FLORIDA VOICES FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM - ACLU OF FLORIDA - OCTOBER 2013
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FLORIDA VOICES FOR
IMMIGRATION REFORM
ACLU OF FLORIDA - OCTOBER 2013
This report is more than just facts and figures. It’s a collection of true, personal, often heartbreak-
ing stories about how our current broken immigration system is failing Floridians. These stories were
collected by the ACLU of Florida and the Florida Immigrant Coalition as part of the “Say Yes Cam-
paign.” Dozens of Floridians called a hotline number and shared their personal stories of how the im-
migration system has impacted their lives, kept them from participating in our economy, and broken
their families apart.
Many of these individuals shared their stories anonymously or under pseudonyms because of the
fear that comes with living in the shadows as our current laws force millions of aspiring citizens to do
every day. The stories have been translated and edited for clarity.
This report is their voice – this is how you can hear it:
If you are reading this report as an interactive PDF:
Wherever you see this icon: you can click to download an MP3 of the story.
Whenever you see this icon: you can click to see the source of a fact or quote.
If you are reading this report as a printed copy:
Scan the QR code below using a smartphone or tablet
or visit www.ACLUFL.org/FLvoicesforCIR to access the report,
download MP3s of the stories and see other related materials.
The people who shared their stories are only a handful of the millions of people whose lives would
be changed by immigration reform with a path to citizenship that respects the rights that the Consti-
tution promises to all Americans.
Read the report, listen to their stories, and help us lift up their voices.
Image cover: Through seven monumental portraits, Artist Ruben
Ubiera’s #IamHere mural puts a Florida face on the need for humane
immigration reform. With the glowing face of the youngest storyteller at
the center of the mural, eleven-year old Viviana Rivas exudes a sense
of hope that her family, and millions of families across the country, will
be reunited.
The mural is located in Miami’s Wynwood district, at 2337 NW 5th Ave.
i o n
d u ct
int ro
Four out of five Americans agree that ries that we are submitting to the Library of
Congress should enact immigration reform Congress for legislators to consider.
legislation this year that creates a roadmap Among these stories are certain com-
to citizenship for the 11 million aspiring mon themes—long-time residents sepa-
Americans who lack legal status.1 rated from their families for the crime of
Consistent with this national driving without a license, children left be-
hind to fend for themselves and sometimes
consensus, two out of three placed in foster care, lengthy detention
Floridians support a roadmap to for minor or noncriminal offenses without
citizenship.2 bond hearings or access to counsel, and
egregious working conditions and abuse
Further, major business,3 faith,4 and la- that undocumented workers are scared to
bor5 leaders, both nationally and in Florida, complain about for fear of being deported.
have all joined in support of immigration This report highlights some of these
reform. stories, and is an urgent call to Florida’s
Despite such broad consensus, the delegation in the U.S. House of Represen-
U.S. House of Representatives continues tatives to enact reasonable and humane
to debate taking any action that would di- immigration reform legislation.
rectly impact these 11 million individuals,
whether further enforcement and crimi-
nalization measures are a necessary pre-
requisite (or even substitute), and whether
a roadmap to citizenship should be avail-
able for any or all of the 11 million people.
Representatives from Florida should play
a prominent role in this debate, given our
long and intimate experience with immi-
gration.
In the spring and summer of 2013, the
ACLU of Florida heard from people across
Florida who have directly experienced the
devastating effects of our broken immigra- Photo by the ACLU of Florida
tion system. We recorded dozens of sto-
2
FLORIDA IMMIGRATION FACTS
According to the 2010 census, 18.8 million
immigrants, or 9.2% of the foreign-born
population in the United States, live in Flor-
ida.6 An estimated 740,000 of them are un-
documented.7
Florida has 2,029 beds in its immigration
detention facilities, or 6.3% of the total
number of beds reserved for immigration
detention across the country.8
There are approximately 16,000 people de-
ported from Florida detention facilities each
year.9
4,330 deportations from Florida between
July 1, 2010, and September 31, 2012 were
issued for parents with children who are
U.S. citizens.10
Photo by Ruben Ubiera
3
h to i p Immigration reform that creates
t
pa izens h a path to citizenship for undocu-
cit mented immigrants is in keeping
with who we are as Americans.
Most of these aspiring Americans are hard workers who
came to the United States to build a better life for their fam-
ilies and who have now lived here for over a decade.14 Many
are young people—DREAMers—who are stymied from
pursuing their dreams and giving back to the country they
Family Separation call home. Over half of these DREAMers are among the 9
million living in the U.S. with mixed-status families, com-
• Legalization of aspiring citi- prised of undocumented parents and U.S. citizen children.15
zens will help restore fairness Mixed-status families make a huge contribution to their
to our immigration system un- communities, to their local economies, and to the national
der which a record 1.5 million economy. Rather than institutionalizing their second-class
people have been deported in status or continuing to deport 1,200 people every day, we
the last four years.11 should create a roadmap to citizenship that will keep fam-
ilies together and help them realize their full economic
• The fast pace of deportations
potential.
has left hundreds of thousands
of U.S. citizen children without
parents, and over 5,000 U.S.
citizen children in foster care.12
• Almost 205,000 parents of U.S.
citizen children were deported
between July 2010 and Sep-
tember 2012.13
• Keeping families together is
an economic no-brainer and a
moral imperative.
Photo by the ACLU of Florida
4
“Diego”
ACLU Story 5
I’m twenty-five years old and from West Palm Beach, Flor- Photo by the ACLU of Florida
ida. I’ve lived here my whole life, and I’m the second oldest of
seven U.S. citizen children. We were all born here in the United
States. My dad is Guatemalan—he is an immigrant. And my
mom is Salvadoran—she is also an immigrant. They immi-
grated to the United States about twenty-five years ago.
About seven years ago my mom and my dad were both
deported at the same time, same day. I was a senior in high
school. I remember the day clearly. I said goodbye to both my
mom and my dad like a normal day. I knew they were going to
immigration court, but I never thought that I would never see
them again. That was the last day I saw them. My dad owned
his own company in which he paid taxes. We had everything
that we wanted growing up because my dad worked hard and
was able to own his own business. When my mom and dad were
deported, we lost the house that he bought. With the house he
lost the business, and with the business we pretty much lost
everything. It was up to me and my older sister to pretty much
provide everything for my younger brothers and sisters.
