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New York State In One Year |
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, Jan 8, 2005: Chair of the Immigration Committee of the New York City Council, Dr. Kendall B. Stewart, (D-45th CD, Brooklyn), said that as this year ends it is particularly worrying and cause for deep concern as immigrants living in New York State continue to be deported at an alarmingly high rate for "frivolous and simple" violations and errors of judgment. He said that this situation has devastated and broken up thousands of immigrant families that have been separated by this aggressive enforcement program by the BCIS. He said that the trauma on young children in particular is only just being understood.
"What you have here is a witch hunt. Plain and simple. In one year, from June 2003 to June 2004 approximately 77,000 people were deported in the State of New York. By the end of this year that figure will be even higher. When you compare this number with pervious years then you see a gigantic leap forward. And this is not about protecting the homeland. It is all about xenophobia a dislike of foreigners. What we see here is a growing intolerance towards the foreign born that is being fueled by national suspicion, ignorance and hostility of others, and institutionalized fear-mongering since September 11, 2001," Dr. Stewart said adding that in 1996, according to BCIS records, only 2,000 people were deported from the state.
Dr. Stewart said that immigrants get onto "the deportation assembly line" when they plead guilty to relatively minor offenses. From there it's a fast-track to deportation. He said that there was a distinct difference between someone deported for a major felony, like murder, and one who was sent back for not paying a subway train fare. Dr. Stewart said that that these "rampant deportations" have affected people without criminal records but who were guilty of minor "errors of judgment," and who pled guilty so that they could get the thing over and go back to work.
"I'm not advocating that people break the law. But how can we continue to stomach unfair and unjust deportations of people who committed some minor offense 20 years ago, paid their debt to society, are now married and have children and are hardworking model citizens? This is something that has to end. It is not helping us with securing the homeland. It is bad policy and I'm calling on our Congressional representative to table legislation that argues for a full and comprehensive review of these policies. I'm also calling for a moratorium on these kinds of deportations," Dr. Stewart said.
He said that he makes a distinction between "a convicted felon whose actions were anti-social and criminal in nature," and someone who might have committed a "youthful indiscretion," like jumping a turnstile, when it came to deportation. And even then it was possible to review each situation since it was unfair and insensitive to deport someone who committed a serious crime back to his or her country of birth after they have lived 90 percent of their lives in the United States and have no family or other ties to that country.
"We cannot continue to accept the human dumping of people that the United States don't want but who grew up here, went to school here, learned their criminal craft here, and because they never became citizens are now deemed eligible for deportation. For small, fragile economies lacking enough resources in places like the Caribbean and other Third World nations these deportations only increase the headaches for these governments and strain the social fabric to near breaking point. We must find a far better way to do this. Dumping unwanted human beings and making this the responsibility of other countries that cannot afford it is not the way to go," Dr. Stewart said.
In the past 12 months 1,800 foreign-born New Yorkers were handed over to immigration authorities pending deportation, after having served small sentences on Rikers Island. Half of the 500 foreign residents of New York who end up at Rikers Island each month could be deported. Dr. Stewart is presently working on legislation that would mandate and compel law enforcement authorities in the City to inform detained immigrants of their rights and make it mandatory for judges to tell arrested immigrants of the consequences of pleading guilty from an immigration standpoint.
"Too many times uninformed immigrants who are scared by the criminal justice system and attorneys who only want a pay check and do not seek the interests of their clients plead guilty to minor offenses believing that "getting it over with" is the end of the matter. These days that plea comes back to haunt you. This legislation would help immigrants understand what they are giving up and what are the consequences of a guilty plea," Dr. Stewart explained.
Meanwhile, Dr. Stewart is issuing a warning to Green Card holders with credit cards to be aware of identity theft, particularly when using credit cards. He said that his office has been seeing more and more deportations of people accused of credit card fraud whose identity was stolen by crooks or by unscrupulous manipulation of con-artists calling with prizes or other offers.
"This is now a major problem. Innocent people are getting deported because of identity theft and the fact is that it's very, very difficult to prove your innocence once it gets into the system. The federal government does not want to understand and in this climate this is one more excuse to deport people. I urge people to be careful, especially during this holiday season, and exercise good judgment when dealing with credit card transactions and withdrawing money from ATMs, "Dr. Stewart said.