Braine, a longtime activist and sociologist at CUNY, any thought of “resignation and retreat” is largely confined to people “who have never been engaged with sustained forms of action and resistance”. The election, she says, hasn’t affected the immigrant rights movement as a whole. The President of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), Murad Awawdeh, stated after the election, “We’re going to fight it…we’re as prepared, if not more prepared than the first time around.” He identified a three-prong approach: protests, local legislation, and lawsuits. Soon after that statement, NYIC published its 10-year Blueprint for Immigrant Progress and Justice. In November, Manuel Castro of NYC’s Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs said they are working with all community groups and agencies to ensure everyone understands the sanctuary laws of our city. 

New York Congressman, Adriano Espaillat, is running unopposed to lead the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the next Congress. He has said he will oppose any efforts to pursue the additional threat of denaturalizations as promoted by American Firster Stephen Miller. “I think it’s a radical approach, one that is unprecedented in America, and I think that the vast majority of American people will oppose it as well.” The ACLU is also looking at various ways to oppose deportations. Their National Prison Project is looking to shine a light on the shadowy operations of the deportation machine. Using Freedom of Information litigation, the ACLU is preparing lawsuits against mass detention and deportation actions. One of the organization’s recent public record lawsuits demands more details about ICE Air, the government’s method for carrying out deportation flights.

To immigrant advocates, legal support, and immigrant rights groups, the threat of deportation and anti-immigrant rhetoric and legislation is simply not new. Advocates have been providing groups with Know Your Rights materials and are now adding to their presentations family safety planning. They also anticipate a marked escalation of what was seen during the first Trump administration. They anticipate drastic changes without any prior announcements from the administration and will rely on word of mouth as a way for people to learn about what is happening. As Adhikaar concluded in their newsletter:

“The election outcome is a reminder of the entrenched systems that seek to undermine the rights and dignity of marginalized communities…We refuse to let our communities be silenced or pushed into the shadows. Together, we will continue to build power, advocate for justice, and demand a future where all can thrive with dignity and self-determination.”

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Newsletter (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

JHISN Newsletter 11/16/2024

Posted on November 16, 2024 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends, 

Like many of you, we are caught in a nightmare interlude where our worst fears are not yet real but visible in a gathering storm. Trump and the MAGA movement’s capture of national power is a threat to so much—Constitutional protections, the power of truth, hard-won victories of anti-racism and feminism, Palestinian solidarity, economic justice, historical memory, our beloved communities. But nothing is more threatened right now than the lives of undocumented immigrants residing in the US and especially in New York City. Strengthening our practice of immigrant solidarity, and in the face of voting data showing a dramatic increase in established immigrant-citizens voting for a fascist president, will require collaboration and work. Please. Do not give up.

We offer an article on the pending court decision re: DACA recipients, affecting the lives of over 530,000 Dreamers. We then give our first take on the post-election US landscape of both dread and resistance. 

Newsletter highlights:
  1. DACA decision pending
  2. The votes are in: what next for immigrant politics?   

1. Conservative 5th Circuit Court May Decide Dreamers’ Fate

“DACA has always been only a temporary solution, and Congress must act to provide certainty.” —Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum

Over 300 protesters participated in the Home is Here Coalition’s action in New Orleans last month. On October 10, they gathered at the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals where judges listened to the latest arguments about the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. This was the 14th hearing that has been held to challenge this program; this one specifically challenged recent efforts by the Biden Administration to turn DACA into a federal regulation to protect it from future legal action.

Congress has repeatedly failed to pass laws related to undocumented US residents who have lived here since childhood. It could establish legal pathways to citizenship for young ‘Dreamers’ who have started careers, created families, bought homes, and built businesses in the US. But, for a dozen years, DACA has been the sole program that provided them any federal protection.

The US Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in United States vs. Texas determined that states cannot challenge the federal government’s authority to establish immigration priorities. However, the 5th Circuit Court has challenged that rule, when it prevented US Customs and Border Protection from removing the razor wire that the Texas National Guard placed on land and in the water to harm migrants along the Mexican border.

“In recent years, the 5th Circuit, which serves Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, has allowed extremist lower court judges to issue sweeping, politically fraught rulings that advance right-wing policy positions…[T]he court has used flimsy legal theories to overturn decades of precedent.“–Center for American Progress

While a majority of Americans want our leaders to create legislative security for Dreamers, many Republican states argue they have incurred damages and injuries from spending millions of dollars on DACA recipients. MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, represented DACA recipients at the 5th Circuit court hearing and argued those allegations are not proven. 

There is no timeline by which the court must rule on these latest arguments. To some following this case, the court panel seemed divided. During the 71-minute discussion, there was speculation about whether Texas has legal standing to challenge the DACA program. One of the three judges cited briefs filed by 22 Democratic-led states detailing the economic benefits that program recipients had brought to their communities. “How could a single judge tell all 22 other states, who are so grateful for these people, that actually they’ve all got to leave the United States?” asked Judge Higginson. Despite this, people following the latest challenges to DACA anticipate the case will move to the Supreme Court no matter the outcome.

