POSITION: The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) is seeking a Staff Attorney to join it’s dynamic team providing immigration services to low-income individuals. This is a chance to join a talented grant-funded team doing important and challenging work at a critical time. This position will be based out of MIRC’s Grand Rapids office with the possibility of a hybrid work schedule.
On an ongoing basis, the federal government contracts with local agencies to expand short and long-term custodial services to immigrant children in Michigan. When new facilities open or current facilities expand, legal services contracts are sought to support the children who will come to these new placements. MIRC provides legal services to all children in the currently funded federal custodial settings in Michigan and works to ensure that whenever the federal government expands services in Michigan, the children who arrive here are well-supported with legal services and their rights in custody are protected.
With recent federal contract changes, MIRC is returning to Albion, Michigan to once again serve immigrant children. MIRC staff provided legal services to children when they arrived at the Emergency Intake Site housed at Starr Commonwealth in 2021. A new Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) subcontractor agency, Responsive Deployment, will begin serving children at the same Starr Commonwealth location soon. MIRC staff will be on-site providing legal services to all of the immigrant children who arrive at the facility and we will be continually advocating for their rights in care, just as we do for all other children in federal custody in Michigan.
For the first time in Michigan’s history as a receiving state for unaccompanied children, an Emergency Intake Site (EIS) was located in the state beginning in late Spring 2021 (more about the opening here). EIS facilities are considered in the unaccompanied children framework as a resource for temporary shelter when an unusually high number of children overwhelms system resources. In other states where EIS operations have been more commonplace, advocates have identified concerns about the conditions in which children are being housed. Accordingly, MIRC engaged with the goal of securing proper care in the least restrictive environment possible, as well as providing high quality legal services, for the children that would pass through Michigan’s EIS. Against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, MIRC bore witness to the experiences of a large population of Central American children, and later approximately 200 Afghan children who were fleeing violence. During the early days of 2022, the EIS became inactive, and MIRC is not aware of plans to place children at the site at this time.
Over a roughly seven-month period, MIRC staff proudly served 790 unaccompanied children at the EIS located in Albion, MI. MIRC staff provided know-your-rights presentations in the children’s best language. Afterward, children were provided with in-depth legal screenings whenever possible, given their rapid discharge and the constraints posed by the pandemic. The MIRC team continues to follow up with the youth to ensure that they are connected to legal services in the states where they have since relocated to live with family. A small number of youth ended up being relocated within Michigan, and MIRC continues to provide them with zealous advocacy. On several occasions during the period of EIS activity, MIRC staff advocated for improved conditions of detention, successfully securing improved access to communications with family members abroad and culturally appropriate meals. MIRC’s team continues to encourage stakeholders to adopt trauma-informed approaches to improve children’s experiences in federal custody. We remain ready to serve additional children should the EIS in Michigan become temporarily needed again.
As we reflect back on one year since the opening of Michigan’s first EIS and the widespread use of emergency intake sites across the country, we join with national partners in encouraging the federal administration to avoid the use of emergency intake sites and instead establish a border management system that prioritizes expedited release of children to appropriate caregivers or placement in small, licensed facilities in community-based settings. We need a sustainable system that anticipates the predictable fluctuations in numbers of children seeking protection and welcomes them in environments that meet child welfare guidelines and support their long term wellbeing.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) has several important updates to share about our legal services program for immigrant children who have been separated from their families or are present in the U.S. without a legal guardian -- also known as unaccompanied children. ( English | Español )
Children are children, regardless of their nationality, and our law and our values require us to act in their best interest. We know that children seeking asylum and other immigration protections are incredibly resilient but have experienced trauma and need a supportive environment. Our goal is to provide the best quality legal services we can to help ensure they have the safety and care they need to thrive. When children cannot be placed with their parents in the U.S., we encourage placement in the least restrictive settings possible and safe release to family or other appropriate sponsor as soon as possible
Over the past several years, MIRC has represented every child in Michigan in federal custody in placements like foster care and small group homes. However, there is now a new, larger “Emergency Intake Site” facility for unaccompanied children operating in Michigan. Our staff are visiting this new facility in Albion every weekday to share information with the children about their rights and to perform individual legal screenings. Given the large numbers of children and the short amount of time they may remain at the facility, we will likely not be able to provide significant services beyond that. Yet we are glad that we are able to provide them information about their rights and meet with them about any safety or reunification concerns and proactively address any issues we observe.
Below is more information about the history of this evolving situation.
We are part of a national network of legal advocates for unaccompanied children, and we have spent the past year joining in advocacy against the “Title 42” expulsions that have denied unaccompanied children their legal right to enter the United States to seek asylum or other relief. Children seeking safety and protection, who would otherwise have come to Michigan for short-term or long-term foster care and become our clients, were being turned away. Tragically these children were sometimes held in completely unregulated and secret illegal hotel stays by transportation contractors, and ultimately flown back to their countries of origin without due process. Michigan’s federal custody programs for unaccompanied children through Bethany Christian Services and Samaritas are unique in that they only consist of foster-care and small group home settings, which are most often the “least restrictive setting in the best interest of the child” that the law requires for children who have not yet been or cannot safely be released. MIRC provides legal services to every unaccompanied immigrant child who comes to Michigan in those programs. In late 2017 through mid-2018, some of the children entering those programs had been forcibly separated from their loved ones by the government and wrongfully made “unaccompanied.” The children in that situation who came to Michigan during that time have all been reunited with family and it remains our high priority that children be released to family or other appropriate sponsors as soon as possible.
Recently we spent much time trying to understand how the Biden Administration’s partial end to the Title 42 policy as applied to unaccompanied children would address the large numbers of unaccompanied children at the border and locally. We continue to urge a full end to the ongoing use of Title 42 as a pretext for expelling adults and families seeking asylum. We initially learned from the press but could not confirm with our government contacts that the Starr Commonwealth site in Albion was likely to house unaccompanied children. We had not been asked to have any role in providing legal services to children in the facility and we could not confirm whether we would be allowed access. We were concerned, because last year that facility was closed following the termination of Starr Commonwealth’s management agreement with Sequel Youth and Family Services, a for-profit company whose staff have been criminally charged in the death of a child in Kalamazoo last year. We have since learned that the federal government has leased the Starr facility and that Community Action of South Central Michigan will staff and serve children at the facility through a separate government contract. The services at the Starr Commonwealth facility will eventually be managed by PAE.
We now have attorneys and other members of our unaccompanied children’s legal team on site every weekday to visit with children, provide “know your rights” information, and conduct legal screenings to identify issues.
The questions below and many other questions about children’s freedom and safety will be those we ask the government and the service providers as we move forward. We want to make sure our judgments and our advocacy are well-informed and based on the facts as we find them, not assumptions about good or bad intentions or national politics. If you have insights or thoughts about what else we need to know or find out, please contact our Unaccompanied Children’s’ program managers, attorneys Susan Reed, Ana Raquel Devereaux, and Rebeca Ontiveros-Chavez at mirc@michiganimmigrant.org.
FAQs
Under the Flores settlement, influx sites like this one have some minimum requirements such as ensuring physical safety, providing adequate nutrition, having a clean environment with access to proper hygiene, being housed only with other minors, and having access to family reunification services and phone calls with family. At this time, we believe these minimum legal requirements are being met. However, the Flores settlement does encourage Influx sites to work towards providing more robust and comprehensive services, including mental health services, educational services, case management services, and all other services required by state child care licensing guidelines. It is our hope that the facility will be able to advance towards meeting these goals for care as well and we will continue to monitor the services provided to the children.
Children are coming primarily from countries in the Northern Triangle (Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala) and they have crossed the U.S./Mexico border at which point they were processed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Children report being at CBP facilities anywhere from 2-10 days. Some children are then moved directly to the EIS at Starr Commonwealth. Children report difficult conditions at CBP facilities, including very cold temperatures, bad and repetitive food, and being given little opportunity to sleep.
Some children have spent time at another Emergency Intake Site in another state before coming to Starr Commonwealth. The conditions at those facilities were satisfactory to the children, but they had little information about why they were there or why they were later moved.
Starr Commonwealth has been operating as an Emergency Intake Site for ORR for about six weeks. Children are staying at Starr Commonwealth for about 30 days before being released to sponsors or another ORR facility. The length of stay varies slightly by the relationship between the child and their potential sponsor (i.e. children being sponsored by parents were more likely to be released before 30 days).
Some children who are at Starr Commonwealth were subject to Migrant Protection Protocol Proceedings with their families and later entered unaccompanied. We have not yet documented specific violations of their rights in relation to prior entries with the children we have met with.
In November 2020, a Federal Judge ordered that Title 42 could not be used to expel unaccompanied children without due process. We have not learned of any children at the Starr Commonwealth that were subject to Title 42 expulsions prior to their most recent entry.
The family reunification process is being facilitated by Office of Refugee Resettlement staff and subcontractor agencies that are providing case management services. Initial case management staffing levels were not at the level to facilitate the quickest release possible, but children were still getting processed for release to their sponsors. Case management staffing will be increasing, so we hope the process will be more expedited in the future given additional resources.
Children are being given two opportunities a week to call family. Those calls are primarily made to their family sponsors in the U.S. and occasionally to call family in the children’s home countries.
Case management services currently focus primarily on family reunification. Additional services may be provided in the near future.
Currently the majority of staff at the facility speak only English. Some children report being unable to communicate with the staff in their language. Most children report using phone or in-person interpreters as needed to communicate with the staff. A few staff are bilingual in English and Spanish. A number of children at the facility speak Mayan languages and there are even less services available to them for interpretation.
There is a federal grant program that created a network of providers to provide case management and social services to children after release from ORR custody but it is extremely limited and not available in most regions where children are released.
Legal services for children released from ORR custody have been sporadic and based on individual organization funding and capacity, but the Vera Institute of Justice will be funding and coordinating an increase in legal services provided to released children across the country, including those released in Michigan. Additionally, MIRC staff will provide discharge packets that include a list of legal service providers to help aid in the process of finding legal services after being released.
Flores Counsel is authorized to perform monitoring visits and report on their compliance with the Flores Settlement. Disability Rights Advocates of Michigan is also authorized to monitor conditions related to disabilities. Given the unique nature of this federal facility, we are not aware of any other oversight or accountability structures in place for the agencies or staff at the Starr Commonwealth Emergency Intake Site.
