Tag: Latino Memphis

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Kresge Foundation Grants $1.9 Million to Local Social Justice Organizations

CREDIT: PHOTO BY MELVIN SMITH

PHOTO BY MELVIN SMITH

The Rev. Stacy Spencer and Janiece Lee post MICAH’s Justice and Equity Charter at City Hall in June 2020.


The Kresge Foundation has announced a $30 million suite of grants for grassroots racial and economic justice organizations in Memphis, as well as in Detroit, New Orleans, and Fresno, California.

The $1.9 million designated for local recipients will go to Latino Memphis, the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis (Power of Place Fund), FSG (supporting the formation of a community collaborative to accelerate economic inclusion and mobility in conjunction with the Power of Place Fund), Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH), My Sistah’s House, Refugee Empowerment Program, and River City Capital.

Chantel Rush, managing director of Kresge’s American Cities Program, says the investment is intended to “send a message to grassroots organizers and philanthropic institutions that racial and economic equity is essential to the health and growth of urban regions and should be adequately funded. With these place-based grants, we aim to enable community organizations with unrestricted resources to meet their community’s specific needs while achieving economic racial justice and inclusive growth in cities.”

The grants primarily provide general operating support over the next three years to ensure the organizations will have significant and predictable resources. Additional information on the recipients and what they are doing is here.

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News News Blog

Amid Pandemic, Groups Ask Government for Resources, Support for Latinos

CREDIT: Latino Memphis

Latino Memphis

A group of Latino-serving organizations across the state sent a letter to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and local governments Wednesday asking for protection and resources for the immigrant community amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Signed by 18 groups, including four based in Memphis, the letter urged officials to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the disproportionate effects it is having on the Latino community.

While Latinos comprise 5.6 percent of Tennessee’s population, they represent 35 percent of the COVID-19 cases here, according to the letter. However, the Tennessee Health Department cites this number at 27 percent as of Wednesday.

In Shelby County, 25 percent of those testing positive are Latino, who comprise 6.5 percent of the county’s population. In Nashville and Knoxville, one-third of COVID-19 positive individuals are Latino, and in Chattanooga Latinos account for 68 percent of current cases.

“We need a robust plan and response from our local elected leaders to curb the rate of infections and save lives,” the letter reads. “We also need a focused and targeted response to reach communities most impacted by the pandemic and ensure that no one is left behind. We are only as healthy and safe as the most vulnerable members of our community.”

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Groups based in Memphis that signed the letter include the Mid-South Immigration Advocates, Latino Memphis, CasaLuz, and Memphis Wesley Foundation.

The letter specifically asks the government to take the following steps:

• Invest in community health workers and case management programs: “We know that Latino families face many barriers when seeking care and effectively quarantining after testing positive. We need to scale up the effective models like community health workers to include more Spanish-speaking staff members across the state.”

• Support effective quarantine to slow the spread: “Latino families often live in multi-generational households, and effective quarantine is difficult with limited space. Governments can mitigate the problem by providing alternative accommodation for COVID-19 positive individuals, such as hotels, until it is safe to reunite with families.”

• Partner with the organizations to organize targeted testing: “Agencies should coordinate with and support immigrant-serving organizations to offer testing at well-known, central and accessible locations and ensure that critical information is disseminated widely and reaches all communities.”

• Include immigrants, regardless of immigration status, in care and economic relief:

“Immigrant families have been largely left out of federal efforts to provide care and relief in response to COVID-19. While the state and local governments have worked to offer testing to all, regardless of immigration status, we need robust economic stimulus programs to help families make ends meet without putting themselves or their communities at risk.”

• Issue clear COVID-19 workplace health and safety regulations and hold employers

accountable: “Media reports have also shown many Latino essential workers continue to be exposed to the virus at their workplace, putting their families and communities at risk. Our state and local governments must ensure that all employers are implementing the guidance of OSHA and public health experts on how to keep all employees, including immigrants, safe at work.”

• Clarify policies and rebuild trust: “Many Latino immigrant families have come to fear government agencies and places that are meant to keep them safe. Government agencies and health institutions must strengthen and publicize policies to reassure immigrants that accessing care and services won’t result in immigration consequences.”

