Sandra's family rushes to embrace her after her release from detention. Credit: Valeria Fernandez

Immigrant detention is the fastest-growing form of incarceration in the U.S., with more than 30-thousand detainees behind bars on any given day. Reports of rampant abuse and negligent medical care are widespread. And once again politicians, lawyers and human rights groups are calling for comprehensive immigration reform.

On this edition, we hear the story of an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Phoenix, Arizona. And we report on a successful grassroots effort to change policies at “Hutto,” a family detention center in Texas.

The first segment of this show is part of a special collaboration between National Radio Project and Feet in Two Worlds, a project bringing the work of immigrant journalists to public radio. To read more about how this story was produced, take a look at Valeria Fernández’s reporter’s notebook.

Thanks to contributing producers Valeria Fernández  & Matt Gossage. Much appreciation to the Omnia Foundation for funding for this program.

Featuring:

Kathy, 9-year-old U.S. Citizen; Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Sheriff; Salvador Reza, PUENTE organizer Sandra, Kathy’s mother; Griselda, Kathy’s aunt; Marina, Kathy’s aunt; Sarah Myklebust, Phoenix Repeal Coalition member. Denia and Karen, Former Immigrant Detainees; Frances Valdez, Immigration Attorney; Michel Brane, Women’s Commission on Refugee Women and Children Director; Jose Orta, Local LULAC President. Alison Parker, Human Rights Watch U.S. Program Deputy Director.

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Kathy’s Story

Feet in Two World’s Reporter Valeria Fernández tells the story of an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Phoenix, Arizona.

—

Hutto

Independent Journalist Matt Gossage reports on a successful grassroots effort to change policies at “Hutto,” a family detention center in Texas.

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Immigration Family Detention Policy

Tena Rubio interviews Alison Parker, the Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch U.S. Program.

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Kathy Testifies before Congress in Tucson, AZ

Audio Extra: Kathy testified in front of an ad-hoc committee held by AZ Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D) in Tucson on June 10, 2010 at the Capitol. The purpose of the hearing was to explore the potential impact of SB 1070 on women and children. Valeria Fernández provided this audio.

For more information:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)- (National)

Detention Watch Network

Grassroots Leadership (National)

PUENTE Arizona

University of Texas-Austin Immigration Clinic- Austin, TX

Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children

Articles, Blogs, Films, Reports

“Arizona Immigrant Women Testify in Congress Against SB 1070″
An article by Valeria Fernández

Business of Detention (Blog)
Cracking Down on Immigration and Locking Up Profits

Familias Unidas por la Esperanza (Families United for Hope)

Mother Jones Blog
“When Your Mother is Deported” (Video)

“The Least of These”
Family Detention in America
A Documentary Film by Clark and Jesse Lyda

Texans United For Families (Blog)

Credits: The first segment, “Kathy’s Story,” excerpted a report on Joe Arpaio produced by Verónica Sánchez (Channel 12).

From top: Noami Perez, former American Apparel worker who was fired; inside an American Apparel factory; Wide shot of American Apparel factory building, with their advertisement for "Legalize LA." Photo Credit: Patrick Burke

If there’s one thing to be said about the U.S. immigration system, it’s that there’s universal support for change.  But when it comes to answers, the viewpoints are all over the map. Congress is planning to make some changes in 2010, but in the meantime, state and federal immigration laws remain confusing and are sporadically enforced.   On this edition, we go to two communities sorting through the aftermath of Bush-era federal immigration raids, and to Los Angeles, where American Apparel became the first test case of the Obama administration’s new approach to workplace hiring violations.

This program was funded in part by spot.us, a community supported journalism project.

Featuring:

Andrea, Las Americas store manager; Angelica Olmedo & Eber Eleria, Howard Industries workers arrested in Laurel Raid; Bill Deutch, Catholic Charities & Hispanic ministries bi-lingual counselor; Meyer, kosher grocery store owner; Mark Grey, University of Iowa Anthropology professor and co-author of ‘Postville: Surviving Diversity in Small-town America’; Scott, Agriprocessors employee; Former Agriprocessors workers; Michelle Devlin, University of Iowa Public Health professor and co-author of ‘Postville: Surviving Diversity in Small-town America’; Maryn Olsen, Postville Response Coalition coordinator; Bill Chandler, Mississippi Immigrant’s Rights Alliance Executive Director; Noami Perez, Maricela Perez & Sergio, laid-off American Apparel workers; Roberto Suro, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Professor; Peter Schey, American Apparel attorney and Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law Foundation Executive Director; Natalia Garcia, UCLA Downtown Labor Center Administrative Assistant; Anonymous, unidentified Fake ID salesman in MacArthur Park.