These facilities are meant to be temporary in nature and only open as long as there is a need for additional emergency beds for children, but we do not have any specific timeframe for how long the Starr Commonwealth Emergency Intake Site will be operational.
You can help make the experience of our child clients a little easier by purchasing items from our Amazon wishlist. The items on this list are child-focused, trauma-informed tools that facilitate our engagement with the children. You can also support the work of our unaccompanied children’s legal team by making a donation to MIRC. Another way you can help is to direct people to our job postings. We are hiring and will continue to hire into the summer to support the work of our unaccompanied children’s team and other MIRC teams more generally.
“..the lawsuit has caused a spread of misinformation about the order that MIRC plans to help fix. [MIRC] will also “continue to fight for more protections for farmworkers, an essential workforce that keeps the State of Michigan fed.”” - Diana Marin (MLive)
“With filing fees costing thousands of dollars, many immigrants from Massachusetts who need immigration legal help can no longer afford it...[I hope] the website will be able to help [immigrants] find freedom and happiness in the U.S.” - Fernando Urbina
“The COVID-19 outbreak has not only exacerbated some of these ongoing concerns about worker safety protection, but it also shed light on some of the new guidelines that should be implemented.” - José López
"It sets an impractical and virtually impossible bar to prove when an employer acted negligently in not protecting workers from COVID-19." - Diana Marin
"It's part of a seemingly endless barrage of dehumanizing policies targeting immigrant communities, and it needs to change." - Susan Reed
Everyone in our communities is essential, and our well-being is profoundly interconnected. That’s the reality the COVID-19 public health crisis has made plain. ... Read full article from Michigan Advance column.
Many farmworkers travel long distances to work in Michigan harvesting, packing, and processing our fruits and vegetables and they are dependent on their employer for both work and housing. The work they do is often dangerous and always physically and mentally demanding. Yet, the men, women, and children, who harvest, pack and process our fruits and vegetables, have been left out of employment protections other workers enjoy. The exclusion of farmworkers from basic employment protections is rooted in the historical legacy of slavery in the agricultural sector and our country’s racial history. To this day, farmworkers are not entitled to overtime pay and are also not entitled to protection from retaliation if they come together to better their work or housing conditions.
On June 1, 2020, Governor Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-111 “Protecting the Food Supply and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers from the effects of COVID-19” which creates temporary new protections for Michigan farmworkers living in employer-provided housing. This executive order extends the worker protections in Executive Order 2020-97 “Safeguards to protect Michigan’s workers from COVID-19” to include Michigan’s agricultural workers living in employer-provided housing. Together, these two orders are important proactive and preventative measures that create a clear, uniform, and enforceable standard for the agricultural industry. These standards are critical as current migrant housing and workplace health and safety laws do not account for the unanticipated public health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The executive order is timely and necessary to protect the occupants at these housing sites, all agricultural workers in the state, and the general public. In Michigan annually, there are over 40,000 farmworkers and their family members who live and work in our communities. About half of those farmworkers will live in employer-provided housing, often near their worksites in remote or rural parts of the state. Currently, there are approximately 840 migrant housing sites that will be occupied with over 26,000 individuals during the peak growing season (April through September). The order ensures the most vulnerable farmworkers are protected from COVID-19 and not overlooked or forgotten during this unprecedented pandemic.
Through her executive order, Governor Whitmer has made it clear that Michigan will do better for our farmworker population and will take into account their particular vulnerabilities while living at employer-provided housing sites in Michigan. The order took effect on June 1, 2020 and will be in place until June 29, 2020, or until further notice. The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) hopes the order will be extended to ensure farmworkers coming to Michigan after June 29th are also protected.
MIRC supports the Governor’s actions and urges those who care about the health and safety of agricultural workers in Michigan to help share news about the Executive Order and its importance. Farmworker health and safety is a public health concern that we should all care about and centering the needs of farmworkers will ensure the stability of Michigan’s food supply.
Farmworkers who have questions about how Executive Order 2020-111 might affect them, are encouraged to call MIRC’s free confidential worker hotline at 800-968-4046.
"There's approximately 100,000 undocumented people that live here in Michigan and more than 70,000 of U.S. citizens in Michigan [live with] one or more family member(s) who is undocumented." - Rebeca Ontiveros-Chavez
"It’s actually a more difficult situation in many ways than family separation from the point of view of the child, and from our point of view as legal advocates. As horrible as it was that parents were in detention, mostly at the border, we could find them, we could talk to them. It wasn’t easy, but it was possible. And with some of the kids we’re encountering now, they don’t know where their families are." - Susan Reed
"The practice is invasive, unwarranted, and has uncertain future privacy implications as the technology evolves." - Susan Reed
"In addition to attorneys from the ACLU of Michigan and the national ACLU, the class-action suit is being litigated by the law firm Miller Canfield, Michigan law professor Margo Schlanger, the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and other ACLU cooperating attorneys."
“We are very pleased to see Wayne County clearly defining its policy about detainers, which are really problematic because they’re based on less than probable cause.” - Susan Reed
"The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center filed the complaint on Ramos-Gomez’s behalf in April, saying VanderKooi discriminated against him based on his race, violating the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act." (TIME
"According to the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, undocumented immigrants were able to obtain driver's licenses until 2008."
"Chang first talked about introducing a form of this legislation back in August. She presented the names of a bipartisan coalition formed in support of the new package — the American Civil Liberties (ACLU) of Michigan, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, Michigan League for Public Policy and the Michigan Farm Bureau, to name a few."
"[Welcoming Cities and Counties] aim to uplift and unite their communities." - Eva Alvarez
"The conference is sponsored by the National Partnership for New Americans.
"Over the past few months, there have been other protests in metro Detroit related to immigration — and some moves by cities and schools to disengage from working with ICE... [Among these,] [l]ast week, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer line-item vetoed a proposal in the state budget by Republicans that would have restricted funds to counties that enact policies limiting their interactions with ICE. Whitmer's veto was applauded by immigrant advocates with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center."
"According to Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Payne, GRPD crafted a draft policy based on research of what other cities were doing. He said the American Civil Liberties Union, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, Community Relations Commission and Grand Rapids Association of Pastors had representatives involved in the review of the draft and provided input into the final policy."
“This year’s celebration comes at a critical moment, as many immigrant and refugee residents continue to face fear, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and policies that harm families." - Christine Sauvé
"Proceeds are being donated to the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, Michigan Support Circle, Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights and Washtenaw Congregational Sanctuary."
"The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan wants to see the Calhoun County Jail offer in-person visits. Last week, both organizations sent a letter to Sheriff Matt Saxton and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Department of Homeland Security stating that they are 'deeply troubled about the implementation of Calhoun County Correctional Institute’s new visitation policy...'"
"[ICE told Anwana's attorneys they have accepted his stay of removal application and are reviewing it]." - Ruby Robinson
“We just believe that sending him back to Nigeria would basically be a death sentence for him as he needs desperately the care of other people.” - Tania Morris Díaz
"We are extremely grateful that Rep. Kildee is supporting our client and we're hopeful all of Francis supporters will call their local representatives and voice their continued support as well." - Tania Morris Díaz
"We've asked him in the past if he wants to go back and he wants to stay. For him, this is home." - Tania Morris Díaz
"Trump's plan 'just reinforces the message that this president has sent over and over again to Americans who are not white: they are not real Americans, that they don't belong.'” - Susan Reed
“There is no system that says, 'OK, this is how you rent an apartment, this is what you need to know when you purchase a vehicle, to get a title and to get insurance, and to do all these things. That's not something that the federal government, or even state government, gets involved in.” - Ruby Robinson
"MIRC opposes any expansion of the immigration detention system, which 'creates tremendous hardship in the lives of the communities we serve.'" - Susan Reed
"[It] upends the entire system, designed to harm immigrants by creating fear and heightening requirements for public assistance. It's like climbing Mount Everest." - Susan Reed
"Imagine getting pulled over by your local law enforcement officer and being asked to show your [1040] as proof that you have paid all your taxes." - Susan Reed
"The city will reach out to the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and El Concilio Kalamazoo to have further discussions about how to handle future grant conflicts."
"The new policy no longer authorizes 48 hour optional holds for ICE by the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department. Providing optional operational support for a federal agency that enforces a deeply broken immigration law needlessly exacerbates fear and mistrust of law enforcement in our community.” - Susan Reed
"I cannot be more clear that there is a local choice to honor detainers or not honor detainers" - Susan Reed
"We are calling on the county today to stop the voluntary practice of working with (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)" - Hillary Scholten
"Parents are being asked about where they're from and other questions meant to intimidate or harass them, or frighten them away from seeking benefits for their children who are eligible and need basic support." - Anna Hill
"[WICIR relies] on pro bono resources through the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and through trusted partnerships with private immigration attorneys."
"Kent County no longer voluntarily holds detainees for Immigration and Customs Enforcement following community campaign supported by the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and ACLU."
"This is precisely the type of incident that we warned would happen.
"Scholten said that ICE is using 'fear-mongering tactics' and trying 'to bully our local officials into a kind of compliance that is simply not required under the law.
"Someone always willing to step up and give of themselves and make their community a better place, even in less than ideal circumstances. And that’s really what Rafael embodies" - Hillary Scholten
"To suggest that Captain VanderKooi was investigating terrorism, when he asked ICE only about Mr. Ramos-Gomez’s ‘status’ and did not follow up despite not receiving a response for two days, doesn’t pass the laugh test.
"It’s hard to say that this was not retaliatory in nature in any way. Here you have an outspoken activist with Movimiento Cosecha who has been speaking out against ICE’s activities in our community." - Hillary Scholten
“We see a lot of people statewide turned over to ICE on detainers after being arrested for driving without a license.” - Susan Reed
"Along with healthcare, immigration policy will likely be the most discussed and disputed topic in the 2020 presidential campaign.” - Ruby Robinson
"Every avenue to seek legal status that’s been available to him, he has sought." -Ana Raquel Devereaux
"The police cannot police themselves, so we’re glad that the Department of Civil Rights is paying attention to this issue, and will hopefully be able to provide some much needed oversight," -Hillary Scholten
“We think Attorney General Schuette was wrong.
