At this hour, Hurricane Dolly does not appear to be a powerful storm that will cause major damage or trigger evacuations.  However, the potential path of the storm – towards the border of the Texas Gulf Coast and Mexico – underscores an issue that has been brewing for several months.  What will the Border Patrol do in event of an evacuation in Texas or elsewhere with regards to identity checkpoints? 

 

On May 16, the San Antonio Express-News reported that the Border Patrol would maintain identity checkpoints in the Rio Grande Valley:

 

Ending years of speculation about the fate of the Rio Grande Valley’s unauthorized immigrants during a hurricane evacuation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has confirmed it will check the citizenship of people boarding buses to leave the Valley and arriving at inland traffic checkpoints.

 

Those determined to be in the country illegally will be taken to detention centers away from the hurricane’s path and later processed for deportation.

 

“It’s business as usual at the checkpoints,â€� said Dan Doty, spokesman for CBP’s Rio Grande Valley sector. “We’ll still check everybody.â€� – “ID Still Required In Valley Disaster,â€� San Antonio Express-News, May 16, 2008

 

But the article indicates the CBP may be more lax in the event of an evacuation so as not to risk the lives of immigrants and non-immigrants alike.  However, the article also notes that the Border Patrol won’t say that they will be lax in public so that they do not appear to be soft or open to an influx of immigrants during a disaster. 

 

At a recent discussion with reporters, Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas said he didn’t expect the Border Patrol to publicize a policy on the checkpoints for fear of inviting a free-for-all for unauthorized traffic. The unofficial word, he said, was that agents recognized they’d have to be more lax amid a disaster.

 

But Tuesday, a reporter photographing a mock evacuation for the Rio Grande Guardian Web site saw Border Patrol agents rehearsing citizenship document checks of people boarding buses. CBP’s Doty confirmed this was the planned procedure and said those determined to be unauthorized immigrants would be taken to separate shelters, likely detention centers in Laredo or San Antonio. He said the highway checkpoints would stay open. – “ID Still Required In Valley Disaster,â€� San Antonio Express-News, May 16, 2008

 

Just last week, the Texas Civil Rights Review published a Q&A on a lawsuit filed to force the Border Patrol to publicly articulate their policy.  First published in the Mid-Valley Town Crier of McAllen, Texas,  Nick Braune interviewed Texas Civil Rights Project attorney Corinna Spencer-Scheurich.

 

Nick Braune: The Monitor reported that a number of groups, including LUPE and Brownsville’s Proyecto Digna, have filed a suit to find out evacuation procedures and policies. One lawyer was quoted as saying that the Border Patrol is being “reckless” and that they would be “creating a danger for everyone” if they start asking people for identification during an evacuation. Are those comments too strong?

 

Corinna Spencer-Scheurich: No, I don’t think they are too strong. Border Patrol is being reckless because the most important thing in advance of a disaster is to have a plan that everyone knows. We saw what happened when Houston residents tried to evacuate before Hurricane Rita. It took more than 24 hours for people to reach Dallas. Only half of the residents ended up evacuating. Luckily the main force of Rita did not hit Houston. What is clear is that in the event of a hurricane evacuation, everyone needs to be prepared and we have to get people to safety as quickly as possible.

 

Can you imagine the additional hold up at the Falfurrias checkpoint if Border Patrol is checking IDs? Holiday weekends are bad enough! And some people will not evacuate, risking harm, because they know they might run out of gas because of the gridlock or because they might have other problems. People who might have trouble proving their immigration status or have family members with that problem are also not going to flee. This is a humanitarian disaster waiting to happen. – “Forcing the Border Patrol to Answer a Question,� Texas Civil Right Review, July 17, 2008

 

Recall that many immigrant families include a mix of “legal� and “illegal� members, so if the Border Patrol does not articulate their policy to the community, what are people to do.  Flee a natural disaster and risk my family or don’t flee a natural disaster and risk my family?  What would you do?

 

Dolly may not trigger such dire decision making, but as we move to some of the predicted 15 named storms this season, other storms might.

 

Quotes about immigration to the United States…

 

The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations And Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges, if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.

– George Washington

 

We came to America, either ourselves or in the persons of our ancestors, to better the ideals of men, to make them see finer things than they had seen before, to get rid of the things that divide and to make sure of the things that unite.

– Woodrow Wilson

 

Whether one traces his Americanism back three centuries to the Mayflower, or three years to the steerage, is not half so important as whether his Americanism of today is real and genuine. No matter by what various crafts we came here, we are all now in the same boat.

– Calvin Coolidge

 

Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life.

– John F. Kennedy

I received a letter just before I left office from a man. I don’t know why he chose to write it, but I’m glad he did. He wrote that you can go to live in France, but you can’t become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Italy, but you can’t become a German, an Italian. He went through Turkey, Greece, Japan and other countries. But he said anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to live in the United States and become an American.

