Posts Tagged ‘Human Rights’

Why Joe Arpaio Must Go

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Of all of the horrors committed by the US, our treatment of people in immigrant detention is one of the hardest for me to stomach. Being in violation of immigration laws is not a crime. It is a civil violation, and it triggers a process to determine whether or not you have a right to stay in the United States. The fact that we are incarcerating people in the first place who are not criminals is outrageous.

That these detainees are subject to public humiliation, fed poison, and deprived of basic medical care is a human rights violation of epic proportions. Perhaps the most egregious example of this lawlessness is Joe Arpaio’s regime in Maricopa County, Arizona. He has committed such egregious violations as housing detainees in electric holding pens and forcing a pregnant woman to give birth while chained to a table, and he is currently under Federal Grand Jury investigation for political misconduct.

Nezua at the Unapologetic Mexican delivers one hell of an Arpaio-smack down that not only highlights the abuses in Maricopa County but also shows how the consistent mobilization of the anti-Arpaio movement is making substantial progress.

The Unapologetic Mexican.

If you have yet to join the fight against Arpaio’s oppressive reign, now is the time! To be against Joe is to be on the side of Justice at a crucial time for our country.

As Nezua says:

Joe Arpaio is not an upstanding law man. Joe Arpaio is a miserable biggoted criminal with a badge and a gun and the sooner our nation makes it clear that he is not welcome in our system, the prouder all of us can feel about that system.

Until then, each of us carries with us the shame of gross violations of human and constitutional rights being committed in our name and with our tax dollars.

Read the Resolution demanding that Eric Holder take-over of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

Learn more about Human Rights and Detention.

Whatever happened to “family values”?

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

This post contains an ACTION ALERTSupport the Uniting American Families Act!

America’s current immigration laws are tearing apart families all across the country, and Queer couples are no exception. Due to immigration laws that discriminate against same-sex couples, Shirley Tan, mother of two and life partner of Jay Mercado, is threatened with deportation to the Philippines.

Thankfully Shirley’s deportation has been delayed, but her family’s security and well-being, in addition to thousands of other families, will continue to be threatened as long as these discriminatory immigration policies remain in place.

The Uniting American Families Act would allow a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to sponsor their same-sex partner for immigration to the U.S., a right that is currently only available to heterosexual married couples.

Please take action by urging Congress to support the UAFA, writing a letter to the editor of your local paper, or telling your own story.

For more information about the injustices imposed upon LBGT couples and their families by US Immigration law, check out Family, Unvalued: The Discrimination, Denial, and the Fate of Binational Same-Sex Couples Under U.S. Law, a report by Immigration Equality and Human Rights Watch.