The deportations of non criminal undocumented people have not stopped

[EFerrari]

as promised by the administration in August.




Graciela came to the U.S. in 1996 with her mother. Within a year, she was able to speak English, make new friends, and participate in school activities. When she was just 16 years old, her mom returned to Mexico in order to take care of her sick father. Thankfully Graciela had the support of her aunt, who allowed her to live with her and was able to start working part time to continue her education.

Since her mom left, Graciela’s life has been very difficult, but she hasn’t given up. She recently earned her Associate’s Degree from Mt. San Antonio College, in Walnut,California and is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology at California State University-Fullerton. Graciela’s dream is to become a college Sociology instructor.

On Saturday, September 10, 2011 Graciela traveled from Los Angeles to Miami to attend a job-related convention. Although she felt uneasy about this trip, Graciela decided continue with her travel plans since her job was the only income she had to support herself and pay for school. Unfortunately, while trying to enter the convention center at Port Everglades, ICE officials asked Graciela for identification. They then proceeded to arrest her when she showed them her Mexican passport. Graciela is currently detained at the Broward Transitional Center in Florida.

Take action by signing this petition to ask ICE Field Office Director, Marc Moore, to release Graciela and grant her Prosecutorial Discretion. Graciela does not belong in jail; she should be allowed to return home so she can continue her education and achieve her dream of becoming a Sociology instructor.

http://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/8496/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8156

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[midnight]

2. Thank you for sharing this very brave family's story...

How many of our great great grandmother came here as immigrants... We need to stop this.

[dkf]

3. So you believe in open borders?

How can you sustain wage levels with an unlimited supply of labor?

[JANdad]

4. I think the chinese have pretty much fucked

our wage levels anyway so I don't think border issues are a relevant argument for this discussion...

[pampango]

38. Blame the Chinese. They export more to Europe than the US yet European manufacturing wages,

and of course their benefits and safety net, are higher than ours. How have the Chinese been able to "fuck our wage levels" but not European wages? Might it have something to do with their strong unions, progressive taxes, effective safety nets and health care? Those are all things we could do here if we had the political will to do them.

Perhaps the cause of our economic problems is some of our fellow citizens, not some scary foreigners :scared: who may not look or talk like us.

[ret5hd]

5. humans deserve at least the same rights as capital does.

if capital moves freely, humans should also.

[dkf]

35. Inanimate capital doesn't have rights.

People that own it may, but there are rules everywhere.

[LanternWaste]

22. Those figments of our imaginations sure seem to have caused more wars...

"open borders?"

Those figments of our imaginations sure seem to have caused more wars, death and grief in history than any other man-made imaginary construct.

[sabrina 1]

36. Maybe if we had not killed so many small businesses in their

country they would not need to come here. NAFTA was devastating to the working class there. Maybe we owe them.

Immigration is down btw, this isn't exactly a great place for anyone who has to work these days.

But when promises are made, they should be kept. That's the least we could do.

[democrat_patriot]

6. If she just filled out the paperwork

she'd be a legal resident by now.

It costs time and money, but isn't it worth it?

Sorry - but my wife spent 4 years filling out forms so she could stay here legally. I have little sympathy for those who break the law, when there is a legal route to citizenship.

Flame away.

[EFerrari]

9. You are misinformed. n/t

[democrat_patriot]

29. Enlighten me, oh wise one.

She's here ILLEGALLY.

Go through the proper channels and make it legal.

I sneak into Canada, they have every right to kick me out. Yes?

[EFerrari]

33. The chances of her getting admitted if "she just filled out the paper"

are slim to none because of the quota system we use. And no one is arguing for illegal immigration but for immigration reform, something Obama ran on.

[badtoworse]

7. My mother was an immigrant (from Slovenia)

A number of my best friends are immigrants (from Ireland). Guess what they have in common - they came here LEGALLY.

I have little sympathy for Graciella because she was obviously aware of her status as an illegal alien but did nothing to try and change that until she was caught.

BTW, what's with "undocumented"? She has documents (a passport), but unfortunately they show that she's here illegally. I would say that is true of all illegals, they're not undocumented, they just don't have any non-forged documents that show legal status. By your apparent reasoning a burglar could be called an undocumented house guest.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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[badtoworse]

14. She was 6 when she came here in 1918 and arrived at Ellis Island

A number of other relatives came here that way in the same time frame.

Sorry if you don't like my disdain for the term "undocumented". Illegal is illegal, full stop.

[pinboy3niner]

20. Officially, the U.S. government uses "undocumented" interchangeably with "illegal"

It's an official term used by immigration authorities.

[LanternWaste]

21. Much as are speeders on the highway too...

"Illegal is illegal, full stop..."

Much as are speeders on the highway too. And I'm fully certain you maintain an ethical and intellectual consistency by referring to someone doing 65 in a 60 zone as "illegals..." :shrug:

[badtoworse]

26. Doing 65 in 60 mile zone is illegal; what's your point?

[LanternWaste]

27. I imagine you refer to them as "illegals" too... or maybe "illegal drivers?"

I imagine you refer to speeders as "illegals" too... or maybe "illegal drivers?"