"Courts have found across the country that detainer requests do not, on their own, establish sufficient probable cause to effect continued detention or custody." - Ruby Robinson
"The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center have filed complaints with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights regarding accusations of racial profiling and the Grand Rapids Police Department." (WWMT
"The new rule is ... likely to scare millions of immigrants and their family members, including millions of U.S. citizen children, away from accessing public benefit programs." - Tania Morris Díaz
"It's important for people to know that this rule hasn't taken effect yet. It won't until October 15.
"Program attendees were urged to get involved in the immigration issue by immigration lawyer Ruby Robinson, vice president of JCRC/AJC. He recommended talking to elected officials about immigration and supporting efforts to welcome immigrants."
“Though everyone has rights regardless of immigration status, the realities of being an undocumented farmworker cannot be underscored.” - José Ernesto-Lopez
“'Facial recognition technology is flawed and dangerous, and its use in any form by the DPD can serve only to further erode trust between the DPD and Detroiters—especially Detroiters of color,' wrote the groups which include the ACLU of Michigan, the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, and the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation." (
"In the 218-page court filing, organizations that work with immigrants at the border and lawyers that represent them, working with the A.C.L.U., documented a number of separations they considered questionable. The organizations included Catholic Charities, the National Immigration Justice Center, the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center."
"At one point, it was up to 80 women that were here in Calhoun that had been transferred from the Mexican border. Not only have these women come seeking for protection from the U.S. government after having experienced these traumas, but they were also transferred over from one area, one geographic area [Mexican border] to another completely different area (Michigan)... The [Know Your Rights] presentations I put together basically let them know what they could expect in detention.
"The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan was aware of the Dearborn incident. The nonprofit is working with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, urging people to know their rights."
"Before 2008, applicants did not need to provide proof of legal presence in the United States, according to the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center."
"Working in partnership with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), a local nonprofit organization that provides pro bono legal services to immigrants, students began to research and compile data MIRC’s lawyers could use to file asylum cases."
"Each of the organizations on the initiative’s task force will lead its own focus groups for its own clients. The task force includes the four collaborating organizations, as well as the city of Grand Rapids’ Office of Diversity and Inclusion, The Right Place, the city of Wyoming and the Wyoming Public Safety Department, Justice for Our Neighbors, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center..."
"It is a system that is meant to keep people out and it is for the most part successful in doing that. I think Williams, in particular, had kind of the perfect storm, where at every step of the way something went wrong." - Camila Trefftz
“It is just shocking across the board. The scale of the squalid conditions in these detention camps is a major calamity, and human rights violations are occurring. What we are finding is that people cannot put much trust in ICE. There is a loss of trust in government institutions for reliable action or even reliable information.” - Ruby Robinson
"The threat of raids from the highest official in office sends a sonic effect of fear through our immigrant communities—it affects us all. It sends people into hiding, unwilling to interact with school, police, any state affiliated institutions.
"We want to shine a light on the injustices at the border... This extends to Michigan. They struggle for necessities. They are human beings, too, and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.
"We do currently represent every child brought to Michigan in federal immigration custody and are committed to sharing as much information as we have access to about those programs. However, we are an independent non-profit law office; our resources are limited and our access could change in the future." - Susan Reed
"On Monday, June 17, U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, will join with Tania Morris Diaz, staff attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, for a conversation with the community"
"When you get a letter from the state of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, it shows eligibility and receipt of benefits for period of time. The letter can simply be attached to the application and the fee waiver, which is sufficient. Removing that is going to create additional barriers for people who are applying for benefits and for immigration relief who will now need to use either a tax return or some other evidence to demonstrate financial hardship.” - Ruby Robinson
"You can highlight the names of advocacy groups to help their cause as well, including organizations like the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, and others."
"The American Civil Liberties Union and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center filed a joint complaint asking the board to appeal the decision. In a 6-2 vote, the board decided they felt the internal investigation, though thorough, came to the wrong conclusion."
"That’s essentially the justification that the Grand Rapids Police Department has used, saying we will look at things like limited English proficiency and these other factors that we think are completely inappropriate to use as a proxy for national origin and possible immigration violations. Those are things that are completely inappropriate to rely on.
"Being able to keep some type of record is critical in many areas of law… as there is a very high burden of proof for clients seeking different types of relief in the United States" - Ruby Robinson
“VanderKooi’s actions as documented in these emails undermines the entire point of the U visa program.
"I think the greatest benefit of citizenship that you can have is security.
"[The bill] would needlessly exclude thousands of long-term residents in Michigan who hold dozens of different categories of legal presence, many of whom are on a path to permanent status.” - Anna Hill
Finally, the administration has ramped up “ordinary” immigration enforcement against individuals and families all over the United States, many of whom have lived here for years and even decades. Many have valid defenses against deportation that they are unable to assert because they lack the resources to pay immigration counsel. In our home states of Michigan and Virginia, two organizations that meet a fraction of this need are the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and the Legal Aid Justice Center.
"We can’t live in a constant state of panic. We have to know our rights and share that message with others and keep organizing and support our communities to get through this. It’s really a balancing of the trauma of constantly being threatened with separation and the need to be strong.” - Susan Reed
"We have no issues with access to our [detained child] clients[.] We do . . . regularly talk with kids about the conditions of their detention." - Susan Reed.
"The challenges of representing these children are not new and they won't go away when this administration ends." - Susan Reed
"They can detain anybody while they are awaiting status, at their own discretion. That was kind of what prompted them to make the decision to detain him, they didn’t have to detain him, but they chose to,"- Ana Raquel Deveraux
In May 2018, the Trump administration formally announced a “zero tolerance” immigration policy and began prosecuting nearly all adult immigrants illegally entering the United States on misdemeanor charges. As a result, the U.S. government removed any children from these immigrants’ care and placed the children in shelters or federal foster care. This practice of family separation was also enforced against parents applying for asylum at U.S. ports of entry.
Under this new immigration policy, the U.S. government reported that nearly 3,000 children were forcibly separated from their parents between May and June 2018. Yet, we know that May 2018 was not the beginning of family separation--hundreds of children were separated from their parents at the border before the official announcement. In fact, MIRC saw affected clients before national attention focused on the crisis and began collaborating with class counsel from the ACLU in the Ms. L v. ICE case.
One prominent example of an early family separation case was that of the youngest known separated child, Constantin Mutu, who was four months old when we met him. You can learn more about his family's story in this week's episode of "The Weekly" from the New York Times, available on Hulu. MIRC team members Ana Raquel Devereaux and Camila Trefftz make an appearance in the episode. We are so grateful to our baby client's family for sharing their story and allowing us to share the role we played in it.
MIRC represented every child placed in Michigan who was separated from their parents while the official zero-tolerance policy was in effect. We're relieved to report that all of these children were reunited with their families by October 23, 2018. This was not the end of the family separation crisis, though. Even after the federal judge in the Ms. L case ordered the government to end this practice and President Trump rescinded the policy, family separations have continued. MIRC continues to represent every child brought to Michigan to ensure their legal rights are protected.
In addition to representing unaccompanied children placed in Michigan foster care, MIRC also represents Michigan parents facing other immigration-related legal situations that lead to family separation. For example, when ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detains an undocumented parent for driving without a license --this is family separation. When a migrant farmworker parent loses his or her child after being charged with neglect for living in substandard, employer-provided housing--this is family separation. And when a parent is detained in a detention facility hundreds of miles away from his or her children, or when that facility doesn't permit in-person visitation--this is family separation. We step into the breach.
With support from our funders and other supporters, MIRC has increased capacity by hiring ten new staff attorneys and six other new staff since November 2016. MIRC is now a program of 30 staff, including attorneys, intake coordinators, legal assistants, policy staff, and an expanded leadership team. This capacity-building allows us to respond not only to the family separation crisis, but also to other significant efforts to restrict the rights of immigrants in this country. For example, MIRC now fields free calls from every detainee and every respondent in immigration court in Detroit. They are each given our intake number and MIRC provides legal information, advice about their rights and options, and/or referrals. This was not possible a year ago.
We are grateful to our funders, supporters, partners, stakeholders and community advocates who make it possible for us to respond to recent attacks on our immigrant communities. Right now, we’re preparing for the next potential crisis (possibly in response to government actions described in President Trump’s tweet on Monday). Whatever comes next, MIRC will be ready to respond to and lead against the administration’s challenges and affronts to rights of Michigan’s immigrants.
View Facebook album from the launch!
Welcoming Michigan is a statewide immigrant inclusion initiative of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center that launched on May 7, 2012. Through this program we partner with community-based organizations, local governments, individuals and institutions across the state that are interested in making local communities more welcoming for immigrants, refugees, and all residents. We provide technical assistance and collaborate on projects to create more inclusive policies or foster more positive relationships between residents.
Working with a constellation of amazing community partners, we host events to help U.S.-born and foreign-born Michiganders get to know each other and develop mutual respect and understanding. Over the years we have partnered on projects across the state, including in Kalamazoo and Van Buren County. Here is a snapshot of recent efforts in southeast Michigan:
Engage neighbors across Detroit through the “Detroit Our City” initiative in partnership with the Detroit City Council Immigration Task Force and Detroit Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs
Host the annual “Breakfast of Nations” event with partners in Macomb County, including Executive Mark Hackel’s One Macomb initiative
Host an annual Welcoming Michigan Statewide Convening to build a community of practice around operationalizing welcoming, equity, and belonging. (Note: We’re taking this year off to support MIRC as a co-host of the National Immigrant Integration Conference in Detroit. We hope to see you there!)
We partner with community organizations and institutions to help them create more inclusive environments, policies, and practices to help newcomers feel welcome and fully a part of the community. This includes supporting municipalities that have committed to institutionalizing policies and practices to advance immigrant inclusion. We are proud to say that Michigan is now home to 21 Welcoming Cities and Counties, the most of any state in the country!
In 2012, Welcoming Michigan started as one of 14 original affiliate members of Welcoming America. Welcoming America’s network has grown to include over 100 non-profit and municipal members. Over the years we have partnered with Welcoming America on a number of resource guides to assist communities in their welcoming efforts:
America Needs All of Us: A Toolkit for Talking About Bias, Race, and Change
Neighbors Together: Promising Practices to Strengthen Relationships with Refugees and Muslims
Since launching in 2012, we've held 353 events and reached 19,371 people! Over the years we’ve shared countless laughs and meals with partners and residents, formed incredible friendships, and had some memorable moments. We’ve faced intense anti-immigrant backlash and went to the White House when our staff member was recognized as a Champion of Change. We thank you for being a part of our efforts to make Michigan a more welcoming state and look forward to the next seven years!
