Archive for the ‘unwelcoming communities’ Category
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 22, 2011
A large painting of General Robert E. Lee hangs inside Bedford County criminal court - the only portrait in the courtroom.
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) recently released a report entitled “The Forgotten Constitution – Racial Profiling and Immigration Enforcement in Bedford County, Tennessee.” The 16-page report about this rural county, about an hour south of Nashville, alleges that immigrants and refugees face hostility and discrimination from all aspects of the criminal justice system – including the Shelbyville police, the sheriff’s department and jail, and the local court system.
Bedford County is exceptional for its large and vibrant immigrant and refugee communities, who live and work in the rolling hills of this rural county about an hour south of Nashville, Tennessee. Somali and Burmese refugees, Egyptian immigrants, and Latino immigrants are the backbone of local industry, working at poultry plants and on the walking horse farms that make Shelbyville – Bedford’s county seat – famous…
…Despite immigrants’ essential economic contributions to Bedford County, they face hostility and discrimination from all aspects of the criminal justice system, which works in close coordination with federal immigration enforcement authorities. Arrests of Latinos have intensified since Tennessee law changed in January 2011 to require jailers to ask arrestees their citizenship and report this information to ICE. Pervasive anti-immigrant sentiment coupled with misinterpretation of the scope of this law has resulted in an ongoing immigration inquisition by local law enforcement that has caused a steep increase in detention and removal by ICE. Suspected immigrants are subjected to racial profiling and increased police surveillance. They are arrested and detained in county jail for minor traffic violations–often unlawfully–in order to facilitate their deportation. Immigrants and refugees are unable to meaningfully access government services and the court system, which means many of them are unable to vindicate their rights. Immigrants are mistreated by ICE officials, who have collaborated with locals engaged in explicitly racially discriminatory practices to entrap, interrogate, and arrest immigrants who clearly do not fit immigration enforcement priorities. Many immigrant victims of crime no longer trust law enforcement to protect them… To be an immigrant or refugee in Bedford County is to be treated with suspicion or outright hostility by one’s own government, whose offices still exhibit vestiges of the overt racial apartheid of years past…
…Immigrants are targeted at disproportionate rates by officers of Bedford County law enforcement agencies, particularly the Shelbyville Police Department, as a pretext for making arrests that will enable jailers to contact ICE… Local law enforcement agencies’ patrols, traffic stops, and arrests demonstrate a pattern of treating Latinos and other immigrants in a discriminatory manner…
…Immigrants face discrimination in booking and detention procedures at the Bedford County Jail, which is administered by the Bedford County Sheriff’sDepartment and Sheriff Randall Boyce… Immigrants are more likely to be held for long periods of time for minor traffic violations and to be held unlawfully without bond or after posting bond as a “courtesy” for ICE when there is no ICE detainer. Since January 2011, the unlawful practices of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Department have resulted in as much as a tenfold increase in the number of immigrants detained for ICE – all at the expense of Bedford County’s taxpayers. ICE has initiated deportation proceedings against most of those who have been unlawfully detained…
…A large painting of Confederate General Robert E. Lee hangs above the main doorway just inside the Bedford County criminal court, and is the only portrait in the courtroom. There is little justice here for immigrants who walk through these doors, in the shadow of that disciple of state racism and white supremacy…
…Immigrant criminal defendants assigned to the public defender are often not advised of the immigration consequences of a criminal conviction... Recommendations by defense counsel to plead guilty have jeopardized the ability of some long-standing community members to qualify for cancellation of removal or other immigration relief. Finally, some court-appointed attorneys have apparently charged indigent Latino clients for court appearances, despite the fact that these defendants are charged attorney fees by the probation office for the exact same representation and court appearances… Read more here
Posted in Burma/Myanmar, court, ICE, Murfreesboro/Shelbyville, police, poultry production, secondary migration, refugee, Somali, unwelcoming communities, xenophobia/nationalism/isolationism | Tagged: apartheid, Bedford County, courts, criminal justice system, discrimination, immigrants, Latinos, police, racism, refugees, resettlement, Shelbyville, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, The Forgotten Constitution, TIRRC | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 7, 2011
An article in the AP reports that a Tennessee mosque struck by vandals and arsonists last year has now been the target of a bomb threat.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say an unidentified man threatened to ignite a bomb inside a [Islamic Center of Murfreesboro] mosque in Tennessee on Sept. 11…
The Murfreesboro mosque…has seen vandals target signs at its new proposed site, which was also struck by arsonists last year who torched construction equipment that was being used to prepare the grounds. Read more here
A more detailed article is in the Daily News Journal.