The fanatical and belligerent America First Legal (AFL) organization supports this latest legal attack on DACA. AFL was founded in 2021 by Stephen Miller, a hatemonger anti-immigration hard-liner, and soon-to-be deputy chief of policy in the next Trump administration, whose tactic is to demonize immigrants. Fortunately, there are organizations such as the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration that filed an amicus brief supporting MALDEF’s defense of DACA. Many New York universities and colleges signed on to the brief, noting how Dreamers have outperformed peers and made significant contributions to society. Map the Impact data shows how DACA-eligible individuals contribute billions to the US economy. Deporting DACA recipients would cost $60 billion and result in a $280 billion economic loss over the next decade. Map the Impact also notes that immigrants, who provide for our most vital healthcare needs, are twice as likely to work as home health aides, physicians, and surgeons.

And so we wait. The court may rule that DACA is legal. It may rule that Texas and other states have no injury and so cannot bring suit. It may agree with a prior 5th Circuit court ruling from 2023 which declared DACA unlawful. If that last possibility becomes true then it can only be hoped that the court will not order DACA to end suddenly. If DACA renewals are ended, then an estimated 1,000 DACA recipients would be forced out of their jobs every week for the next two years. It would disrupt not only DACA recipients, but their families, their workplaces, and their communities.

“We all should be clear-eyed about who and what is at stake in the DACA case. It goes beyond immigration policy and law and straight to the question of what type of country we aspire to. Hundreds of thousands of Dreamers have relied on DACA to become, quite literally, the embodiment of the American Dream.” – Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director, America’s Voice

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Heartbreak and Defiance 

“We have had an enormous setback in this election because the fascists won a lot of working-class support. ”  –Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

It will take some time to come to grips with all the implications of the MAGA takeover of the White House and Senate. But we already know that it means trouble for immigrants and asylum seekers. Immigrant justice organizations on the national and local levels are digging in for a long, hard fight. In the immediate aftermath of the election, many of them—including NICE, Make the Road New York, the National Day Laborer Network, Chhaya, and the New York Immigration Coalition—released statements on social media and in email blasts that combined heartbreak and defiance. In a November 7 email message to supporters, United We Dream summed up this widespread dual sentiment:

“I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be hard. We must unapologetically oppose Trump at every turn. But we’re not giving up. Home is here, and we’re here to stay.”

Since migration and the border have become central to US politics, grassroots immigrant justice groups will undoubtedly play a leading role in opposing the Trump/Vance administration’s fascist agenda. In this respect, NYC activism might serve as a model for the whole country. In fact, the resistance has already started locally. On November 9, a mass rally was held at Columbus Circle, sponsored by dozens of organizations.  

One striking feature of the recent election is that voter attitudes toward immigrants and refugees have hardened quickly and dramatically. According to the New York Times, the percentage of those who want the US to clamp down on immigration went from 28 percent in 2020 to 55 percent this July. As we have recently reported, many people also say they support Trump’s threat of mass deportations.

Even more disturbing is that many immigrants have come to share these views.  Exit polls show that large numbers of Latino and Asian voters in Queens and the Bronx backed Trump. In a “pronounced shift,” the Right’s rhetoric and false narratives about asylum seekers—including the slander that asylum seekers are criminals and economic parasites—have gained traction among more established immigrants. On Instagram, the National Day Laborer Network commented acerbically: “45% of the Latinos/as who voted, voted for Trump. 54% of the Latino males who voted, voted for Trump. Aligning with whiteness, especially if you are a dark skin Latino, to feel powerful is an illusion.”

Persistence and determination will certainly be crucial to the resistance. But to fight back effectively, progressive activists will have to find ways to re-establish mass support for immigration and asylum, including rebuilding unity among immigrants and refugees themselves.

“As an immigrant myself and an activist who lived through Trump’s first presidency, I have seen firsthand the impact of his policies. I also had, and continue to have, the privilege to witness how New Yorkers united to defend and advocate for our immigrant neighbors, families and friends.”  –Nilbia Coyote, Executive Director, New Immigrant Community Empowerment (email Nov.7)

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,
Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

 

JHISN Newsletter 09/28/2024

Posted on September 28, 2024 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As racist targeting of immigrants of color intensifies across the US, immigrant justice leaders are pushing back. In Ohio, the Haitian Bridge Alliance has filed criminal charges against Trump and JD Vance for their incendiary lies about Haitian immigrants living and working in Springfield. And NDLON (National Day Laborer Organizing Network) has just released an Instagram video debunking false narratives about recent migrant arrivals that promote hatred, and fracture solidarity between immigrant communities.