Contributing Producer: Patrick Burke
Voiceovers: Megan Martenyi, Lisa Rudman, Pauline Bartolone, Alton Byrd

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The Local Aftermath of Bush-era Workplace Immigration Raids

by Andrew Stelzer

Part of President Bush’s approach was to carry out federal raids on workplaces with undocumented immigrants – targeting the workers themselves, not those who hired them.  But rather than solving the problem, those raids, for the most part, only made things worse. Making Contact producer Andrew Stelzer visited two communities where the largest raids happened in 2008. He found that when the immigrants were sent away, communities were dismantled.
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Obama’s New Immigration Policy Forces Massive Layoff at American Apparel

by Patrick Burke

In September 2009, we began to see what President Obama’s immigration policy would look like. It played out in Los Angles after American Apparel, a US based clothing company, laid off more than sixteen hundred workers.   Instead of facing huge fines for employing undocumented workers, American Apparel laid of its immigrant workforce. On the surface, this might seem like a more humane approach.  In a collaboration with Spot.Us Patrick Burke reports from L.A.;  where for the community at large, the result may not be that much different from the Bush-era raids.

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For More Information:

American Apparel
Los Angeles, CA

Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law
Los Angeles, CA

Howard Industries
Laurel, MS

Mississippi Immigrant’s Rights Alliance
Jackson, MS

Saint Bridget’s Hispanic Ministry
Postville, IA

UCLA Downtown Labor Center
Los Angeles, CA

Articles, Blogs, Films, Reports, Other

Legalize LA
Blog

‘Postville, USA: Surviving Diversity in Small-Town America’
By Mark A. Grey, Michele Devlin & Aaron Goldsmith

‘How an Immigration Raid Changed a Town’
By Steve Dinnen, The Christian Science Monitor

‘Immigration Crackdown Shifts Focus to Employers’
By Miriam Jordan & Sabrina Shankman, The Wall Street Journal

Activists dressed as sea turtles at the 1999 Seattle WTO protests. Photo Credit: seaturtules.org

Ten years ago, the word “globalization” was made a household term. On November 30th, 1999, tens of thousands of people shook the streets of Seattle, Washington, in protest of the World Trade Organization. The WTO symbolized the corporate takeover of human needs and the environment.

On this edition, we revisit the voices from that week. And, we find out how global economic forces have shifted in the past decade.

Featuring:

Gopal Dayaneni, organizer with Movement Generation; Mohau Pheko, representative of the Africa Trade Network at the 1999 Seattle WTO meeting; Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Oakland Institute; Chuck Collins, co-founder of United for a Fair Economy and Wealth for the Common Good.

For More Information:

Focus on the Global South
Bangkok, Thailand

Inequality and the Common Good
Boston, MA

Institute for Policy Studies
Washington, DC

International Forum on Globalization
San Francisco, CA

Jubilee USA Network
Washington, DC

Movement Generation
Oakland, CA

Oakland Institute
Oakland, CA

Ruckus Society
Oakland, CA

United for a Fair Economy
Boston, MA

Wealth for the Common Good
Boston, MA

Books and Films:

Five Days That Shook the World: The Battle for Seattle and Beyond
By Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair and Allan Sekula

The Battle in Seattle – The Story Behind and Beyond the WTO Demonstrations
By Janet Thomas

This is What Democracy Looks Like (film)

Music:

Infernal Noise Brigade

The Platform

La Llorona by Nuvia Crisol Guerra www.artasauthority.com

Immigrant detention is the fastest-growing form of incarceration in the U.S., with more than 30-thousand detainees behind bars on any given day. Reports of rampant abuse and negligent medical care are widespread. And once again politicians, lawyers and human rights groups are calling for comprehensive immigration reform.

On this edition, we hear the story of an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Phoenix, Arizona. And we report on a successful grassroots effort to change policies at “Hutto,” a family detention center in Texas.

The first segment of this show is part of a special collaboration between National Radio Project and Feet in Two Worlds, a project bringing the work of immigrant journalists to public radio. To read more about how this story was produced, take a look at Valeria Fernandez’s reporter’s notebook.

Much appreciation to the Omnia Foundation for funding for this program.

