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Press Releases
Faith Leaders Gather to Pray and to Press President Obama to Stand Up for ALL Families Atlanta, Georgia, Monday, August 9, 2010- On August 11th ABLE, Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment, clergy, leaders, and community members will lead a prayer service at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Headquarters in downtown Atlanta to press President Obama to take Administrative Action with an immediate end to detentions and deportations of noncriminal immigrants, and to 287 (g) agreements. Our broken immigration policy is tearing families and our communities apart. Faith leaders leaders will bring pictures of their families and then tear them up, placing the pieces around a picture of an intact Obama family. Faith leaders from other Gamaliel affiliates throughout the country will hold simultaneous actions in eight states across the country. “President Obama must show leadership now, since more families are being torn apart during his administration than in previous administrations. The heartache for children and families continues under his watch” says Rev. Tracy Blagec of ABLE. “People of faith from across the States are calling on President Obama to do the right thing by stopping the detentions and deportations of immigrants who are noncriminals, and ending the 287(g) agreements across the country that have been proven ineffective and have led to racial profiling.” Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 Time: 11am Where: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Headquarters 180 Spring Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30303 ABLE, Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment, is a multi-racial, interfaith regional coalition of congregations, unions and grassroots organizations that develops and empowers ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their communities for the common good of all. The Gamaliel Foundation is a nationally recognized network of grassroots community organizations that provides training and strategic advice to help empower local leaders. ### Faith Community Supports Thousands Seeking Union Representation and a Seat at the Table Atlanta, GA July 12, 2010- As security, aviation, and flight safety professionals, Delta Airlines and Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) employees are on the front lines of Homeland Security and Aviation Safety for all passengers and travelers through the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. On Thursday, July 15, 2010 from 6pm-7:30pm, at the Airport Workers Coalition Town Hall Meeting, Delta Airlines and TSA employees will talk about why they deserve a strong united voice at work through union representation. The meeting will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Atlanta Airport, 1325 Virginia Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30344. The Atlanta Solidarity Campaign stands in support of the 15,000 Delta and TSA employees who live, work, or are based in Atlanta as they seek union representation that will ensure them the opportunity to fight to raise the standard of living for themselves and their families, and to win improvements in the working conditions, wages, benefits, safety, and security of their jobs. Delta’s 2008 merger with a mostly unionized Northwest Airlines left 55,000 Delta employees without union representation. Flight attendants desire to organize a union with the Flight Attendants Union, and baggage handlers, mechanics, and customer service representatives are seeking to organize with the Machinists’ Union. Over 40,000 TSA employees wish to have their collective bargaining rights restored by the Obama Administration after having them stripped away in 2001 by President Bush. TSA Security Officers are forming a union with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). Union representation ensures a voice and a seat at the bargaining table for thousands of employees who want a say when decisions are being made about the pay, benefits, safety, security, and working conditions of their jobs. The Atlanta Solidarity Campaign is the community standing alongside and helping to raise living standards for the thousands of our neighbors, friends, and members of our families and congregations, who are employees of Delta Airlines and TSA. Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment stands alongside the Delta Airlines and TSA employees and supports their fight for justice in the workplace. CONTACT: Patrick Scott
National Deputy
Director, AFL-CIO Organizing Institute
pscott@aflcio.org ABLE VP Communications 404-218-7913
ABLE is a multi-racial, interfaith regional coalition of congregations, unions and grassroots organizations that develops and empowers ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their communities for the common good of all.
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People of Faith March for Immigrant Justice on May 1st; Join Thousands Calling for Comprehensive Immigration Reform for Immediate Release: Atlanta, GA, Tuesday, April 27, 2010- In its continued campaign for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, ABLE, Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment, has organized a March for People of Faith at 9:30am on May 1, 2010, International Worker’s Day, and in honor of the upcoming National Day of Prayer on May 6th.
The pilgrimage will begin with a prayer service at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 25 Boulevard, NE, Atlanta, GA 30312. ABLE faith leaders will walk together, stopping to pray at churches along the route and at Grady Memorial Hospital, before joining other immigrants’ rights supporters in a 5,000+ person march around the Georgia State Capitol.