Posted in alienation-isolation, anti-Islamic, Islamic, Murfreesboro/Shelbyville, right-wing, security/terrorism, Somali, Tennessee, unwelcoming communities | Tagged: arson, bomb threat, islam, Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, mosque, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, terrorism, vandalism | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on July 11, 2011
Manchester’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted 9-4 last Tuesday for a moratorium on new refugee settlement in the city, in a long-ongoing dispute with the International Institute of New Hampshire. By itself, however, the city has no power to stop refugee resettlement. The Manchester Union Leader newspaper has a series of articles, editorials and Op-eds on the subject. The chairman of the board of the International Institute, William J. Gillet, also has an Op-ed in opposition to the moratorium vote.
Local elected officials claim that the International Institute has not cooperated in warning them about the number or timing of new refugee arrivals, and say that the city budget crisis, which will cut back on essential services for those in need, leaves refugees without adequate support. Mr. Gillet claims that any lack of resources represents a failure of will and not a failure of ability.
It seems as though the city is an unwilling partner and the International Institute is unable to make up the gap from loss of city services. What I can’t figure out from any of the public dialogue is how much private resources the International Institute contributes to resettlement. Mr. Gillet only tells us that the Institute receives a net gain from the headquarters in Boston, yet since the Manchester office is essentially a satellite office of the headquarters, why would we assume anything else?
Posted in capacity, International Institute of NE, moratorium / restriction, New Hampshire, unwelcoming communities | Tagged: International Institute of New England, manchester, moratorium, New Hampshire, refugee, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, refugee resettlement program, resettlement, William Gillet, William J. Gillet | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 23, 2010
It was two weeks ago that the Catholic Diocese of Arlington announced they were resuming refugee resettlement to Fredericksburg, VA. Now, the Fredericksburg School Board has written a letter to the governor of Virginia asking him to halt resettlement to the city. A column by Emily Battle in the The Free Lance-Star gives more details.
Last week, Chelyen Davis and Kelly Hannon reported on a meeting the city School Board had about how the schools check on students’ residency status in Fredericksburg. They mentioned a letter the School Board sent last week to Gov. Bob McDonnell, urging him to help them stem the flow of refugees to the city’s small school system…
…In their letter, School Board members say they have been informed that 100 refugees are to be resettled in this region in the coming year, with half of them to be placed within the city limits. Because Fredericksburg has a smaller budget, fewer schools and fewer taxpayers than its neighboring localities, some city officials have tried to make the point to the resettlement office that the burden of this high-needs population should be more equitably spread among larger, wealthier localities.
The School Board makes some similar points in its letter to the governor, which you can read here…
…The board members close by saying, “This locality simply cannot support them,” and urging the governor to encourage the resettlement office to help place refugee families in localities better equipped to meet their needs.
What, if any effect this letter has remains to be seen. Board members noted in their letter that past requests made directly to the agency responsible for resettlement have been followed by an increase in the flow of refugees to the city. Read more here
This issue tends to be most pronounced during recessions when the unemployment rate is high. During non-recession times the refugees are able to quickly join the workforce and offset the extra costs of schooling their kids with their contributions to the tax base.
Posted in capacity, Catholic, Catholic Diocese of Arlington, children, faith-based, fredericksburg, school for refugee children, schools, unwelcoming communities | Tagged: Catholic Diocese of Arlington, fredericksburg, refugee children, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, refugee resettlement program, refugees, schools, Virginia governor | 2 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 19, 2010
A nursing home called the police on three Somali refugee women in Jamestown, North Dakota after they went in to apply for a job and were told to leave. According to an article in the Jamestown Sun the women were responding to a newspaper ad, but the administrator of the nursing home said she had inadvertently left the ad in the newspaper after filling the position two days earlier. Yet, after the women left an American friend called the nursing home and an employee told her that the position was still open.
A dispute between a Somali woman applying for work and the management of a local nursing home degenerated into a loud conflict last week that led to law enforcement officers being called, according to reports from the Jamestown Police Department.