Photo Credit: Detroit News
The right to a minimum wage is one of the most basic and fundamental protections a worker can count on in the workplace. Agricultural workers are among the most vulnerable and often-exploited workers, doing one of the most dangerous, and essential jobs, in today's economy. Michigan’s Wage and Hour laws are meant to offer stateside protection to workers where the federal government will not. Until very recently, this included agricultural workers on Michigan’s small farms. However, on December 19, 2017, then-Attorney General Bill Schuette changed that.
AG Opinion #7301, reinterprets a part of Michigan’s minimum wage laws (known as the Workforce Opportunity Wage Act (WOWA)) as excluding workers on Michigan’s small farms from minimum wage protections. In his opinion, the former Attorney General concluded, “This construction of subsection 10(1)(b) has the effect of leaving some employees without a right to a minimum hourly wage under the WOWA (or the FLSA).” The interpretation reversed a decade-long understanding, one confirmed by the legislative history surrounding the section's passage, that this subsection offered minimum wage protection to all workers, including those on small farms.
As soon as AG Opinion #7301 issued, MIRC got to work with our partners at Farmworker Legal Services, and other state government partners to reverse or curb the effects of the opinion. While the former Attorney General did not change his position, there's a new AG in charge. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights, at the direction of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, has asked Attorney General Dana Nessel to reconsider AG #7301.
Our need to protect workers right to a basic minimum wage for the labor they provide is not only crucial to ensure the entry-level justice for these workers, but it's only essential for the future viability of agricultural labor here in Michigan, which means the future of the food we put on our plates every day. You can speak out by adding your name to this letter (by April 26, 2019) to the Attorney General's Office that states that you want her to rescind AG #7301 and issue new guidance that clarifies that all agricultural workers in Michigan are entitled to Michigan's minimum wage.
I joined MIRC in January of 2019 to help support MIRC’s expanding farmworker and immigrant workers rights litigation team. MIRC’s focus on equity and belonging for immigrants in Michigan communities is work that resonates with my lived experience. I was born in Honduras and came to the States a couple of months before I turned 4. I grew up in the Bronx in the 1980s and like many first or second generation Latinx immigrants, I learned and spoke English at school and Spanish at home and church. My parents emphasized working hard, following the rules, and keeping close to family and the small Central American community around us. They instilled a deep belief in the value of education as a means to move out of our “working poor” existence.
As most first-generation immigrants may understand, a crucial first step to “arriving” and getting settled is finding and keeping a job. Even if the work leaves you sapped of all physical and mental energy, even if the way you are treated is demoralizing, even if your hours or pay are not quite enough or right, you keep working. The moral value of work was so ingrained in everyone around me growing up that when I began representing workers and bearing witness to the decisions they made or couldn’t make, it all felt very familiar. And it wasn’t just that I saw my mom, dad, cousins, uncles and aunts reflected in the faces of my clients. Some who worked alongside me and did not grow up as I did asked questions like: Why would a day laborer continue to work for a contractor who didn’t pay one week and will likely not pay the next week? Why would a nanny continue working for a family who takes away so much time from her own family and doesn’t pay very much? Why would a farmworker not speak up when pesticide is being sprayed around him? The obvious and straightforward answer is a need for money to provide for oneself and family or a lack of knowledge of one’s rights but I know that is only part of the explanation. Without work, what would you do? How would you define yourself? How would others perceive you?
Since beginning my legal career I have come across countless low-wage immigrant workers who have been harassed at work, shorted hours, exposed to dangerous work conditions, threatened with deportation, or quite simply robbed of their wages by unscrupulous employers who rely on these illegal tactics to maintain a competitive business advantage. Yet every worker I have come across or represented has believed in the dignity of their work and has been proud to do the work so many of us won’t do for the pay or conditions offered or can’t do because we lack the skills. Our clients’ steely resolve to maintain their dignity and humanity is what most motivates me to support our community partners and ensure that the right to “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work” is extended to all low-wage immigrant workers, regardless of immigration status.
Wage theft1 and workplace exploitation exists in our immigrant communities because of weak state laws2, current attacks on federal workplace protections3, and lack of enforcement by state and federal agencies4, but also because of our immigration laws and how those laws are used by employers to control or dispose of workers who assert their rights. At MIRC, we understand deeply the interplay between immigration and workplace rights and in alliance with our community partners, we will continue to represent and support Michigan’s most vulnerable immigrant workers in their fight for dignity and equity. I am proud and excited to be part of the growing network of Michigan immigrant rights groups that MIRC is a part of. Together, we can raise the voices of Michigan’s immigrant workers and take action toward change. If you are interested in learning more about MIRC’s Immigrant Workers’ Rights team, please contact me or our amazing outreach paralegal Eva Alvarez.
1 Wage theft can occur in many different ways: shorting hours, not paying the minimum wage, not paying required overtime, requiring unlawful deductions or kick-backs are some of the most common. In 2017, the Economic Policy Institute surveyed the 10 most populous states, including Michigan, to determine the rates of minimum wage violations in those states. Their findings revealed that Michigan minimum wage earners lost $63 per week or $3,300 per year due to minimum wage violations alone. Michigan low-wage workers experienced more minimum wage violations than workers in North Carolina, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
2 While Michigan has a higher wage standard than the federal minimum wage, state laws allow a greater number of exemptions than federal laws. In Michigan, farmworkers are excluded from state paid sick leave, overtime pay, and some minimum wage protections. No private right of action exists for workers who experience the most extreme form of wage theft. Meaning, if a worker is not paid for her work, her only option is to file an administrative complaint within one year and she is not entitled to file a lawsuit for her unpaid wages.
3 This current administration has sought to diminish workers’ rights by supporting mandatory arbitration, rolling back updates to federal overtime regulations, blocking regulations that protect workers’ pay and safety, and seeking to expand the flawed H-2A program. These anti-worker policies, along with anti-immigrant rhetoric and devastating immigration policies have a disproportionate negative effect on farmworkers and low-wage immigrant workers.
4 Lack of enforcement is often connected with the underfunding of government agencies tasked with enforcing employment and labor laws and anti-worker interpretations of laws and regulations by agencies. For an example of harmful state agency interpretations, see the lack of minimum wage protections for workers on certain farms in Michigan.
I am a Washtenaw County-focused staff attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. I have held that position for about a year and a half.
The Washtenaw County immigration legal services grant that funds my work was born of the work of local community advocates and the County Board of Commissioners. In 2017, community advocates such as the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights (WICIR) saw the need for increased practical support for immigrants and their families dealing with the enormous—and often devastating—repercussions of increased and indiscriminate immigration enforcement. The Board of Commissioners responded to advocates’ mobilization by approving then-Commissioner Conan Smith’s resolutions for additional funding to assist immigrant communities. The Board approved additional short-term funding for emergencies brought about by immigration enforcement—such as rent assistance for families and children left struggling after the deportation of a parent. It also created new funding for a new attorney at MIRC to provide direct legal services to immigrants in Washtenaw County, community education, and technical assistance to government agencies and organizations who work with immigrant communities.
MIRC has greatly expanded the scope of services through the Washtenaw County program. In many ways, the U.S. immigration legal system is designed to deny individuals’ dignity in various areas of life. Depending on your immigration status, you may lack access to safe work, healthcare, housing or even a valid ID card to prove who you are. We are fortunate that the Washtenaw County grant allows us to address any immigration-related issues people might have, both in direct immigration legal services and in those other challenges that are exacerbated by immigration status. Over the past year and a half, I have had the privilege to work with clients at all different stages in their journey—from teenagers who have just arrived seeking asylum, to adults applying for citizenship, to people who have spent decades living in the U.S. but are still waiting for legal recognition that this is their home and they have a right to stay. I have also had the opportunity to advise clients on public benefits, options for healthcare, and tenants’ rights.
A unique aspect of the Washtenaw County program within MIRC is that it is defined by a small geographic area. The community is defined by supportive partners—WICIR, the Washtenaw Health Plan, the Washtenaw ID project—whose work aids clients in accessing non-legal resources, and who share technical support on their areas of expertise for our clients.
I also am reminded every day how vibrant and interconnected each member of the community is. When a client is detained or threatened with deportation, I know that not only she and her family will be devastated—coworkers and congregants she worships with will suffer, and children who go to school with hers will be forced to wonder if the same will happen to their parents. This threat to our community is what motivates me in this work. I am also a Washtenaw County resident and I want support my neighbors as they seek the same dignity and equal opportunity in this community, their home.
Today, the Texas Civil Rights Project released a new report, The Real National Emergency: Zero Tolerance & the Continuing Horrors of Family Separation at the Border, showing how family separations have continued at the Southwest border.
Representantes del Michigan Immigrant Rights Center encuestaron a sus colegas sobre sus propias experiences navegando raza y otras posicionalidades en medio del panorama político actual.
* Originalmente publicado por Race Forward en su página web ColorLines aquí.
Nosotras trabajamos en el Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) o el Centro de Derechos de Inmigrantes de Michigan, un centro de recursos legales con la misión de construir un ambiente donde las comunidades migrantes tengan “equidad y sentido de pertenencia.” Este es un mandato amplio en el ambiente actual.
Estamos conscientes que la migración en los Estados Unidos está firmemente arraigada en valores racistas. Nuestra experiencia navegando este marco intrínsecamente racista, en un contexto diverso y contra el trasfondo geopolítico de una identidad hegemónica de raza Blanca dominante, nos coloca en una posición compleja mientras lidiamos con temas como raza y otras posicionalidades.
Un primer paso crucial hacia la concientización es el reconocimiento de nuestras propias posicionalidades y privilegios. Sin tal conciencia, las limitaciones nos impiden a desempeñar un rol efectivo y restringe nuestra comprensión sobre las dinámicas de poder. Nosotras encuestamos a nuestras colegas en relación a sus experiencias, y hemos incluido algunas de sus respuestas para reflexionar a lo largo de este artículo.
“Yo soy graduada universitaria, de clase media, heterosexual, Cristiana protestante y todas estas identidades intersectan con mi raza y me dan privilegio, [ambas] en la sociedad en general y en relación a nuestros usuarios.”
