This year was another of devastating attacks on immigrants’ rights
by the Trump administration. However, in both red and blue states, we fought
and won new measures that stymie Trump’s deportation machine. These local wins,
though often overshadowed by the president’s xenophobia, are powerful. Here are
some of the most surprising and significant of our 2019 immigrant justice victories
in the states.
In
Michigan, a former marine’s arrest prompts police reform
Grand Rapids, Michigan police kept veteran and U.S. citizen Jilmar
Ramos-Gomez in immigration detention for 3 days — even though he was
carrying his U.S. passport when he was arrested. The stunning case
prompted a public outcry. Following advocacy by the ACLU of Michigan, the Grand
Rapids Police Department issued a new policy prohibiting police stops
and interrogations based solely on suspected violations of immigration law; and
the Kent
County Sheriff issued a new policy requiring a judicial warrant for all Immigration
and Customs Enforcement detainees.
A landmark
60 Massachusetts localities have opted out of ICE collaboration
Years into an effort to end the entanglement of state and local
police collaboration with ICE, the number of Massachusetts towns and counties
opting out of ICE collaboration has reached 60. The latest: In November, the
rural community of Greenfield
— home to many undocumented farm workers —overrode the mayor’s veto to pass a
Safe City ordinance. This policy stops police from asking about immigration
status and prohibits giving ICE information about people in local custody.
Shortly after the decisive victory, opponents tried to repeal the ordinance
through a ballot initiative, but the ACLU of Massachusetts worked with a broad
coalition on the ground to defeat it.
New Jersey
makes statewide advances on immigrant justice
The New Jersey Attorney General issued a major
directive: New Jersey’s counties can no longer participate in 287(g)
agreements, which allow ICE to deputize local law enforcement as federal
immigration officers. These agreements have a record of contributing to racial
profiling and the harassment of immigrant communities. Additionally, the state
legislature approved a 50 percent increase in funding for free legal counsel to
people detained in New Jersey who face potential deportation. Finally, the governor
signed a bill severely restricting the use of solitary confinement in state
prisons and county jails, including those that detain immigrants.
Las Vegas
and Nashville sheriffs end anti-immigrant agreements
The Las Vegas, Nevada police department withdrew from its 287(g)
agreement with ICE and announced it will end its practice of honoring ICE
detainers, prompted
by the ACLU of Nevada and several groups. The sheriff in Nashville,
Tennessee ended a rent-a-bed program that allowed ICE to use the local jail for
immigration detention.
New York
and Oregon make driver’s licenses accessible to all
Across the country, hundreds of thousands of undocumented people
struggle to get to work and take their children to school because they don’t
have access to driver’s licenses. Driving without a license can lead to their arrest,
detention, and deportation. Expanding access to driver’s licenses to all
eligible individuals regardless of immigration status is good for public
safety because it ensures more people on our roads are tested, trained, and qualified.
New York passed a driver’s licenses for all bill in June and Oregon did so in
July. Now there are a total of 14 states making
driver’s licenses eligible to residents regardless of immigration status, plus
D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Nebraska
school districts agree to anti-discrimination measures
Following an ACLU of Nebraska report on barriers to immigrant and
refugee kids registering
and enrolling in school, major school districts in Omaha, Norfolk,
and Crete agreed to make changes. The state’s Department of Education is
beginning to develop new regulations in response to the report.
Utah, Colorado,
and New York pass laws to protect non-citizens from deportation
This spring, Utah became one of the few Republican-led states to
pass a so-called 364-day
law. Colorado and New York passed similar bills. These measures
reduce the maximum jail sentence for misdemeanor offenses by one day, from 365
to 364 days, protecting immigrants from serious consequences imposed by federal
immigration law that kick in at 365 days or more — even if the person’s actual
sentence is just a few days. Those consequences include detention, deportation,
and loss of opportunity for individuals to adjust their immigration status.
These reform measures ensure that convictions for minor offenses like
shoplifting don’t carry devastating consequences.
There are a lot more wins, including major reform legislation in California, Illinois, and
Washington.
The threat to immigrants’ rights is far from over. Still, we can
expect that states will continue to take action as public opinion evolves on
immigrants’ rights. Six in 10
Americans now oppose the Trump administration’s agenda of deporting immigrants without lawful status. In 2019, state and
local officials got the message: Our communities must and will fight back.