Changing Traffic Checkpoints Laws To Affect Escondido

By Alison St John A new state law - AB 353 - that goes into effect in January will have a significant effect on cities like Escondido that impound cars for 30 days if the driver doesn’t have a license. Traffic checkpoints are used to deter drunk driving, but impounding vehicles of drivers without a license has raised thousands in fees for cities, and cost illegal immigrants dearly. A study by California Watch found Escondido has raised as much as $400,000 a year in fees from towing comp...

Study Illuminates Derth Of Lawyers In Immigration Courts

By Jill Replogle Less than half of all immigrants facing deportation proceedings have legal representation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. A study spearheaded by a New York federal judge found that having legal representation is a major factor affecting whether an immigrant accused of violating federal immigration laws is deported. The other major factor is whether an immigrant is held in detention. The study looked at removal proceedings in local immigration courts from 2005...

Escondido Faces Ultimatum Over Latino Representation

By Alison St John The Escondido City Council was faced with an ultimatum this week: Change from citywide to district elections, or be sued. The council has adopted policies, such as traffic checkpoints, that some say target Latinos. Long-time Escondido resident Demetrio Gomez told the council it’s time to change the way city councilmembers are elected in order to give Latinos a better chance at fair representation. “Such a small percentage of the voters in Escondido are controlling b...

Unions and Immigrants Join Occupy Movements

by: David Bacon, Truthout | Photo Essay   Oakland, California - When Occupy Seattle called its tent camp "Planton Seattle," camp organizers were laying a local claim to a set of tactics used for decades by social movements in Mexico, Central America and the Philippines. And when immigrant janitors marched down to the detention center in San Diego and called their effort Occupy ICE (the initials of the Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency responsible f...

Occupy ICE Camps Out In Front Of Immigration And Customs Enforcement Office In San Diego

"Stop deporting workers! Stop deporting workers!," protestors chanted outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in San Diego Yesterday. A California janitor's union, joined by immigration activists and workers, rallied in the plaza in front of a Federal building which houses San Diego's ICE offices as part of a movement they call Occupy ICE or Occupy La Migra. La Migra refers to border patrol and immigration officials in Spanish. Holding picket signs and setting up tents,...

Feds To Review Immigration Cases, Focus On Serious Crimes

By Jill Replogle On Thursday the Department of Homeland Security announced the next step in the Obama administration’s policy of prosecutorial discretion. Attorneys for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will begin reviewing all new cases in immigration court, and some pending cases, in order to focus resources on prosecuting undocumented criminals and other high priority cases. The policy of prosecutorial discretion was drafted in June, but the government had given few concrete ...