by Juliana Birnbaum Fox
Pete Hoekstra
In the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day, the Assembly Public Safety Committee pointed to a lack of public trust and encouraged BART to take decisive action on implementing civilian oversight for transit police. Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) introduced AB 312 earlier this year to create a civilian oversight board for the BART police force. Several major police departments in the state, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose, have civilian oversight but BART police do not despite the fact that BART covers four Bay Area counties. Complaints and grievances against BART police officers are investigated and adjudicated internally without independent review.
“It has been over three months since Oscar Grant was killed and the community wants action not empty promises,” said Ammiano. “If BART does not create the strong independent civilian oversight that is needed to restore trust with the community then I will not hesitate to take further legislative action.”
California ballot initiative would make separate class of children of illegal immigrants
Led by former GOP state Senator Bill Morrow, a current ballot initiative would create a separate birth certificate for U.S.- born children of illegal immigrants and deny publicly funded health benefits to these children.
“Hard-core restrictionist groups have also sought to highlight the cost of educating these children in order to whip-up anti-immigrant fervor in the states they reside, ignoring the fact that the children of immigrants will eventually give back to their country as wage-earning adults,” writes Wendy Sefsaf of the Immigration Policy Center.
The initiative is unlikely to pass or hold up in court as children born in the U.S. are considered citizens under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Approximately 4 million U.S. citizen children have least one parent who entered the country without authorization and nearly three quarters of all children born to undocumented parents are now U.S. citizens, according to a recent Pew report.
International Workers Day rally for immigrant rights
On May 1st, International Workers’ Day, immigrant groups, workers’ rights groups, unions and social justice organizations will gather under the banner of “Workers without borders- United in struggle.” The demonstration begins at San Francisco Dolores Park at 12pm and is followed by a march to Civic Center at 2pm. Put together by a coalition of groups called the May 1st Organizing Committee, the event is geared to give voice to concerns over the economy and cuts to social services, as well as highlight the need to repair the immigration legal system.
“As the Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stepped up operations to capture and carry out raids and deportations and the economic crisis has now dragged on for months with no end in sight for U.S. workers, the need to organize now is imperative,” said march organizer Jessica Sánchez.
Labor alliance aims to bolster economic recovery and immigration reform
On April 14, the nation’s two major labor federations, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and Change to Win, agreed for the fi rst time to join forces 2487to support comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. Research shows that a reform plan promoting legalization for undocumented immigrants would pay for itself in the form of increased wages, buying power, and tax contributions.
“Today’s announcement from the country’s most powerful labor federations serves as yet another signal that the momentum for immigration reform is building, and the muscle behind it is growing stronger,” stated Angela Kelley, Director of the Immigration Policy Center.