We join the call for pro-immigrant popular education with an article that helps us more accurately perceive the ‘statistics’ on the number of undocumented immigrants in the US. Then we look at the Republican-fueled nightmare in Springfield, with an eye for how the threat of expanding fascism—targeting immigrants and other historically marginalized people—has arrived.  

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Confronting the Fear of Big Numbers: Counting Undocumented Immigrants
  2. Fascism in Uniform Marches on Springfield

 

1. A simpler approach to undocumented population counts

Recent attention has focused on Ohio and the ridiculous social media lies amplified by Trump during the presidential debate. Republicans became hyper-obsessed about Haitians living in Ohio, who are legally present through the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. In Ohio, almost 13,000 people have TPS approval, or just one-tenth of one percent of the state’s entire population. Yet to Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, this minuscule population represents a “terrible tragedy” for the people in his state.

This Ohio situation exemplifies the difficulty of accurately visualizing any large numbers describing immigrants. It is easy for politicians and the corporate media to utter worrisome-sounding numbers in the millions because such numbers have no practical meaning in the human mind.

Republicans have leveraged that impracticality to argue that the number of people here with, and without, ‘authorization’ is massively large and a threat. Although there are bipartisan differences around immigration issues, the Democrats have also embraced the perceived ‘threat’ of immigrants, as outlined in their recently proposed and failed border bill.

When discussing unauthorized immigrants, things get murkier due to difficult data. Since 1996 the federal government has published official estimates—these have been challenged as a dramatic undercount. There are statistics shared by organizations that conduct research about immigrants—these can conflict based on the organization’s bias. There are public data sets such as Syracuse University’s TRAC Data which allow anyone to delve into the data—these require an understanding of how to analyze numbers. All data sources take effort to find, read, and understand. The numbers spewed by Donald Trump, or Tucker Carlson, are easy, simplistic, and wrong. 

But, sometimes simplification can help us understand reality.

Instead of looking at large numbers, we can ask the following question: how many people are there in the US for each undocumented immigrant? State population data, Pew research on immigrants, and an infographic from a large data analyst company offers a simple answer: in the US there is just one undocumented immigrant for every 65 people. That may initially sound like lots of unauthorized people until we realize that 1 in 10 is just 10% of the population; 1 in 20 is only 5%; 1 in 30 is merely 3.3%. So 1 in 65 is a paltry 1.5% of the entire population. Republicans are telling 98.5% of the country to worry that this tiny group is a massive threat to the nation’s very being. As the regional and state populations differ, it is interesting to see how the answer to this question changes based on each location we look at.

  • We can compare Ohio, where there are 91 people for each unauthorized individual (1.2%), with New York State which has 30 people per unauthorized individual (3.3%).
  • Throughout the four states that border Mexico, we find there is one undocumented person for every 28 people. That is only 3.6% of the California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas populations combined.
  • In the 16 states that have a land or water border with Canada, the number changes to 1 in 89 people. That is slightly more than 1% of all those state populations combined.
  • Of the 14 states that border only with another US state, it averages to 1 in 77 people. Just 1.3%.
  • For the 16 remaining states, with an ocean border, the numbers change to just 1 in 44. That is only 2.4% of those populations.

The simplified number also tells a story about states traditionally voting for a Republican or Democrat presidential candidate and the 7 swing states in the coming 2024 election. In the 25 typically Republican states we see 1 unauthorized person in 81 (1.2%); that becomes 1 in 40 for the 18 typically Democrat states (2.5%); and the 7 swing states come in at 1 undocumented immigrant out of 48 (2.1%).

If people in critical swing states can see these more straightforward numbers, they may come to understand that the lies Trump, Vance, and many others obsessively make about Americans being replaced and endangered by ‘illegal’ immigrants are not substantiated by the data. With that knowledge, they can vote with understanding, not unfounded fear.

2. Then they came for the Haitians…

Our August 17 newsletter argued that Donald Trump’s demand for mass deportation was on the cutting edge of a rising fascist movement that is beginning to move into the mainstream of US politics. Now the ongoing racist political attack on documented Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, makes it clear that this poison is spreading fast. 

Most of the basic ugly facts of the Springfield situation are well reported: The baldfaced lies by Trump and Vance alleging that Haitians are eating other residents’ pets, bomb threats that paralyzed the city, requests by Catholic bishops and government officials, including the Republican governor, for Trump and Vance to stop the damaging falsehoods and threats. We have learned from mainstream media that Trump has doubled down on his plan to deport Haitians in Springfield on Day One if he gets elected (despite the fact they have federally-registered TPS protections), promising that this would kick off a mass deportation campaign that, he warns, will be “bloody.”