“Yo soy multiracial. Principalmente Indígena, y una amplia gama de otras razas. Soy trigueña. Soy consciente de mi color de piel más claro y comprendo cómo esto es un privilegio viniendo de comunidades que, a través de la colonización de nuestra vida, hemos heredado el racismo en forma de colorismo..”
Es elemental diferenciar entre reconocimiento de barreras raciales y la experiencia de opresión racial, la última es la que nuestros clientes más navegan. Ambas animan un deseo a usar cualquier privilegio que tenemos para terminar con el poder que es inconsciente y no crítico.
“Hay ciertos aspectos de mi experiencia personal que me dan perspectiva para simpatizar personalmente y también motivan intencionalidad sobre como estar presente y dedicada a la lucha, pero mis privilegios me mantienen honestamente alineada como una aliada.”
“Nací en un campamento de refugiados. Haber nacido sin país me ofreció la oportunidad de concientización sobre mi posicionalidad como refugiada y me inspiró a trabajar como una defensora de los derechos de migrantes.”
“Intento usar mi posicionalidad como una armadura para mis clientes y como una espada contra perspectivas de la sociedad sobre raza.”
Abogando por migrantes implica interacciones cotidianas repletas con el racismo tanto interpersonal como internalizado. Identificando y esforzándonos por ser tan conscientes como podamos en nuestro rol, nuestra lucha está enraizada en los ideales de la concientización racial. Creando “equidad y sentido de pertenencia” es una tarea que abrazamos como una práctica consciente en nuestras interacciones dentro de nuestros espacios laborales.
“… fácilmente soy capaz de navegar espacios habitados por otras mujeres blancas. Hay tantas mujeres blancas en el campo/mundo de la defensoría de derechos migrantes … al menos en Michigan … muchas veces me pregunto si tiene sentido para mí ser otra mujer blanca haciendo trabajo en este campo … en Michigan. Por ahora, trabajo para usar la respetabilidad que tengo en estos espacios por muchas de mis identidades, empujando a descolonizar y rechazar la perspectiva de proveedor de servicio dominante. Y convertirlo en menos blanco.”
“Con colegas que son líderes en comunidades de color, el privilegio blanco es algo de lo cual necesito estar muy consciente mientras hablo … y mientras determinamos prioridades de defensoría colectivamente.”
"Yo tengo tendencia a preferir y sentirme mas comoda con personas de color que con personas blancas. Sin embargo, también soy consciente que trabajó en un campo que está dominada por mujeres blancas. Intento no dejar que mis prejuicios afectan mi interacción con colegas.”
Como defensores de derechos de migrantes, nuestra interacción con el sistema legal nos expone además al racismo estructural en el terreno de migración.
“Tengo dificultad con la idea de que existen ‘migrantes merecidos’ y que eso sea medido a través de qué tan precaria ha sido su vida y que tan terrible ha sido el sufrimiento de una personal.”
“La ley de migración es racista! Personalmente siento que si no presiono por reformas y cambios que se esfuercen por la equidad entonces estoy básicamente justificando, habilitando y perpetuando una institución racista.”
“Comprendiendo que las leyes migratorias han sido siempre determinadas para perpetuar el dominio blanco y están siendo re-armadas en algunas nuevas maneras ahora mismo, promoviendo su límite es crítico en nuestro trabajo. Como persona blanca con privilegio, tengo la habilidad de elevar este fin con audiencias de personas blancas y líderes institucionales influenciando mi posición como ya lo hago … he llegado a comprender esto como una responsabilidad y no meramente una opción.”
Los defensores de derechos de migrantes tienen una posición particular en la inequidad racial que marca nuestra sociedad. Por lo tanto, existe una necesidad urgente de crear espacios valientes en nuestros lugares de trabajo para dialogar lo cual nos ayudará a reflexionar en nuestra práctica e interacciones cotidianas.
El objetivo de este artículo fue invitar a un proceso de diálogo, reflexión y acción para incorporar la praxis. Como Paulo Freire expresó en su libro Pedagogía del Oprimido, “Sin un sentido de identidad, no puede haber una verdadera lucha.”
Source: www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2017-Dec/BP%20Staffing%20FY1992-FY2017.pdf
Cómo el Michigan Immigrant Rights Center esta navegando el sistema migratorio estatal opresivo.
*Originalmente publicado por Race Forward en su página web ColorLines aquí.
Este ensayo es la segunda entrega de una serie de piezas escritas por activistas locales que lideran el trabajo de cambio en todo Michigan. La serie tiene la intención de elevar sus perspectivas únicas y rendir homenaje a las personas y grupos que lideran la lucha para promover la equidad en nuestra ciudad anfitriona de Detroit.
El sistema de inmigración legal no esta roto. Funciona exactamente como fue intencionado: para preservar y perpetuar el dominio blanco. Aunque parezca que el sistema de migración está pasando por un cambio radical bajo la administración actual, en realidad – solamente está siendo afinado. La migración nunca fue (ni debería ser vista como) un asunto que afecta solo al migrante “estereotipado”: un adulto, moreno, hombre Mexicano quien clandestinamente cruza la frontera buscando (o “robando” como muchos podrían pensar) oportunidades laborales. Las leyes de migración afectan a cualquier persona, en cualquier lugar, a los quienes no hayan nacido con el privilegio de la ciudadanía estadounidense. Nuestra leyes de inmigración son complejas y la experiencias de los individuales navegando dichas leyes depende de una dimensión principal: su raza en relación con su estatus migratorio.
Los paralelos entre el racismo institucional infundido en el sistema de justicia criminal y aquellos dentro del sistema de migración no es por coincidencia. Ambos fueron formados por el mismo poder histórico impuesto por legisladores hombres, blancos, ricos. Dentro de los cinco días de haber jurado su cargo, el 45º presidente ordenó la deportación de cualquier persona que cabe dentro una categoría amplia de priorización – incluyendo recipientes de residencia permanente y visas. Mientras que Michigan está a más de 1.000 millas de la frontera mexicana, es legalmente dentro de una “distancia razonable” de la frontera canadiense, otorgando a la Patrulla Aduanera y Fronteriza conocido por sus siglas en en inglés como CBP, la capacidad de realizar búsquedas sin autorización en todo el estado. CBP ha estado trabajando estrechamente con la Policía Estatal de Michigan conocida por sus siglas en inglés como MSP, uniendo el acoso racial por las autoridades federales de inmigración dirigido a los no ciudadanos con el acoso racial dirigidos a los ciudadanos [incluyendo tanto a personas con presencia legal como los indocumentados].
En Michigan, esto ha llevado a escenarios comunes en los que los agentes de CBP están exigiendo a los pasajeros de los autobuses Greyhound que prueben su ciudadanía estadounidense. Dado que llevar tal documentación no es un requisito legal, está claro que esto solamente es una excusa de "neutral" a la caracterización racial. Por ejemplo, Michigan es el hogar de una de las comunidades Árabes y Árabes Estadounidenses más grandes en los Estados Unidos (EE.UU.) Sin embargo, a pesar de que el 82 por ciento de los Árabes en los EE. UU. son ciudadanos, un número aplastante sigue siendo subyugado a la caracterización raciales. De manera similar, MSP instituyó la práctica de solicitar a los pasajeros de automóviles conducidos por ciudadanos estadounidenses que presenten pruebas de su estado migratorio. A los ciudadanos estadounidenses se les puede detener por un tubo de escape defectuoso que, a pesar de no resultar en una multa de tránsito para quien conduce el auto, finalmente llevará a la detención y deportación de cualquier pasajero que no sea ciudadano estadounidense a bordo
La alarmante y desproporcionada taza de pasajeros Afrodescendientes, Afro-Indígenas y Latinxs quienes han sido detenidos por MSP ha llevado a que grupos locales solicitaron a MSP que inicie una investigación formal sobre el proceso de caracterización racial de los automovilistas.
En este sentido, las dimensiones de raza entrelazada con el estatus migratorio y detención masiva impiden a los inmigrantes (tanto adultos como niños) de obtener cualquier beneficio legal de migración en Michigan. Este problema de deshumanización es particular para Michigan ya que las tasas estatales de encarcelamiento son una de las peores en el mundo. Además, el número de agentes en el sector de Detroit ha incrementado de 38 a 411 entre 2001 y 2015, un incremento del 981 por ciento, hasta el momento la tasa de crecimiento más rápida de cualquier Patrulla Aduanera Fronteriza (CBP) en los Estados Unidos.
Una vez detenidos, los migrantes están puestos en una lista de causas judiciales que se mueve mucho más rápido en comparación con aquellos que luchan contra el sistema legal de inmigración desde afuera de la detención. Pero ser liberado bajo fianza es una hazaña en sí misma, ya que los jueces de migración no tienen restricción legal en cuanto a la cantidad máxima de fianza solicitada, pero, como se esperaba, dichas fianzas tienen un mínimo de $1.500.
En 2009, el Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) fue fundado para servir como un recurso defensor para nuestras comunidades inmigrantes estatales. En 2018, lanzamos el programa Detroit Front Door, con el propósito de expandir acceso a recursos y representación legal para inmigrantes que están en procedimientos de deportación para contrarrestar el sistema opresivo migratorio y las prácticas policiales de la área metropolitana de Detroit. El objetivo es luchar en contra de la deshumanización de inmigrantes y defender sus derechos humanos. Este programa cerrará la brecha de los servicios legales migratorios que son de bajos recursos y poco atendidos en Michigan. El programa busca impactar positivamente un estimado de 4.000 inmigrantes de escasos recursos en la zona metropolitana de Detroit.
Sobre las autoras
Erika Murcia es una coordinadora de admisiones de MIRC apoyando con un sistema robusto de admisiones y asistiendo con desarrollo de capacidad en Detroit. Erika obtuvo su licenciatura en Relaciones Internacionales en la Universidad de El Salvador, y se graduó con una maestría de Trabajo Social de la Universidad de Michigan, donde ella fue becada por el Programa Community-Based Initiative in Detroit, y por el Center for the Education of Women +.
Tania Morris Díaz es una abogada del equipo de MIRC quien representa migrantes en Detroit. Tania obtuvo su licenciatura en Estudios Internacionales en la Universidad de Alabama del Sur, estudió su Maestría en Ciencias Políticas la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y se graduó de su título en leyes de la Escuela de Derecho en la Universidad de Michigan.