– Ronald Reagan

 

Nearly all Americans have ancestors who braved the oceans—liberty-loving risk takers in search of an ideal—the largest voluntary migrations in recorded history. Across the Pacific, across the Atlantic, they came from every point on the compass—many passing beneath the Statue of Liberty—with fear and vision, with sorrow and adventure, fleeing tyranny or terror, seeking haven, and all seeking hope…Immigration is not just a link to America’s past; it’s also a bridge to America’s future.

– George H. W. Bush

 

More than any other nation on Earth, America has constantly drawn strength and spirit from wave after wave of immigrants. In each generation, they have proved to be the most restless, the most adventurous, the most innovative, the most industrious of people. Bearing different memories, honoring different heritages, they have strengthened our economy, enriched our culture, renewed our promise of freedom and opportunity for all….

– Bill Clinton

 

It says something about our country that people around the world are willing to leave their homes and leave their families and risk everything to come to America. Their talent and hard work and love of freedom have helped make America the leader of the world. And our generation will ensure that America remains a beacon of liberty and the most hope fill society this world has ever known.

– George W. Bush

 

I’m troubled by [the immigration debate]. When [my family] came from England during the war, people said, “You are welcome here. What can we do to help?” I am a beneficiary of the American people’s generosity, and I hope we can have comprehensive immigration legislation that allows this country to continue to be enriched by those who were not born here.

– Madeline Albright

 

Our attitude toward immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise as far as their talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of birth should affect their chances.

– Robert F. Kennedy

 

The United States should be “an asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty.â€�

– Thomas Paine

 

I’ve always argued that this country has benefited immensely from the fact that we draw people from all over the world.

– Alan Greenspan

 

Immigrant families have integrated themselves into our communities, establishing deep roots. Whenever they have settled, they have made lasting contributions to the economic vitality and diversity of our communities and our nation. Our economy depends on these hard-working, taxpaying workers. They have assisted America in its economic boom.

– Senator Edward M. Kennedy

 

When you enlisted into the armed forces you swore to support and defend a Constitution that did not yet fully apply to you. You chose to endure the same sacrifices as your fellow comrades in arms to preserve the freedom of a land that was not yet fully yours. You accepted that you might have to pay the ultimate price on behalf of a nation to which you did not fully belong. Now, you will officially become citizens of the United States, a country to which each of you has already borne true faith and allegiance in your hearts and your deeds.

– Gen. Petraeus addressing a naturalization ceremony for 161 at Camp Victory, Iraq, on Independence Day, 2007

 

They were willing to fight for a country that they weren’t even citizens of. I wish all Americans felt that way about their country.

– Capt. Kirk Thorsteinson during a naturalization ceremony in Kuwait, June 2007

 

“Dear America, I am an Arab American, but a proud American just like you (…) On that dreadful day, September 11th, my duffel bag was already packed and I was waiting to answer the call of duty. Why was I ready? I also want a better and safer America just like you. When it comes to patriotism and loyalty, I am red, white and blue, just like you.”

— Sergeant Mahmoud El-Yousef in an open letter to American news outlets, February 2007

 

…I felt I had an obligation to serve the country that helped give my family a new life. It was my way of thanking America

– U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Jamal S. Baadani, a native of Egypt and founder of the Association of Patriotic Arab Americans

 

I choose the citizenship because I believe what the Americans believe, their value system, their freedoms

– Army Chaplain Jin Hee Chang, a native of South Korea

 

You who have been born in America, I wish I could make you understand what it is like [to] not be an American – [to] not have been an American all your life — and then, suddenly, with the words of a man in flowing robes to be one, for that moment and forever after. One moment you belong with your fathers to a million dead yesterdays — the next you belong with America to a million unborn tomorrows

– Naturalized American citizen George Magar Mardikian, a native of Armenia who was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Harry S Truman for his contributions to his adopted country

 

I’m glad to be in America and an American at the same time, that’s happiness. A country you can express yourself, you have freedom of speech and everything you want to do, and you can do it. It’s wonderful.

– Lilian Loro, Sudan refugee who is now a naturalized American citizen

 

I was once asked by a reporter why as a non-citizen of the United States, I volunteered to join the military and serve in Vietnam. I answered, “I was always an American in my heart.

– Alfred Rascón, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient

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We are witnessing an unprecedented period best described as enforcement on steroids without reform.  The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, which follows government law enforcement data closely, indicates that by several measures we are in a new era of unleashing the Department of Homeland Security and the courts in the war on immigrants. 

 

TRAC reports that immigration-related convictions were up 96.3% in February 2008 compared to the same month in 2007 (see “Immigration Convictions for February 2008�) and that the U.S. set a new record for immigration-related prosecutions in March 2008 (see “Surge in Immigration Prosecutions Continues�).