One thing that has been less widely reported is the story of the Weber family—a story that happened on the sidelines of the national news. What happened to the Webers is frightening and damaging. But it also exemplifies how anti-immigrant hate, and especially hate towards Black migrants, quickly mutates beyond the issue of immigration, opening the door to an increase in fascist activism that targets all marginalized groups, regardless of immigration status. 

Chelsea Shirk Weber told the Dayton Jewish Observer that she, her husband, and their 4-year-old daughter went to a Jazz and Blues Fest in downtown Springfield on August 10. As they were leaving, they saw a squad of the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe marching in formation, complete with red uniforms, swastika flags and automatic weapons. Hearing people yelling and other loud noises, the family moved swiftly to their car. But as the Webers tried to drive away in traffic, they and other motorists were surrounded by four Blood Tribe members who pointed rifles at their cars. There were no police visible nearby. “Go back to f-ing Africa,” the fascists yelled. Chelsea’s husband accelerated, running a red light to get away.

Blood Tribe claims credit for creating and spreading the rumor about Haitian migrants eating pets, starting their online campaign months ago. They consider it a victory that the Trump campaign (and 53% of Trump supporters) have adopted their lies. 

Photo Credit: Chelsea Shirk Weber

Weber took a photograph of some of the fascists—the image above. When she posted it on the Facebook pages of Springfield and of Clark County, there was a massive pile-on by right-wing commenters who either supported Blood Tribe or alleged that the photo was fake. Soon Weber’s post was taken down. Five minutes later, the City of Springfield posted a bland statement expressing “concern” about an outside hate group that had been in town. The mayor, Rob Rue, was quoted as saying that “Nothing happened, except they expressed their First Amendment rights. Our Police Division was aware and in control the entire time.”

Weber does not agree:

“”It was just completely disappointing that the government said, ‘Oh, they’re just exercising their First Amendment right and they did no harm.’ Tell that to my 4-year-old, who is completely traumatized. I’m 37 and I was scared s—less. How do you explain it to a 4-year-old?’ The Observer provided Police Chief Elliott with a transcript of Weber’s interview. Despite repeated attempts to reach out to Elliott for a follow-up interview, she declined to comment.” —Dayton Jewish Observer, 8/22/24

The Springfield events demonstrate how Blood Tribe and other other fascists like the Proud Boys and the KKK are using racist attacks on immigrants and calls for mass deportation to raise their public profile, recruit, and normalize their full program of hate against people of color, women, LGBT people, Jews and leftists. And the concentration camps the fascists hope to build for millions of undocumented people are intended for many other perceived enemies as well.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

JHISN Newsletter 08/17/2024

Posted on August 17, 2024 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends, 

We greet you at an unexpected moment of hope, as Donald Trump’s grip on US politics shows signs of slipping. Today’s newsletter looks at two issues concerning migration that are central to Trump’s appeal, and also to the fate of progressive activism. Our first article confronts the national demand for mass deportation and its connection to fascism. Turning to local events, our second article explores the Adams administration’s callous treatment of asylum seekers and longtime residents at two large migrant shelters in Clinton Hill. Both stories highlight the need for unapologetic pro-immigrant politics that goes beyond the half-hearted, defensive posture of mainstream Democrats.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Mainstreaming a fascist demand for mass deportation
  2. Mayor Adams fails migrants at Clinton Hill shelters

1. Poison in the Blood

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” —Voltaire

In what may well be the most repulsive moment of an already ugly campaign season, thousands of Republican National Convention delegates in Milwaukee stamped their feet, waved pre-printed signs, and rhythmically chanted their desire for “Mass Deportation.” Disturbingly, according to an Axios/Harris poll, roughly half of the US population, including many Democrats, shares this sentiment. It’s hard to get past the shocking cruelty of this wave of hate. But we need to think about its causes and confront its implications in order to prepare for what may be coming.

Making mass deportation a topic of mainstream debate represents a victory for US fascists, who have for years promoted a  “Great Replacement” theory: the belief that corporate elites, supposedly led by Jews, are intent on replacing whites with non-white immigrants in order to destroy “the white nation.” But mass deportation is also the spearhead of a broader attack on all oppressed groups and all social justice struggles. What would life be like for those already subjected to state violence, hate crimes, and social discrimination, if the military, police and ICE squads roam the streets to carry out this atrocity? 

It’s evident that many of the people who demand mass deportation today don’t think of themselves as fascists. And many aren’t yet prepared to endorse mass deportation’s expense or practical implementation: troops in the streets, document checks, concentration camps, families torn apart. These things are still broadly unpopular. So at this point the mainstream demand for mass deportation has a certain rhetorical quality. As one pollster said, angry citizens are “sending a message.” Those Republican delegates in Milwaukee enjoyed chanting a transgressive fascist slogan, treating it as a threatening bluff against immigrants and condescending elites.