From that point on, I was no longer a normal high
school student. I became a father of six, pretty much.
My life changed completely.
I had high hopes of one day playing collegiate soccer and
hopefully maybe even one day playing professional soccer, but
those dreams were shattered when my parents were deported.
There was a moment when some of my brothers and sisters
were actually homeless due to the fact that we lost the com-
pany, we lost my parents, and we lost the house. So we did
live on the streets. We lived at hotels sometimes. It completely
destroyed my family.
Two years ago my mom was actually killed due to the vio-
lence that people flee the country for. The first time I saw my
mom since the day that she was deported from this country in
five years was in her coffin for her funeral. That was the first time I ever saw my mom. I never got the chance
to hug my mom or kiss my mom or say “hi” to my mom ever again. She was never a criminal. She never even
got a speeding ticket.
Now I live here with my brothers and sisters and we get by however we can. Obviously things are rough;
things are hard but we’re getting through it. It saddens me every day to know that the fact that my parents
were deported broke a happy family, a truly happy family that’s no longer together and will no longer ever be
happy. If I had one goal, one mission in my life, it’s to prevent other children, other kids, other families from
going through what I went through.
5
josé machado
ACLU Story 13
I came to the U.S. from Nicaragua when I was six years old along
Photo by the ACLU of Florida
with my younger brother . . . Everything was real bright and hopeful
when we first got to the U.S. Mom was with her boyfriend . . . and we
all lived together for quite a while until her boyfriend started drinking
. . . My mom’s boyfriend would abuse her and hit her and pretty much
victimize her constantly. . .
And one day my mom’s boyfriend came out in boxers, and he looked
out of it. His eyes were red and he was just saying all these crazy things
. . . “Oh, your mom this,” and “your mom that,” but my mom wasn’t
there at the time. My mom pulled up in her car. She went to our rooms
and got as much clothes as she could, and then she put us in her car
and put our seatbelts on. As she was putting the keys in the ignition to
drive off and flee, he got in front of her car and called the police.
When my mom heard the police sirens, her instinct was to protect
us and to keep us together. She was trying to hide so the police wouldn’t
catch us, and so we were running behind other trailers, but eventually
we had to stop. And that was when police officers came around and put
her in handcuffs, and we were watching this. And my mom, like, she
just collapsed, pretty much, when all of this was happening, and we saw
tears in her eyes.
But moving fast forward, after she got out of jail for that, like the next day, my mom became a strong
and independent woman. She started working harder, and we had our own apartment without her boy-
friend. It was just so peaceful when we were together. We’d watch movies together . . . We would take turns
cooking sometimes. Everything was really good, to us, after that incident.
But that incident followed her . . . She was pulled over for driving without a license, and because of
those charges they arrested her too. We were at home, right, expecting her to come at 11:00 p.m., which
was when her shift ended at the gas station . . . We were watching the clock, and we were like “Oh, it’s
11:00, she should be home anytime now,” and then it became 11:30 and our eyes were still wide open, until
11:45 and 11:50 when we just fell asleep.
We woke up late the next day; it was a school day and she, she wasn’t there. . . It was like our mother
was abducted by aliens . . . Our aunt gave us a call: “Hey your mom was arrested for driving without a li-
cense . . .”
All the charges were dropped against my mom, but they found out about her status and they transferred
her to ICE and then they deported her. What bothers me the most, and what angered me the most during
this whole ordeal, was that I was never given the opportunity to say bye to her, to look at her, to hug her,
or to make her a promise that I’ll see her again. We didn’t have any form of ID that allowed us to go inside
the detention center. . .
After my mom was deported . . . I ended up in the foster system with some strangers – with a family I
didn’t know. To me it was just truly nerve-wracking. . . My mom was an outstanding woman. . . [A]nd now
I’ve aged out of the foster care. I’m 18, I live alone, and it’s difficult to come home and not have my family
to tell them, “Hey, this is how my day went,” or “Hey, I had a bad day, let’s talk about it.” It’s really tough.
6
immigration reform is economic boon for Dick Rivera, chairman and CEO of Rubicon
florida and the nation Enterprises, Florida-based operator
of restaurants including
“New Americans in Florida: The Political and Economic Power of
Friday’s and Marlow’s Tavern,
Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in the Sunshine State,”
“Immigration reform would extend
Immigration Policy Center (August 2013)
the American dream,”
Tampa Tribune (July 25, 2013)
“If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Flor-
ida, the state would lose $43.9 billion in economic activity,
$19.5 billion in gross state product, and approximately 262,436 “My own story is similar to mil-
jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, ac- lions of immigrants. My father
cording to a report by the Perryman Group.” grew up in Puerto Rico, and I spent
my childhood in South America. I saw
firsthand the difficult living and work-
“The Economic Impact of S. 744, ing conditions that caused the most
the Border Security, Economic Opportunity,
ambitious and entrepreneurial among
and Immigration Modernization Act,”
them to seek to improve their station
Congressional Budget Office (June 2013)
in life - the same qualities and spirit
that make immigrants such important
members of society. . . As a result, I
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that tax revenue can completely empathize with those
from legalizing undocumented immigrants and from bringing who desire to come to our country and
in more foreign workers would reduce deficits by almost $850 bil- achieve the American dream. That’s
lion over 20 years. Their payroll tax contributions would also add why I’ve been fighting for immigration
$300 billion to the Social Security trust fund over the next decade.
reform for nearly a decade, why I ap-
plaud the Senate for its passage of the
Gang of Eight bill, and why I encourage
the House of Representatives to bring
the bill to the floor and give it the de-
bate it deserves. When this happens,
we’ll find that our civic life and our
cultural identity are both strengthened
through immigration reform, as is our
economy. And if we don’t give immi-
grants the same rights to found new
families, new businesses, and new
lives on our shores, then the Ameri-
can dream suffers for everyone.”
