The good news is that DACA recipient Daniel Medina Ramirezhas finally been released on bail, although the government is still pushing for his deportation. And there’s plenty of bad news. On Monday ICE agents shot and wounded a legal resident during one raid and dragged out a partially paralyzed man in another. Both raids took place in Chicago, which is one of the “sanctuary cities” ICE seems to be targeting. Also on Monday, anti-immigrant attorney general Jeff Sessions threatened to cut off funds from these cities—although activists feel that actually the localities cooperate too much with federal immigration authorities.—TPOI editor
DREAMer smeared as a ‘gang member’ by ICE released after judge finds he poses no threat
By Esther Yu Hsi, ThinkProgress
March 30, 2017 |
| Daniel leaves detention. Photo: AP/Ted S. Warren |
A 24-year-old undocumented immigrant protected under President Obama’s deportation relief program has been released, six weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained him during an enforcement operation near Seattle, Washington.
Daniel Ramirez, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiary, hugged his brother after his release on Wednesday outside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. Ramirez said in a public statement that he was thrilled to go home and thanked his supporters.
“I’m so happy to be reunited with my family today and can’t wait to see my son. This has been a long and hard 46 days, but I’m so thankful for the support that I’ve gotten from everyone who helped me and for the opportunity to live in such an amazing country,” Ramirez said. “I know that this isn’t over, but I’m hopeful for the future, for me and for the hundreds of thousands of other Dreamers who love this country like I do.”[…]
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What a Brutally Violent ICE Raid Can Tell Us About Trump's Creeping Police State
A Chicago shooting shows immigration agents and police officers are part of the same violent apparatus.
March 29, 2017
On March 27, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents unleashed terror on residents of a northwest Chicago home when an agent shot and seriously wounded a man in a house where eight family members were present, including a child as young as one.
“They didn't say anything. They just came in and pointed pistols in our faces and dragged us out,” Carmen Torres, the daughter of the wounded man, Felix Torres, told local news outlet DNA Info. "We didn't even have time to dress or grab milk for the baby."
Torres’ lawyer, Thomas Hallock, said in an interview with CBS Chicago, “He was shot immediately, or almost immediately, upon opening his door to see what the commotion was outside of his residence.”
ICE claimed an unidentified man pointed a gun at agents during the course of an arrest, but produced no evidence and admitted that Torres, 53, was not the individual targeted by the invasion. "It's a lie when they say he was holding a gun. He doesn't even own a gun," Carmen Torres said. "They shot my dad. They shot him, and I don't know why."[...]
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Reports surfaced of a second raid in Chicago Monday. Wilmer Catalan Ramirez, who is partially paralyzed, was dragged from his home by ICE agents, according to a spokesman for Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.
March 29, 2017
CHICAGO — The son of a man shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers in Belmont Cragin Monday pleaded not guilty to gun charges filed previous to the ICE raid.
Felix Torres Jr. entered a not guilty plea on nine counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon stemming from a traffic stop Feb. 24 in Belmont Cragin, according to court records. He posted $5,000 bond.[…]
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Here's what Atty. Gen. Sessions got wrong about the law in his attack on sanctuary cities
There are several problems with Trump’s words, and Sessions’. To begin with, Trump misrepresents the rationale for sanctuary policies in many jurisdictions.
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times
March 28, 2017U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions sounded passionate, wrathful and confident when he appeared at the White House press room Monday to deliver a blistering attack on sanctuary jurisdictions across the nation.
States and cities that thwart the federal government’s policies against illegal immigrants, Sessions said, would face severe consequences. He talked as though jurisdictions across the nation were actively violating federal immigration laws, pumping undocumented immigrants back onto the streets even after their convictions for serious crimes.
Sessions threatened to withhold or terminate federal grants from cities that do so or declare them ineligible for future funding. He even threatened to “claw back” funds that already have been advanced.[...]
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