• Establish Offices for Immigrant Inclusion: “States and municipalities that have Offices for New Americans (also called Offices for Immigrants and Refugees) have been able to swiftly respond to the economical, health, and educational crisis presented by COVID-19. These offices serve as a clearing house, working to ensure consistency of multilingual messages and resources across the state, help to coordinate efforts that lead to more equitable and efficient outcomes, and strengthen local efforts to respond in a timely manner. Many of them have become trusted voices and are now pivoting to focus on resilient recovery. We call on the state and local governments to invest in Offices For Immigrant Inclusion, recognizing that our prosperity as a state is dependent on our ability to support the most vulnerable populations, both during and after this pandemic.”

The groups said the pandemic is compounding obstacles already present in the immigrant community.

“Latinos, especially the foreign-born, face enormous obstacles in accessing critical services that contribute to our health and well-being, such as limited English proficiency, ineligibility for public benefits, poverty, lack of transportation, fear, and discrimination,” the letter reads. “The barriers and inequities are compounded during the pandemic with families now facing job and income losses, evictions, exorbitant medical bills, lack of childcare, and more.

The letter continues by saying the pandemic is “an opportunity to recast our vision for an inclusive and equitable society that takes care of everyone, immigrants included. No matter where we’re from or how we got here, we all need access to testing, treatment, resources, and information to care for our families. And in a pandemic situation, an investment to protect the most vulnerable ultimately protects the broader community and hospital system as well.”

Read the full letter below.


[pdf-1]

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News News Blog

Manuel Duran Has Seen ‘Disastrous Effects’ of Trump’s Immigration Policy

CREDIT: Maya Smith

Maya Smith

Manuel Duran and SPLC attorney Gracie Willis

Manuel Duran, the Memphis journalist who was released on bond last week after being detained for 15 months, said he’s seen firsthand the “disastrous effects” of President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policy and the “cruelty of the mass incarceration of immigrants.”

At a Wednesday press conference, Duran called these policies “unnecessary and inhumane.”

“I’ve witnessed firsthand the pain and suffering caused by family separation,” a translator said on behalf of Duran. “ICE is destroying our families for no reason. What is the purpose of these attacks on our communities?”

After Duran was arrested in April 2018 while covering an immigration protest for Memphis Noticias, the local Spanish-language newspaper he owns, the misdemeanor charges against him were dropped by the Shelby County District Attorney’s office, but Duran was then handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and sent to an ICE processing center in Jena, Louisiana.

Duran would then spend the next 450 days in four different detention centers. The most recent was the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Alabama.

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During his time detained, Duran said he’s seen “working men, men with businesses, men who have lived their whole lives in this country, who have committed no crimes, crying and longing to be reunited with their families.”

Duran said his experience in each of the detention facilities were similarly difficult. The conditions are “not adequate,” he said. The detention centers were infested with pests, cockroaches, and spiders, Duran said.

At Etowah, Duran said he and other inmates had to bathe with water hoses in “very cold water,” and that the temperature in the facility wasn’t well-regulated.

“The air conditioner was under repair for most of the spring and we had to endure very high temperatures,” Duran said. “At Etowach, for weeks, for no reason, the heater was turned on to its full capacity. This happened during the summer and it was very difficult to sleep.”

In addition, Duran says detainees don’t have access to the outdoors or recreational spaces and are “locked up without being able to see the sunlight.”

Duran also noted that on two occasions, inmates were denied phone use for days at a time without being given an explanation.

He said prisoners aren’t served a substantial amount of food and the only way to get additional food is from the center’s commissary.

However, Duran said many of the inmates go hungry because they don’t have the financial support of their families or don’t have any family in the country.

“This experience has been very difficult for me and my family, psychologically and economically,” Duran said. “I feel that my life has turned 180 degrees and I’m still trying to adapt.”

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Gracie Willis, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Duran’s next step is to file an asylum application. She said the court hearing for that is likely to be scheduled for the immigration court in Atlanta, but the SPLC will try to have it moved to Memphis so Manuel can “fight his case closer to home.”