Image by Ruben Ubiera
7
business leaders want reform now
July 30, 2013 letter from over 400 business organizations,
including the Florida Chamber of Commerce,
the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association,
the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce,
and the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce
“Failure to act is not an option. We can’t afford to
be content and watch a generation-old immigration
system work more and more against our overall national
interest. Instead, we urge Congress to remain mindful of
the clear benefits to our economy if we succeed, and work
together and with us to achieve real, pro-growth immi-
gration reform.”
July 30, 2013 letter from prominent Republican donors,
including Norman Braman, Al Cardenas, Chuck & Sue
Cobb, Remedios Diaz-Oliver, Pepe Fanjul, Jr.,
George Feldenkreis, Phil Frost, David S. Layton,
Larry A. Mizel, Andrew Puzder, and Justin Sayfie
“To fix our immigration system, we need meaningful
reforms that will [among other things] take control
of our undocumented immigration problem by providing
a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants who
pay penalties and back taxes, pass criminal background
checks, and go to the back of the line. . . . Doing nothing
is de facto amnesty.”
Sept. 10, 2013 letter from over 100 businesses,
including the Walt Disney Corporation
“We . . . are writing to urge the House to enact leg-
islation to fix the broken immigration system and
work with the Senate to ensure that a bill is signed by
the President this year. . . [W]e strongly support efforts to
bolster the availability of a workforce at all skills levels,
through a separate visa program as well as by creating a
path to legal status for those already here.”
Digital photo taken by Marc Averette, CC BY 3.0
8
alex
ACLU Story 57
Alex Galeas Hernández is an undocumented immigrant from Honduras. He traveled to the United
States and had a family. After being arrested, he lost all communication with his three children. He
spent two and a half years in an immigration detention center and was deported back to Honduras.
After attempting to enter the United States a second time, Alex was arrested again. He has not seen
his children since his first arrest and has been trying to get approval for them to join him in Hon-
duras. Sherri Myers, City Councilwoman and a close friend of his, tells his story.
[Sherri:] Alex came here when he was very young. He’s Photo by the ACLU of Florida
from Honduras. Honduras is a very poor country. His family is
very poor, but he speaks fairly fluent English. He came here
to get a better life. There’s no work in Honduras and very high
crime. He came here when he was probably 17 or 18 years old.
He hitched rides on trains, travelling on boxcars with only the
clothes he had and no money. So, he basically crossed three
countries, I believe Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico.
When he got to this country, of course he came here ille-
gally, but he ended up in Virginia and he then went to Knoxville,
Tennessee. During the time he was in Virginia and Tennessee,
he was greatly exploited by people who had him working for
them. He was all alone. He had no relatives and did not know
anyone here in the United States. He met a girl . . . They came
down here to Pensacola after Hurricane Ivan, that’s when I
met Alex. By that time, he had married the girl. They had her
child, and two children that they had together.
Alex was a great worker. I met him, actually, through a
neighbor who he had worked for. So, we became friends. For
a while there, I was in a wheelchair and Alex took care of me.
He’s just an incredible person. He just seems to have been
born knowing what to do with children. He was a great father. He was great with older people and with
people who have disabilities. He loved animals; he was constantly rescuing animals.
He came home one day, and when he got out of his car to walk into his house a police officer or sher-
iff’s deputy, I’m not sure which, approached him and asked him for his ID and driver’s license. He did not
have a driver’s license. He did have a previous traffic violation that he had not paid, again it was probably
for driving without a license, so he was arrested. When he was taken to the Escambia County Jail, within
a week, the ICE came through the jail making a sweep, looking for undocumented people, and they found
Alex. From that time, Alex never got out of jail.
He served a sentence, a short sentence for the traffic violation. He was subsequently sent to prison or a
holding area in Texas where they incarcerate undocumented people. In the mean time, he had had another
baby before he got arrested, so now they had three children and the little baby was only about, maybe, four
months old at that time. As a result of Alex not being around to help financially take care of the children, his
wife had a nervous breakdown and could not take care of the children and so she turned them in to foster
care. The foster care mother, who got the children, I believe, got them with the full intent of adopting them
because she knew these children from their nursery school. Alex has not seen his children since, and thishas been about two and a half years ago. But, what he did do is he tried every way he could to get his children
back, to get his children allowed to go to Honduras with him.
He wrote numerous letters to his children. He sent those letters to me and I would send them to an at-
torney who was supposedly representing him in a dependency case. It became obvious to me that the foster
mother was not letting the children read the letters that Alex wrote to them. He also was not allowed to call
the children. She did not want him talking to his children, so he was not allowed to talk to them on the phone,
they were not allowed to see his letters. He was not allowed to have any communication with his children.
He eventually got deported. He continued trying to get his lawyer here to help him communicate with the
children and to get a home study done there in Honduras in order for him to get his children back.
What I’m going to read are some letters to give you an example of the types of letters he wrote his chil-
dren. After he was deported, he came back to the United States again. He came back on a train, hiking trains,
riding on boxcars, going through three countries, no money, just the clothes on his back. He crossed the
border and was apprehended by the border guards within minutes, so again he was in jail. But he came back
only for one reason, and that was to get his children. I believe that was his only hope of getting his children
back, was coming back to the United States.
It says, in beautiful writing, stylized writing, it says, “I love you with all my heart. You are in my mind.
I’m trying to be with all of you. But it’s only me and God. I hope these people here let me stay with
you because I really want and love you all. I hope you all like this. Kisses, hugs, love, Your Papa.”
I can’t read anymore.
So, that’s all I’m going to read, Alex.
[Alex:] Yeah, I know and I’ve been thinking about them and this thing, you know. But, there’s nothing I can
do, so maybe I’ll see them one day.
[Sherri:] Well, I don’t know what we can do, but we certainly are going to let people know what happened
to you, okay?
[Alex:] Yeah.
[Sherri:] And, hopefully, we can do something with your book, and at least, maybe one day, when they’re
older, I believe they will find you and this book. They will know how much you love them and that you fought
for them and what you went through to get them back.
Photo by the ACLU of Florida10 7
DREAMers
• Florida has 106,481 DREAMers, the
third most of any state.16 Young people
who are American in every way except
for their birth certificates are stunted
in their ability to go to college and
work in the above-ground economy.
