Read full newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/9a469413c84c/the-cmsc-celebrates-the-historicruling-ordering-the-release-of-detained-immigrant-minors-onda-del-nio-childrens-day-in-the-americas
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Congratulations Peter Schey, Carlos Holguin and the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law for your historic victory !
Nationwide court order issued requiring release of detained immigrant minors
In a significant victory for immigrant children, U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee has determined that the federal government has failed to meet its legal obligations to children in immigration custody during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dozens of immigrant children in federal custody across the country have tested positive for COVID-19. The Court Order issued today is available at this link.
Judge Gee supervises the government’s compliance with a settlement reached in 1997 between the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law and the government that sets the national standards on the conditions of minors’ detention and procedures for their prompt release to relatives living in the United States.
In March, the Center, which continues to serve as lead counsel for the class of detained children, filed an emergency motion asking the court to order the prompt release of all detained minors and that the government comply with recommendations issued by the Center for Disease Control for detention facilities. The. Center’s co-counsel are the National Center for Youth Law and the Immigration Law Clinic of the U.C. Davis School of Law.
On March 28 Judge Gee issued an emergency order which she later extended to April 24 requiring the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) which detains accompanied minors, and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) which detains unaccompanied minors, to promptly start releasing minors. The Center for Human Rights reports that hundreds of children were released over the past few weeks as a result of the court’s temporary restraining orders.
In today’s hearing held by video-conference, Judge Gee found ORR and ICE in violation of the 1997 Flores Settlement and required the government to “make every effort to promptly and safely release” children who have suitable custodians. The court stated that “under the current extraordinary circumstances in the midst of a pandemic,” the government’s obligation to release minors without unnecessary delay requires moving with greater speed to remove minors from congregate environments where a suitable custodian exists.”
Peter Schey, one of the attorneys who filed the original lawsuit in 1986 and continues as co-lead counsel in the case, said in response to the court order: “This court ruling simply requires the government to comply with an agreement it reached with us in 1997 by providing children with safe detention conditions and prompt family reunification with relatives living here. The Trump administration should have taken immediate steps to come into full compliance with the settlement as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic began to threaten the health and well-being of detained children. This ruling may very well prevent detained children from becoming very ill in the coming weeks, or worse dying while in federal custody. ”
The court found that the government violated the Flores settlement by not releasing minors without unnecessary delay, refusing to release minors to some relatives unless the relatives were first fingerprinted, and continuing children in custody even though their legal proceedings were ongoing and they therefore could not deported.
In recognizing the gravity of the current situation, the court quoted medical expert Dr. Julie DeAun Graves: “Postponing the release of children in facilities with known COVID-19 exposure is like leaving them in a burning house rather than going in to rescue them and take them to safety.”
The court also ordered two court-appointed Juvenile Coordinators to submit to the court reports detailing the government’s compliance with the court’s order and CDC’s COVID-19 recommendations, including plans to identify and protect children at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, and individualized assessments of children subject to removal orders.
Judge Gee and counsel for the children will continue to monitor the government’s compliance with this order and report back to the. court before a further hearing on May 22. We remain hopeful that the government will fulfill its obligations to safely and expeditiously release immigrant children to their sponsors and keep children in custody safe from COVID-19, as required by the Flores Settlement.
President Trump has repeatedly called on Congress and the courts to terminate the settlement, which he has called “a disaster.” To date these efforts have failed.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-derides-judge-flores-settlement-actually-named-after-1387928
Class counsel in Flores:
- Carlos R. Holguin crholguin@centerforhumanrights.org
- Peter A. Schey pschey@centerforhumanrights.org
Co-counsel include:
- Holly S Cooper hscooper@ucdavis.edu
- Daisy O Felt dofelt@ucdavis.edu,
- Diane de Gramont ddegramont@youthlaw.org
- Leecia Welch lwelch@youthlaw.org
- Neha Desai ndesai@youthlaw.org
- Kate Manning kate.manning@lawfoundation.org
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Judge finds government is violating protections for migrant children during pandemic
By: Camilo Montoya- Galvez ~ CBS News~ April 24, 2020
The federal judge overseeing a 1997 court settlement that governs the care of migrant children in U.S. government custody ordered the Trump administration on Friday to promptly release minors from immigration detention, finding yet again that officials are violating the long-standing agreement.
Judge Dolly Gee of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which detains migrant families with children, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which has custody over unaccompanied minors, are both violating the Flores Settlement Agreement during the coronavirus pandemic, for distinct reasons.
Over the years and throughout different administrations, Gee has found that the government has violated elements of the settlement, primarily its requirement that migrant children be released from custody without “unnecessary delay.” But Friday’s order considered the risks faced by immigrants detained in close quarters during a deadly, global pandemic. In a different order last month, Gee called immigration detention centers “hotbeds of contagion.”
