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Take Action to End Racial
Profiling! It's Time to Stop Sheriff
Joe.
Campaign Expiration Date: May 2,
2009
Greetings,
In
recent months, the hard work of many has raised the
profile of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the most infamous Sheriff
since Bull Connor, as the ugliest local face of the
failed national 287g program. The Sheriff's march of
undocumented inmates in a chain gang the New York Times
described as "ritual humiliation" uncovered the racial
profiling and terror he's carried out on Maricopa
County, and made urgent the need for federal
intervention.
Arpaio deputizes vigilante posses to
set up check points, dispatches uniformed officers to
roam the streets in ski masks, chases janitors with
attack dogs and assault weapons, and directs his law
enforcement resources at the request of known white
supremacists.
40,000 people signed petitions
condemning his actions. 5,000 people marched peacefully
in Phoenix on February 28 demanding federal intervention
to end Arpaio's abuses. Today the House Judiciary
Committee investigated the racial profiling inherent in
the 287g program.
Yet, Sheriff Joe continues to
terrorize Maricopa County, taunting the federal
government, and daring them to act. We say enough is
enough! President Obama and his Secretary of Homeland
Security, former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, need
to sever Arpaio's 287g agreement now and restore the
rule of law to Maricopa County.
Act now! Send this
letter to President Obama calling for the termination of
Sheriff Joe's 287g agreement!
Send a letter to the following
decision maker(s):
President Barack Obama
Below is the sample letter:
Subject: We've Heard
Enough. Please Terminate Sheriff Arpaio's 287g Agreement
Now.
Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted
here],
We are asking you to work with Secretary of
Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, to immediately
terminate the 287(g) memorandum of agreement between ICE
and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
Recently, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's alarming abuses
brought to light the dangers of local police departments
enforcing federal immigration laws. By now, we are
certain you are aware of Sheriff Arpaio's egregious
abuses of the law and the subsequent 2,700 lawsuits
filed against him.
When local authorities attempt to enforce complicated
federal immigration laws, there is a great risk of civil
rights violations that endanger the public trust.
Residents who are victims or witnesses to crimes become
hesitant to approach law enforcement and law enforcement
becomes prone to policing based on skin color or Spanish
accents as Phoenix Mayor Gordon states is happening in
Maricopa County. Sheriff Arpaio is an example of the
worst that is possible under the 287(g) agreements. His
volunteer posses, sidewalks check points, and armed
pursuits of janitors has turned Maricopa County into one
of the worst sites of racial profiling and human rights
violations in the country.
Last month the Congressional Homeland Security
Committee reviewed the 287g program and today the House
Judiciary Committee investigated the racial profiling
inherent in its implementation.
As the President in charge of Homeland Security, we
ask that you end this dangerous program starting with
Sheriff Arpaio in Maricopa County.
As you have noted, the United States immigration
policy is broken. But as you must also know from
Secretary Napolitano's time as the former governor of
Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's 287(g) agreement is not
part of the solution. Our communities cannot endure more
sweeping raids and humiliating chain gangs. We need you
to use your power to terminate Sheriff Arpaio's 287(g)
immediately and freeze expansion of this and similar
programs until you can repeal them entirely. We are
hopeful that under your leadership, the federal
government will reassert its responsibility to enforce
immigration laws in a fair and responsible manner.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Take Action!
Tell-A-Friend:
Visit the web
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this.
What's At Stake:
Sheriff Arpaio is the biggest proponent of former
President Bush's experimental 287(g) program which
enlisted local law enforcement to enforce immigration
laws.
40,000 people signed petitions condemning his
actions. 5,000 people marched peacefully in Phoenix on
February 28 demanding federal intervention to end
Arpaio's abuses. Our voices have been heard. The
Department of Justice formally launched an investigation
of Sheriff Arpaio. The GAO has declared the 287(g)
program a disaster. And today, the House Judiciary
Committee, chaired by Congressman Conyers, held hearings
revealing the 287(g) program has endangered communities
and led to racial profiling on a scale this country has
not seen in a generation.
Yet, Sheriff Joe continues
to terrorize Maricopa County, taunting the federal
government, and daring them to act. We say enough is
enough!
President Obama and his Secretary of Homeland
Security, former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, need
to act immediately and end this dangerous program,
starting with Sheriff Arpaio's 287g agreement. US
Immigration policy needs to be fixed and the new
administration can start by ending its contract with a
racist sheriff.
About the alert creators:
The
National Day Laborer Organizing Network exists to
improve the lives of day laborers in the United States.
To this end, NDLON works to unify and strengthen its
member organizations to be more strategic and effective
in their efforts to develop leadership, mobilize, and
organize day laborers in order to protect and expand
their civil, labor and human rights. NDLON fosters safer
more humane environments for day laborer, both men and
women, to earn a living, contribute to society, and
integrate into the community. Visit NDLON's website at
http://www.ndlon.org
United
Students Against Sweatshops is a network of individual
students and over 200 affiliate groups of workers,
students, and community members in North America who
have been organizing for worker justice since 1998. Our
National Student Coordinating Committee endorsed this
campaign against the 287(g) program in our efforts to
stand in solidarity with all those who work for
immigrant justice. We fight against a global power
system that allows private capital to move across
national borders and yet dehumanizes and punishes people
for doing the same. Visit the USAS website at http://www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org
Campaign Expiration Date:
May 2,
2009
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