• 23,456 DREAMers in Florida have ap-
plied for Deferred Action for Child- Photo by the ACLU of Florida
hood Arrivals (“DACA”). U.S. Citizen-
juan gomez
ship and Immigration Services has Kathleen McGrory, “A dream derailed for former poster child
approved 16,658 of those DACA appli- for immigration reform,”
Tampa Bay Times (Sept.14, 2013)
cations.17 While Deferred Action has
“Ifthe Dream Act ever had a public face, it
provided important temporary relief,
belonged to Juan Gomez.
it is not enough. It is a two-year ad-
Weeks after his 2007 graduation from a Mi-
ministrative reprieve from deportation
ami high school, the undocumented teen was
that does not allow DREAMers to par- rounded up by immigration officials and nearly
ticipate fully in American society or deported to his native Colombia. His classmates
make long-term plans for their future. launched a social media campaign to keep him
in the country — and lawmakers took unprece-
• Some have suggested creating a path dented steps to make it happen.
to citizenship for DREAMers but not
Gomez later won a full scholarship to George-
their parents. Refusing to extend a town University and landed a top-paid job with
path to citizenship to DREAMers’ par- JPMorgan Chase in New York City. He told his
ents would effectively relegate these story on Capitol Hill to advocate for the Dream
families to a permanent “underclass,” Act, a proposed bill that would provide undocu-
mented young adults with a pathway to citizen-
in which they work and pay taxes but ship.
are denied the opportunity to become
But Gomez’s own pathway came to an abrupt
citizens and are denied their basic end last month, after his temporary work permit
right to family unity. Legislation deny- expired and the application he filed for a new one
ing a path to citizenship to DREAMers’ got tied up in a deluge of similar requests from
parents would be counterproductive other young immigrants.
and contrary to our American ideal of Unemployed and needing to support his par-
fairness. ents, the 24-year-old had little choice but to
leave the United States. Today, he’s working for
an investment firm in São Paulo, Brazil, with lit-
tle chance of ever returning to the United States.
For Gomez, the American dream got derailed.”11
My family reflects the
diversity and beauty of
America. We are part of
a strong working class;
a mixed-status family
who are your neighbors,
classmates, fellow pa-
rishioners, consumers,
and part of the fabric of
this nation.
Maria Gabriela Pacheco
(Full story on next page)
Photo by the ACLU of Florida12 maría gabriela pacheco
Testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee,
“The Border Security, Economic Opportunity,
and Immigration Modernization Act, S.744” (April 22, 2013)
“Out of everyone who is here of DACA he was able to get a driv- Photo by the ACLU of Florida
testifying today, I am the er’s license and buy his first car.
only one that comes to you as one However, DACA is not a perma-
of the 11 million undocumented nent solution. Last, I am the wife
people in this country. of a Venezuelan of Cuban descent,
My family reflects the diversity who has lived in the United States
and beauty of America. We are for twenty-six years. Miraculously
part of a strong working class; a last year, after an eighteen-year
mixed-status family who are your wait, he was able to obtain his
neighbors, classmates, fellow Legal Permanent Residency. My
parishioners, consumers, and husband’s process shows how
part of the fabric of this nation. our immigration system is bro-
ken, outdated, and desperately in
My father is an ordained South- need of modernization.
ern Baptist preacher who cur-
rently works as a window washer. My family is not alone. In 2009,
My mom is a licensed nurse’s my friend Felipe Souza Matos,
aide, but due to health problems Co-Director of “Get Equal,” asked
she has not been able to work the me to join him on a journey and
last couple of years. Their hope is campaign to seek immigration the trail we saw firsthand how
to continue to support their family reform. In my heart I knew that fear translated into hate. I vividly
while at the same time contrib- in order to put an end to the sep- remember how robes of white, in
uting to this country’s economic aration of families, heal the hurt a KKK demonstration, had col-
growth. My oldest sister, Erika, and pain of our communities, ored the streets of a small town
is eagerly counting the days when and disprove the myths and lies in Georgia. In fact, an event ee-
she is able to apply for citizenship that are told about immigrants, rily similar to this demonstration
later this year. She is married to a we needed to peacefully demon- just took place this past Saturday
United States citizen and has two strate and courageously bring in Atlanta, Georgia. America’s
United States citizen children, to light our (lack of) immigration history, however, shows that we
Isaac and Eriana. She will be able status. On January 1, 2010, with have been here before and we
to vote in the next national elec- Felipe, Juan Rodriguez (now Juan have overcome.
tion. Mari, my second oldest sis- Souza Matos), and Carlos Roa, I
ter, currently works managing a began the Trail of Dreams, a 1,500 Since the walk I have carried
construction company. Although mile walk from Miami to Wash- the stories and dreams of thou-
a DREAMer, she did not qualify ington, D.C. . . . We did not allow sands of people we met along the
for the Department of Homeland anything to stop us, including the way. People working in our fields,
Security’s new initiative, Deferred fringe elements of American so- chicken farms, day laborer cen-
Action for Childhood Arrivals ciety. We witnessed firsthand ters, homes as domestic work-
(DACA), because she is over the how misinformation and ers, newspapers as journalists,
age of thirty. The DREAM Act pro- fear mongering confused small businesses as owners, and
visions under S.744 will provide people about immigrants. health clinics as doctors. These
her a permanent path forward. The phrasing and images that people are mothers, fathers,
My younger brother is a proud some use to portray people like children, and neighbors. Their
business owner; he has a car me, undocumented Americans, dreams are held in the hands of
washing business. Last month, at have created a false perception this committee and the rest of
the age of twenty-seven, because of who we are. It was also during Congress.”Andrés benigno
“Undocumented for 16 Years,”
DefineAmerican
“In 1989, when I was four years
cassandra old, my family immigrated to
the United States. My parents were
acLU Story 4 both architects. My dad specialized in
skyscrapers. As professionals, they
had experienced so much corruption
that in paying fees to politicians and
contractors just to find a project and
I came here from the Bahamas a year and a half ago complete it, they generally lost more
searching for a better life and to further my education money than they made. They wanted
and athletic career. I graduated senior high school at a better life for themselves and for
us. So we immigrated to the U.S. My
the age of sixteen, I am now eighteen. Because of my
mom’s dad was one of 1,200 regis-
immigration status I was unable to continue and fur- tered engineers in the country at the
ther my education. I’ve had scholarships to the time, and he was a wealthy man. For
top schools but was unable to obtain them be- a wedding present, he had given my
mom a horse farm in the mountains.
