"Dallas' Deal with the Devil"
Welcome to our news segment: TL;DR of Immigration News, for when the news is Too Long and you Didn’t Read it.
This is a weekly collection of immigration-related news stories. These bite-size summaries will keep you up to date without overwhelming your inbox.
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Texas Turns Its Sprawling State Police Force Into Immigration Agents for Trump -
Texas law enforcement, in a series of new legal agreements, gets turned into an arm of immigration control. Texas DPS was already acting as an agent of customs enforcement but this blurs the line further. Even in the face of this devastating law, Texas organizers are finding ways to demand protection from their cities and towns, including NAA Austin partner - Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP). Check out this powerful speech from TCRP organizer, Jennifer Sanchez: “What we’re talking about here is Dallas’ Deal with the Devil.”
'Mega detention centers': ICE considers buying large warehouses to hold immigrants
The inhumanity of ICE knows no bounds. Reports are circulating that the agency is considering using some of its bloated budget to purchase warehouses designed for merchandise. These buildings would then be used to house people abducted by ICE and the other fascist arms of DHS, including Border Patrol, as well as the FBI, and local police forces.
Such “mega detention centers” mirror the inhumanity practiced in such contemporary gulags as El Salvador’s “terrorism confinement center,” CECOT, or the US government’s use of stables to house Japanese Americans bound for internment camps during World War II. These models illuminate the desperate cruelty of the current deportation campaigns.
Action: This news has been uplifted as an important story to pay attention to by our friends at Detention Watch Network tool for taking action: www.bit.ly/BlockICE
Charlotte Gets the Chicago Treatment; Communities and Local Politicians Fight Back
Not satisfied with a complete strikeout in Chicago (see story below) CBP and ICE have descended on Charlotte, North Carolina and nearby communities. Two days of widespread terror have resulted in over 130 arrests. The community responded swiftly, with Charlotte City Council, the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools issuing a statement the very first day supporting the immigrant community. Businesses closed and restaurants locked their doors to keep the brownshirts out. Local Democrats also put up a bilingual web page with offers of support and Know Your Rights information.
Actions: Get updates, donate and find other ways to support our on-the-ground partners in North Carolina, Siembra NC. Support and subscribe to local news sources such as Queen City Nerve and WFAE that provide on-the-ground honest reporting on these kinds of fast-moving stories.
As the Trump administration does extrajudicial killing off the coast of Venezuela and considers using more overt military force against the Venezuelan people and Juan Guaido’s government, our friends at ProPublica have done some deep digging into the attacks on Venezuelan immigrants in an apartment building in Chicago mere weeks ago.
As we covered a few weeks ago in this newsletter, on Sept. 30th in the middle of the night, DHS agents descended via helicopters on a south side Chicago apartment building and proceeded to invade, drag out, detain, and question everyone inside the building. DHS arrested 21 Venezuelans they claimed to be members of the gang Tren de Aragua.
So far ProPublica has found that the Venezuelans arrested on that night have not been charged with any major crimes. Some of the few criminal records they have found have included traffic violations and shoplifting. Many have chosen to selfdeport instead of languishing in detention.