Mauricio Calvo, executive director of Latino Memphis, said Duran’s case is unique in that he had legal resources and community support.

“But this is not the norm,” Calvo said. “There are thousands and thousands of families around the country and here in Shelby County that are being separated every single day. It is happening here. Our ICE office is fully staffed and they are kicking doors every single day and racially profiling people for no other reason than political purposes.”

Calvo said people are being detained without judicial orders and “they are taking people’s rights away.”

“We’re not going to stop,” Calvo said. “We’re extremely excited that Manuel is here, but the battle is not over. We’re not going to stop until this American value of freedom, dignity, respect, and the chance at the American dream is the prevailing factor for most people.”

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News News Blog

Local Leader Questions Legitimacy of Trump’s Mass Deportation Threat

CREDIT: Latino Memphis

Latino Memphis

Latino Memphis members distribute immigration information

The leader of a local organization that advocates for the Latino community here called President Donald Trump’s recent threats to remove “millions of illegal aliens” an “explosive” and “divisive” comment, and questioned the verity of the claims. 

On Monday, the president tweeted that Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents would begin removing undocumented immigrants from the country next week.

“Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States,” Trump tweeted. “They will be removed as fast as they come in. Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people long before they get to our Southern Border. Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement.

“The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress. They must vote to get rid of loopholes, and fix asylum. If so, the Border Crisis will end quickly.”

Local Leader Questions Legitimacy of Trump’s Mass Deportation Threat

Executive director of Latino Memphis, Mauricio Calvo said Trump’s statement is “another explosive, non-deliverable, and divisive comment from the president.”

“It doesn’t make any sense logistically, economically, politically, and most importantly, it doesn’t recognize that we are talking about people,” Calvo said. “However, deportations and separation of families are very real and a daily tragedy in our city.

“Thousands of Memphians who are among our neighbors, employees, and friends of our children are vulnerable to this reality.”

Calvo said one way to prepare for this reality is to become informed, citing the national immigration defense campaign, We Have Rights. The campaign’s website gives undocumented immigrants instructions on how to protect themselves when encountering ICE officers or when detained.

For example, the website explains that ICE agents are not allowed to enter or search a home without a warrant signed by a judge. Undocumented immigrants have the right to ask the agents to leave if they do not have a signed warrant.

We Have Rights advises those who have been arrested not to sign any paperwork, to remain silent, and to ask to speak to a lawyer even if they don’t have one. See the video at the bottom for more detail. Anyone who is arrested can be located via this site.

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Calvo also encourages people to get involved in the issue by voting for legislators who support immigration reform.

When asked about the president’s tweet and whether or not ICE would execute raids in Shelby County, ICE’s office of public affairs shed little light on next week’s plans.


ICE officials offered this response in an email to the Flyer:

“The border crisis doesn’t start and stop at the border, which is why ICE will continue to conduct interior enforcement without exemption for those who are in violation of federal immigration law,” the statement reads. “This includes routine targeted enforcement operations, criminals, individuals subject to removal orders, and worksite enforcement.

“This is about addressing the Border crisis by upholding the rule of law and maintaining the integrity of the immigration system, as created by Congress.”

Local Leader Questions Legitimacy of Trump’s Mass Deportation Threat (2)

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Group Urges Resignation of ‘Foreign Mud’ Judge

CREDIT: Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action

Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action

MICAH calls for the resignation of Judge James Lammey.

Another group is calling for the resignation of Judge James Lammey after The Commercial Appeal reported last week that he’d posted racist links on his Facebook page and the group says it’ll take their case to the Shelby County Commission.

Lammey posted a link from a Holocaust denier that called Muslim immigrants “foreign mud” and said that Jews “should get the fuck over the Holocaust.” After the story published, Latino Memphis and commissioner Tami Sawyer called for Lammey to resign, according to the CA.

The Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action (MICAH) also called this week for Lammey’s resignation. A chief concern for the group, which advocates for immigration equity (among other things), is that Lammey “requires defendants he suspects to be undocumented to contact immigration authorities as a condition of probation.”