But it’s no bluff for the fascists, inside and outside the Republican Party. They are intent on seizing power and they have made specific plans for tracking down, arresting, and deporting up to 20 million immigrants. Now, they have managed to persuade half the population to give at least rhetorical support for what should be unthinkable. If the fascists take control, these compromised millions will be forced to confront the violent reality of their own hateful “Mass Deportation” slogan.

In a chilling echo of Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump says that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the US. But he is projecting. It is the white supremacy that he manipulates and embodies that poisons the blood of this country, enabling wave after wave of racial and religious hatred, genocide, and imperialism. This poison has now produced yet another spasm of mean-spirited nativism and a new rising fascist movement. We must challenge them both, directly and openly, before it’s too late.

2. Lack of City Services at Clinton Hill Migrant Shelters

“My team and I have been working on this for the better part of a year, we’ve poured all the resources and energy that we have that we can pour into it. But he’s [Mayor Adams] got more resources, and more staff, and also more answers than I do, frankly.”—Council Member Crystal Hudson (Brooklyn District 35)  

When busloads of asylum seekers and other migrants began arriving in New York City in 2022, Mayor Adams, under the requirements of NYC’s right to shelter, desperately sought places for them to stay. One chosen site was 47 Hall Street in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. It opened in July 2023 without any public announcement or communication with local leaders. This multi-building complex, administered by NYC Health+Hospitals, came to house 3000 single adults and families within 8 months.

The shelter was a shock to local residents. Nevertheless, the neighborhood responded to the “massive unmet need” for basic personal items and winter coats, and donations soon arrived at PS/IS 157 to help newly arrived students and their parents. In contrast to this compassionate aid there were rising complaints about trash, noise, and loitering, especially near the playgrounds and basketball courts. Residents were not satisfied with the city’s response to their complaints.

Then, this April, the city opened another emergency migrant shelter one block away at 29 Ryerson Street with capacity for 700 people—again with no announcement. “We heard rumblings about it, but nobody was giving us information directly or at the community board meetings,” said a 20-year resident of Clinton Hill. Other neighbors complained about not being able to use the basketball courts or find space in the local laundromats. “When the city doesn’t provide the migrants with resources they need, like washing machines and open space, and it starts to affect resident resources, then I say there’s a problem,” said another local resident, Vernon Jones.

On June 17, NYC Council Member Crystal Hudson held a community meeting about the shelters. Some attendees accused her of ignoring the community’s complaints. In response, Hudson explained to the angry crowd that she had written an open letter to Mayor Adams on May 6 detailing the problems, her office’s response, and cited assistance from community groups such as BKLYN Combine, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), and One Love Community, as well as local businesses and residents.

The mayor argues, correctly, that the migrants need work permits. But they also need information about available services, especially mental health services and language support. Many of the recent arrivals are from West Africa, and speak languages like Wolof, Fula, and Bambara. Hudson said her office had contacted One Love Community Fridge, whose many African volunteers were able to provide translation and services to migrants in Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, and Crown Heights. 

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) has been supporting migrants by providing clothing, personal care items, and a variety of training programs to residents of the Hall Street Shelter and the Stockton Street Respite Center in Bed-Stuy. Nekessa Opoti, communications director at BAJI, said many shelters like Hall Street are unequipped to support Black asylum seekers, especially those who have fled war, conflict, or political violence.

“Community organizations like BAJI have stepped in where both the city and state government have failed. Police, private security, and surveillance in these shelters cannot and do not provide culturally competent, trauma-informed care, such as health and mental health services, case management and community navigation for which direct-service organizations and mutual aid groups have stepped up to take on… ” 

On July 23, shortly after two shootings near the shelters, there was a large demonstration protesting the continued quality of life issues for permanent Clinton Hill residents, with signs saying “400 not 4000”. According to one 13-year resident on Hall Street, “A 200- to 400-person shelter is reasonable. We’re happy to have a shelter at the end of our block, it’s just the scale of it that doesn’t work.” The mayor responded at his press conference, “When they say move the shelter, my question to them is where? Which community should I move it in? Those who are already oversaturated? Or should we all share the burden of this.”

Although Adams refused to reduce the capacity of the shelters (currently at 3100 and 850), he increased the police presence at the shelters and added metal detectors at the Ryerson shelter.

New York Immigration Coalition president Murad Awawdeh commented:

“We have also been calling on the Mayor to stop warehousing vulnerable people in emergency shelters and begin moving people into permanent housing by expanding eligibility to CityFHEPS vouchers to New Yorkers regardless of immigration status, so they can truly put down roots and create self-sustaining lives here. The Mayor needs to stop investing in shortsighted costly non-solutions and start prioritizing community safety by investing in the resources people need to thrive.”

It is clear that along with physical shelter, recent migrants need city-supplied information about available resources such as free English classes, IDNYC cards, and subway information. This information is available in the Roosevelt Hotel, why not in Clinton Hill?

