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On Wednesday, Fran Ansley, a Jobs with Justice leader from East Tennessee, was arrested along with three others in an action with the No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice.

The four, including two undocumented immigrants, were arrested after sitting down in the street in front of the Knox County Sheriff’s office.  For months, Sheriff JJ Jones has refused to meet with the migrant community but regularly meets with ICE in an attempt to bring the federal deportation program known as 287(g) to Knoxville, Tennessee.

Tennessee already takes part in the controversial “Secure Communities” deportation program, and by bringing in 287(g) the Sheriff would further blur the lines between his department and the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

For three weeks now, Jobs with Justice has been watching a courageous action moving across the South.  The No Papers, No Fear: Ride for Justice has made stops in more than a dozen communities.  At each stop the bus riders have come together with community members to demonstrate that they will not be complicit to the hate and fear that tries to divide communities and families, separate students from their education, and deny workers dignity.

Last Friday, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a report outlining how it will continue to push forward with the "Secure Communities" program (S-Comm).  The report published on the ICE website was in response to the agency task force that recommended changes to the seriously flawed program.  It comes as no surprise that ICE largely disregarded the issues that originally spurred the need for the task force's review, such as a lack of transparency, conflicting messaging, co-option of local police agencies and disregard for community policing.

In its report, ICE outlined how it would continue to move forward with S-Comm, including the deportation of individuals for minor traffic offenses.  Such measures have been loudly condemned for encouraging racial profiling (see AFL-CIO and National Immigration Forum’s letter to DHS) and pulling apart working families. 

Today the Department of Homeland Security announced that it is terminating Sheriff Joe Arpaio's 287(g) agreement and “restricting” his access to the "Secure Communities" program.

This happened hours after the Department of Justice concluded its three year investigation into civil rights abuses caused by the Sheriff. The report from the DOJ does more than just describe Sheriff Arpaio’s reign of terror. It shows that DHS and ICE programs led to this crisis. Now, the White House needs to apply the lessons learned in Maricopa County and end all programs that entangle local police in the business of immigration enforcement.

Today marks a pivotal moment.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO END S-COMM & 287(g) HERE.

Ever since SB1070 passed in Arizona, Southern states like Alabama have been quick to pass legislation that take the racial profiling bill to the next levels of hate.  

At the same time, the Obama administration has announced that Immigration Enforcement’s regional field offices now are empowered to use their discretion with who is or is not deported.

That means that ICE’s Southern Field Director in New Orleans, Scott Sutterfield has a decision to make.

Last August, his office coordinated the violent ambush of thirty workers in New Orleans who had gathered to receive their paychecks. Now, the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice and community leaders across the South are demanding Mr. Sutterfield attend a town hall meeting on the state of civil rights in the era of Alabama-style hate. 

Jobs with Justice has been working on this fight for a long time as a part of the Turning the Tides movement building, and we want to make sure that Sutterfield won’t stand in the way of their civil rights.

You can support their call with three quick steps

Today, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and others including Jobs with Justice made public an authoritative report condemning the Secure Communities deportation program and recommending its termination.

The report includes testimony from former District Attorney of New York Robert Morgenthau, heads of law enforcement, and victims of Secure Communities like Isaura in Los Angeles whose 911 call for help resulted in her deportation proceedings.

In contrast to the DHS appointed taskforce which has failed to enlist the voices of affected communities, scholars, or critics on the subject, this report constitutes a real deliberative and representative review of the program.