cause of my immigration status which put part She sold it so that we could have
of my life on hold. I am saying yes to citizenship so money to immigrate. We came on a
I can be the voice not only for me, but for the students Temporary Work Visa. My uncle man-
that stand in my shoes. ufactured hearing aids in the U.S. at
the time, and my dad came to work
Letter from 19 Florida College Presidents (Sept. 13, 2013) for him. But, three years later, our
re-application was denied. After two
appeals, we were given deportation
Leaders of Florida’s universities and colleges have demanded im- orders. I was ten. My parents decided
migration reform in order to retain foreign-born students trained
at their institutions. They also want to ensure that DREAMers are to overstay. At the time, if you stayed
not barred from higher education by their undocumented status, but can in country for seven years, you were
instead realize their educational goals and contribute to our economy. able to apply for citizenship. We were
only two years away or so. But, cir-
cumstances changed. The laws mor-
phed and my parents were scammed
by immigration lawyers twice in a
row. My parents tried other routes to
naturalization. My mom tried a Labor
Certification Petition with her then
employer, a rental property owner,
and my dad a similar type of petition
with our church. But neither panned
out. By the time I had been accepted
to college, our greatest hope was the
DREAM Act. We watched, demoral-
ized, as it continued to fail in Con-
gress.”
Photo by the ACLU of Florida14
Unfair Exclusions
• The Senate immigration reform bill could
wrongly exclude many aspiring citizens, includ-
ing those with old convictions or convictions for
very minor offenses. Immigration legislation
must create a broad path to legalization that
would not exclude individuals based on past
offenses that have little bearing on their cur-
rent fitness to reside in and contribute to the
United States.
• For purposes of determining eligibility, felony
convictions should be assessed individually to
determine whether they are recent, serious,
and violent. The problem with relying on state
prosecutions is that criminal laws vary widely
by state, and Florida’s are some of the harsh-
est. For example, while drug crimes are the
largest category of crimes committed by de-
portees,18 Florida is one of only two states in
the country where a person can be convicted of
drug possession without a showing of knowl-
edge that the substance in their possession is
illegal.19
• Immigration reform must give judges the dis-
cretion to assess individual cases and balance
the equities involved by deciding, for example,
whether a deportation would separate parents
from their U.S. citizen children, how long ago
a crime was committed, whether there is evi-
dence of rehabilitation, whether the individual
has served in the military, and the like. This
will help avoid the unnecessary and costly
family separations and give some incentive to
individuals who do not qualify for legalization
otherwise to come forward and identify them-
selves based on the equities of their case.
Photo by the ACLU of Florida15
“ROSa”
acLU Story 1
I met my husband in Colombia. He was on vacation and he was American. We fell
in love and we married in Colombia. When I got pregnant, we moved here to the
United States because he wanted his son to grow up here. That was twenty years
ago. We have three kids from our mar-
I have three American kids. I have a dead
American husband. I think I’m American. riage.
I made the mistake of trusting someone After my husband passed away I had
and paid the consequences. I think we
to find a job. My English was minimal and
deserve another chance.
I didn’t have any family around to help. I
was cleaning houses in the beginning, and I worked for UPS for six years. I left
UPS and tried to follow my dad’s career. He was a jeweler in Colombia, so I got a
job with a local pawnshop in Jacksonville. I worked for them for four years, but I
got in trouble for [unknowingly] purchasing stolen merchandise. . . I served four
days of jail, four months of home arrest, and nine months of probation. After a
year of my life being on hold and not being able to work and not knowing how
to support my kids, I was obligated to plead guilty so I could keep going on with
my life. I was very blessed and lucky to find a job where they got to know me
and see what kind of person I am. I have been
with them for one and a half years, and I have
been promoted a couple of times.
I flew to Colombia a year ago and when I
came back, I was stopped by immigration in the
airport and questioned about what happened.
They told me that, because of the incident
. . . they were going to start the procedure of
deportation. They removed my green card and
gave me a temporary green card for one year
and I was to hear about what was going to
happen.
I’ve been in this country all my life. I
worked in this country all my life. I have three
American kids. I have a dead American hus-
band. I think I’m American. I made the mistake of trusting someone and
paid the consequences. I think we deserve another chance.16
religious leaders supporting
immigration reform
“There’s a consistent message throughout scripture, and
it’s a command to welcome and to treat fairly all people,
but especially the stranger and the foreigner in your land . . .
When we fail to welcome the stranger, in essence we fail to wel-
come Christ. And so Christians in our church, when they learn
about God’s heart for the immigrant and what the Bible has to
say, their hearts are open because we are a people of faith and it
is our desire to live out that faith in our world. Coupled with that,
when they meet these immigrants, when they have personal
encounters, all of a sudden this issue has a face, it has a story.
And it’s in that meeting that transformation happens and has
happened here for us . . . We know that the time is now for this
discussion.”
—Rev. Dr. David Uth, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Orlando Esperamos que [ellos]
(April 3, 2013) encuentren un lugar perma-
nente [para que la obra] en
“We, the Catholic Bishops of Florida, are deeply con- una casa de culto - el lugar
cerned about our nation’s immigration system. We
lament the loss of the many years our migrant brothers and
apropiado para monumentos
sisters have waited for changes that would enable them to religiosos.
seek legal protection and support their families. While the
Catholic Church acknowledges the right of countries to control
their borders and enforce immigration laws, the common good
is not served when the human dignity and rights of individuals
are violated . . . Congress has the best opportunity in almost 30
years to pass immigration reform. This is a historic moment in
our country. As Americans, we cannot let this moment pass. As
a moral matter, our country must not accept the toil and taxes
of these children of God without offering them the protections
of our laws, which they so willingly seek.”
—Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (June 5, 2013)
“I live and lead in a tradition that holds to another core
conviction, summarized in a phrase I learned as a child:
‘For God so loved the world . . .’ The Jewish and Christian
scriptures themselves narrate the unfolding story of a love
that transcends human tribes and divisions, and command us
again and again to love God and our neighbor. I sense that we
live in a cultural moment when this love must be translated
into justice, in the reform of our immigration laws. Only as
we embrace our core convictions and the current realities of
immigration will strangers become friends, and fear be trans-
formed into hope.”
—Kenneth H. Carter, Resident Bishop of the Florida
Conference of the United Methodist Church,
Orlando Sentinel (March 28, 2013) Photo by the ACLU of Florida17 In Florida, many leaders from the faith community have raised their voices asking for a path to citizen- ship. The following list of faith leaders who have publicly called for immigration reform is far from comprehensive, but demonstrates that immigra- tion reform is supported by leaders of many differ- ent faiths from all across the state of Florida: Reverend Wendy Adams, Body of Christ Church Archdeacon J. Fritz Bazin, Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida Reverend Renwick Bell, Church of Our Savior, MCC Elaine Carson, Director, World Relief Jacksonville Kenneth H. Carter, Resident Bishop of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church Arlene Davidson, Public Action Network, National Council of Jewish Women Rabbi Frank, All People’s Synagogue Reverend Nino Gonzalez, Iglesia el Calvario Reverend P. Scott Grantland, Pensacola First United Methodist Church Photos by the ACLU of Florida Rabbi Tom Heyden, Temple Israel Reverend Joel Hunter, Northland, A Church Distributed Reverend James P. Kvetko, Miami Shores Community Church Pastor Marie Loudes Metellys, Canaan Ministries Reverend Dr. Russell L. Meyer, Florida Council of Churches Reverend Jo-Ann R. Murphy, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Coconut Grove Imam Muhammad Musri, Islamic Society of Central Florida Reverend Enrique Pacheco, Faith Fellowship Church Reverend Priscilla Robinson, First AME Church of Rosemont Amir Wilfredo Ruiz, American Muslim Association of North America. Rabbi Solomon Schiff, Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami Reverend Gail Tapscott, Universalist Unitarian Congregation of Ft. Lauderdale Reverend Dr. David Uth, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Orlando Pastor Jose Vegas, Ranacer Iglesia Bautista Reverend Durrel Watkins, Sunshine Cathedral Ministry Archbishop Thomas Wenski, Miami Jim Young, Community Outreach Minister, Northeast Florida District, UMC
18
c ess
o
du e pr The SAFE act isn’t
“ramon”
ACLU Story 42
. . . I’ve lived through three or four accidents that I saw, and I
am the only one who saw and I haven’t testified because I’m
scared and think that they are going to take me. . .
The SAFE Act represents a significant step backward in our nation’s effort to reform
the immigration system. The Act would make our communities less safe, harm local
economies, and unnecessarily expand an already costly detention system. It proposes
a sweeping, expensive, and potentially unconstitutional approach to interior enforce-
ment that does not reflect American values or best practices in criminal law enforce-
ment.
• Court’s ruling in Arizona v. United States. By allowing all states and municipal-
ities to determine their own immigration policies, our immigration crisis would
escalate immensely. Instead of a uniform policy, there would be an unnavigable
tangle of contradicting laws, varying between localities. The federal government
would be powerless to enforce so many different sets of immigration laws at
once, and businesses would be forced to contend with a different set of immigra-
tion laws every time their employees cross a county line.
• Local economies suffer with unnecessarily stricter enforcement. Studies have
shown that states that have enacted Arizona-style immigration policies have
seen their economies shrink. For example, after passing its harsh anti-immi-
grant law in 2011, Georgia suffered a $300 million estimated loss in harvested
crops statewide, with a $1 billion total estimated negative impact on Georgia’s
economy.20 This is particularly important for Florida, a tourism magnet visited
by over 90 million people last year, where every 85 visitors in the state support
one Florida job.21
• Numerous law enforcement agencies oppose the SAFE Act. The Major Cities
Chiefs Police Association, representing the largest cities in America, including
Jacksonville, Miami, and Tampa, opposes the SAFE Act and says that it will make
communities less safe.22 The MCCA has stated that it believes Congress should
affirm that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.
• Public safety suffers with the SAFE Act. When localities enact laws requiring
police officers to investigate the immigration status of all people they come into
contact with, public trust in law enforcement diminishes and even law-abiding
citizens seek to limit interaction with police. For example, 44% of Latinos are
less likely to contact police if they have been a victim of a crime because they
fear that police officers will ask about the immigration status of people they
know. The number goes up to 70% for undocumented immigrants.23 Such mis-
Photo by FLIC
trust severely limits the ability of police officers to effectively investigate actual
crimes.Photo by the ACLU of Florida 16
19
• The SAFE Act would promote racial profiling by allowing all jurisdictions, even those with known
discriminatory policing practices, to enforce immigration laws. Under the Act, even local law en-
forcement agencies that have been or are being investigated by DOJ’s Civil Rights Division for dis-
criminatory policing targeting Latinos and other people of color would be permitted to enact immi-
gration laws and enforce federal immigration laws.
• The SAFE Act would authorize seemingly indefinite detention of noncitizens by state and local law
enforcement agencies. The Act would permit state and local law enforcement agents to place de-
tainers on noncitizens in their custody with no set time limit, even where DHS has not indicated any
interest in detaining, charging, or prosecuting those persons. It would also permit state and local
law enforcement agents to detain a person for up to 14 days after his or her criminal sentence has
ended to effectuate a transfer to federal custody – the current limit is 48 hours.
• The SAFE Act could lead to a massive increase in immigration detention, at a steep price to tax-
payers – immigration detention already costs $2 billion annually.24 The Act would expand manda-
tory detention, without a bond hearing, to new categories, wasting resources by detaining individu-
als that do not pose a public safety or flight risk. The Act also appears to prohibit effective and less
costly alternatives to detention, such as ankle bracelets, which are routinely used in the criminal
justice system.
• The SAFE Act proposes changes to detention practices that would be unconstitutional. The Act
would permit individuals, who may be lawful residents or citizens, to be detained for 14 days without
a hearing based merely on the suspicion that they may be undocumented. In addition, contrary to
existing Supreme Court precedent, it would subject certain noncitizens who cannot be repatriated
to their home countries to indefinite detention.