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Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos Denuncia a la Secretaría de Educación de Estados Unidos
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Democrats: DeVos overstepped by blocking emergency aid to undocumented college students
By: Michael Stratford ~ Politico ~ April 27, 2020
Sens. Michael Bennet and Bob Menendez urged DeVos in a letter Monday to reverse her restrictions.
Congressional Democrats say Education Secretary Betsy DeVos exceeded her authority by cutting undocumented college students out of access to emergency federal aid to cover expenses like food, housing and child care.
Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) urged DeVos in a letter Monday to reverse her restrictions because the economic rescue law, H.R. 748 (116), included no explicit limitations on which students could receive $6 billion in emergency cash grants. The senators said that the grants should be available to hundreds of thousands of students illegally brought to the country as children but shielded from deportation under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Read Full Article Here
Por: Estrella TV ~ Abril 22, 2020
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Dreamers to get emergency aid from Cal State and University of California
By: Kery Murakami ~ Inside Higher Ed ~ April 29, 2020
University of California and Cal State say they will give emergency grants to DACA students, after education secretary excluded them from the stimulus bill.
While Democratic senators continue to criticize U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for excludingso-called DACA students from receiving emergency grants, the University of California and California State University systems said they will use their own funds to help the immigrant students during the pandemic.
The moves come after DeVos last week announced undocumented students brought illegally to the U.S. as children are not eligible for the $6 billion in emergency grants Congress set aside for college students in the CARES Act. The aid is designed to cover student costs such as housing after they’ve had their lives disrupted by campus closures and the move to online education during the crisis… Read Full Article Here
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Dreamers que podrían perder sus papeles enfrentan directamente al coronavirus en EEUU
Por: Gardenia Mendoza |La Opinión | 27 de Abril 2020
MEXICO – Cuando José Lara cursaba el cuarto año de primaria decidió que quería ser cirujano. El profesor preguntó quién quería meterle el cuchillo a un tiburón como parte de un proceso de disecación en las lecciones especiales de ciencias a las que fue invitado como alumno destacado en una escuela pública de Atlanta, a donde lo llevaron sus padres cuando tenía tres años.
—Por supuesto que yo fui el primero en levantar la mano — precisa.
Catorce años después, aunque con la vida más complicada sigue en pie con la misma ilusión, a pesar de los obstáculos que ha tenido que pasar, de las vueltas que ha tenido que dar para encaminarse a la escuela de medicina y de estar ahora en la primerísima línea del sistema de salud estadounidense como asistente médico de un cirujano en tiempos del coronavirus con una preocupación siempre presente,molesta como una… Leer el Articulo aqui
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Tijuana al borde de saturar los hospitales por personas con síntomas de COVID-19
Por: AGENCIAS, El Siglo Coahuila – Jueves 23 de Abril 2020
Los hospitales de Baja California están prácticamente rebasados por la demanda de atención de personas con síntomas de COVID-19, al tiempo que los casos positivos se multiplican. Este miércoles se alcanzó un nuevo máximo con 123 casos nuevos confirmados y 37 muertes en un solo día, reportó la Secretaría de Salud estatal.
Hasta el 22 de abril se contaron 975 casos positivos en el estado. Tijuana encabeza la lista con 557 (57%), le siguen Mexicali, con 364; Ensenada, con 14; Tecate, con 26; Playas de Rosarito, con 11, y tres en San Quintín-Vicente Guerrero. En defunciones, el total hasta ayer era de 133, de las que 86 (65%) se registraron también en Tijuana… Leer el articulo aqui
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OPINIONS AND COMMENTARY:
Los Mexicanos en Estados Unidos NO son una prioridad para el gobierno de AMLO
Por: Profesor Armando Vazquez-Ramos ~ Abril 30, 2020
El artículo de opinión de Roberto Velasco Álvarez, Washington Post en Español (April 20, 2020) contradice los hechos y niega el abandono de los 40 millones de Mexicanos que residen en Estados Unidos por el gobierno del presidente Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO).
Desde su comienzo, el gobierno de AMLO ha carecido de políticas y recursos correspondientes a lo que es mas del 25% de los Mexicanos que vivimos en EE.UU., como una nación mexicana en el exteriorque ha generado casi $40 billones de remesas anualmente a Mexico.
Aunque esto representa la divisa más alta para la economía de Mexico, el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo de AMLO no incluye políticas y recursos de apoyo para los connacionales que sostienen las economías de EE.UU. y Mexico con el sudor de su frente y el sacrificio de vivir en un país racista.