I am an intake coordinator with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center since March this year. My position is to support all our staff in the Washtenaw county office with the management of our robust intake system and with capacity building in the Detroit Metro area. This year alone, we have had an increase in detained intakes of 500% and our overall intakes have doubled. This only means that human rights of immigrants are being violated more and in various new ways. Through December 3, we have opened 2,678 cases this year. Most of these cases were opened via our two phone intake lines.
In 2018, between March and June we developed a customized Needs Assessment survey questionnaire which was used to gauge the gaps in immigrant legal services in the Detroit Metro area, and to identify the barriers that exist for immigrant legal service providers in satisfying the most pressing unmet needs in the community. Representatives of 19 immigrant legal service providers completed the survey. The report & findings helped us better understand the gap in needs and services available especially for individuals who are in removal proceedings.
Thus, through our Detroit Front Door Program we have added a new intake line. Since 2010 a general public intake line has been available to ask any immigration inquiries/consultations (734-239-6863). This year a detainee intake line has been destined specifically for low-income immigrants who are in detention. These clients can call directly from the detention center at no cost (734-794-9963). Therefore, our phones have been literally ringing more than twice as often as last year.
Our work at MIRC also includes creating partnership and building capacity in collaborative ways. I noticed the need to have more social workers exposed to our legal immigration pro bono work. In September we officially became a field placement for social work students from the University Of Michigan School Of Social Work. We hope this will create long lasting opportunities both to educate students on the great legal needs immigrants face but most importantly to take into account the voices and skills of social workers within legal settings. This may strengthen our work from an interdisciplinary standpoint.
Working at a legal office has offered the opportunity to better understand the various challenges attorneys face when representing immigrants. Among these challenges, we've shared in many accomplishments over this past year. First, I have worked on developing mindfulness strategies at MIRC to enhance awareness when working with trauma survivors and at the same time understanding how vicarious trauma impacts our own life as advocates. MIRC has also established our Racial Equity Working Group where I participate in its space for dialogue, reflection and action steps to improve our direct services, capacity building and coalition building work. Finally, our work has been showcased through two pieces I have co-authored and shared in Race Forward’s publication ColorLines Driving While Black, Riding While Brown and Immigrant Rights Defenders: Walking in Crossroads.
As of December 6, 2018, 32 states plus the District of Colombia and Puerto Rico, have legalized medical marijuana. Ten states, including Michigan, have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes, too.
People who are not U.S. citizens may believe that using marijuana in Michigan—whether for recreational or medical use—is permissible and will not affect their immigration status. Unfortunately, that is wrong!! It is still a federal offense to possess marijuana even if, under state law, it is legal for medical or recreational purposes.
I’m an attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC). I represent children and youth who are in deportation proceedings and metro Detroit area residents on a variety of immigration matters. Over the past year alone, MIRC has represented approximately 280 children in immigration matters as a part of the Unaccompanied Minors program.
Like all the children I represent, I am an immigrant. I immigrated to the United States when I was a toddler. I became eligible to apply to become a permanent resident and eventually became a United States Citizen. Undoubtedly, my work is a life calling and a dream come true. I do this work because of my personal story and because I realize how incredibly lucky I’ve been. And it wasn’t because of anything special that I did. My personal experience helps me relate and connect to the people I serve. I make sure that I take appropriate care to develop their cases and seeing me hopefully inspires them to continue hoping for a better future.
Today, I need your help to demand that all children are protected. On September 7, 2018, the administration published a Notice of Public Rulemaking (NPRM). With this NPRM, the administration is pursuing the indefinite incarceration of vulnerable children and families thereby seeking to end the Flores Settlement Agreement (FSA). The FSA has been in place for decades. It is designed to protect the well-being and basic rights of children in the custody of the federal government, including people seeking asylum. It does so by setting basic standards of care and prevents the U.S. from detaining children indefinitely in prison-like conditions. The administration’s proposal would transform the child welfare protections of the FSA and punishes children and their families seeking protection in the United States.
We urge organizations to submit robust comments detailing their opposition to the proposed rule and we will commit to supporting organizations in those efforts as we have done for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission (MCRC). We are grateful that the MCRC continues to defend the civil rights of immigrant children and their families. In our own comment, we partnered with the National Association of Social Workers - Michigan Chapter to express our strong opposition to the proposed rule to amend regulations relating to the apprehension, processing, care, custody, and release of children. We believe the proposed rule undermines the purpose underlying the FSA. Rather than advancing the child welfare principles for immigrant children seeking protection in the United States, the proposed rule expands the authority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to jail families in impoverished conditions and dismantles established protections for immigrant children in DHS and Health and Human Services custody.
Anyone can submit a comment. Please visit www.stopfamilydetention.org to directly submit a short, individual comment rejecting the administration’s latest cruel attack on immigrant families. A child is a child no matter what country they are born in. A child is a child even when they cross the border. And our children deserve to be safe.
The deadline to submit a comment is Tuesday, November 6th.
The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) is pleased to release its report on immigration legal needs in Southeast Michigan. The report was compiled using data from interviews and evaluations with frontline legal service providers across Southeast Michigan between May and June 2018. Funding for this report, along with an array of comprehensive legal services focused on Southeast Michigan, comes from The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and The Kresge Foundation.
I joined the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center in March of this year as part of their newest program to expand legal services to the Detroit Metro area. The past six months have been filled with challenges and lessons learned. However, the past few weeks alone have been especially challenging with the case of Francis Anwana.
Many are familiar with his story by now. Francis was born deaf in Nigeria. He was completely unable to communicate up until he was thirteen years old and came to the U.S. on a student visa to study American Sign Language (ASL). Because he overstayed his visa, he was ultimately put in deportation proceedings and has been checking in with ICE for the past decade. In September, ICE suddenly gave Francis five days to return to Nigeria. His advocates immediately went into action to prevent that from happening.
The first time I met Francis, we were alone in a room waiting for an interpreter. He flashed his signature smile and I smiled back. He then signed something to me and I awkwardly tried to signal my lack of understanding. He chuckled and took my hand with his and with the other began signing. An ASL speaker came into the room and let me know he was signing “work?” The question was if I was there working. I then, through the interpreter, explained my role. Every time I would see Francis, he would smile at me and sign and every time I would clumsily sign whatever I had just learned. Through him, I’ve learned how to sign “hearing,” “thank you,” “yes,” “no,” “Francis” and “T” for Tania.
Thanks to the help of many advocates, friends, journalists, co-workers, and countless others, Francis will be able to stay in the U.S. for another year while we continue to fight for him to have legal status. Currently, there is a private bill that, if passed, would allow Francis to be a lawful permanent resident. I urge any supporters to call your reps to support Rep. Dan Kildee's Bill to make Francis a lawful permanent resident. It is H.R. 6829: For the relief of Francis Anwana.
The last time I saw Francis and told him the most recent news about him staying for a year, I learned how to sign “celebrate.” The battle continues and I’m hopeful that by the end of this I’ll learn how to sign “citizen.”
My mother is from Mexico. That’s the response to the inevitable question posed by anyone who gets to know me.
The question comes in different packages depending on the person asking. “How did you learn Spanish?” “Where are you from?” “What are you?” “Why do you have a Mexican flag hanging from your rear-view mirror?”
Growing up I would test out different answers to gauge people’s reaction. “I’m Mexican.” “I’m Mexican-American.” “I’m half Mexican.” “I’m Latina.”
But across the board, the reaction was normally either surprise or confusion.
So, for those who don’t know me: I LOOK white. And, depending on who you ask, I AM white.
I also happen to have a Mexican mother (who recently naturalized!) and a U.S. American father. I happened to have been born in the United States I happened to have lived in Mexico throughout significant and scattered moments in my life.*
Somewhere along the social construction of the concept of race in the United States, a nationality (Mexican) was conflated with an ethnicity (Latino/Hispanic) and sometimes even a race (brown).
However, for me: whether I’m white passing or actually white are really just spaces that I navigate between rather than existential questions I ask myself.
So to sidestep that issue, my default answer would focus on my mother rather than on me. Also, I felt that being white passing in a way erased my Mexicanness and thereby my mother. However, being white passing/white certainly shaped how I think about race.
An added element was my environment and locations. I grew up in southern Alabama. I even attended a Brown v. Board of Education legacy school still under court mandate to integrate blacks and whites.
But I was neither black nor white, (ok, maybe white-ish).
Because of this, my perception of race came from a kind of peripheral position. An outsider. A foreigner. I realized early on that my mom looked —and was treated— very different than me.
In school, I was friends with mostly international students and fellow children of immigrants. But because of my mixed-race and white appearance positionality, I was also close to a lot of white U.S. Americans.
Being on the side lines yet somehow on Team Hegemony meant that I was able to see first-hand the privilege that came with my whiteness and, in consequence, the unfairness of it to my family and friends.
I think this led me to have such an interest in social sciences, especially topics such as race, identity, equality, migration, justice, and interculturalism.
Progress is slow since my childhood. Fortunately, the U.S. view of race has evolved since that time and my whiteness and Mexicanness don’t seem to confuse people as often anymore.
So now when I answer “my mother is Mexican” I see a sense of relief in my clients, a sense of commonality among peers, a sense of understanding among the immigrant community, and for me a sense of strength in my passion.
*For those interested in the notion of being neither from here nor from there, I recommend the work of Nina Glick Schiller on “transmigrants.” In contrast to the adage ni de aquí ni de allá, Schiller contends that transmigrants are actually from both places simultaneously.
[Maria Ibarra-Frayre shared the poem, The Right Way, prior to this presentation]
Good afternoon, and thank you for inviting me to speak at the Welcoming Michigan Statewide Convening and Michigan Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights summit. It is an honor to be invited to speak in front of a group of so many inspirational advocates, scholars, social workers, researchers, teachers, organizers, and yes, even lawyers.
My name is William Lopez, and as you heard in the generous and perhaps even exaggerative introduction, I’m a clinical faculty member at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where I spend most of my time thinking, reading, and writing about how immigration enforcement impacts mixed-status communities, specifically my Latino community in Washtenaw County.
I also have played various roles as an organizer with the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights and, together with a few amazing people, one of whom — Maria Ibarra — had her amazing-ness acknowledged today — organize the Urgent Response system that WICIR operates.
