deportation immigrants at Brave New Films

Family is Family-- or is it?

2008-10-25T09:29:45Z

Two heterosexual couples are out to dinner, and they discuss the problems with gay marriage. But when they talk about a friend whose husband has been deported they are sympathetic.This poses the question—in any instance is it right to break up a family?

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Bush Rocks!

2008-10-25T09:29:45Z

When a family watches President Bush's public address, they know that they are targets in the United States. A mom and dad protect their son the only way they know how—they hide his brown skin under the American flag.

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Susan Davies fights to save her friend from deportation

2008-11-05T14:22:42Z

Ansar Mahmood couldn't believe his luck. He won a greencard lottery to live in United States.

He worked hard as a pizza delivery man to support his family and educate his sisters back home in Pakistan. But all this changed after he asked someone to take his picture in the Catskills. Before he knew it, he was facing detention and deportation all for signing a lease
.
Susan Davies of the Chatham Peace Initiative was an ardent supporter and close friend of Ansar. Listen as she tells her uphill battle to keep him in the Unted States.

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Agatha Joseph

2008-11-05T14:22:42Z

Agatha Joseph: A mother's battle to get her daughter out of detention

How does a mother feel when her child could be exiled forever? Agatha Joseph, unfortunately knows this all too well. She and her 16-year-old daughter were green card holders who had made their lives in the United States. Everything changed when her daughter smoked a joint and got into trouble. But when they paid the fine, they thought their troubles were over.

When her daughter came back from a vacation in the Carribean years later, she faced mandatory detention and deportation proceedings for the same marijuana violation she received when she was younger.

Agatha fought for years to get her youngest child out of detention. Watch her heartbreaking story.

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Aarti Shahani: Reflections from Rikers

2009-01-09T02:57:02Z

Aarti Shahani, founder of Families for Freedom, a Brooklyn-based defense network for immigrants facing deportation. She presented at Breakthrough's public forum, "Why Can't America Have Human Rights?" at The Riverside Church in New York City on September 14, 2006.

Aarti describes the impact of U.S. immigration laws on her own family and her ensuing organizing work.

Step inside the shoes of an immigrant- play ICED - I Can End Deportation- www.ICEDGAME.com

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America's first coloring book

2009-01-09T02:57:00Z

See what happens when a newborn country draws the line on immigration.

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Immigration Enforcement Bill to be Introduced Today

2008-03-05T12:00:11Z

I came across an article from the LA Times which announced that Senate Republicans are planning to introduce a bill that contains punitive enforcement measures without any path to legalization for immigrants in this country.

The bill would require immigrants who cross the border to serve jail time, prevent them from opening bank accounts, and force them to speak English when dealing with federal agencies.

I have two problems with the above provisions of this bill, especially the English language requirement. I have relatives who are legal immigrants who still do not speak English because they are adults. Not that I am excusing them from learning another language, but you can’t force everyone to fit into one model. They still require assistance to communicate with others; since they are now citizens, they have the right to feel welcomed when they necessitate counsel from federal agencies; if this measure were to be passed and enforced, this would discriminate against them.

Also, how can it be possible to prevent banks from offering immigrants to open bank accounts? I can potentially see that the bill would penalize banks from doing so. I really don’t understand why this is even necessary. Most immigrants have a hard time opening a bank account without proper documentation. I will attest to that. I am a college student who needs a bank account to save my money. There are very few banks out there who would not consider me to open a bank account. At the very least, banks offer some immigrants an opportunity to open a bank account, provided that they have some form of valid identification (valid and unexpired foreign passport or a matricula consular for citizens of Mexico) and an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number).

The LA Times reports on these other numerous enforcement measures:

* Block federal funding to cities that bar their police from asking about immigration status.

* Give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to use information from the Social Security Administration to target illegal immigrants.

* Require construction of 700 miles of fencing along the southern border, not including vehicle barriers.

* Impose sanctions on countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens.

* Deport any immigrant, legal or illegal, for one drunk-driving conviction.

* Enable local and state police to enforce federal immigration laws.

Given that there is substantial support for a path to legalization, this bill is doomed to fail. To open reflection, given the measures of this bill, do you think that a compromise can be reached? Which measures would you support along with a path to legalization, such as what the SAVE Act offers?