En su articulo porrista del gobierno de AMLO, Roberto Velasco Álvarez comenta que “nuestros connacionales, muchos indocumentados, ya resienten los estragos del coronavirus”, pero Mexico no toma responsabilidad ni tiene un plan de colaboración sobre la pandemia con los gobiernos de EE.UU. y de California como debería de existir, y que nosotros venimos impulsando con el gobernador Gavin Newsom… Leer el articulo aqui
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Mexicans in the U.S. are a priority for the AMLO government
By: Roberto Velasco Alvarez ~ The Washington Post~ April 20, 2020
Roberto Velasco Álvarez is General Director of Social Communication of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Mexico.
The millions of Mexicans in the United States face a historical crisis in the face of the pandemic that continues to spread. Our workforce continues to till the fieldsand daily expose their health to feed that nation. Our compatriots, many undocumented, already resent the ravages of the coronavirus. The planet is going through a deep crisis, with severe consequences in the United States, and Mexico’s public officials are demanding an unprecedented response.
Read Full Article Here | Artículo en Español Aquí
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BREAKING NEWS: Students sue the UC and Cal State demanding Coronavirus-related refunds of campus fees
By: Teresa Watanbe ~ Los Angeles Times ~ April 28, 2020
The University of California and California State University systems are being sued by students demanding refunds of some mandatory fees for services they allege they can no longer access after the coronavirus outbreak forced campuses to shutter classrooms and move to online learning.
The class-action lawsuits, filed Monday in federal courts in Los Angeles and Oakland, allege that UC and Cal State owe millions of dollars to more than 700,000 students they collectively serve who can no longer use health facilities, student centers and services funded by campus fees… Read Full Article Here
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ICE has access to DACA recipients’ personal information despite government’s security promise
by Dara Lind, Propublica – April 21, 11:15 a.m. EDT
When undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as minors applied for deportation protections and work permits, the forms included a promise: The information would not be shared with immigration enforcement agents.
The pledge was first made by the Obama administration, when it created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, eight years ago. It continued under President Donald Trump. Even after Trump announced that he was ending DACA, his administration assured immigrants that the information on their applications generally wouldn’t be sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents… Read full article here
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Urgent call upon Governor Newsom to help Mexico respond to COVID-19
By Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos, President and CEO
The California-Mexico Studies Center, Inc. ~ April 14, 2020
Given Governor Gavin Newsom’s commendable “Nation State” response to President Trump’s intransigence and failure to provide California with critical federal government assistance, the governor emerges as a novel international moral leader to abate the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
Last week, during an interview on MSNBC, the Governor stated that he would use California’s massive purchasing power “as a nation-state” to secure the medical supplies that Trump’s government has failed to provide. In fact, the governor expressed that “California might even export some of those supplies to other states in need”.
This is the fundamental reason why the California-Mexico Studies Center is calling upon Governor Newsom and California’s legislative leaders to immediately respond to Mexico’s emerging COVID-19 crisis, at our neighboring state of Baja California… Read Full Article Here
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CMSC’s Letter to Governor Newsom
Read and download the letter here
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COVID-19 RESOURCES FOR IMMIGRANTS
Given that not all of us can take paid time off, and that we have limited health access for undocumented people, especially those detained, we are sharing the following resources: Read more about all resources available
- Guide for Immigrant Californians If you’re an immigrant living in California, here is what you need to know to protect yourself, your family, and your community from coronavirus.
- Immigrants Rising: Tangible support for immigrant communities during COVID-19
- COVID-19 and Freelance Artists
- New York State Leadership Council Resources for Undocumented folks
- Relief funds for Undocumented Workers in CA
- Nationwide Resources for Undocumented immigrants in time of COVID-19 (Google Sheet)
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CMSC initiative to provide mental health services to all immigrant communities
The CMSC’s initiative to create awareness about the need for immigrants’ mental health services is more critical than ever !!! This initiative intends to inform and educate the public regarding the psychological crisis affecting the immigrant population throughout the U.S., due to a pervasive state of fear generated by the Trump administration since coming into office in 2017, the targeted acts of violence as the August 3, 2019 El Paso, Texas mass shooting at a Walt Mart store, and the hate-crimes aimed against immigrants, Mexicans and Latinos.
Please watch this short explainer video about our initiative, available in English and Spanish. Learn more here
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The CMSC is in dire need of funding support !!!
Please support the CMSC’s 2020 projects, initiatives, and campaigns, including our advocacy to provide and facilitate immigrants’ mental health services, our National Campaign to Restore DACA’s Advance Parole the Help Mexico Abate COVID-19 and the Ethnic Studies for All initiatives.
[ DONATE HERE ]
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Read full newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/9a469413c84c/the-cmsc-celebrates-the-historicruling-ordering-the-release-of-detained-immigrant-minors-onda-del-nio-childrens-day-in-the-americas