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

 Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

JHISN Newsletter 06/08/2024

Posted on June 8, 2024 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As the November elections approach, immigration is again becoming fodder for fascist fear-mongering and cynical political jockeying. Five days ago, President Biden announced extraordinary measures to restrict and criminalize asylum seekers at the southern border. Breaking his 2020 campaign promises—as well as international and domestic law—Biden has introduced policies that will effectively shut down asylum refuge and border-crossings for tens of thousands of people. We will bring you more news on this.

In our neighborhood, a beautiful exhibit in Travers Park communicates some of the actual, intimate realities of migration and border transit. Our first article describes the making of “Brought from Home,” a set of documentary photographs of beloved objects and mementos that Latin American immigrants bring with them to the US from their homeplace. The exhibit is on display in the park for just one more week!

Our second article offers an update on the proposed casino project in Flushing, as a billionaire’s dream of profit threatens immigrant neighborhoods and local economies here in Central Queens.  

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Immigrant art exhibit at Travers Park 
  2. Mega-casino project hits major hurdle  

 

1. “Brought from Home” Exhibit at Travers Park

“As an immigrant myself, and daughter of a man who had a deep connection with his native Peru until his last breath in 2020, I developed Brought from Home as it is a topic that is personal to me and my family….[It] gives viewers an intimate look on immigration and the meaning of home from the perspective of migrants who communicate and demonstrate resilience, as well as hope for the rebirth of a new and better life, while holding on to pieces of what once was.” –Angelica Briones

Readers have until June 16th to see documentary photographer Angela Briones’ moving outdoor exhibition in Travers Park. Briones photographs cherished keepsakes that Latin American migrants carry with them—things that “root them to home.” A short text explains the significance of each item for its owner.

Briones began photographing in NYC, exploring what Latin American immigrants in our city treasure as mementos of home—including photos, stuffed animals, coins, and ornaments. Then, with the help of a grant from the Queens Council for the Arts, she traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, to interview migrants at two shelters near the border, and to photograph the keepsakes they carried with them.

Professionally printed on a very large canvas banner, “Brought from Home” is sponsored by Photoville, a prestigious photo festival centered in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Every summer, a “village” of shipping containers is repurposed into a series of art galleries on the waterfront. Photoville also organizes pop-up outdoor photo exhibitions in neighborhoods all over the city. Although there are 85 such satellite shows this year, “Brought from Home” is the only one in Queens.

Briones’ project allows us a privileged window into the personal experiences of migrants. As she puts it, “Although immigrants leave their native countries behind, this rarely means that ‘home’ doesn’t come with them.”

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Visit “Brought from Home” free exhibit until June 16 in Travers Park, open from 6am – 9pm every day.
  • Learn about and visit Photoville.

2. Ramos Red Lights the Casino Project

As we reported in April, multiple local working-class and immigrant groups oppose billionaire Steve Cohen’s major Metropolitan Park casino development in Flushing. Five of the six powerful politicians on the committee required to approve the project strongly support it. (There is no Asian American representative on the committee even though the land next to Citi Field is bordered by working-class Asian and other immigrant communities.) State Senator Jessica Ramos is the sixth member and would have to introduce legislation to waive the site’s legal status as a park (i.e. ‘alienate’ the parkland) to make the project possible. On Tuesday May 28, Ramos refused to do so. Since this legislative session ended on June 6, she has effectively stopped the $8 billion project for now.

“We want investment and opportunity, we are desperate for green space, and recreation for the whole family. We disagree on the premise that we have to accept a casino in our backyard as the trade-off. I resent the conditions and the generations of neglect that have made many of us so desperate that we would be willing to settle.” —Jessica Ramos

 Even though Phoenix Meadows is an alternative proposal already circulating in the community, on Tuesday Senator Ramos offered her own proposal, without a casino but including a hotel and convention center, athletic fields, a parking facility, a revamped 7 train station, flood protection and other upgrades at the site.

Several local organizations continue to oppose this development project. For example, Queens Neighborhoods United (QNU) is angry that Ramos is suggesting any privatization of the parkland because once the site is no longer designated a public park (alienated), it’s gone forever. QNU strongly prefers the site’s use only as a park or for affordable housing.

In a Facebook post, MinKwon Center for Community Action voiced support for Ramos’ decision and condemned Cohen’s tactics. “Senator Ramos is doing the right thing in opposing the casino, because she is backing the constituents of her district who are, unsurprisingly, 75% opposed to having a casino in their backyard near their kids’ schools.” MinKwon also points out that Cohen’s attempts to get community support have been misleading. Residents signed petitions thinking they were supporting parks, when page 2 showed they were actually signing for Metropolitan Park, casino and all. The Center further commented, “A casino’s profit margin is determined by how much more wealth it extracts than it spends/invests. It is not an engine that generates community wealth, it is a wealth extraction engine.”