Now, I’ve been doing this work for a while, and what that means it that I witnessed many of the accomplishments of the stellar group of advocates here today in front of me. For example, thanks to your work, you have kept foreign driver’s license valid for those without access to state licenses. You have started municipal ID programs throughout the state. And you keep winning anti-deportation campaigns like that of Fredy Mencia, Papa Doumbia and Francis Anwana, even though, allegedly, those are supposed to be impossible to win now. Following Trump’s Muslim ban, you filled the airport with your screams and posters and laptops and your energy. And you also returned every single child separated at the border of Texas and Mexico who was brought to Michigan into the arms of their parents where they belong.
Indeed these are great victories for our communities and they deserve a round of applause.
But I’ll be honest with you. When I look at the audience, I actually know a good portion of the people out there, mostly from advocacy and field work I was doing while I swore to my committee that I was indeed writing a dissertation. So when I look out at the audience, I don’t immediately see your collective accomplishments. Instead, I see people. I see individuals. l see advocates, organizational founders and leaders yes, but I also see friends.
And, as a friend, the memories that stick with me, are not always of these collective accomplishments. But the times you, as an individual, reached the limit on what you could handle. In fact sometimes, what sticks with me are not the times you succeeded, but the times you failed. The times you cried. The times, numerous as they seem to be as of late, when I have seen you at your breaking point.
I remember a case that I worked on with a dear friend. We received a call on the WICIR Urgent Response phone that a woman I’ll call Veronica was to going to be deported, leaving her undocumented husband, two US citizens and one DACA recipient son behind in the US. As this work often goes, my friend happened to be the one holding the Urgent Response phone, and thus he happened to be the go-to person for Veronica’s case. He took this role gracefully, not complaining that the next three weeks would be among the hardest he had ever experienced in his long advocacy career.
He worked tirelessly for Veronica. He called the family every day. He left messages with lawyers and advocates and pastors and friends. And he visited churches to see who would house her if she sought sanctuary.
When he had tried everything there was to try, he coached her family through what it meant to have a mother and wife removed, and agreed that he would join her, silently, at the airport to bear witness to the cruelty of the deportation machine.
I got a phone call from him at midnight on the night she was to be deported.
“She’s in the emergency room” he told me. So disturbed was Veronica by the thought of being forced to return to Honduras, where she had not been for 15 years, that amid her attempts to pack her Michigan life in to two suitcases, she feel to the floor unconscious.
So I went with him to the ER and I watched him stand by her ER bed, hug her husband and her children, talk to her doctor, and make sure she got home again safely.
By this point, Veronica had missed her deportation date, so he started all over again. Calling and meeting and talking and trying both to prevent Veronica’s removal and prepare the family for her absence.
A week later ICE had decided that Veronica had sufficiently recovered from her ordeal and ordered her back to the airport for deportation.
So again he went. Again he stood in silent protest as she walked onto the plane to San Pedro Sula, her husband and daughters sobbing besides him.
I didn’t see him for months after that. I, and others, were pretty sure the moment broke him. And to be honest, none of us would have blamed him if you never came back to this work again.
Of course this is just one story. I’m sure you can all think of the losses that have impacted you and your friends most deeply in the last few years.
A few others come to mind for me as well. I think of the time the founder of a legal services organization told me that she could barely keep herself together as she completed the U Visa application for a girl the same age as my daughter who had been so brutally sexually assaulted that she needed reconstructive surgery.
And I think of the time I had just finished speaking to incoming Latino students at the university of Michigan when they walked out onto campus to see a well-known campus landmark spray painted with “fuck latinos” and “Make America Great Again.
These moments of darkness are real. This violence and trauma that our community experiences, that makes its way into our own lives and bodies, its real. For me, they are formative, and I can only come to this work knowing that they exist, and that they will color and shape my world and that of my family for the rest of my life. So I cannot come to this work, cannot invite you to this work, while pretending these moments don’t exist.
These moments keep us up and night, and they also force us to ask hard questions of ourselves.
If our work is so frequently and deeply challenging, Why do we keep doing it? Why do we come back to it?
Simply, why am I up here and why are you there right now?
Now, frankly, I’m not really the best person to answer this question. I know what a keynote talk is supposed to do, and that’s provide a rah-rah speech, to pump you up for the road ahead. I’m not the person for that. For those of you with whom I’ve worked — or for like anyone who has literally just listened to my speech thus far — you know that it’s pretty dark.
Now that’s largely because I am health researcher. My job is to diagnosis illness and disease, and illustrate precisely how damaging they can be and in what way. Thus I spend my time focusing on the social disease of immigration enforcement, in describing how this disease spreads fear and panic, and draws on the worst parts of our humanity to create deep racial divisions and strip our communities of rights. I talk about how this disease somehow pushes people to argue that separation of families at the border is their parents fault, that a door kicked in when a mother. nursing her baby in a raided an apartment is somehow the natural conclusion for not quote doing it the right way. I want to spend my career diagnosing and describing what I believe to be among the worst social disease of our time.
So no, I’m not the person to remind you why you are here, or to pump you up to continue doing this work tomorrow.
But I do know someone who is perfect for this task. I know someone who can explain to you why you are here, because, at one point, she did the same thing for me.
Lourdes Salazar Bautista came from Mexico to the United States on a tourist visa. She arrived in a cold Michigan day on January 25th of 1997. When Lourdes arrived in Ann Arbor, she liked it. She liked being close to a university, and felt that there was ample opportunity to find work.
So Lourdes did what so many of us do when we find a place in which we feel happy, healthy, and secure. Lourdes started a family. She bought a house. She found a church. And she went on with her daily life.
Along the way, Lourdes gave birth to two daughters and a son. All three children, were born in the US and thus, unlike their undocumented father and the mother who was still on a tourist visa at that point, were US citizens. Eventually, Lourdes’ older daughter accomplished something that made everyone who knew her proud: She got a scholarship to attend Michigan State University, and became the first member in her family to attend college.
Now I want to take a second and pause, because I think we can all empathize with Lourdes story in some way. For some of you, you may even be like Lourdes, and have crossed the border yourself to start a new life in the US. For others, including myself, we are more like her daughter, the first in a bloodline to attend a university in the United States. And for a large portion of you, we are the people and organizations who supported Lourdes and her family along the way. We are the ones who helped her daughter with her fafsa or who helped Lourdes with her tourist visa.
And this story, Lourdes’ story, up to this point, is an image of the immigration world exactly as we want to create it. It’s the story of migration to a better place, following of a dream to a world in which one’s children can be upwardly mobile. It’s a story of laying town roots, planting seeds, and watering and nurturing them until they bloom.
But like most of the immigration stories we deal with in our work, the world we want to create fell prey to the world as it is, and in 2010, Lourdes’ life took a drastic change.
Lourdes’ tourist visa had expired, so ICE agents showed up at her door to arrest and detain her and process her deportation. Thus, it was in her own home that she was cuffed in front of the first child in her blood line to go to college and taken to Battle Creek where she was stripped naked, searched, and imprisoned for 23 days.
Then ICE made a deal, and instead of deporting Lourdes, they traded her for her husband.
You heard that correctly. ICE traded human beings, allowing Lourdes to stay if her husband agreed to be deported in her place.
So Lourdes’ husband joined the other 400,000 obama era deportations of majority men.
Lourdes walked out of the ICE office and back to her family, and agreed to check in with ICE every year for the indefinite future. She did so religiously, from 2011 to 2017.
But in 2016 we elected a man who made a career out of saying that a Black man had faked his papers, who said our mexican parents were rapists, who said immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and other African countries were from shithole countries, who said the football players who kneel to protest racially disparate police killings of african americans are sons-of-bitches, and who said gang members quote are not people, these are animals.
If the deportation of Lourdes’ husband represents the cruelty of the allegedly patterned deportations of undocumented men during the Obama era, what happened next to Lourdes is the very definition of immigration enforcement under president Trump.
When Lourdes, who had checked in for six years at that point, checked in at the ICE office on Wednesday, July 19th of 2017, she was told to return on Monday to review the plan for her deportation.
So Washtenaw County did everything we knew how to do. We emailed, we called, we marched, we prayed, we gathered, we fought.
And we lost.
We lost.
This woman, a mother whom we had come to know and love, who had been in Michigan for 20 years, was to be forcibly removed to Mexico.
So yet again, we found ourselves at the Detroit Airport.
And yet again, we found ourselves standing in silence, bearing witness to the unmistakable cruelty enacted by the party of family values that is determined to break families apart.
Now for me, I remember this moment, and I know there was nothing left in me. I know that every cell within my body had been wrung dry, and I stood frozen in my own futility.
Then Lourdes reminded me why I was there.
As Lourdes moved from the airport entrance to the metal detector in the security screening area, it felt like a funeral procession.
She passed the people she knew from the first decade of her life in Michigan.
Then the second decade.
She hugged the advocates who had fought — and lost — for her, and cried on the shoulders of the teachers who would be the stand in for her children’s absent mother.
She hugged cousins and uncles and friends until finally she arrived at the metal detector, the last barrier between her and the plane to Mexico.
But before she stepped through the metal detector, she turned around.
And I will never know how she did this, but in the span of about 10 seconds, Lourdes managed to make direct eye contact with what felt like every single person in the entire airport, and she said simply, and loudly,
“La lucha sigue.”
La lucha sigue.
The fight continues.
If you thought we couldn’t handle ourselves before that moment, you can’t imagine the puddle of tears we became after.
Here was this woman, a woman who had found herself in the crosshairs of a billion dollar deportation industry, somehow with the presence of mind to remind us why we are here, why you are here, telling us, don’t you dare quit, don’t you dare stop, dont you dare let these moments of darkness cloud out the light of the movement.
What Lourdes helped me understand was that the losses, our seemingly constant and painful losses, these are just moments. They pass. We break down and we cry and we crack and we retreat and we are wrung out and exhausted. But these are just moments.
We have become part of something much larger. We have tapped into a movement that touches the deepest parts of who we are as people.
We are here because we have coalesced around a core set of beliefs that no human being is illegal, that all children deserve to be with their parents, that black and brown and native and queer lives matter.
We are here because we see a vision of a better world, a world we want to create, a world rooted in human dignity, and we know that to arrive at that world, struggle, lucha, is inevitable.
I think back to my friend who disappeared after Veronica’s deportation. When he came back, the first thing he texted was, “what can I do?” He wasn’t done. He wasn’t done losing. He wasn’t done being part of the movement.