Here’s a statement from MICAH:

“In a county that pledges not to collaborate with (U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement), will we stand by judges who turn our courtrooms into ICE offices?

“In a city struggling to heal the wounds of racism, will we consent to be represented by judges who propagate insidious stereotypes?
[pullquote-1]”In a city striving to respect the rights of all, will we affirm judges who — in violation of their oath of office — treat people differently based on how they look, or the ethnic origin of their names?”

The group will take their concerns to the county commission next week. While no discussion of Lammey is formally on the agenda for the commission’s Law Enforcement, Fire, Corrections, and Courts committee, MICAH urged its members to speak about the situation at the meeting.

“Although the commission cannot act to censor or recall Judge Lammey, we are free to speak (if we sign up via comment cards) and get our opinion on the record,” reads the Facebook post.

The group’s concerns may fall on attentive ears. Sawyer chairs the committee.

“Tragically, we have permitted these injustices; it must end now,” reads a statement from there group. “MICAH calls on our leaders to stand against prejudice and for equal protection under the law. We demand the swift resignation — or, if need be removal — of Judge Lammey, for the sake of the people’s faith in an unbiased, un-bigoted, and un-compromised system of justice.”

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Opinion The Last Word

ICE: An Immigration History Lesson

It’s a Thursday, outside of the U.S. Capitol. Around 100 women are blockading a major intersection. Traveling from 20 states across the country, these women were prepared for the risk of arrest in this act of nonviolent civil disobedience. They represented the National Domestic Workers Alliance, CHIRLA, NOW, UltraViolet, America’s Voice, The Black Institute, 9 to 5 Working Women, and the Tennessee State Conference of NAACP. Some of these women were undocumented immigrant workers and organizers. They all wore red shirts that read “Women for Fair Immigration Reform,” and together, they took over the streets in front of the House of Representatives calling for long-overdue comprehensive immigration reform.

Rocio Inclan, the director of human and civil rights at the National Education Association, spoke: “We cannot build a strong country when children and families do not even know what tomorrow will bring. … The time is now for fair immigration reform that treats women, children, and families fairly.”

This wasn’t one of the Families Belong Together rallies from last week or the Women’s March of 2017. This rally took place in September 2013. About a year later, during a surge of unaccompanied minors arriving from Central America, the Obama administration considered revisiting practices of separating children from their parents, but instead proceeded with a mass expansion of family detention centers for asylum seekers. Not so long after, Hillary Clinton said that Central American refugee unaccompanied minors should be deported.

Fast forward to today, and — well, we all know. The Trump administration, with some help from the groundwork laid out by past Democratic and Republican administrations, is restructuring the U.S. immigration system, piece by piece.

Many of these changes happen under the radar and through various government agencies that are not highlighted in major news reports. Unless you are directly affected, or know someone who is, or do your part in learning about the process, you are typically unaware that these changes are even happening or are connected.

What many could not ignore this time, however, were the images, videos, and audio recordings of children separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy. This sparked more than 700 Families Belong Together rallies in June calling for an end to family separations and family detention, as well as the abolishment of ICE.

In 2013, I could not have imagined the #AbolishICE movement would have the coverage it does today. Back in 2013, most folks outside of black and brown immigrant-organizing communities didn’t recognize “ICE” as an acronym, much less an aggressive threat to communities.

ICE was created in 2003 under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) along with the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The former Immigration and Naturalization Service essentially had all three roles prior to 2003, but expanding the work to multiple agencies made room for Congress to funnel significantly more funds to immigration enforcement.

In 1996, two major legislations set the stage for the expansion of the use of detention and further criminalization of migration. Under these laws, asylums became much harder to apply for and receive. Opal Tometi, executive director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration and co-founder of Black Lives Matter, explained this legislation also meant immigrants, even those with legal residence, could be deported for “non-violent offenses, including relatively minor ones, such as marijuana possession, jumping a subway turnstile, or selling bootlegged DVDs.” Today, as Congress green-lights anti-immigration bills, DHS is signing contracts with private prison corporations that lack proper regulation and have a history of inadequate health services, sexual abuse, exploitation of labor, and inhuman living conditions. Some may refer to these places as processing or detention centers, but we’re going to call them what they are — prisons. These private prison corporations, the largest two being CoreCivic, Inc. and GEO Group, Inc., contribute millions of dollars in lobbying and campaign contributions in support of strict immigration enforcement policy because they depend on immigrant detainees to fill their prisons in order to make a profit.