Flushing Anti-Displacement Alliance (FADA) continues to oppose Steve Cohen’s project because “it will take $2 billion a year out of our neighborhood economies, leading to the closure of small businesses. It is being planned in conjunction with a wave of adjacent luxury development that will raise rents and property taxes, causing more displacement.” In addition, FADA called for a boycott of the Queens Pride parade on June 2 because of Cohen’s sponsorship of LGBT Network (the parade’s recent sponsor) and his hedge fund’s investments in manufacturing drones that the IDF uses in Israel’s war on Gaza.

Borough President Donovan Richards is perhaps the strongest proponent of Metropolitan Park and its accompanying casino, saying:

“…the families of this community so badly deserve the 25,000 good-paying union jobs, the $163 million community investment fund, the Taste of Queens food hall designed for borough-based vendors, critical support for community-based organizations, rising property values and more that the Metropolitan Park proposal puts forth.”

Lost in the discussion are the three other proposed sites for a casino in the NY area. One of them is Bally’s Bronx, which would be located on what used to be Trump’s golf course in Throggs Neck. It would feature a half-million-square foot gaming hall as well as food and beverage service, a hotel with a spa and meeting space, retail shops, a 2,000-seat event center and a parking garage for up to 4,660 vehicles. Again, parkland would have to be alienated. Neither State Assemblyman Michael Benedetto nor State Senator Nathalia Fernandez have presented legislation to alienate the Throggs Neck parcel.

Clearly, NY boroughs don’t want a casino, but Steve Cohen and Bally’s will continue to fight for their projects. Applications for each proposed casino are not due until 2025.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

JHISN Newsletter 10/07/2023

Posted on October 7, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

We debated whether to bring this week’s story to you. Would we be amplifying Curtis Sliwa’s vicious, cynical politics by reporting on them? Should readers who have never heard of Sliwa be introduced to him here?

Ultimately we decided that this was an important story to share. We offer a summary look at the anti-immigrant movement that Sliwa, with his billionaire-funded bullhorn, is trying to build in NYC. Some of you may remember Sliwa as the failed Republican nominee in the last mayoral race. Today, anointing himself the “mayor in exile,” he hopes to use anti-immigrant resentment and fear in his next run for mayor. We also want to situate Sliwa’s (limited) popularity in the context of the growing traction of conservative and anti-immigrant politics in the city. So. Read with caution. Read with care. And help us build immigrant justice movements strong enough to make this story irrelevant.

Curtis Sliwa and 77 WABC—Spearheading NYC’s Anti-Migrant Protests

“They don’t have enough handcuffs. They don’t have enough cops. They don’t have enough cars. We’re going to be here 24/7/365 and the illegals are not gonna want to come here. They should stay in Manhattan.” —Curtis Sliwa at the former Island Shores Senior Living facility (9/19/2023)

If you were in New York City in the 1980s, you probably knew Curtis Sliwa as the red beret-wearing Guardian Angel claiming to “protect” subway riders. If you listened to talk radio in the 1990s, you knew him as a regular co-host on WABC. If you were here in 2021, you’ll remember him as the Republican candidate for Mayor. Now, using the radio platform of 77 WABC, Sliwa’s latest incarnation is as the chief organizer and promoter of protests against migrant asylum seekers,  thinly veiled as opposition to the shelters that house them. 

A regular feature of Sliwa’s broadcasts is verbal attacks on Mayor Adams for his ineptitude as a mayor, his fancy suits, his enjoyment of NYC’s nightlife, and his policies towards migrants arriving in the city. At the end of August, in an intensification of those attacks, Sliwa organized a loud rally in front of Gracie Mansion. He declared that asylum seekers should be housed at Rikers Island until they are granted working papers. Immigrant justice counter-protesters from Rise and Resist denounced Sliwa for his hate-filled rhetoric.

Sliwa is on right-wing radio for hours each day. He is a regular guest at 7:05 a.m. on 77 WABC’s Sid Rosenberg & Friends morning show. He then hosts his own midday show (with Anthony Weiner as his foil). Sliwa also produces a stream of  Minicasts and Rip and Read podcasts. Hectoring listeners at the top of his voice, he recycles half-truths and baldfaced lies about migrants, characterizing legal asylum seekers as an invasion of “illegal aliens” who have deliberately decided to come to NYC for the freebies. Sliwa’s daily screeds imply that “fighting age men” seeking US asylum are at best a danger to citizen children and women and, at worst, terrorists in disguise.