The March for Dignity; March for Reform march and rally, organized by Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), ABLE, and other grassroots community organizations, follows the massive mobilization of over 24 busloads of Georgians to Washington, DC on March 21st. Two hundred ABLE leaders traveled to our nation’s capitol to demand a solution to our broken immigration system. The March 21st March on Washington for Comprehensive Immigration Reform inspired Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to publish a blueprint for a reform bill. ABLE leaders are counting on this nationwide May 1st action to spur further action from Congress and the President around this pressing issue of Comprehensive Immigration Reform for families, fairness, and human rights.
ABLE leaders hold immigration reform as a top priority for our country that needs to be addressed this year. As people of faith, our religious traditions teach us at least three common things: God loves everyone equally, God is always on the side of fairness - not cruelty, and families belong together. For this reason ABLE has organized the March for People of Faith and joined forces with GLAHR to unite immigration supporters across the city. The March for Dignity; March for Reform will be a multi-generational, multi- cultural event that reflects the broad support that exists in Georgia for real change for immigrants.
Contact: Hilda Reardon Renee Cail ABLE / St. John Neumann Catholic Church ABLE / First Afrikan Presbyterian Church 770-366-3681 617-320-3910 hilda.reardon@turner.com disoni7@yahoo.com
ABLE is a multi-racial, interfaith regional coalition of congregations, unions and grassroots organizations that develops and empowers ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their communities for the common good of all.
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Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council and Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment host April 28, 2010 Workers Memorial Day Event FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Atlanta, GA Monday, April 26, 2010--The event, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 25 Boulevard, NE, Atlanta, GA, 30312 begins at 7:30 PM. The Atlanta event, one of many held across the nation will remember workers who have been killed or injured on the job and renew the fight for strong safety and health protections. The recent tragedies in West Virginia and Louisiana are stark reminders of the reality that workers face every day as they work to feed their families. Across the United States, 16 workers a week are killed in an on the job accident. Metro Atlanta has had its share of on the job tragedy. Recently a worker was crushed to death in a machine shop. Every day workers experience on the job accidents that leave many scarred and injured for life.
With 14 million workers unemployed, we need job creation, but we must make sure those jobs are good jobs and that workers are protected. On Workers Memorial Day we lift up the need for good jobs, where workers have the freedom to form unions, have a voice on the job and can speak up without fear of retribution when they witness unsafe conditions.
April 28th 7:30 PM – 25 Boulevard NE, Atlanta GA 30312. Parking is available on Edgewood Ave. between Boulevard and Howell.
Contact: Janine Brown AFL-CIO Community Services Liaison United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta & Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council 301-651-5953 ###
1,200+ Geordians Will Travel to Washington D.C. to Demand Comprehensive Immigration
Reform
Reform this Year Washington D.C. for a national rally and march to urge President Obama and the U.S. Congress to act upon comprehensive immigration reform this year. A send off and press conference will take place at 5:30pm, Saturday, March 20, 2010 at Plaza Fiesta 4166 Buford Highway, NE, Atlanta, GA 30345.
The 1200+ representatives from Georgia will be joining 100,000 supporters from across the country to Reform Immigration FOR America. Supporters plan to make sure that Georgia is heard will make to make sure their voices are heard this year. The sponsoring organizations, which include Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE), the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) and the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) will hold a press conference just prior to leaving.
Georgia representatives from the Latino, African American, Asian American, and Faith communities will underscore the urgency for passing comprehensive immigration reform that is just and humane. Furthermore, community members will share their personal
stories which
emphasize the urgency of passing legislation this year.
WHAT:
comprehensive immigration reform in a just, safe, orderly, dignified and humane process and as part of the Reform Immigration FOR
America
campaign.
ABOUT
THE CAMPAIGN:
immigration reform groups that have joined together to get comprehensive immigration reform passed. For more information please visit www.reformimmigrationforamerica.org or www.reformamigratoriaproamerica.org
###
CONTROVERSIAL 287g TOO EXPENSIVE FOR GWINNETT COUNTY
Lawrenceville, GA, July 19, 2009 -- ABLE, Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment, calls on the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners to cut the expensive and controversial 287(g) program. 287(g) is a section of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act that allows state and local law enforcement to authorize designated officers to perform immigration enforcement functions that are normally left to the federal government. Gwinnett’s budget, currently so badly diminished that the county is facing $225 million in cuts to services and jobs, cannot afford the program. The county has already eliminated 103 county positions and proposes to eliminate 250 more, including 53 police officers. During Tuesday’s board meeting the commissioners will discuss which programs to eliminate.
