Immigration Advocates Decry Deportations Of Non-Violent Undocumented

Immigration advocates plan May Day marches Thursday around U.S. cities, with an increased focus on reducing deportations of undocumented immigrants who have never been convicted of a violent crime.

Congress is stalled on an immigration reform bill, so advocates have stepped up their focus on the Obama administration’s deporting of two million people who the government says committed serious crimes or major violations of immigration law.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz of Milwaukee-based Voces de la Frontera says too many non-violent people are being taken away from their family. She says recently federal immigration agents have been detaining more people who come to county courthouses to help relatives or fight for their own rights.

“We had three workers in one county who have a very legitimate case where the employer was stealing from their wages, stealing from the taxes, and they had a court appointment, and now they’re afraid to go to court as victims of a crime,” Neumann-Ortiz said.

Neumann-Ortiz says activists are asking that courts be added to the list of sensitive sites that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will only raid under extreme circumstances. Schools, churches and hospitals are already on the list.

Thursday’s Latino advocates march in Milwaukee will, for the first time, end at the county courthouse.