A Night of 1,000 Conversations
Constitutional rights?
Constitutional rights?
After the program, Carranza sat down with The Capital City Hues to talk about recent developments in the area of immigration. “They are actually
disregarding the Constitution of the U.S., disregarding the civil rights of people regardless of their immigrant status and regardless of whether or not they are
citizens,” Carranza emphasized. “That is what this is about. At the event on Thursday, our focus was in two directions. The first one, as you know, regarded the
raid in Postville, Iowa where about 360 people were detained. They used a kangaroo court to actually process 10-50 people at a time who were forced to sign a
document saying they were guilty, a document that was only written in English that they did not know what it meant with the threat that if they didn’t sign it, they
would be sent to jail for 20 or more years. But if they signed it, then they would just be sent to jail for five months and then deported. So they had them sign this
and then they took them before the federal judge, 10-50 people at a time, who basically ruled and they were sentenced and sent to jail. This is against the most
basic constitutional rights of any individual in this country. And this is what these people are doing.”
While one may think that immigrants, documented and undocumented, have no rights, they are actually afforded many rights that are specified in the U.S.
Constitution. “Even non-citizens, regardless of immigrant status, anyone who is in this country has civil and constitutional rights to due process, to a lawyer and to
a just court hearing,” Carranza said. “DHS has taken on the powers on their own without any legislation. That is just how they are enforcing it. They are actually
breaking the law in order to detain, jail and then deport immigrants who, by the way, have broken civil laws because being in this country without papers is a
civil violation. It’s like someone stopping you because you were speeding and then they force you to sign a paper saying you are guilty of something, they jail
you and then they take you away.”
Carranza also noted that individuals with a legitimate status or presence in this country are being detained. “They detained a 12 year-old kid for a week, who
was a citizen, because he didn’t have a chance to show he was a citizen,” Carranza said. “They took him and said they were looking for someone else. They
asked him for his documents. The kid couldn’t prove anything. Finally a lawyer managed to get him out. They are drugging people when they detain them to
keep them calm and they can’t say a thing and they can be deported en mass. A Somali refugee was escaping the war in Somalia. This is one of the
constitutional rights as a refugee to ask for asylum. She came here because her family had been massacred in Somalia. She came to JFK Airport and didn’t
even have the chance to request asylum. They immediately took her, drugged her and put her in the detention center, which she said had horrible conditions.
Finally, a lawyer found out about her situation and tried to advocate on her behalf. Eventually they gave her asylum. But she spent three months in jail drugged
out of her mind by ICE agents. These are the kind of things that are happening. It’s ridiculous.”
Ever since 9/11, the U.S. has taken a very aggressive approach to secure its border, particularly its border that it shares with Mexico. While this aggressive
approach is meant to prevent terrorists from entering the country, it is treating undocumented workers and suspected terrorists with the same harsh treatment.
“They need to stop this until there is a real policy that can differentiate between going after criminals, going after those who really pose a threat to our country
and those who pose no threat,” Carranza said. “The vast majority of immigrants, regardless of status, pose absolutely no threat to this country. There’s no reason
they should be going after immigrants in this way.”
Back in 2006, large immigration marches were held across the United States to pressure Congress to pass meaningful immigration reform legislation. But the
marches have faded over the past few years. “I think the first marches were very powerful,” Carranza reflected. “I think they did two things. One, they created the
awareness of Latinos and Latino power. And they stopped the Sensenbrenner bill in its tracks. But on the other hand, it created backlash from some nationalistic
or xenophobic groups. So marches are no longer a way to create this push because at this point, they might create more of a backlash than benefits. So now we
have to go to the real power, which is the electoral process. We have to make sure that we show that we have the power to change elections. They had better
listen to the Latino community’s goals, vision and values if they want that vote. Otherwise they are going to lose the vote.”
It almost seems as if the whole immigration debate has been placed on hold until after the November when a new President and Congress will be elected.
“There was an attempt last year to pass a version of immigration reform and the Democrats decided they were going to wait until after this election,” Carranza
said. “If these elections go the way we hope, there is a very real possibility that something will be introduced again, especially if we are able to increase the
control both in the Senate and the House of pro-immigration forces. Immigration reform is more likely if there are wins by Democrats versus Republicans overall.”
In Carranza’s view, the Republicans might be sowing the seeds for becoming the minority party out of power in the not so distant future because of their current
stances on immigration. “What do you think is going to happen in 10-15 years with all of those American citizens who had undocumented parents who were
attacked by the administration,” Carranza asked. “Who do you think they are going to vote for? They will remember forever. They are equating this to the laws by
the Republicans in their stands against the civil rights of African Americans. That’s when they lost the majority of the African American vote. They are losing the
Latino vote because of this xenophobic, anti- immigrant. What they don’t understand is that in 15 years, 50 percent of this country will be people of color. Their
days are not going to be as powerful anymore. They are just hurting themselves by this cruel, unjust, xenophobic position.”
The anti-immigration forces might win the battle, but lose the war. Time will tell.
disregarding the Constitution of the U.S., disregarding the civil rights of people regardless of their immigrant status and regardless of whether or not they are
citizens,” Carranza emphasized. “That is what this is about. At the event on Thursday, our focus was in two directions. The first one, as you know, regarded the
raid in Postville, Iowa where about 360 people were detained. They used a kangaroo court to actually process 10-50 people at a time who were forced to sign a
document saying they were guilty, a document that was only written in English that they did not know what it meant with the threat that if they didn’t sign it, they
would be sent to jail for 20 or more years. But if they signed it, then they would just be sent to jail for five months and then deported. So they had them sign this
and then they took them before the federal judge, 10-50 people at a time, who basically ruled and they were sentenced and sent to jail. This is against the most
basic constitutional rights of any individual in this country. And this is what these people are doing.”
While one may think that immigrants, documented and undocumented, have no rights, they are actually afforded many rights that are specified in the U.S.
Constitution. “Even non-citizens, regardless of immigrant status, anyone who is in this country has civil and constitutional rights to due process, to a lawyer and to
a just court hearing,” Carranza said. “DHS has taken on the powers on their own without any legislation. That is just how they are enforcing it. They are actually
breaking the law in order to detain, jail and then deport immigrants who, by the way, have broken civil laws because being in this country without papers is a
civil violation. It’s like someone stopping you because you were speeding and then they force you to sign a paper saying you are guilty of something, they jail
you and then they take you away.”
Carranza also noted that individuals with a legitimate status or presence in this country are being detained. “They detained a 12 year-old kid for a week, who
was a citizen, because he didn’t have a chance to show he was a citizen,” Carranza said. “They took him and said they were looking for someone else. They
asked him for his documents. The kid couldn’t prove anything. Finally a lawyer managed to get him out. They are drugging people when they detain them to
keep them calm and they can’t say a thing and they can be deported en mass. A Somali refugee was escaping the war in Somalia. This is one of the
constitutional rights as a refugee to ask for asylum. She came here because her family had been massacred in Somalia. She came to JFK Airport and didn’t
even have the chance to request asylum. They immediately took her, drugged her and put her in the detention center, which she said had horrible conditions.
Finally, a lawyer found out about her situation and tried to advocate on her behalf. Eventually they gave her asylum. But she spent three months in jail drugged
out of her mind by ICE agents. These are the kind of things that are happening. It’s ridiculous.”
Ever since 9/11, the U.S. has taken a very aggressive approach to secure its border, particularly its border that it shares with Mexico. While this aggressive
approach is meant to prevent terrorists from entering the country, it is treating undocumented workers and suspected terrorists with the same harsh treatment.
“They need to stop this until there is a real policy that can differentiate between going after criminals, going after those who really pose a threat to our country
and those who pose no threat,” Carranza said. “The vast majority of immigrants, regardless of status, pose absolutely no threat to this country. There’s no reason
they should be going after immigrants in this way.”
Back in 2006, large immigration marches were held across the United States to pressure Congress to pass meaningful immigration reform legislation. But the
marches have faded over the past few years. “I think the first marches were very powerful,” Carranza reflected. “I think they did two things. One, they created the
awareness of Latinos and Latino power. And they stopped the Sensenbrenner bill in its tracks. But on the other hand, it created backlash from some nationalistic
or xenophobic groups. So marches are no longer a way to create this push because at this point, they might create more of a backlash than benefits. So now we
have to go to the real power, which is the electoral process. We have to make sure that we show that we have the power to change elections. They had better
listen to the Latino community’s goals, vision and values if they want that vote. Otherwise they are going to lose the vote.”
It almost seems as if the whole immigration debate has been placed on hold until after the November when a new President and Congress will be elected.
“There was an attempt last year to pass a version of immigration reform and the Democrats decided they were going to wait until after this election,” Carranza
said. “If these elections go the way we hope, there is a very real possibility that something will be introduced again, especially if we are able to increase the
control both in the Senate and the House of pro-immigration forces. Immigration reform is more likely if there are wins by Democrats versus Republicans overall.”
In Carranza’s view, the Republicans might be sowing the seeds for becoming the minority party out of power in the not so distant future because of their current
stances on immigration. “What do you think is going to happen in 10-15 years with all of those American citizens who had undocumented parents who were
attacked by the administration,” Carranza asked. “Who do you think they are going to vote for? They will remember forever. They are equating this to the laws by
the Republicans in their stands against the civil rights of African Americans. That’s when they lost the majority of the African American vote. They are losing the
Latino vote because of this xenophobic, anti- immigrant. What they don’t understand is that in 15 years, 50 percent of this country will be people of color. Their
days are not going to be as powerful anymore. They are just hurting themselves by this cruel, unjust, xenophobic position.”
The anti-immigration forces might win the battle, but lose the war. Time will tell.
By Jonathan Gramling
For the second year in a row, the Rights Working Group — a national coalition of more than
250 community-based groups and national organizations — has sponsored A Night of 1,000
Conversations to spur local discussions about the impact that governmental actions have had on
the civil and human rights of people present in the United States. LUChA, a Madison-based
Latino advocacy organization is a member of the Rights Working group and sponsored a local
1,000 Conversations forum at the Catholic Multicultural Center on June 19. This year’s area of
emphasis was immigration, although the Rights Working group is generally concerned about a
broader array of civil and human rights.
About 20 people came together to see films, hear talks about recent violations of civil and
human rights in the U.S. and discuss the recent immigration raids that have occurred in
Postville, Iowa and other locations across the U.S. “The purpose of ‘The Night of the 1,000
Conversations’ is to invite people from the general community to listen to the reality of
immigration problems in this country and the abuses that the Dept. Of Homeland Security (DHS)
and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) are engaging in as a result of trying to enforce
immigration laws,” said Salvador Carranza, president of LUChA.
For the second year in a row, the Rights Working Group — a national coalition of more than
250 community-based groups and national organizations — has sponsored A Night of 1,000
Conversations to spur local discussions about the impact that governmental actions have had on
the civil and human rights of people present in the United States. LUChA, a Madison-based
Latino advocacy organization is a member of the Rights Working group and sponsored a local
1,000 Conversations forum at the Catholic Multicultural Center on June 19. This year’s area of
emphasis was immigration, although the Rights Working group is generally concerned about a
broader array of civil and human rights.
About 20 people came together to see films, hear talks about recent violations of civil and
human rights in the U.S. and discuss the recent immigration raids that have occurred in
Postville, Iowa and other locations across the U.S. “The purpose of ‘The Night of the 1,000
Conversations’ is to invite people from the general community to listen to the reality of
immigration problems in this country and the abuses that the Dept. Of Homeland Security (DHS)
and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) are engaging in as a result of trying to enforce
immigration laws,” said Salvador Carranza, president of LUChA.
Salvador Carranza (center) sings with Analucia Allie (l) and
Sandra Rybachek at a vigil supporting the Postville Iowa
workers at St. Mark’s Church on May 22.
Sandra Rybachek at a vigil supporting the Postville Iowa
workers at St. Mark’s Church on May 22.