ABLE calls on the Board to cut 287(g) from its budget because the county cannot afford such an expensive program, particularly since the agreement has been proven ineffective in ridding communities of the hardened criminals it was designed to target. Additionally, 287(g) is known to lead to increases in racial profiling. A program of this nature creates distrust between immigrant communities and law enforcement, as it prevents immigrants from reporting crimes.
ABLE proposes seeking more effective solutions that will assist law enforcement in keeping Gwinnett County safe. The proposed elimination of additional police officers makes it even more important for Gwinnett County law enforcement, congregations, community organizations, and immigrant communities to partner together in reporting and combating crime. Gwinnett County's financial crisis makes it necessary that these solutions not add an additional financial burden to the residents of the county. ABLE is willing to facilitate law enforcement in engaging immigrant communities in order to find those solutions.
ABLE is a multi-racial, interfaith regional coalition of congregations, unions and grassroots organizations that develops and empowers ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their communities for the common good of all. Contact: Rev. Tracy Blagec 404-218-7913 tblagec@aol.com ###
Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment joins Georgia Detention Watch at ICE Headquarters to
demand Justice for
Immigrant Detainees
and the death of ICE detainee Roberto Martinez Medina.
inhumane conditions at detention centers, and even the threat of
death.
mentioned issues and future ICE activity in Georgia.
ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their
communities for the common good of all. ###
ICE and Gwinnett County Sheriff Refuse to Meet with Citizens
Atlanta, GA, March 30, 2009 - Despite the controversy surrounding the 287(g) program active in Cobb, Hall, and Whitfield Counties and pending in Gwinnett, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway have consistently refused to discuss the matter with Gwinnett citizens.
Section 287(g) of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act is under the scrutiny of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), which reported that the program does not focus on the serious criminals it was intended to target. Instead, ordinary people have been taken to jail for minor or racially profiled traffic stops, and then deported. This tears apart families and erodes trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities. The program will cost the county a projected $1,200,000.00 in staffing per year, a price too high for taxpayers in a county currently discussing how to deal with budget deficits. Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE) has requested, over the past seven months, separate meetings with ICE and the Gwinnett County Sheriff in order to discuss these concerns. All requests have been denied. U.S Senator Saxby Chambliss’ office attempted to clarify the matter for ABLE, and ICE sent them an email suggesting "that [ABLE] meet with your local officials to discuss the (287g) initiative. They would be the ones best equipped to answer questions. Unfortunately, ICE is not willing to hold a meeting with your organization.”
However, when ABLE scheduled a meeting with that local official, Gwinnett Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Stacey Bourbonnais cancelled the meeting a few days later, stating that because Gwinnett residents were not going to change the Sheriff’s mind and the Sheriff was not going to change the residents’ position about 287(g), the Sheriff saw no point in meeting. Citizens are concerned about the lack of accountability to tax-paying United States citizens and Gwinnett County residents on the part of Atlanta’s ICE office and the Gwinnett County Sheriff. ABLE calls on ICE to suspend approval of the 287(g) agreement in Gwinnett County until Felicia Skinner of the Atlanta ICE office and Sheriff Butch Conway appropriately address citizen concerns, and until the Department of Homeland Security and the GAO confirm the efficacy of the program. Instead of local enforcement of federal immigration laws, ABLE calls for Immigration Reform that includes smart enforcement and a "pay a fine, get in line" approach for immigrants currently in the US without documents.
ABLE is a multi-racial, interfaith regional coalition of congregations, unions and grassroots organizations that develops and empowers ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their communities for the common good of all.
Contact: Rev. Tracy L. Blagec 404-218-7913 ablega.org ###
Gwinnett Citizens Bring Concerns about Costly Deportation Program to Commission
Atlanta, GA, March 23, 2009 - Gwinnett County citizens say 287(g) is too expensive for Gwinnett County. Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE) will bring concerns about the proposed 287(g) program to the Gwinnett Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, March 24th at 7pm. In 2008, the commission approved funding for the program, which would authorize deputies of the Sheriff’s department to act as federal agents and begin the deportation process. The Sheriff’s website projects that one year of staffing the program would cost $1.2 million. However, the county is now facing such financial hardship that it is reducing funding to programs such as the Children’s shelter, Council for Seniors, School Crossing Guards, and Family and Children Services.
Section 287(g) of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act is a controversial program currently under the scrutiny of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), also known as "the investigative arm of Congress." The GAO reported that the 287(g) program is not focused on the serious criminals it was intended to target. Instead, ordinary people have been taken to jail on routine or racially profiled traffic stops, and then deported. Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway applied for the 287(g) agreement in March of 2008 and is still awaiting approval from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The 287(g) program is contrary to the Biblical instruction: “Do not mistreat a foreigner or oppress him, for you were foreigners in Egypt” (Exodus 22:21). ABLE seeks instead, national immigration reform that would include smart enforcement and a “pay a fine, get in line” process for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S..
Members from St. John Neumann Catholic Church, St. Lawrence Catholic Church, Alianza Cristiana Misionera, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Gwinnett, the Evangelical Fellowship of Pastors and Ministers of Atlanta (CEPMA), and St. Patrick’s Catholic Church will state their concerns in Tuesday’s Public Hearing.
ABLE is a multi-racial, interfaith regional coalition of congregations, unions and grassroots organizations that develops and empowers ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their communities for the common good of all.
Contact: Rev. Tracy L. Blagec Hilda Reardon 404-218-7913 770-366-3681 tblagec@aol.com hreardon@bellsouth.net ablega.org ###
Interfaith Immigration Coalition & ABLE to Hold Prayer Vigil for Immigrant Justice: Dios Escucha El Clamor Del Pueblo Atlanta, GA, February 3, 2009 - The Interfaith Immigrant Coalition and Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE) will hold an interfaith prayer service on Thursday, February 12th 2009 at 7:30pm at Christ Church Episcopal, 400 Holcomb Bridge Road, Norcross, GA 30071. The groups will pray for: an end to unscrupulous deportations and the spread of 287(g) agreements in Georgia counties; protection and just and humane treatment of immigrants and their families; the moral courage of our leaders in Congress to support Comprehensive Immigration Reform; and divine guidance and empowerment for the faith communities, organizations, and individuals who struggle for immigration justice. In March 2008, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department applied for the 287(g) agreement, which would allow local law enforcement officers to perform the duties of federal ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents. On January 12th, 2009 ICE began a 26-day fast-track expulsion effort in Gwinnett County, significantly increasing ICE staff in order to empty the jail of all undocumented immigrants. This was a calculated effort to expedite the approval of the Sheriff’s request for the 287(g) agreement since the county has not been able to meet its requirements. Anti-immigrant measures in Gwinnett and other Georgia counties increase the likelihood of human rights abuses like racial profiling, which affects every person of color and creates fear and distrust between law enforcement and immigrant communities. Piecemeal efforts like these jeopardize the whole community’s safety because members of the community question police motives and immigrants are afraid to report crime. Instead, the United States needs Comprehensive Immigration Reform at a national level. Because we believe that God hears the clamor of the people, immigrants, communities of faith, and organizations working for justice for immigrants will join their hearts and voices together in prayer. The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is a partnership of faith-based organizations committed to enacting fair and humane immigration reform that reflects the mandate to welcome the stranger and treat all human beings with dignity and respect. The coalition works together to advocate for just and equitable immigration policies, educate faith communities, and serve immigrant populations around the country. ABLE is a multi-racial, interfaith regional coalition of congregations, unions and grassroots organizations that develops and empowers ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their communities for the common good of all.
Contact:
Dr. Aquiles Ernesto
Martinez
Rev. Tracy L. Blagec aem@reinhardt.edu tblagec@aol.com
### CONCERNED CITIZENS JOIN TOGETHER TO URGE STATE LEGISLATURE TO STOP CUTS; INSTITUTE NEW TAX On February 3, 2009, at 10AM, on the steps of the Capitol (Washington Street side) concerned citizens will call for the following: 1. No cuts to the school nursing program 2. Fund a statewide trauma network 3. Adopt a $1/pack cigarette tax which will generate approximately $450 million (per the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute) Faced with a $2.2 billion budget shortfall, Governor Perdue seeks to eliminate the $30 million school nurses program. Concerned citizens see this as short-sighted, with potentially disastrous health and legal consequences, and urge Perdue to enhance the budget through a $1/pack cigarette tax. ABLE (Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment) is organizing representatives from their member congregations and unions, as well as local area community organizations to join together on Tuesday, February 3rd to express our concern about Governor Perdue’s proposed elimination of the school nurse program. Georgia’s health care system is in a crisis. These cuts would only harm an already damaged system. ABLE wants to be sure that our voices and those of others who will be negatively impacted by the proposed cuts will be heard. We are inviting organizations to join us next Tuesday for a Press Conference on the Capitol steps. We will open with a prayer, explain our purpose, deliver letters to the Governor and the Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations and Health and Human Services Committees; and encourage our constituents to write, fax or email their senators and representatives in support of our concerns. For further information, contact: Debra Greenwood, Vice-President, Gwinnett County (404) 234-2478
Sherita Edwards, ABLE Staff Organizer (678) 271-7443 ### ABLE Joins National Prayer Vigils for Comprehensive Immigration Reform Atlanta, GA, January 20, 2009 - Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE) will hold a prayer vigil on Wednesday, January 21st 2009 at 10am at the Atlanta ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) office located at 180 Spring Street, SW. The inauguration of President Barack Obama has given the country renewed hope for just and humane immigration reform. On the first day of the new administration ABLE and hundreds of faith and grassroots organizations will be gathering at federal ICE offices across the country and in Washington, D.C. to celebrate a new movement that will transform our society so that immigrants will not have to fear raids, families will stay together, and no one will live in the shadows. The United states is not a country of anti-immigrants and not a country founded on hate and exclusion. The former administration's focus on enforcement instead of reform has led to repressive and ineffective immigration policies. ABLE believes that comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level must come now with the new administration and the new Congress, and we are calling on people of faith to pray for the change they wish to see, and to act by contacting their Congresspeople. At the local level, ABLE is calling for an immediate halt to ICE's 26-day expulsion effort in Gwinnett County to fast-track immigrants out of the jail and immediately into deportation proceedings. ABLE is a multi-racial, interfaith regional coalition of congregations, unions and grassroots organizations that develops and empowers ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their communities for the common good of all.
Contact: Rev. Tracy L. Blagec Willa Rose Johnson ABLE ABLE 542 Moreland Avenue, SE 542 Moreland Avenue, SE Atlanta, GA 30316 Atlanta, GA 30316 ablega.org ablega.org 404-218-7913 404-218-7548 404-377-4884 (fax) 404-377-4884 tblagec@aol.com wrjohnson@gamaliel.org
### ABLE Prays for an End to Unjust Deportations Atlanta, GA, January 16, 2009 - Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE) will hold a prayer vigil on Wednesday, January 21st 2009 at 10am at the Atlanta ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) office located at 180 Spring Street, SW. ABLE leaders, pastors, and concerned citizens will pray for the following:
On January 12th, 2009, ICE and Sheriff Butch Conway began a collaborative effort to empty the Gwinnett County jail of undocumented immigrants. ABLE understands that this stepped up enforcement effort was initiated by ICE. It is an effort to expedite the approval of the sheriff’s request for a 287(g) agreement. Sheriff Conway requested approval for 287(g) in March 2008. The county has been awaiting approval since that time because it has not met ICE requirements. ABLE opposes both the 26-day fast-track expulsion program and the 287(g) agreement in Gwinnett and all Georgia counties. The fast-tracking measure was timed immediately before the change of our country’s administration, when we know that ICE will revise its tactics. Partial and insufficient solutions to the broken federal immigration system are prone to human rights violations like racial profiling. Public safety is not enhanced because the target is not the most violent or dangerous criminals, but all foreign born inmates, many of whom have been detained for minor offenses like driving without a license. ABLE is particularly concerned about these immigrants, community members, mothers, fathers, church-goers, and business owners, who are being targeted by law enforcement and treated like criminals because they are foreign-born. This leads to erosion of trust between law enforcement and the community, and a compromise of public safety because immigrants do not report criminal activity in their communities for fear of being detained and deported. Motivated by these concerns, ABLE made several attempts to schedule a meeting with Sheriff Conway, which he agreed to but then cancelled after researching ABLE’s stance, indicating his unwillingness to be in conversation with his constituents. ABLE is a multi-racial, interfaith regional coalition of congregations, unions and grassroots organizations that develops and empowers ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their communities for the common good of all.
Contact: Rev. Tracy L. Blagec Willla Rose Johnson ABLE ABLE 542 Moreland Avenue, SE 542 Moreland Avenue, SE Atlanta, GA 30316 Atlanta, GA 30316 ablega.org ablega.org 404-218-7913 404-218-7549 404-377-4884 (fax) 404-377-4884 (fax) tblagec@aol.com wrjohnson@gamaliel.org
### GEORGIA DETENTION WATCH CONDEMNS GWINNETT FAST-TRACK EXPULSIONS OF IMMIGRANTS Atlanta, GA, January 12, 2008-- Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office will begin a 26-day program that will fast-track deportations of immigrants. Georgia Detention Watch condemns in the strongest terms this effort at expulsion of immigrants, many of whom are hard working members of our communities. We call for an immediate cessation of this intensified deportation program, as it is prone to serious human rights violations such as insufficient legal representation and racial profiling. Once in ICE’s custody, individuals are also often lost to their families as a result of being transferred from one detention center to another without notification. Gwinnett County’s purge of immigrants will thus cause even greater disruption of families and communities than has already resulted from our country’s broken immigration system. This fast-tracking program was apparently intended to expedite Gwinnett County’s entrance into a 287(g) Agreement with ICE. Georgia Detention Watch also opposes 287(g) Agreements in Gwinnett County and all other Georgia counties. We believe local enforcement of federal immigration laws leads to racial profiling as well as erosion of trust between immigrant communities and the police, making our communities less safe. Instead of these inhumane, short-term, and insufficient responses to a broken national system, we call for comprehensive immigration reform in order to restore dignity and fundamental human rights to all immigrants and make our communities safer.
Georgia Detention Watch is a coalition of organizations and individuals that advocates alongside immigrants to end the inhumane and unjust detention and law enforcement policies and practices directed against immigrant communities in our state. Our coalition includes activists, community organizers, persons of faith, lawyers, and many more.
For further information, please contact: Azadeh N. Shahshahani Georgia Detention Watch National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project Director ACLU Foundation of Georgia 75 Piedmont Ave., Suite 514 Atlanta, GA 30303 Phone (404) 523-6201
Rev. Tracy L. Blagec Georgia Detention Watch ABLE- Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment 542 Moreland Avenue, SE Atlanta, GA 30316 Phone (404) 218-7913 Fax (404) 377-4884 tblagec@aol.com ###
BLACK CLERGY OPPOSE 287(g) Concerned Black Clergy (CBC) will hold a press conference on Monday, December 22, 2008 at 11:30 AM at Vicars Community Center, 838 Cascade Road, Atlanta, GA 30310, to announce their opposition to Gwinnett County’s implementation of section 287(g) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway has applied for his county to participate in the program. CBC believes that 287(g) leads to racial profiling and disruption of families. They will be joined by a representative from Gwinnett’s immigrant community who will share her perspective on 287(g). Atlanta, GA, December 22, 2008 - - The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, Section 287(g), offers training to local law enforcement in identifying illegal immigrants and gives them the authority to enforce certain laws in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security. At the current time, Cobb County, Hall County, Whitfield County and Georgia State Police have obtained Memoranda of Agreement for participation in 287(g). CBC feels that 287(g) seriously increases the risk of illegal racial profiling, which has already been reported by some Latino churches in Gwinnett County. The agreement leads to the deportation of mothers and fathers of U.S. citizen children. We must address the issue of illegal immigration in ways that protect the security of the United States, keep criminals out of our country, but also provide a path to citizenship for the millions of immigrants who came to this country seeking a better life and have broken no laws since their arrival. We believe immigration is a complex issue that is best addressed at the FEDERAL level. It is imperative that we unite with our Latino brothers and sisters who are facing unprecedented scapegoating in light of our national economic crisis. There is enough room at the table for all of us. Black, Brown, Yellow, Red, and White must unite for our common interests and goals. CBC asks other members of the African American community to stand with us in support of our Latino brothers and sisters as we join together to stop 287(g) in metropolitan Atlanta. CBC is an organization of primarily Black ministers (and laity) of predominantly Black congregations in Metropolitan Atlanta. Our mission is to speak as a prophetic voice to the issues and concerns of the Black community. For further information, please contact: Reverend Darrell D. Elligan, President Concerned Black Clergy 838 Cascade Road Atlanta, GA 30310 404-755-4900 Phone, 404-799-8623 Phone 404-755-9922 Fax pastorddelligan@bellsouth.net www.concernedblackclergy.org ###
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ABLE is a multi-racial, interfaith regional coalition of congregations, unions and grassroots organizations that develops
and empowers ordinary people to become leaders who effect change in their communities for the common good of all.