Last week’s ICE raids swept up at least one immigrant supposed to be protected by Obama’s DACA program. Government officials are still holding Daniel Ramirez Medina, claiming he is an admitted gang member and therefore subject to deportation; his lawyers deny that the young man has gang affiliations. Immigrant rights activists are encouraging supporters to sign an online petition and to participate in protests, including one today in New York City.
Meanwhile, the ICE raids continue to spark more organizing and protests, including what appears to be a spontaneous “Day Without Immigrants.”
Petition to Free Daniel Ramirez Medina (From United We Dream)
In Seattle, a father named Daniel Ramirez Medina has been detained by ICE agents for days. Daniel has DACA and is authorized to work in the US.If Daniel, a father to a three-year-old son who has been here since he was seven, isn’t safe we are all at risk for deportation.
We’re delivering a petition to Secretary Kelly, the head of DHS this week. Sign the petition to #FreeDaniel and protect the DACA program so we have as many signatures as possible when we deliver.
Daniel is only one of hundreds of immigrants who have been invaded by ICE at their homes and workplaces and could be deported, regardless of their status. ICE has deported mothers who have lived here for over 20 years. ICE has demanded papers from U.S. citizens.
Secretary Kelly needs to release Daniel NOW and declare DACA recipients safe.
New York Rally to #FreeDaniel and Stop ICE Raids
The Trump administration has continuously attacked immigrant communities. This past week there have been hundreds of arrests by ICE, spreading fear and panic throughout our communities all over the country. Most recently, Daniel Ramirez Medina was taken into custody despite being a DACA recipient. This Thursday at 5 pm we rally in front of the Department of Homeland Security Building to demand that ICE #FreeDaniel and stop #ICERaids operations and arrests that are targeting everyone and tearing families falling apart.
When: Thursday, February 16th, 2017 at 5 PM
Where: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Varick Street Federal Building)
201 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014
201 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014
This will be a legal, peaceful and nonviolent demonstration. Participating organizations include: Make the Road NY, United We Dream, New York Communities For Change, New York Immigration Coalition, Working Families Party, Taxi Workers Alliance, 32BJ.
Daniel Ramirez Medina: what we know about the DREAMer detained by immigration agents
Is Ramirez's arrest a mistake, or an omen? 750,000 immigrants’ lives depend on the answer.
By Dara Lind, VoxFebruary 15, 2017
President Trump has said that any unauthorized immigrant in the US should be deportable. But he has also said that the 750,000 immigrants who’ve been protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — which grants two-year protection from deportation and work permits to young adults who came to the US as children — are “terrific” people who shouldn’t worry about their futures.
Those two positions always conflicted. And while the Trump administration is still delaying a decision on what to do with the “DREAMers” who’ve received DACA protections, it looks like the crisis is coming to a head. […]
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After Nationwide ICE Raids, 50,000 People in Milwaukee Rose up to Say the Arrests Were Wrong
By Oliver Ortega, The Progressive
February 14, 2017
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| Photo: The Progressive |
As seventeen-year-old Daniel Gutierrez Ayala marched in Milwaukee on Monday, he thought about the fate of his undocumented parents in Trump’s America. He thought about his own tenuous future as a recipient of President Obama’s deferred action program, and his dream of one day becoming a lawyer who fights for the immigrant community.
As he walked, the high school senior took comfort in the fact that he was not alone. Tens of thousands walked with him—day laborers and business owners who closed shop for the day, schoolchildren and working parents who had taken the morning off, teachers and office workers, activists of all colors and creeds, all eager to partake in one of the largest single manifestations for immigrant rights since President Donald Trump took office.[…]
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Day Without Immigrants to Hit Washington in the Stomach
By Richard Pérez-Peña and Katie Rogers, New York Times
February 15, 2017
WASHINGTON — In a city where expense account meals are a central part of power players’ lives, some of Washington’s best-known restaurants will close their doors on Thursday in solidarity with a national campaign to draw attention to the power and plight of immigrants.
The campaign, spread on social media and messaging apps, has called for a “day without immigrants.” It asks foreign-born people nationwide, regardless of legal status, not to go to work or go shopping in a demonstration of the importance of their labor and consumer spending to the United States’ economy.[…]
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