Listen to Segments:

‘Kathy’s Story:’

by Feet in Two Worlds Reporter Valeria Fernández
Kathy, 9-year-old U.S. Citizen; Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Sheriff; Salvador Reza, PUENTE organizer; Sandra, Kathy’s mother; Griselda, Kathy’s aunt; Marina, Kathy’s aunt; Sarah Myklebust, Phoenix Repeal Coalition member.

‘Hutto’

by Independent Journalist Matt Gossage
Denia and Karen, Former Immigrant Detainees; Frances Valdez, Immigration Attorney; Michel Brane, Women’s Commission on Refugee

For more information:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)- (National)

Detention Watch Network

Grassroots Leadership (National)

PUENTE Arizona

University of Texas-Austin Immigration Clinic- Austin, TX

Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children

Articles, Blogs, Films, Reports

Business of Detention (Blog)
Cracking Down on Immigration and Locking Up Profits

Familias Unidas por la Esperanza (Families United for Hope)

Mother Jones Blog
“When Your Mother is Deported” (Video)

“The Least of These”
Family Detention in America
A Documentary Film by Clark and Jesse Lyda

Texans United For Families (Blog)

Credits: The first segment, “Kathy’s Story,” excerpted a report on Joe Arpaio produced by Verónica Sánchez (Channel 12).

Marine Corporal Rick Reyes sits in a refugee camp tent listening to people describe the impact of coalition bombing raids. Photo copyright by Reese Erlich 2009

Marine Corporal Rick Reyes fought in Afghanistan, but now strongly opposes the war. He and other anti-war activists traveled to Afghanistan, to meet with government officials, women’s rights activists and ordinary Afghans. They learned that despite a supposed change in policy, the US military continues to bomb civilians. Independent producer Reese Erlich accompanied the group, as they met critics of both the US government and the Karzai administration.

Featuring:

Marine Corporal Rick Reyes, Afghan War Veteran; Najibullah Sedeque, Journalist and Translator; Tawaz Khan, Refugee Headman; Khan, Helmand Province Farmer; Norman Solomon, Institute for Public Accuracy Executive Director (and one of the founders of Making Contact); Samun Tasmim, Abdul Mahmood, Abdul Tawab, Arif Hussein, Hosay Kasmi, Azila, Tavana, Students; Satwana Dasgupta, Afghans4Tomorrow Executive Director; Fatima Gailaini, Afghan Red Crescent Society and Woman’s Rights Activist; Ebadullah Ebad, Farmer; Jean Luc Lemahieu, UN Organization on Drugs and Crime in Kabul; Afzal Rashid, Afghan Finance Ministry Former Senior Advisor.

Contributing Producer: Reese Erlich

Reese Erlich’s book, “Conversations with Terrorists” is due in bookstores in 2010.

Special thanks to Najibullah Sedeque for translation. And to Dan Turner, Alfonso Hooker, Joe Pascual and Megan Martenyi for voiceover work.

For more information:

Afghans4Tomorrow

Afghan Red Crescent Society Head Quarter – Kabul, Afghanistan

Institute for Public Accuracy

Reese Erlich
“The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and The Middle East Crisis”

“U.S. aid often misses targets in Afghanistan” by Reese Erlich
SF Chronicle Foreign Service
Sunday, October 4, 2009

Norman Solomon

Music by Ahmad Zahir

A check-cashing/pay day loan center. Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/pjchmiel/22532534

Almost everyone in the U.S., in one way or another, does business with the banks. But the business of borrowing isn’t always fair. Whether you’re in the market for a house, or have no credit at all, financial institutions can hit you with high fees, bad loans, and unexpected outcomes. On this edition, we continue our series “How We Survive.” This week we talk to lenders who are doing things differently and to people helping others navigate the financial marketplace.

Featuring:

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‘Tanda’ by Andrew Stelzer

Voices: Angel Luna (AKA Mextape), Tanda practitioner.

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‘Community Check Cashing’ by Andrew Stelzer

Voices: Jessie Marin and Herbert Quintana, Community Check Cashing Tellers; Jackie Quintana, Herbert Quintana’s Sister; Dan Leibsohn, Community Check Cashing Founder and Community Development Expert.

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‘Mission Economic Development Agency’ by Tena Rubio

Voices: Elba, MEDA Client and mortgage borrower; Josie Ramirez, MEDA’s Homeownership Department Program Manager; Luis Granados, MEDA Executive Director.

————————————————————

‘Supplemental Security Income’ by Megan Martenyi

Voices: Douglass, SSI Applicant; Bruce Bortin, The Homeless Advocacy Project Benefits Counselor; Jenny Chung, Insight Center for Community Economic Development Program Manager.

