ACTUALIZACIÓN: ARRESTOS POR ICE EN JACKSON, TN EL VIERNES, 12 DE JULIO

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Como compartimos anteriormente en nuestros canales de redes sociales, en la tarde del viernes 12 de julio, agentes de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) arrestaron al menos a seis residentes Latinx en Jackson, Tennessee, con la asistencia de la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Madison (MCSO).

Hemos estado en Jackson desde el sábado por la mañana, respondiendo a los informes de los arrestos y reuniendo información sobre los afectados y cómo se llevaron a cabo los arrestos. 

Los informes iniciales indican que los arrestados fueron detenidos en sus vehículos por la oficina del alguacil cerca de un vecindario de la comunidad Latinx predominantemente, y luego entregados a agentes federales de inmigración en espera. 

Continuamos investigando los informes preocupantes y compartiremos más información sobre los detenidos y las circunstancias de su arresto en los próximos días.

Estamos trabajando con nuestros colaboradores  locales y nacionales para montar una defensa sólida. Hemos estado trabajando para educar a los miembros de la comunidad en el área sobre cómo ejercer sus derechos si ICE o las autoridades locales los abordan.

Si tiene alguna información sobre cualquiera de los arrestos en Jackson, Tennessee, llame al 615-414-1030.

No tenemos información sobre ninguna actividad adicional de ICE planeada para Tennessee y no hemos recibido informes sobre actividad de ICE en ninguna otra parte de Tennessee este fin de semana. No sabemos qué hará ICE, pero sí conocemos nuestro poder. Impulsamos a todas las comunidades de Tennessee a dedicar tiempo para aprender sobre sus derechos y compartir esta información con sus amigos y familiares.

La operación en Jackson tuvo lugar mientras el país se preparaba para las operaciones masivas de ICE en ciudades de todo el país ordenadas por el presidente Trump programadas para comenzar el domingo por la mañana. Ninguna ciudad de Tennessee había estado en la lista de ciudades reportadas como objetivo de estas redadas planeadas.

Aparte de estas redadas planeadas, los arrestos en Jackson son un ejemplo de operaciones continuas y menos pública que se basa en la colaboración insidiosa entre las agencias locales y ICE para atemorizar a las comunidades inmigrantes y separar a nuestras familias.

Mientras las comunidades inmigrantes aquí y en todo el país se preparaban para las operaciones masivas, los agentes de ICE y sus colaboradores locales en Jackson aparentemente vieron la oportunidad de aprovechar la ola nacional de terror que ICE ha creado en ciudades de todo el país al atacar a las personas en sus vidas diarias.

La decisión de las autoridades locales de ayudar a ICE a llevar a cabo estas detenciones durante este fin de semana de temores intensos fue irresponsable e imprudente. Estos arrestos erosionarán aún más la confianza en las instituciones locales y tendrán un daño duradero en la salud y seguridad de toda la comunidad.

Mientras que los funcionarios electos y la policía en otras partes del país trabajan para proteger a sus residentes de las devastadoras redadas de ICE, la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Madison parecen haber sido participantes activos.

Continuaremos organizándonos para proteger a nuestras comunidades y evitar que las autoridades locales ayuden a deportar a nuestras familias. Las acciones combinadas de nuestros gobiernos locales y federales para separar a las familias y aterrorizar a las comunidades son una afrenta a nuestros valores.

UPDATE: ICE Arrests in Jackson, TN on Friday, July 12

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As we previously shared on our social media channels, on the evening of Friday, July 12, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested at least six Latinx residents in Jackson, Tennessee with the assistance of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). 

We have been on the ground since Saturday morning, responding to reports of the arrests and gathering information about those affected and how the arrests were carried out. 

Initial reports indicate that those arrested were stopped in their vehicles by officers from the Sheriff’s department near a predominantly Latinx neighborhood, then turned over to waiting federal immigration agents. 

We are continuing to investigate troubling reports about these arrests and will share more information about those detained and the circumstances of their arrest in the coming days. 

We are working with our local and national partners to mount a robust defense for those arrested and the community that was targeted. We have been working to educate community members in the area on how to exercise their rights if they are approached by ICE or local law enforcement.

If you have any information about any of the arrests in Jackson, Tennessee, please call 615-414-1030. 

We have no information about any additional ICE activity planned for Tennessee and have received no reports that any other ICE activity occurred in Tennessee over the weekend. We don’t know what ICE will do - but we do know our power. We are encouraging every community in Tennessee to take time to learn their rights and share this information with your friends and family. 

The operation in Jackson took place as the country braced itself for massive immigration enforcement operations in cities across the United States ordered by President Trump that were scheduled to begin Sunday morning. No cities in Tennessee had been on the list of cities that were reported to be the target of these planned raids. 

Separate from these planned raids, the arrests in Jackson are an example of less-publicized, ongoing enforcement that relies on insidious collaboration between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities to terrorize immigrant communities and separate families.