So we persevere because Lourdes does. We are out there, we are up here, because people better than us have been removed. We get up in the morning to lose again because our movement is growing stronger, our work is growing stronger, and our power is building. We get up every morning because we must, because, though the day may end darkly, la lucha sigue.
Thank you, and sigan luchando.
*Reprinted from William Lopez’ Medium site with permission of the author.
I was born in 1985 in “Mesa Grande”, a refugee camp in Honduras. I was born there because, during the Civil War in El Salvador (1980-1992), my family had to flee from the state-led Armed Forces in 1981. We repatriated to our home country of El Salvador in 1988 with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This was four years before the end of the Civil War in 1992. My experience inspired me to advocate for immigrant and refugee rights globally.
I vividly remember how normalized violence was at that time. Nowadays, with the recent crisis of children being taken away from their parents when presenting themselves at the Mexico-US border, I find myself thinking that we are facing another human rights violation crisis. A crisis that is stemming from normalized violence. This needs to change. Currently, in the United States, citizens hear little about why people want to risk their lives in order to enter the country as well as about their experiences and hardships before and during their journey.
Most immigrants don’t necessarily want to leave their home communities. How many of us want to leave home? Most immigrants are fleeing from various types of violence. One type of violence immigrants face is structural violence through bureaucratic institutions and organized practices that marginalize them and perpetuate endemics like extreme poverty. With violence and trauma chasing behind them, many immigrants do not have options. They do not get to choose. Instead, they are forced to leave.
There is a dichotomy within the US: alien and citizen. Immigrants within the US are portrayed as aliens. However, the very same immigrants built the economy and society of the US. While we appear to be “different,” we are very similar though with different life experiences and journeys. We all have the common goal of having access to what we need to fulfill our basic human rights: the ability to live at peace, access employment, education, health care, and protect our family unity. Local institutions from our countries of origin have failed to fulfill those needs. This is a form of systemic violence best known as extreme poverty. There are many other factors that have historically forced people to migrate. Does this mean the US has to be responsible? I think as a global human community we are responsible for one another. Immigrants have existed since the beginning of time. We have to learn how to recognize our collective humanity.
Za’atari Syrian Refugee Camp, Jordan. Joel Bergner
I understand how challenging it can be to see immigrants as good people when citizens in the US learn the opposite about us. At the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), we support family unity. Thousands of families have been separated in the US due to deportation without relief. Mixed-status families go through multiple trauma-related emotions when one of their parents are put into the deportation process. Emotions like fear and anxiety are common. I deeply empathize with these emotions because of my own experience.
The Salvadoran Civil War was supported by US government administrations. I recall being in the middle of a war-zone at my humble school. During those moments, I felt fear deeply in my body. I was not at home with my family where I always felt safe. In the midst of my fear, I was struck by the reactions of my caring teachers. They were almost children themselves. They did not express their fear in front of us. Instead, they invited us, with respect and love, to sing one of my favorite kindergarten songs: “De colores.” "De Colores" carried all of us to a peaceful moment, turning tears into song. I felt a sense of protection. These women showed me that even during adversity, collective hope created through solidarity can make us resilient and empowered.
MIRC help so many immigrants who are seeking legal assistance to live permanently and freely in the US. My time working at MIRC --surrounded by a great team of attorneys, law clerks, and volunteers, along with other legal service providers--has inspired me to celebrate our mission more: to build a thriving Michigan where immigrant communities experience equity and belonging. As an organization, we are in the hearts of thousands of immigrants who appreciate the support we provide to ensure family unity. Our organization represents for them in a way what the UNHCR means to me-- an institution of supportive and caring human beings who advocate for those who lack the privileges that US citizens have. Our team reminds me of my two teachers who gave me a sense of protection while my school was being bombed. We are successful because we support immigrants so that they can have a dignified life. I honor immigrants’ stories and I am grateful to be part of this wonderful team that has created ongoing positive change in the life of many immigrants for over nine years in Michigan.
Community Mural at Central Valley in California. Joel Bergner
For Immediate Release
Contact: Alyson Robbins
arobbins@lsscm.org, 734.794.9563
DETROIT, MI (June 14, 2018) – The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) recently received funding from The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and The Kresge Foundation to expand free legal services for immigrants across Michigan. Through the “Front Door” project, MIRC and its partners aim to connect every individual with immigration legal needs in the Detroit Metro area to a trained, legal professional.
Welcoming Michigan, an initiative of Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, has received a grant of $50,000 from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan to expand its immigrant integration efforts.
On June 23, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in U.S. v. Texas, which began when Texas and 25 other states (including Michigan) challenged the implementation of President Obama's 2014 DAPA and expanded DACA programs. The district court in Texas issued a nationwide injunction against the programs, and the federal government appealed.
A candlelight vigil Monday night outside the University Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn honors the victims of the Paris attacks. David Guralnick / The Detroit News
The Challenge of Undoing Unwelcoming by Susan Reed, Co-Managing Attorney Michigan Immigrant Rights Center
This has been a difficult week for us at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center as we lead our Welcoming Michigan initiative. I do not mean to compare our experience in any way to that of the victims of the horrific attacks in Paris or Beirut. It isn’t comparable. But we have been feeling shaken in our own way. Our initiative has received significant attention and positive regard from Michigan Governor Rick Snyder in the three years since our launch, and we have appreciated it. Governor Snyder’s annual proclamations and frequent highlighting of our work has made a difference. He has helped us make it clearer that when Michigan welcomes immigrants, Michigan thrives. Governor Snyder has described himself as the most pro-immigration governor in the country. He established the Michigan Office for New Americans in 2014. In September of this year, Governor Snyder announced to the state’s Commission on Middle Eastern Affairs, which he created, that he was exploring formal ways to bring more Syrian refugees to Michigan and his office has actively engaged with many in the nonprofit refugee resettlement community to further that vision. Governor Snyder’s unique steps to encourage refugee resettlement got national attention. But this week, we saw Governor Snyder’s public statements set off an unprecedented wave of state governors seeking to ban completely refugees from their states. Although he attempted to clarify that he had really only been able to say he was suspending refugee resettlement efforts as a Governor because he himself had first enthusiastically engaged in those efforts, it didn’t seem to take. State governors confronted with the news that they don’t have the authority to actually ban refugees began calling for Congress to give it to them.
A bill is now making its way through Congress that would require the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the FBI, the Department Homeland Security, to personally review, come to agreement, and sign off on the admission of each and every Iraqi or Syrian refugee. This would make resettlement of refugees from those countries practically impossible. No one can predict what any individual person might do in the future with perfect accuracy, but our current refugee screening process is already extremely robust and effective. Welcoming the stranger, particularly the one who is running for her life, is a central concept in the Judeo-Christian tradition. We tolerate far greater risks every day to further much less closely-held or supposedly broadly agreed-upon values. As part of the wave of governors who made statements this week seeking to bar refugees from entering their state, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie emphatically included “orphans under the age of five” among those who should not be granted protection and safety and among us. I can only think of the photo of Syrian three-year-old Alan Kurdi who drowned in August when I hear that absolute rejection of the notion that even the smallest risk is worth taking to save the life of someone so vulnerable. Baby Alan and his brother and mother died on their journey after his aunt’s struggle to bring them to join her as refugees in Canada failed.
Refugees, Muslim refugees in particular, have been unpopular in certain circles for a very long time and those are circles the Governor moves in. So, I suppose I assumed that he had already weighed and understood the relevant political and security concerns when he decided in September to make such a strong statement in support of Syrian refugee admissions to Michigan. That’s why I expected him to lead in the moment of crisis created by the Paris attacks. I expected him to reassure the public about refugees and refugee resettlement. I expected him to remind us that horrible violence in Paris is what the Syrian refugees are running from. That’s why I was so stunned when instead, he stepped back in such a highly visible way. If he had new doubts, I would have expected him to consult the many subject matter experts inside and outside of state government that stood alongside him in September. He has direct access to many people who could have provided the reassurance he was seeking. On October 16, I myself sat in Lansing with hundreds of nonprofit and faith-based refugee advocates and many state officials (including the director of the Michigan Office for New Americans) at the annual conference of the Michigan Committee for Refugee Resettlement. We heard detailed in-person presentations from a high level U.S. State Department official and the director of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement about the mechanics of refugee processing and the rigorous security screening process. Why with this wealth of internal capacity and direct connection to federal experts did the Governor choose to seek information in a public letter addressed to Secretaries Kerry and Johnson and post the letter on his official Facebook page where hundreds of hateful and racist comments about Syrian refugees and Muslims in general have now been made? The Governor has indicated that he sent the letter on his own initiative and not in response to a public challenge from State Representative Gary Glenn (R-Midland) to reverse his call to relocate Syrian refugees in the state.
There is an opportunity for learning here about the work we have to do as an advocacy community. We have to make sure that those who would become our allies see immigrants and refugees as subjects in their own lives, not mere objects in the lives of Americans. When we have allies who understand immigrants and refugees as a means to an economic end rather than equal partners in seeking shared prosperity, we can get disastrous results. It's true that on the whole, immigrants and refugees contribute economically and that's an important part of our message. It will be especially important to many policy makers. But those who value our communities for solely or primarily economic reasons will not hesitate to put us back on the shelf when they perceive that the cost of standing with us has risen. Abandonment can be as bad as any opposition. I believe the Governor failed to understand the complex context that immigrants, refugees, and in particular Michigan’s Arab-American communities have to deal with in our state and this country. I hope he will commit some of his brand of relentless positive action to undoing some of the damage that misunderstanding has done. I hope he will find new ways to support the many tireless advocates and committed organizations he has expressed prior support for in spite of the critical words and witness we are called to in the midst of this failure. But to be successful in achieving his vision now, he's going to have to convince a lot of Michiganders who cheered his actions this week that he was wrong to take them and that those who have followed him were wrong to do so. He has made it much more difficult for himself and immeasurably more difficult for us to be Welcoming, but we will continue on.
March 6, 2015, Grand Rapids, Mich. - Grand Rapids Community Foundation today announce a $50,000 grant to Michigan Immigrant Rights Center to provide legal representation for unaccompanied children with sponsoring families who are seeking asylum or other legal relief in Grand Rapids area.
A change in Michigan Department of Human Services eligibility rules means that low-income U.S. citizen children whose parents have student visas or some other types of temporary legal immigration status can now qualify for Medicaid. Those who have been denied in the past can reapply.