• The SAFE Act produces 11 million new criminals overnight. The SAFE Act would criminalize un-
lawful presence alone, turning millions of people who entered without documents or overstayed
their visas into criminals and potentially leading to mass incarceration. Criminal prosecution of
migrants would contribute to prison overcrowding and drain law enforcement resources that could
be put to better use elsewhere. These individuals could very well be contributing to the economy of
the United States instead of being subjected to criminal investigations that only weaken the nation’s
resources.
• The 287(g) program expanded under the SAFE Act should be terminated. Federal immigration en-
forcement programs, like the 287(g) program in Jacksonville and Collier County, that involve state
and local police in immigration enforcement lead to pretextual arrests and should be terminated.
287(g) programs systematically facilitate civil rights violations and undermine federal enforcement
priorities by imposing detention and removal proceedings on individuals who pose no threat to pub-
lic safety.20
287(g) agreements in Florida “diana”
aclu story 27
Collier County: Between 2007 and fall 2012, the Collier
County Sheriff’s Office placed immigration detainers on
4,316 individuals resulting in deportation for the majority of I say yes to citizenship. I came
them under its 287(g) program.25 here in 2001 on a tourist visa with my
daughter. She came on the same visa
Jacksonville: Between 2008 and 2012, the Jacksonville Sher- with me. She grew up here the past 12
iff’s Office processed 1,514 immigrants for removal under years but she is now back in Ecuador.
the 287(g) program. Nearly two-thirds, or 965, were arrested My driver’s license expired in 2006, so
for misdemeanors. Of these misdemeanors, over 1/3, or 327
were for non-DUI traffic violations.26 now I am frustrated because I cannot
drive. I am a very good-hearted person
and have a lot of creativity. I have been
working with Amway, and I pay my
taxes. I would like to go out and drive
law enforcement opposes safe act and have clients. I have been very obe-
dient. I have not driven. Instead, I have
my bike and I go by buses. My daughter
Several law enforcement associations, departments, and was so frustrated that she went back
officials across Florida have expressed opposition to being re- to Ecuador two years ago. She loves
quired to enforce immigration law, including the following:27 this country as I love this country. We
help people so I am prepared to help
• Miami-Dade Chiefs Assocication people in very good ways.
• Miami Police Department
• North Miami Beach Police Department
• Police Benevolent Assocication
• Chief Jane Castor, Tampa Police Department
• Sheriff Jerry L. Demings, Orange County Sheriff’s Office
• Chief Eduardo Gonzalez, Former Director of the U.S. Mar-
shals Service and chief of Tampa Police Department
• Chief Robert Parker, Former Chief of Miami-Dade Police
Department
• Chief John F. Timoney, Former Chief of Miami Police De-
partment and Commissioner of Philadelphia Police De-
partment
Photo by Ted Swedenburg, CC BY-NC 2.021
Local Police Involvement in Immigration Enforcement
Imposes Significant Costs on Localities
For example, under the Secure Communities program, when participating localities
arrest an individual and book them in jail, they submit the individual’s fingerprints not
only to the FBI, but also to Immigration Customs Enforcement. ICE can then send a
request to the locality, asking it to detain the individual for an additional 48 hours (plus
weekends and holidays), at the locality’s expense, so that ICE can take custody of the
individual. Recent studies show that Miami-Dade County has spent millions of dollars
uncompensated by the federal government in order to honor these detainer requests,
as well as possible racial profiling by local police in making the underlying arrests
that resulted in detainers.
News Conference: ICE’s “Secure Communities” Edward F. Ramos, “Fiscal Impact Analysis of
Program Makes Miami-Dade Less Safe Miami-Dade’s Policy on ‘Immigration
and Casts Racial Overtones, Detainers’” (Sept. 10, 2013)
Americans for Immigrant Justice (April 15, 2013)
“Miami-Dade has not been reimbursed for “[T]he annual fiscal impact of honoring im-
any costs associated with jailing Secure Com- migration detainers in Miami-Dade County
munities detainees – even though Miami-Dade Cor- is estimated to be approximately $12.5 million.
rections billed ICE for more than $1.1 million for . . . On average, individuals who are not subject
expenses for 2009, 2010 and 2011. Secure Commu- to an ICE detainer are projected to spend 20.8
nities also has resulted in disproportionate impact to days in jail, while individuals subject to an ICE
some segments of Miami-Dade’s population, partic- detainer are likely to spend on average 55.8
ularly immigrants from Honduras and Mexico. ‘The days in jail, or an additional 35 days in jail rela-
dramatic difference between Central Americans’ and tive to those who are not issued ICE detainers.”
Mexicans’ proportions in the general Miami-Dade
County population and their detention rates under
the Secure Communities program shows a disparate
impact that could be a result of racial profiling,’ said
Alex Stepick of RISEP [Research Institute on Social &
Economic Policy] at FIU.”
These findings arose in a news conference an-
nouncing “False Promises: The Failure of Se-
cure Communities in Miami-Dade County,” a study
done by Americans for Immigrant Justice and the
Research Institute on Social & Economic Policy at
Florida International University by Alex Stepick in
April 2013.
Photo by El Gringo, CC BY-NC-SA 2.022
SAFE Act Anything But — Former Tampa Police Chief and
Retired Director of U.S. Marshals Service Eduardo Gonzalez,
Tampa Tribune (Aug. 31, 2013)
OP-ED
I have worked as a law enforcement professional for 34 ami and Jacksonville. Rather than enhance public safety, the
years, rising through the ranks from patrolman to deputy di- SAFE Act will undermine it by destroying community-based
rector in the Miami-Dade Police Department during a 27-year policing efforts. Equally important in these austere times, the
career. Later, it was my privilege to return to my hometown of assumption of federal law enforcement duties by local law en-
Tampa when I was selected to serve as its police chief. Finally, forcement will place additional strains on community budgets
I was given the opportunity to serve at the national level as and local taxpayers, diverting precious police resources away
director of the U.S. Marshals Service for the past five-and-a- from fighting local crime. I believe it will also contribute to ra-
half years of my career. cial and ethnic profiling that alienates minorities and exposes
police departments to legal liability.