The incident occurred on Oct. 6 when Ismahan Ismail, accompanied by two friends, applied for a job at Bethel 4 Acres. Ismail has been a resident of Jamestown since April when she moved to the area from San Diego, Calif. Originally from Somalia, she has lived in the United States for 10 years…
…“They came in and wanted a job,” said Delores Bagan, administrator of Bethel 4 Acres. “We said the job was filled and they called me a liar and showed the ad from the paper. They kept on arguing. We told them the job was filled and they should go. They wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Bagan said she had filled the job “a couple of days” earlier but had inadvertently allowed the classified ad in The Jamestown Sun to continue to run. She also commented on the appearance of the women, who were dressed in full-length, robe-like dresses and head scarves.
“Dressed in that flowing garb they couldn’t fill a position scrubbing floors and toilets,” she said.
Bagan said the women swore at her and didn’t leave until they saw the police…
…Ismail’s account of the incident differs.
“We were looking for a job everywhere possible,” she said. “One lady came out, she didn’t have a welcoming face, she said there were no jobs so we left. Another lady came out and yelled ‘why you come three at a time.’ She said ‘leave my property’ and started cussing — and I was mad and cussing too.”
The incident caused people associated with the Somali refugee community to investigate.
“I called (Bethel 4 Acres) right after I heard,” said Jackie Hyra, a Jamestown resident associated with the refugee community through her membership on the outreach committee of the First Congregational United Church of Christ. “I told them I lived in the country and didn’t want to drive in unless there was a job opening. I was told there were openings and I should come in.”
When asked about this, Bagan reiterated there were no job openings available and it’s possible an employee hadn’t been informed. Read more here
I suppose it is possible that the nursing home administrator left the ad running after filling the position. That happens often enough. But then an employee also tells someone calling that the position is still open? Well, I suppose that’s possible. Employees make mistakes.
One thing I can say though having taken hundreds of refugees to look for jobs – the experience is often best described as nothing less than peculiar. I took one African refugee to a furniture store to apply for a labor position and they told him the guy doing the hiring wasn’t in. They didn’t give him an application, tell him when to come back or anything. I told the refugee to go back in and ask when he should return. They told him to come back in two hours. When we returned two hours later they told the refugee once again that the guy wasn’t in. This was my first experience with an employer who didn’t at least offer an application.
I think employers that put out notices for job positions and then don’t let people apply for the positions should reasonably expect suspicion of their motivations.
Posted in employment/jobs for refugees, North Dakota, police, Somali, unwelcoming communities | Tagged: employment discrimination, jamestown, North Dakota, refugee employment, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, refugee resettlement program, refugees, Somali refugees | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 16, 2010
The numbers of refugees resettled to South Carolina has increased steadily since 2006, and most refugees are resettled to the Columbia area, according to an article in The Augusta Chronicle. Lutheran Family Services in South Carolina had problems in 2004 when residents of Cayce said they did not want Somali Bantus in their community.
South Carolina has about 150 refugees in the program now, with about 40 percent from Burma and 40 percent from Iraq.
If refugees have a family or friend in some part of South Carolina, they are typically sent there.
About 75 percent come with no ties and stay in the Columbia area. Numbers of refugees fleeing war or persecution have increased steadily since 2006, when the Palmetto State had 123 refugees, with recent federal funding per year about $370,000, according to federal data.
Sometimes residents pose a challenge.
The most notable resistance in South Carolina took place in 2004, when residents of Cayce said they did not want Somali Bantus in their community.
Residents said their schools could not accommodate the refugees’ children and that their tribal culture and Muslim faith were too foreign.
“LFS decided not to challenge that,” Jazic said. “We did not want to put refugees in a situation where they would not be welcome. Thank goodness there were others who said, ‘We can deal with it and work it out.’ ” here
Posted in Burma/Myanmar, Iraqi, Somali Bantu, Lutheran Family Services of the Carolinas, faith-based, unwelcoming communities, South Carolina | Tagged: refugees, resettlement, refugee resettlement program, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, Lutheran Family Services in South Carolina, Somali Bantus, Columbia, Palmetto State, South Carolina, Cayce, South Carolina DSS, south carolina Department of Social Services | Leave a Comment »
Christopher Coen
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