members of the Dakota community presented the ICE agents with Notices of Deportation for the illega

[annm4peace]

http://twincities.indymedia.org/2009/may/dakota-activists-and-mirac-serve-deportation-notice-action-department-homeland-security%E2%80%99s

On the morning of Friday, May 22, 2009 Immigrant and Indigenous Rights activists disrupted an event organized by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) held at Fort Snelling in St. Paul, MN. Present at the meeting were representatives of several local and federal law enforcement agencies including, but not limited to, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Minneapolis and St. Paul police, the FBI, and the ICE Office of Detention and Removal.

Also present were representatives from local human rights groups, immigration lawyers and other non-profit advocacy organizations. Members and supporters of the Dakota community and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition (MIRAc) demanded answers to human rights abuses perpetrated by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. Among the abuses mentioned were the 92 documented deaths of detainees under ICE custody due to physical and psychological abuse and lack of medical attention, the deplorable and inhumane conditions at detention centers, the illegal deportation of U.S. citizens due to racial profiling, the separation of children from their parents as a direct result of ICE raids and deportations, and the lack of due process and legal representation.

Pointing out the hypocrisy of holding an event organized by an agency dedicated to deporting individuals considered “illegal,” representatives of the Dakota community accused ICE agents of occupying stolen ground where the Original Peoples were rounded up, forcibly removed, and murdered.

Public relations representatives from DHS’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) office refused to address the civil rights concerns brought forth by members of the community. Activists refused to be silenced and continued their demands for answers and accountability by ICE. The meeting was terminated as members of the Dakota community presented the ICE agents with Notices of Deportation for the illegal occupation of Dakota land. (Deportation notice attached)

Activists made this statement:

*ICE raids have torn children from parents whose only “crime” is to seek work and make a better life for their loved ones both here and in their home countries. These raids have terrorized and silenced workers who have attempted to organize their workplaces against wage theft, dangerous working conditions, and exploitation. Hundreds of detained immigrants have died in ICE custody and been denied essential medical care. Recent reviews conducted by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Government Accountability Office have all found that the rights of detainees are regularly violated, and that the systems supposedly set up to allow detainees to lodge complaints are unreliable at best.

*One can no more refute the destruction of families and communities by raids, and the deaths and denial of human rights in I.C.E. detention centers, than one can deny genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the concentration camp that existed right here at Fort Snelling. Yet we continue to ignore these facts in order to uphold the illusion that we live in a just society. The “Homeland” Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties claims to exist to uphold civil rights yet does little more than create a false image of attentiveness used to rationalize the continuing injustices.

Though it is rarely acknowledged in our history books, Fort Snelling was an army post for the U.S. military that presaged the invasion and colonization of Dakota lands and extermination and ethnic cleansing of Dakota people. It was a concentration camp site where the U.S. government imprisoned Dakota people, primarily women and children during the winter of 1862-63. It also served as a training ground for American soldiers to participate in other campaigns and wars of imperialism against indigenous peoples, such as the Spanish-American War of 1898 which resulted in further expansion of U.S. colonialism. For all these reasons and more, Fort Snelling stands as the most prolific symbol of colonialism and genocide in our state.

*We find it indefensible that I.C.E. has the audacity to attempt to justify raids, deportations and the detention of so called "illegal immigrants" while on the site of a colonial concentration camp aimed at wiping out the original inhabitants of this land. We seek to expose this hypocrisy, and make it clear that I.C.E. cannot claim legitimate authority to detain or deport anyone, much less those indigenous to the continent.

Neoliberal restructuring and free trade agreements such as NAFTA have negatively affected indigenous peoples throughout Latin America. Many have lost their land and viable forms of employment and have been forced to migrate north in order to support their families. We believe that when capital and commerce are able to operate without borders, it is hypocritical and disingenuous to discuss civil rights and liberties which presuppose state recognition. As such, we ask that people’s human rights be respected.

Furthermore, there is evidence the raids aren’t even meeting their stated goals. In a study conducted by the Migration Policy Institute, it was found that only 18% of the nearly 90,000 immigrants arrested through home raids had any prior criminal record, not even for entering the country without documents or low-level crimes like trespassing. More than 400 of those with no criminal record had been incarcerated for at least a year. In total, over 30,000 immigrants are detained every day, triple the number detained just ten years ago. It should be clear that these raids and deportations are a form of terror and have sowed fear in the hearts of many immigrant men, women, and their children. They must stop.

These raids are undertaken in an increasingly racist and xenophobic environment where hate crimes against Latinos have dramatically skyrocketed. These raids have also encouraged the most bigoted and hate-filled vigilantism. We believe that those, regardless of nationality, who earn a paycheck and have mouths to feed understand that these necessities override lines drawn upon a map. One does not wait in the face of a rumbling stomach. The cry of a hungry mouth requires no translation.

*Because of the abundant evidence demonstrating the lack of true willingness to uphold human rights and civil liberties by ICE and the gross disregard for the Dakota people, we reject the legitimacy of this event and demand that it stop at once.

[roody]

1. Please post this in GD.