Fighting for Change

By Dervedia Thomas

One year ago, a walk home from work turned into a nightmare for Abraham Paulos, 30, an immigrant born in Sudan to refugee parents from Eritrea.

Paulos came to the United States as a political asylee when he was two years old. But his future in this country was threatened one afternoon when a victim of a robbery told police that he was one of the perpetrators.

This led to four days behind bars, including two at Rikers Island prison complex, before his roommate bailed him out.

Abraham Paulos advising a detained immigrant on Families for Freedom's hotline

“I felt like I was in a dream, with endless cages, handcuffs and dark faces,” he said. “I was angry because I realized that the criminal justice system has little to do with justice and more to do with racism and poverty, and I was extremely sad to see that almost all of the prisoners in one of the biggest city jails in the world were men of color.”

His experience would do more than just make him sad and angry, it would give birth to his career as an activist fighting to change U.S. immigration policies.

After being warned by family and friends that his criminal charges could also lead to the cancellation of his green card and possible deportation,  Paulos called the hotline of Families for Freedom a non-profit immigrant rights organization. One year later, he became the executive director of the same non-profit that gave him legal advice and counsel.

Model Ministry

By Luis R. Perez

What do you do if you  preach another sermon on immigration that prompts polite head bobs and gentle stares in the pews?

If you are  the Rev. Doug Fisher of the Grace Episcopal Church in Millbrook N.Y.,  you preach on the subject carefully, but with boundless determination until listeners become curious or interested.

“There wasn’t any enthusiasm  for it,” said the Rev. Fisher.

For someone as seasoned and as cautious as the Rev. Fisher, kindling an interest on a seemingly controversial and complex subject like immigration requires more than sharing well known biblical passages that call for embracing the neighbor, such as The  Parable of the Good Samaritan, or delivering a cri de coeur brand of sermon to rally the average 150 worshippers who attend his Sunday mass.

Fisher, a tall, lanky man  with a soft temperament and genial stoicism, knows that it takes the focus of a skilled golfer to “line things up” and the polish of a Madison Avenue marketing guru to make a now or never pitch.  So once, during a sermon in May 21, 2006, he employed  an illustration made up of two large posters that helped persuade the vast majority of his parishioners.

City Council bill would restrict ICE

Ravi Ragbir is an advocate for immigrant inmates at Rikers Island facing detention and deportation. Photo: Courtesy Ravi Ragbir, Change.org

By Marianna Nash

A bill introduced in the New York City Council and gaining traction could change how immigrants are detained after arrests. Resolution 656, co-sponsored by 38 council members, would prevent New York City’s Department of Corrections (DOC) from sharing information about some inmates with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Its objective is to reduce the number of illegal immigrants deported  — granting stays for those without convictions, including misdemeanors. The bill includes exemptions for cases that are deemed to pose a threat to national security or public safety.

“It’s a huge first step, but it is only a step,” said Daniel Coates, an activist with Make the Road New York, who is trying to get Rikers Island to stop giving information about inmates to immigration authorities.. “What it does is if you are somebody who has no criminal record and you’re found innocent, the city will protect you — but if you have a criminal record and are found guilty of a crime, misdemeanor or felony, it does not distinguish, and the city won’t protect you.”

Coates isn’t the only activist who believes that convictions for minor, nonviolent crimes should not be used to deport individuals.

Ravi Ragbir has never been held at Rikers Island, but he took up the cause of immigrants being held there after he was detained at an Alabama detention facility.

The 15-year green card holder has a relatively serious mark on his record — wire fraud, which is a felony. But he maintains that people like him should be allowed to make amends as long as their crimes are nonviolent. He has served his time.

Ragbir arrived in New York in 1991 from Trinidad and Tobago on a visitor’s visa. He now works with The New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC as a community organizer, campaigning on behalf of New York’s illegal immigrants. But many of the immigrants he meets are surprised to learn that he, too, is currently facing possible deportation.

The 10 Million of the 99 Percent

By Rebecca Ellis

Jose works 55 to 56 hours a week as a full-time chef at a downtown pizzeria. One of his specialties is a 15-inch pizza with pepperoni around the edges and lined down the middle, a popular item among the protesters at Occupy Wall Street. The pepperoni is arranged in the shape of the universal protest symbol, served up piping hot to hungry and freezing Wall Street occupiers.

Jose, who is undocumented and asked his last name not be published, is one of the 99 percent.  Jose is one of more than 10 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States and without comprehensive immigration reform he has no way to legalize his status.

“I am not afraid to say I am illegally here,” Jose said. “I came like all Mexicans who come here, to work.”

Jose is more focused on what he calls the  “the Mexican dream” rather than “the American dream.” Instead of buying a big house in the suburbs, Jose looks forward to the day when he can go back to his home country and be with his children.

Immigration reform and workplace abuse

By Luis R. Perez

He works the standard long-hours of an investment banker, but he is paid like a pauper. Enrique, “El Neto,” an affectionate nickname in Spanish that can mean someone who is serious, has been working an average of 60-hour shifts at a horse farm in Dutchess County, NY.

Enrique said he earns $ 5 per hour for a scheduled 40-day work week, but he does not earn renumeration in the form of overtime or compensation time for extra work. Enrique’s wages fall short of the federally-imposed hourly rate of $7.25.

During a common work day, Enrique manages a 24-horse stable with the help of a fellow illegal immigrant friend who refused to give his name. Both of them take turns grooming, feeding and walking the horses. Also, they have to rake the stalls, clean out the horse debris, and pickup fresh hay and oats.

In the eyes of illegal immigration advocates, Enrique’s narrative is telling inasmuch illustrates why a stalled immigration reform process must be readdressed in an effort to stem the increase of abuses that take place at the workplace.

While highly-controversial immigration initiatives are being adopted by some states, such as Arizona and Alabama, at the federal level immigration reform has not gained any strong traction since a bipartisan legislative effort died in 2007. On the negative side, some employers are allegedly skirting basic responsibilities.

Donna Lieberman

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said her office gets hammered with jarring phone calls that involve immigrants being taken advantage of.

“Workers have rights, “ Lieberman said.

Lieberman fears that if there is not a safety-net put in place for immigrants that labor exploitation will continue to go on. “If there is a situation not in compliance with the law, that situation is an invitation for abuse,” she added.

Undocumented workers  often do not address grievances in the workplace for fear of being deported, suffering reprisals, or being subject to scorn in their community for creating trouble with the authorities, said the Rev. Richard Witt, who is the executive director of Rural and Migrant Ministry, an educational and advocacy group with a main office in Poughkeepsie and with satellite offices in Lyons and Ithaca.

“They are being scapegoated over the economy. The kind of menial and low paying jobs undocumented workers perform to keep the country going is a non threat,” Rev. Witt said.