 

[A]ccording to timely data from the Justice Department. The total of 9,350 such prosecutions was up by almost 50% from the previous month and 73% from the previous year.

 

The dramatic changes in the number of defendants charged with immigration-related charges are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United states Attorneys…

 

The spurt in the prosecutions of individuals charged with various immigration crimes is the result of “Operation Streamline.” Under this recently intensified administration policy, according to news reports and interviews with federal public defenders, the government has charged a rapidly growing number of undocumented aliens with various federal criminal charges in selected districts along the Mexican border. “Operation Streamline” began as a pilot project in December 2005 in Del Rio, Texas. – “Surge in Immigration Prosecutions Continues,â€� Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).

 

The editorial writers at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday addressed this new enforcement era with an editorial headlined “Abhorring a vacuum: The absence of comprehensive immigration reform from Congress is resulting in a crackdown — a repudiation of who we are as a nation.�

 

A recent New York Times article described how authorities throughout the country are using existing laws to round up illegal immigrants, with deportation as the end game. This is a nuclear, enforcement-only approach that disintegrates families and local economies.

 

Workplace raids occurred last month in Postville, Iowa, at Agriprocessors Inc., the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse. They resulted in 260 illegal immigrants sentenced to five months in prison on charges related to federal identity theft laws.

 

In Florida’s Santa Rosa County, the sheriff had businesses searched for illegal immigrants, making arrests on charges of violating state identity theft laws.

 

One consequence of this is precisely what immigration foes want: more apprehensions, more deportations and a pall of fear cast over the immigrant community and those who would join them. Other consequences, however, include a repudiation of who we are as a nation of immigrants and swimming against a global tide that makes labor as fluid as goods. – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial, “Abhorring a vacuum,� June 16, 2008

Media Matters Action Network released their highly anticipated report on Lou Dobbs, Glen Beck, and Bill O’Reilly.  Fear and Loathing in Prime Time, written by MMAN Senior Researcher Paul Waldman is a must read for immigrant advocates.

 

In addition to taking on the common myths repeated endlessly by these and other TV and radio talkers, they also have a petition, in English and Spanish, which reads:

 

I call on the following hosts to stop feeding anti-immigrant hysteria by repeating myths and misleading claims about undocumented immigrants…Further, I call on the following cable news channels to step up and provide the American public with a fair and accurate portrayal of immigration issues.

 

It also gives you the opportunity to send the petition with a comment.

 

As you might expect from one of the thinnest skins in broadcasting, Mr. Dobbs is not taking the report well.  The next day, Lou called Paul Waldman onto the proverbial carpet as a guest on his show.  The Center for American Progress’ Think Progress blogs about that here, and TIME’s Joe Klein (aka “Anonymous�) blogs about it here.

 

When the National Immigration Forum mentioned Mr. Dobbs in a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Dobbs’s producer was inviting the author on for a dressing down by Dobbs by 4:00 p.m. that day.  The segment was scheduled, but Dobbs apparently backed down because CNN failed to follow up.  Perhaps he had someone better to yell at that day.

 

Don’t miss this item from Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts on the wife of a local policeman, shot to death by an immigrant in the country illegally, who is calling for compromise and comprehensive immigration reform:

 

The woman stepped to the podium and faced a phalanx of television cameras in a room packed with reporters. She had no notes and needed none.

 

“This country,� she said, “is in need of comprehensive immigration reform.�

 

In certain circles, she would be immediately branded a member of the open borders crowd, a traitor who sides with those who seek to turn our country into Mexico.

 

That’s how it is with the illegal immigration debate, where there is black and there is white and there is absolutely nothing in between.

 

You’re either for us or against us; red, white and true blue or a lover of the lawless.

 

And yet there is Julie Erfle, a woman who has more of a right to outrage than any of us. — Laurie Robert’s Arizona Republic Blog, “A murdered officer’s widow speaks out, “ May 24, 2008

 

It is a very powerful story about a powerful messenger.

 

Last but not least, as part of their fantastic series on immigration at AlterNet.Org, today’s postings include an article by Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, and former Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum.  The article dissects and analyzes what went wrong with comprehensive immigration reform in 2007 and what needs to happen to get it back on the table early in the new President’s term.

On behalf of the National Immigration Forum, the ImmPolitic blog, and all those who believe immigration is one of the best things about America, we extend our prayers and thoughts to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and his family.  The AP announced today that he has been diagnosed with a tumor and all of us who work on immigration – and all of us period – wish him a speedy recovery.  He is one of the most important voices for sane and generous policies towards immigrants and refugees, and one of the greatest defenders of the poor, the weak, and the downtrodden in every corner of the world.