———————————–

For more information:

Community Check Cashing – Fruitvale Village, Oakland, CA.

Homeless Advocacy Project
1360 Mission Street, 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA, 94103
800-405-4HAP

Insight Center for Community Economic Development – Oakland, CA

Mission Economic Development Center (MEDA) – San Francisco, CA

MEDA’s Plaza Adelante
2301 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
kfrentz[at]venturapartners.com

Blogs, Articles, Links:

MEDA’s Anti-Predatory Lending Report

Music:

Mextape: www.myspace.com/mextape
Xian1:www.myspace.com/xian1bass

Raindrops by Avko
Eple by Roy Scopp

Marco Amador (top), caregiver and her charge (middle), Iraqi refugees flee the burning city of Basra (bottom). Source: (top to bottom): Blair Wells, Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, Scotsman.com

As the year 2007 ends, we reflect on three key issues we covered this past year and hear the voices of: the immigrant labor force in post-hurricane New Orleans, domestic workers in the United States, and Iraqi refugees on the streets of Damascus.

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Associate Producer: Puck Lo
Interns: Samson Reiny, Joaquin Palomino, and Elena Botkin-Levy

Featuring:

First segment from New Orleans:

Arthur Robinson, independent business owner; Israel Lopez, immigrant labor worker; Marco Amador, New Orleans Worker Center for Racial Justice field worker & National Day Laborer Organizing Network member.

For more information:

New Orleans Worker Center for Racial Justice

Loyola Workplace Justice Project

The New Orleans Worker Justice Coalition

National Day Laborer Organizing Network

Second Segment on Domestic Workers:

Radha Kanan, domestic worker; Christine Lewis, domestic worker; Joyce Frances, domestic worker; Erline Brown, domestic worker; Marina Lopez, domestic worker; Joyce Campbell, domestic worker; Sylvia, domestic worker and volunteer, Mujeres Unidas y Activas.

For more information:

Domestic Workers United- New York, NY

United Domestic Workers of America – San Diego, CA

Mujeres Unidas y Activas - San Francisco Bay Area

Data Center – Oakland, CA

Day Labor Program of Women’s Collective of La Raza Centro Legal – San Francisco, CA

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) – Los Angeles, CA

National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (NNIRR) – Oakland, CA

National Immigrant Solidarity Network -Los Angeles, CA

Third Segment on Iraqi Refugees:

Eman Abdul Rahid, Iraqi woman whose arm was broken in a car bomb; Adhem Mardini, UNHCR public information officer, Damascus office; Abu Noor, Iraqi man, retired teacher; Omar Jassim, 40-year old Iraqi man, laborer; Rathman Shakr, Iraqi man, former detainee, tortured heavily; Adnan, 59 year-old Iraqi man, ex-Army officer; Dr. Omar Al-Khattab, young Iraqi doctor, fled his country due to direct death threat; Sarrah, 20 year-old Iraqi woman, student of dentistry; Hummam al-Mukhtar, 17 year old Iraqi student; Hussam, 22 year old Iraqi student studying communication engineering in Syria; Adel Al-Jabbah, old Syrian man who owns a spice shop in the souk; Amir Alaby, Syrian man who owns a soap and sweet shop; Adnan #2, Syrian merchant, blames Bush for the crisis; Abdel Aziz, 30 year-old Syrian man, owns stationary store.

For more information:

Dahr Jamail’s MidEast Dispatches

Refugee International – Washington, DC

IRIN (U.N. based humanitarian news agency for excellent reports and updates on the refugee crisis)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

New York Delegation to the U.N. – New York, NY

The Homeland Security Department is building nine towers with radar and cameras to scan 28 miles of border. Source: The NY Times

In 2006, the Bush Administration’s Secure Border Initiative outsourced the surveillance of all U.S. land borders to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. It’s the largest Homeland Security contract to date — $30 billion dollars.

The fence features ground radar systems, mobile watchtowers, unmanned aerial vehicles and new wireless communication networks. If completed, the southwest border will be the most high-tech border this side of the West Bank.

On this edition, independent producer Joseph Richey visits Project 28 – Boeing’s security site, a 28-mile strip along the U.S.-Mexico border, and we talk to “No One is Illegal” organizer, Harjap Grewal, about migration and international trade.

