Central American migrants. Peter Haden\/Demotix. All rights reserved. <\/i><\/p>\n
As The A "We Torres "We CASA "Remember, Central According "The Of the They This article Central American migrants. Peter Haden\/Demotix. All rights reserved. As revealed in a recent Washington Post article, the Department of Homeland Security plans to begin targeted raids in the New Year: "The nation-wide campaign, to be carried out by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as soon as early January, would be the first large-scale…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nrevealed in a recent Washington Post article, the Department of Homeland
\nSecurity plans to begin targeted raids in
\nthe New Year:
\n"The nation-wide campaign, to be carried out by US Immigration and
\nCustoms Enforcement (ICE) agents as soon as early January, would be the first
\nlarge-scale effort to deport families who have fled violence in Central
\nAmerica, those familiar with the plan said."<\/em><\/p>\n
\narticle states that the plan would concentrate on adults and children who have
\nalready been ordered to repatriate by an immigration judge, while admitting
\nthat due to disorganization, many were unaware of the orders.<\/p>\n
\nleader who has emerged in the struggle against deportation is Gustavo Torres,
\nexecutive director of CASA de Maryland, an
\norganization that has been helping Central American refugees since 1985.
\nSpeaking at the protest, Torres said:<\/p>\n
\nwant to tell the Department of Security and President Obama that if they go
\nahead with this plan, those families, those children are going to be murdered
\nin their countries of origin."<\/p>\n
\nemphasized that these Central American migrants should qualify as refugees
\nbecause Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, the three countries that are the
\nsubject of the deportations, are experiencing their worst levels of violence
\nover the last 30 years.<\/p>\n
\nwant them to give these refugees a TPS (temporary protection status) and stop
\nthe deportations. That's why we are here."<\/p>\n
\nde Maryland and other like-minded organizations have put out a proposal that
\nincludes the creation of a nationwide network of lawyers, social workers,
\ncommunity organizations and volunteers to ensure the refugees' protection.<\/p>\n
\nit doesn't matter if you are documented. You have rights in this country. To
\nbegin with, if Immigration comes to your home or your door, please do not open
\nit. Ask them to slip any papers, including the deportation order, under the
\ndoor\u2026. If they ask you what country are you from or what is your name, tell
\nthem you do not want to give that information and you want a lawyer."<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAmerica has been experiencing extreme levels of violence, with young people
\nbeing targeted by gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and Barrio 18,
\noriginally known as the 18th Street Gang, due to its origins on the streets of
\nLos Angeles. In fact, both gangs, or "pandillas" as they are called
\nin El Salvador, owe their existence to expedited deportation policy under the
\nadministration of former US President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, implemented at
\na time the country was emerging from civil war and had disbanded its police
\nforce. Gang members formed on the streets of Los Angeles with nominal ties to
\ntheir places of birth were deported and, coupled with the lack of an
\nextradition policy, other criminals took to Central America to hide out.<\/p>\n
\nto a New York Times article from the period:<\/p>\n
\nsituation may be especially serious here, but El Salvador is by no means alone
\nin its alarm at Washington's policy on deportees. Throughout Central America
\nand the Caribbean, from Guatemala east to Guyana, government officials have
\nexpressed anger and frustration at a crisis they regard as foisted on them by
\nthe United States and beyond their ability to control."<\/em><\/p>\n
\nalmost 70,000 children apprehended as they tried to cross the US border in
\n2014, 73% were from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Despite recent US
\nlegislation such as the DREAM Act (whose acronym stands for Development, Relief
\nand Education for Alien Minors), DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)
\nand DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans), Central Americans are considered a priority for deportation under
\nthe new Department of Homeland Security guidelines, which target the recently
\narrived and those lacking ties to anyone in the United States.<\/p>\n
\nare also putting out an educational campaign to inform the community of their
\nrights in case migration authorites come to their homes. Over the weekend, Torres appeared on Spanish-language television and
\non CASA's Facebook page with
\nadvice for families under threat.<\/p>\n
\nwas previously published by Global Voices<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"