"what's your point?"
Wondering if intellectual and ethical consistency will be maintained, or a rationalization appear. :shrug:

[badtoworse]

28. What's to rationalize?

There are lots of terms that describe various types of illegal behavior. A speeder is, by definition, driving illegally. So what?

[RZM]

15. Bullshit

It sounds like the Democratic party, where not everybody believes exactly what you do about immigration.

[EFerrari]

16. Nope, the burglar comparison is a right wing fav because they're too

ignorant to know these people add to our economy, they don't take out.

[RZM]

19. I've never even seen the 'burglar' meme

Here or anywhere else, though I certainly believe you that it can be found on Free Republic. But that's not my point. Not every Democrat is against enforcement. And people of all political stripes argue that massive immigration from the south depresses wages here. Whether you agree or not is up to you, but it's disingenuous to claim that opposition to your line of thinking constitutes a RW argument, because that's just not the case.

[EFerrari]

32. It's entirely accurate to call this a right wing meme.

I'd post the links but they are all vile, so there is the search. http://yhoo.it/nHMyNk

And immigration is at a 60 year low, fyi.

Plus, my point is that Obama said the deportations would stop while the cases are reviewed and that isn't happening.

[GReedDiamond]

37. This thread is somewhat scarily similar to a FReeper thread...

...given the animosity directed towards the accomplished and self-sufficient woman who is the subject of the OP...

..who was a child when she arrived here, due to no choice of her own.

Sickening...this is "Democratic Undergound"?

[pampango]

39. At times the "just deport 'em all" rhetoric does sound like it came from a tea party website.

Attrition through enforcement is the mantra adopted by the teabaggers and republicans in general for different reasons.

""At the top of SB 1070, lawmakers included this language: “The legislature declares that the intent of this act is to make attrition through enforcement the public policy of all state and local government agencies in Arizona.” Those three words, “attrition through enforcement,” make up a catchphrase of the the right-wing Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Lemons points out. It essentially means, "make life so uncomfortable to immigrant population here that they'll leave."

http://alibi.com/index.php?story=32226&scn=feature

Teabaggers seem to like "attrition through enforcement" both because it has a nice "law and order" ring to it and they have an us vs. them "we want our country back" mentality. "Attrition through enforcement" seeks to accomplish both those goals without giving an inch to the "bad guys".

Republican business interests like "attrition through enforcement" because it never has and likely never will dry up the supply of exploitable workers by itself. Comprehensive reform is more likely to accomplish this which would be a bad thing for them.

OTOH, the Progressive Caucus maintains comprehensive reform is needed. From their letter to Obama on June 6, 2011:

"We applaud your recent statements regarding the pressing need for comprehensive immigration reform, once again demonstrating your leadership on this issue. In your remarks you highlight the role immigrants have played in our country and correctly argue that we can fix our broken immigration system only through comprehensive reform. ..."

Of course to teabaggers "comprehensive reform" gets boiled down to meaning "amnesty" while to business interests it means a likely drying up of the pool of exploitable workers.

[badtoworse]

23. Whether they add or detract from the economy is irrelevant

They're still breaking the law. If they were such a blessing, they would have been legalized a long time ago and we'd have welcome wagons instead of INS agents at the borders. Whatever work they're doing is something that a legal resident could be doing.

[EFerrari]

34. Well, nope. It's lucrative for all kinds of people to keep

our immigration system exactly as screwed up as it is.

[Solly Mack]

8. Thank you, EFerrari

[petronius]

11. Why were ICE agents asking for identification outside a convention center in the first place?

That kind of show-your-papers police-statism is at least as fucked up as the rest of the story...

[truebrit71]

25. Exactly....

....I would have told them to go fuck themselves...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. Well, as a scocilogit and (EEK!) brown, she's obviously a threat to our society and ideals. K&R

[EFerrari]

18. I follow a bunch of DreamAct kids on twitter.

There was just another big round up, about 2900. ICE insists they are all convicted criminals. The problem is, this whole time ICE has been rounding people up, they've said they are only targeting criminals so I see no reason to believe them this time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15098593

[TheManInTheMac]

13. I believe ICE IS going to return her to her home, as they should.

[EFerrari]

17. Her home is Fresno.

And the administration said these deportations would stop while the cases were reviewed.

Obama Administration to Review All Deportation Cases, Apply DREAM Act-Style Criteria

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/18/obama-administration-to-review-all-deportation-cases/#ixzz1ZMRB9P25

[democrat_patriot]

30. Her home is where she is LEGALLY used to live.

Fresno is where she lives ILLEGALLY.

[EFerrari]

31. Break out a dictionary. n/t

[truebrit71]

24. Why didn't she just show them her drivers license?

...instead of her passport? I am also fairly sure I would have told the ICE officers to go fuck themselves...to the best of my knowledge ICE officers cannot just randomly stop people and ask for ID...

Yes she's here illegally, but I'm not sure what sort of threat this person presented to the US of A....