Featuring:

Mitch Ellis, Buenos Aires NWR Refuge Manager; David Gonzalez, US Marshal, Tucson, Arizona; Henry Waxman, Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, California Democratic Congressman; Mark Souder, Indiana Republican Congressman, Republican Leader of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism; Greg Giddens, Department of Homeland Security SBInet director; Steven Lynch, Massachusetts Democratic Congressman; Arivacans: C. Hues, 73 year old artist, Alex Hues, 50 year old pilot, Andrea Morondos and John Warren, grocers; Paul Charlton, former U.S. Attorney, Gallagher and Kennedy, Phoenix, Arizona; Harjap Grewal, “No One is Illegal” organizer.

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Contributing Producer: Joe Richey and KGNU’s narrator Sam Fuqua
Sound Editor: Matt Fidler of Fidler Sound and Media
Associate Producer: Puck Lo
Interns: Samson Reiny, Joaquin Palomino, and Elena Botkin-Levy

This program was produced by Joe Richey with research assistance provided by The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.

For more information:

CorpWatch – Oakland, CA

Border Action Network – Tucson, AZ

No More Deaths – Tucson, AZ

Buenos Aires NWR – Sasabe, AZ

No One is Illegal- Vancouver, BC, Canada

Music: Glenn Mickley arrangement of Phil Ochs’ “Bracero” en espanol
recorded and performed by Glenn Mickley and Joe Richey

Top: Lt. Ehren Watada (center) with his parents. Photo: Jeff Paterson/thankyoult.org Middle: Immigrants in D.C. Photo: National Immigrant Solidarity Network Bottom: Floyd Brooks, Ninth Ward homeowner. Source: Justin Beck

As the year 2006 comes to an end, we take a look back at three hot button issues that we covered over the past year: the Iraq War, U.S. immigration, and the ongoing efforts to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Featuring:

Segment 1: “Soldiers Against the Iraq War”: U.S. Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, refused to deploy to Iraq; Carolyn Ho and Robert Watada, Lieutenant’s Watada’s mother and father; Ann Wright, retired U.S. colonel.

Segment 2 – “U.S. Immigration”: Assie Sampa, Cuban immigrant; Blanca Lopez, Nicaraguan immigrant; Elka Goodin, Jamaican immigrant; Ramon Martinez, Cuban-refugee now U.S. citizen; Marleine Bastien, founder and executive director, FANM Ayisyen Nan Miyami Inc. (Haitian Women of Miami); Katiana Des Arnes, student.

Segment 3 – “Rebuilding New Orleans”: Floyd Brooks, Ninth Ward homeowner; Malik Rahim, co-founder, Common Ground Relief; Gabriel Cohen and Rebecca Mintz, volunteers for Common Ground.

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio.
Contributing Freelance Producers: Sarah Olson, Esther Manilla, Justin Beck.

For more information:

Friends and Family of Lieutenant Watada

Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO) – Oakland, CA

Iraq Veterans Against the War – Philadelphia, PA

Not In Our Name – Oakland, CA

National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (NNIRR) – Oakland, CA

Human Rights Watch - New York, NY

FANM Ayisyen Nan Miyami Inc./ Haitian Women of Miami – Miami, FL

Common Ground Relief – New Orleans, LA

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)

David Korten

You wouldn’t have expected David Korten to raise any doubts about the global economy and its ability to solve poverty and environmental damage if you knew him in the 1980s. At that time, he was working for the U.S. Agency for International Development, touting the benefits of international investment in South East Asia. Then something changed.

Far from creating universal prosperity, Korten observed that the economic models of the organizations he worked for were producing devastating consequences for people and planet. In 1992 he wrote “When Corporations Rule the World,” his deeper examination of economic models that serve the interests of wealthy people who are in the position to profit from global corporations and financial markets.

His most recent book is, “The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community.” Korten argues that corporate consolidation of power is merely a contemporary manifestation of what he calls “Empire.” By Empire, he means, “the organization of society by hierarchies of domination grounded in violent chauvinisms of race, gender, religion, nationality, language, and class.” He says that as a result, our society is unraveling, whether you look at climate change, dwindling fossil fuel supplies, environmental degradation, or an unfair global economic system. According to Korten, we cannot avoid the unraveling. We can, however, turn a potentially terminal crisis into a new opportunity.

In May 2006, Korten spoke to an audience at the First Congregational Church in Oakland, California, about why he thinks we’re on the cusp of a major shift from a world dominated by economic values to one that embraces human values.

David Korten has been a supporter of National Radio Project.

For more information:

David Korten

David Korten in Yes magazine

Joanna Macy

The Earth Charter