77 WABC is the third-largest talk radio station in NYC. It was purchased in 2021 by billionaire John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Media. Catsimatidis is best known as the owner of the New York supermarket chain Gristedes, but Red Apple Group also owns United Refining in Pennsylvania and real estate in New York and elsewhere. Catsimatidis’ Republican credentials are very strong. His daughter, Andrea, is chairwoman of the Manhattan Republican Party (and married to the grandson of Richard Nixon). His son John and wife Margo are numbers three and four of the 22 Party vice presidents. 77 WABC hosts shows for other right-wing Republicans including Bill O’Reilly, Sid Rosenberg, Rudy Guiliani, Brian Kilmeade, Andrew Guiliani, and Jeanine Piro, and offers a perfect vehicle for Sliwa’s return to political prominence.

During August and September, Sliwa organized, promoted, and attended protests against temporary shelters for asylum seekers in Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Protests targeted the former Creedmore Psychiatric Center, the former Catholic girls school, St. John Villa Academy, the former Island Shores Senior Living Facility in Midland Beach, the unused Floyd Bennett Field, and Overlook Manor, a former college dorm in Riverdale. Despite Sliwa’s claims that people have been forced out of these places to accommodate migrants, each was already vacated and/or sold before the city identified them as possible sites for migrant shelters.

Creedmore, in Queens, was Sliwa’s first target. On August 8, hundreds of people waving signs reading “Save Our Neighborhood” and “Americans Over Migrants” turned out to protest a tent city being built on Creedmore’s parking lot. Sliwa returned to another Creedmore protest a week later and was arrested when he refused a police order to move out of the road.

Much of Sliwa’s activism has been in Staten Island. Sliwa appeared at a preemptive protest at the Midland Beach facility organized by artist Scott LoBaido before it was certain the facility would be a shelter for migrants. A week later a larger protest was held at the same site with LoBaido and Newsmax television’s John Tabacco as speakers. 

At least eleven Staten Island electeds—including some Democrats— wrote to Mayor Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander asking them to refuse to make the Midland Beach facility a migrant shelter. Nevertheless, a contract was signed. When the first bus of migrants arrived at night on September 19, Sliwa led protesters who blocked the streets. They shouted, “You’re not welcome,” You’re illegal” and argued with the large police presence. Ten were arrested and Sliwa threatened more protests to come. Several dozen protesters returned the very next day.

On August 28, Sliwa led a protest rally attended by hundreds at Staten Island’s St. John Villa Academy, expected to house up to 300 migrants. Representative Nicole Malliotakis and Borough President Vito Fossella also attended and spoke in opposition to the shelter. Sliwa returned to St. John Villa on September 5, where he threatened to shut down all the bridges to the island. After several Staten Island lawmakers filed suit to prohibit the shelter, a judge ruled that the right to shelter was “an anachronistic relic from the past,” and issued an injunction preventing the city from using the school to house migrants. Although the city is appealing, Sliwa organized hundreds of residents in a “victory rally.” He warned that the court decision was only a “part-time victory,” and the “war could resume at any moment.” He also proclaimed, “You won this battle here, but the bigger battle is in Midland Beach.’’

On his podcast, Sliwa called for “the mother of all rallies” at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field on September 14. He claimed there were going to be “7,500 single able-bodied young men, illegal aliens with no jobs and nothing to do” housed in tents on a flood plain, implying that these will be dangerous people. “This is our battle for our neighborhoods, for our children, for our grandparents. For your equity.” Sliwa’s anti-migrant rhetoric as well as sharp attacks on the mayor were recorded at the rally. Bolstering the protest, a dozen lawmakers filed suit on September 19 to block the use of Floyd Bennett Field to shelter asylum seekers, arguing that it is an improper use of federal parkland. While some claim to worry about the migrants being housed on a known floodplain, protesters’ signs and comments indicate instead a focus on the false allegations that the migrants are illegal.

At the end of September, Sliwa turned his attention to Overlook Manor in Riverdale (planned as a residence for migrant families). He organized 75 residents of nearby Waldo Gardens to protest, claiming the building is an unused college dorm on campus. In fact, it is not on campus and is no longer connected to the college, having been sold in May 2022 to Stagg Group, an affordable housing developer. When met by a 50-person counter-demonstration at his September 24th rally, Sliwa said:

 “If you look at the demographics of both groups, on the one side, the pro-migrant group. They’re young progressive socialists for the most part. [On the other], these guys, senior citizens, many of them first-generation immigrants from Russia, Eastern Europe, who fled communism.” 

Let’s be clear: Mayor Adams bears a lot of responsibility for the current antagonism against the shelters by failing to talk to local politicians and community leaders before announcing plans affecting their neighborhoods. The initial outcry in May after he sent migrants, unannounced, to a Westchester community apparently did not improve his communication skills. Lack of dialogue with affected communities creates political space for the demagogues stoking people’s anti-immigrant fears, despite how misplaced and often racist those fears are. And people like Curtis Sliwa take full advantage, preying on and amplifying those fears to their political advantage.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN.