Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff
In a written statement the Green Party for governor candidate Laura Wells, criticized Gov. Jerry Brown’s inaugural speech last week, for asking the poorest in state to carry more austerity even while he wealthiest in the state get wealthier. “Governor Brown is talking about austerity for the majority of Californians.
A Green Governor would be talking about fairness and balance, and continuing to have great schools, environment, healthcare and jobs. We would be talking about the kind of California we want.” Citing a report that shows the gap between rich and poor continues to widen, Wells said hypothetically to imagine a ballot proposition “would give the richest one percent an INCREASE in income of three times the TOTAL income of average Californians. Would that pass? No! “
Libertarian Party to participate in “Stripping of Freedom” at TSA conference
Libertarian Party Executive Director Wes Benedict will join Ralph Nader and Cato Institute information policy expert Jim Harper on Jan. 6, as a panelist at a public conference examining TSA security procedures, according a written statement. The conference is sponsored by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and titled “The Stripping of Freedom: A Careful Scan of TSA Security Procedures.” TSA agents strip-scan and grope people when they want to take an airline fl ight. “We need to treat their security theater with just as much scrutiny. Terrorists win by tricking us into letting government trample on our rights.”
New human rights report condemns rise of immigration policing
The Obama Administration and Congress need to shift away from the immigration policing regime that the government has been building over the past decade, according to a new report issued within days of International Migrants Day, Dec 18.
Injustice for All: The Rise of the Immigration Policing Regime, is published by the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) and points to the dramatic growth of a multi-faceted immigration control system that is normalizing government abuses against immigrants in the U.S.
The report is based on over 100 stories of rights abuses documented during 2009-2010 by HURRICANE: The Human Rights Immigrant Community Action Network, an initiative of NNIRR. Injustice for All raises concern that increased policing through Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) with state and local agencies, along with heightened border security, is undermining the health and safety of entire communities. Injustice for All is the third report from HURRICANE, which maintains a national database of rights abuses against immigrants. Ada Volkmer, coordinator of the Western North Carolina 100 Stories Project that contributed to the report, explained, “We found that when local police have immigration enforcement authority they are more prone to perpetrate abuses, including racial profiling.”
The North Carolina project was started by community groups to document abuses and organize for redress following widespread experience with law enforcement discrimination and abuse in the region. “Immigration-police collaboration makes our communities more vulnerable to abuses and exploitation because people do not trust the police and will not go to them to report crimes,” Ms. Volkmer added.