There isn’t anyone I’ve worked with in law enforcement who
would disagree that the single most important asset local po- If law enforcement officers are tasked with enforcing immi-
lice have in protecting public safety is the trust and coopera- gration law — as local jurisdictions would be mandated to do
tion of the community they are sworn to protect. Prior to my under the SAFE Act — many people in the immigrant commu-
nity will simply avoid contact with the police at all costs. This
includes those who are undocumented and those with legal
Rather than enhance public safety, the status because so many immigrant families are mixed-sta-
tus households. Latino victims of crimes are 44 percent less
SAFE Act will undermine it by destroying likely to call the police because they fear the police will ask
about their immigration status or the status of someone that
community-based policing efforts. they know (this proportion increases to 70 percent for undoc-
umented immigrants).
arrival in Tampa, the police department spent considerable As a result of the SAFE Act, huge swaths of the community
energy developing that public trust. During my time as chief, would therefore refuse to report crimes, identify suspects or
we continued working hard to further build the trust of our serve as witnesses for fear that they, their family members, or
community. Based on our efforts, community members would their neighbors will be deported. This mistrust makes police
contact us with information about crimes they had witnessed. officers’ jobs much harder and makes all of us less safe.
They were our eyes and ears, and greatly enhanced our ability
to detect and stop crimes. This legislation would also undermine public safety by di-
verting critical and already strained police resources away
Because of my continuing commitment to the concept of from the task of pursuing serious and violent crimes and into
community-based policing, I am deeply concerned that the the complicated and vague task of enforcing immigration laws
House of Representatives is considering the so-called SAFE against individuals who do not threaten public safety.
Act, a draconian immigration enforcement bill that authorizes
states and localities to write and enforce their own immigra- Immigration law is highly complex, and I believe it would
tion laws. be exceedingly costly and practically impossible to construct
a training program for police to know when they should stop
In jurisdictions that have adopted policies such as the SAFE someone without resorting to racial and ethnic appearance.
Act, the result has been law enforcement officers questioning Having local police officers enforce immigration law is a rec-
the immigration status of everyone they encounter, includ- ipe for lawsuits.
ing crime victims and witnesses. In my opinion, this practice
would seriously damage the law enforcement-community re- I don’t think police officers, whose primary mission is to
lationship which has been built up over many years in com- ensure the safety of the communities they serve, have any
munities with large immigrant populations. business getting involved in immigration enforcement. Re-
quiring them to do so, as the SAFE Act envisions, would be
That’s why I believe the SAFE Act would be a disaster, a fact wholly counterproductive to their primary mission of keeping
also recognized by the Major City Chiefs Association, which communities safe and diametrically opposed to everything I
represents the 56 largest U.S. cities, including Tampa, Mi- learned in my 34 years of law enforcement experience.23
Former Miami Police Chief
John Timoney
Marleine Bastiene, “Caribbean Crossroads:
Unbelievable, But True,”
“ANA” South Florida Times (July 2009)
ACLU STORY 49
“All our citizens are directly affected, whether
they are immigrants or not, by these [287(g)]
I’m a mother of two children who were policies. Immigrant victims and witnesses of violent
crimes will not come forward if they fear their ‘local
born here in Florida. They deported my hus- police’ will deport them. This affects everyone, as it
hampers law enforcement efforts to thwart criminal
band to Guatemala five years ago. We are activity in our neighborhoods.”
united and want to ask Congress and the
White House to support us, that yes we can,
that now is the time for them to give us im-
migration reform. We are encountering many
families going through difficult situations and
we ask, we beg, we ask whole-heartedly, that
we are supported in this country. All of us im-
migrants reinforce this country’s economy.
We beg that they give us immigration reform.
They stopped my husband and asked for
a license, which he didn’t have. That was the
reason they deported him. It’s a very difficult
case and my kids suffer a lot from the absence
of their father.
Photos by the ACLU of Florida24 Photo by the ACLU of Florida
DETENTION
• Immigration detention wastes money. Over the last 15 years, detention levels have
more than tripled — from 85,730 detainees in 199528 to an all-time high of 429,247
individuals in FY 2011.29 The men, women, and children ICE put behind bars include
survivors of torture, asylum-seekers, victims of trafficking, families with small
children, the elderly, individuals with serious medical and mental health condi-
tions, and lawful permanent residents with longstanding family and community
ties who are facing deportation because of old or minor crimes for which they have
already served their sentences. This isn’t just an issue of basic fairness; it’s an eco-
nomic burden on the taxpayer (annual cost per detainee is about $159/day, or about
$60,000/year30). Notably, almost double the number of people are detained in civil
immigration detention every year than are serving sentences in federal Bureau of
Prisons facilities for all federal crimes.31
• Congress should eliminate the detention bed mandate and provide all immigra-
tion detainees with a prompt bond hearing before a neutral adjudicator. This is
a particularly urgent issue here in Florida, where we have so many immigration
detention facilities and so many asylum-seekers. Of the approximately 34,000 im-
migrant detainees currently being held in the U.S., over 2,000 of them are being
detained in Florida detention facilities.32 Congress has imposed a uniquely ineffi-
cient and costly mandate that 34,000 beds be filled with immigrant detainees. The
bed mandate ensures that individuals who pose no significant flight risk or danger
will be locked up based on Congress’ orders that ICE satisfy its quota and severely
restricts ICE’s discretion over a large portion of its detained population. The ACLU
is litigating several habeas cases across the country involving asylum-seekers and
mandatory detainees who are detained for months and even years without a bond
hearing—even after they have prevailed before an immigration judge and while the
government is appealing the decision—before finally resolving their case on the
merits. No one should be in immigration detention without a prompt and constitu-
tionally adequate bond hearing where the government bears the burden of showing
that detention is necessary to protect against danger to the community or flight
risk, and that no alternative release conditions would suffice.
• Immigration detention locks up non-criminals. Although immigration detention
facilities look like prisons, individuals held there are not serving criminal sen-
tences. Indeed, more than half of immigration detainees have never been convicted
of any crime. According to ICE data, only 46 percent of detainees had a criminal
record in FY 2011.33You can also read