While immigrant communities here and across the country braced themselves for the reported enforcement operations, ICE agents and their local partners in Jackson seemingly saw an opportunity to capitalize on the national wave of terror ICE has created in cities across the country by targeting individuals as they were going about their daily lives.

The decision by local authorities to help ICE carry out these arrests during this weekend of heightened fears was irresponsible and reckless. These arrests will further erode trust in local institutions and have lasting damage on the health and safety of the entire community.

While elected officials and law enforcement in other parts of the country worked to protect their residents from devastating ICE raids, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office appears to have been eager participants.

We will continue to organize to protect our communities and keep local law enforcement from helping to deport our families. The combined actions of our local and federal governments to separate families and terrorize communities are an affront to our values. 

Lessons from East Tennessee: A Toolkit for Organizations Responding to Mass Worksite Immigration Raids

On April 5th, 2018, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a massive worksite raid in Bean Station, Tennessee, outside of Morristown, arresting nearly 100 workers at a meat processing plant. This was the first large-scale worksite immigration raid conducted in the United States in nearly a decade.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), in partnership with local and national organizations, organized a robust response to defend the workers, support the affected families, and help the local community to process what ICE had done and understand the raid in a broader context of immigration policy.

Since the East Tennessee raid, ICE has conducted mass worksite raids in Iowa, Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, and California, and the administration has continued to signal an increased use of this brutal tactic. In the aftermath of the East Tennessee raid,  we developed a model for a robust, coordinated response to defend workers and transform the community in the wake of a massive raid and wanted to share our approach, resources, and tools with other organizations that may respond to worksite raids in their states.

While many toolkits are designed to help organizations prepare in advance for ICE actions in their community, this guide is meant to serve as an emergency toolkit that advocates can reference to respond the moment ICE conducts a worksite raid in their community.

A copy of this toolkit will be available in Spanish in June 2019
Una copia de este manual estará disponible en español en Junio 2019

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) would like to express our deepest gratitude to the many individuals and organizations who contributed to the raid response and to the research that has informed this guide.

We would like to thank the Advancement Project, FIRM/Community Change, the National Immigration Law Center, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the United and Commercial Food Workers, for dedicating staff and other resources to the raids response efforts. We are so grateful for the many individuals and organizations who helped provide critical legal services and representation for workers, their families, and the broader community, including the Knoxville Bar Association, the Young Lawyers Division of the Tennessee Bar Association, the Tennessee Faith and Justice Alliance, Professors Spring Miller and Karla McKanders from the Vanderbilt University Law School, Professors William Gill and Brennan Wingerter from Lincoln Memorial University, Debbie Berkowitz and Charlotte Noss from the National Employment Law Project, Fran Ansley, Valeria Gomez, Sarah Hooks, Dr. Patsy Langan, and Hammad Sheikh. A special thank you to Shuya Ohno of the Advancement Project for his mentorship and support in developing our response in the immediate aftermath of the raid.

We are grateful for our funders who offered special support in the wake of such a devastating event, including the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the Hill-Snowdon Foundation, and the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock. A special thank you to the Four Freedoms Fund for their emergency support that included funding for the production of this toolkit.

We would like to recognize the incredible work of HOLA Lakeway, especially K.C. Alvarado and Willie Santana, Father Steven Pawelk and the congregation of St. John Paul II Catholic Mission, and the dozens of local educators who supported their students. Our deepest gratitude goes to Veronica Silva-Cruz, Colleen Jacobs, Tim Healy, Father Brownell, Father Waraksa, and the staff and congregants of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, for allowing their church to transform into the raid response headquarters and for their work over the course of many years to build a deeply loving and connected community that was ready to spring into action to defend the families when they needed their community most.

Finally, we are so grateful for the leadership and partnership of the directly impacted families and communities in the Morristown area whose resilience, love for their families and communities, faith, and trust was an inspiration and the foundation of the effective response efforts.

Announcing the Tennessee New Majority Fund - Apply Today!

For the past sixteen years, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) has worked to strengthen and expand our multicultural democracy in Tennessee by making it easier for immigrants and refugees to be powerfully engaged in the civic life of our community. ​

We believe our communities and democracy work best when we’re all able to fully participate and contribute. But Tennessee is the third-hardest state to cast your ballot in and we have among the lowest rates of voter registration and voter turnout in the country. Communities of color in Tennessee are disproportionately impacted by the state’s voter suppression laws and are traditionally under resourced.

That’s why we’ve created the Tennessee New Majority Fund -  to invest in non-profit organizations who will work to boost voter participation among communities of color in Tennessee.

We’re accepting applications from organizations working in communities across Tennessee who will work to expand the electorate and boost voter turnout in immigrant, refugee, African American, Native American, and other communities of color in our state.

If you’d like to be considered for funding, please submit this initial application with basic details about your organization by May 1st. Select organizations will be invited to submit a full proposal later in May.

Join us in strengthening our democracy. Apply to the Tennessee New Majority Fund today!