Operation Wetback was ended in the 1950s after it was clear that racial profiling was the basis used for neighborhood roundups. It took the outcry from the Mexican American community to rise to a level that got noticed by the powers-that-be.
Moving from the 1950s to today, MALDEF alerts us to Operation Wetback tactics being used in Georgia:
Over the past month, there have been an alarming number of arrests related to immigration enforcement. These arrests raise serious doubts that they comply with the Agreement, which requires, among other guidelines, that immigration-trained personnel provide “an opportunity for subjects with limited English language proficiency to request an interpreter.” (MOA Section XV, at 7)2007 is seeing a surge of law enforcement agencies carrying out enforcement policies using race as a criteria, citizens being deported and subsequently lost, and white supremacist groups uniting with the nativist movement to push for hardliners in public office.
“Over the last few months several hundred Latinos have been pulled over and are still sitting in jail,” said Elise Shore, Southeast Regional Counsel of MALDEF. “The Cobb County Sheriff cannot assure us that his deputies are carrying out their responsibilities consistent with basic civil rights protections because he has failed to establish the Steering Committee required by the Agreement.”
linkage
When will the hate end?
It begins within and flows in our ability to educate others.
That's the work we have ahead of us. No more silence.
Will you help?
*thanks to Marisa M. for assistance with the video
No comments:
Post a Comment