A PRAISEWORTHY EFFORT BY BIPARTISAN SENATORS OFFERS PROMISING START FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

April 17, 2013 – Americans for Immigrant Justice is thrilled to see a promising bipartisan bill aimed at reforming our nation’s sorely dysfunctional immigration system. We applaud the eight Senators who worked to reach bipartisan compromise and, thus, craft the bill now introduced. We are particularly pleased that Florida Senator Marco Rubio was one of the “Gang of Eight.” While AI …

ICE’S “SECURE COMMUNITIES” PROGRAM MAKES MIAMI-DADE LESS SAFE AND CASTS RACIAL OVERTONES

What: News Conference Why: ICE program puts public safety and families at risk When: Monday, April 15, 2013, 11 a.m. Where: 3000 Biscayne Blvd, Miami FL 33137 (free parking in the rear of the building) Who: Alex Stepick, Director, Research Institute on Social & Economic Policy (RISEP) at Florida International University (FIU); Cheryl Little, Executive Director of Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice); Carlos Martinez, …

CBS MIAMI: PROTESTERS TARGET IMMIGRANT DEPORTATION PROGRAM

April 15, 2013 5:24 PM Reporting: Gary Nelson MIAMI (CBS4) – Star power and hard facts were wielded in South Florida Monday to slam a controversial immigrant deportation program. Operation “Secure Communities” is supposed to rid cities and towns of violent criminals. Opponents, though, say the government is spending a fortune to round up and deport nickel and dime offenders. …

REUTERS: SOUTH FLORIDA DEPORTATIONS FLOUT POLICY, FOCUS ON MINOR OFFENDERS: REPORT

MIAMI | Mon Apr 15, 2013 7:15pm EDT By David Adams (Reuters) – Federal immigration officials in south Florida are failing to abide by an Obama administration directive to focus deportation efforts on dangerous criminals, according to a report Monday by a Miami-based immigration advocacy group and researchers from a Florida university. A majority of undocumented immigrants detained for deportation …

WASHINGTON POST: OPINIONS – DETAINED IMMIGRANTS DESERVE HUMANE TREATMENT

By Edwidge Danticat, Published: March 14, 2013 Edwidge Danticat is a writer in Miami. Her most recent work is “Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work.” The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency released “several hundred” immigrants from detention facilities across the United States late last month in an effort to stay within its budget amid “fiscal uncertainty” related to …

MY SA: MAYOR JULIÁN CASTRO TALKS IMMIGRATION IN MIAMI

MIAMI — Though fast becoming a national spokesman for immigration reform, when Julián Castro addressed activists, their benefactors and so-called DREAMers here Thursday night, he made a plea to fix a broken system as the mayor of a city where undocumented immigrants exist in the shadows. “Unlike some folks in D.C., I don’t have the luxury of sitting 2,000 miles …

ICE DETAINEES BEING RELEASED AS SEQUESTRATION LOOMS

(February 26, 2013, MIAMI, FL) – Over the weekend, just days before the March 1st deadline for the federal budget sequestration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quietly began releasing detainees from immigration detention facilities across the United States. ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said this is being done “in order to make the best use of our limited detention resources in the …

MIAMI HERALD: MIAMI GROUP LAUDS IMMIGRATION REFORM EFFORTS

MIAMI | Sun Feb 24, 2013 By Alphonso Chardy Each year, the Miami-based Americans for Immigrant Justice generally honors immigrants who succeed in winning asylum or a green card against all odds. Things will be a little different this time. The organization will be celebrating bipartisanship at its 17th annual gala on March 7, as Republicans and Democrats begin working …