If you have a prison but no people to put inside, what do you do? Fabricate the crime, create the “criminals,” and pay for your rules to be enforced. We’ve heard of supply and demand? These private prisons are acting as both. People detained and put in these prisons are exposed to human rights violations. As Tometi has commented, the 1996 laws and the more that followed also targeted black immigrants at higher rates. Undocumented immigrants of African descent would be targeted by local police for being black and then be sent to ICE for deportation for not having papers.

These are some of the narratives often pushed to the margins. Our conversations need to expand to include these those voices. “Abolish ICE” is not a message for politicians to now co-opt for votes and then water down. It is a call to make evident those connections between immigration justice and matters including reproductive justice, racial justice, LGBTQ+ justice, criminal justice, and health care access.
Alyen Mercado is a brown, queer, Latinx chingona and Memphian pursuing an Urban Studies and Latin American and Latinx Studies degree at Rhodes College.

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Memphis’ Immigrant Community Says its Dreams Don’t End With Termination of DACA

After U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows young undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation, would be rescinded with a six-month delay period, the city’s immigrant community is disappointed, but not deterred.

The six-month delay or “orderly wind down” is designed for Congress to construct its own immigration legislation before the program is phased out in March 2018.

Sessions says DACA, created during former President Barack Obama’s era was an “unconstitutional exercise of authority by the executive branch.” He continues that DACA allowed hundreds of illegal aliens to take jobs from American citizens.

Tennessee representative Steve Cohen disagrees, saying in a statement that the decision to end DACA is “heartless, illogical, and un-American.”

“DACA is a commonsense, compassionate program that helps protect from deporting young people who were brought to the United Sates by no choice of their own,” Cohen continues.

He says that according to the Center for American Progress, 95 percent of the DACA participants are either working or in school.

“The decision in not only harmful for the DREAMers, but also for America which relies on them for a more effective and productive workforce,” Cohen says. “I urge Congress to move quickly to protect these bright and talented young people who have significantly contributed to what makes America great.”


Eliminating DACA will affect about 800,000 young people, in some cases, paving the way for them to be deported. Of that number, more than 8,000 are Tennesseans, according to officials with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC).

Officials with TIRRC, along with those from Latino Memphis, are pushing for legislation that would protect the DREAMers. Latino Memphis officials say the bipartisan Dream Act is a “good step toward fixing a broken and outdated immigration system.”

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Opinion Viewpoint

The ICE-man Cometh: The Tragedy of Trump’s Immigration Policy

CREDIT: Latino Memphis

As with almost all his policy initiatives, President Trump’s administration has resorted to obfuscation and lies; this is particularly true with regard to immigration enforcement.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump claimed that his administration would focus on arresting undocumented criminals, the so-called “bad hombres.” Homeland Security insists that this, in fact, is official policy. The most current Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Memphis suggest a very different reality.

From July 23rd to July 26th, as part of a regional operation, ICE arrested 83 individuals on immigration charges in Nashville, New Orleans, and Memphis. Of the 83 arrested, 64 had no significant criminal background.

This means that 80 percent of the arrests made during these raids were conceivably of people who were taking their kids to day care or the grocery store. These arrested and detained individuals are our friends, family, and neighbors. They are an integral part of the cultural, economic, and social fabric of our cities.

Unfortunately, we have been growing accustomed, since January 2017, to Trump administration deceptive-speak and aggressive actions. Last week, we should remember, Trump told police on Long Island, New York, that it’s “okay” to rough up individuals during detention and arrest.  

But the president is not solely responsible for the fear facing the Latino community in Memphis and around the country. For nearly two decades, both political parties have recognized that our broken immigration system serves neither our economy nor the individuals caught in its archaic, outdated structure.

Latino Memphis

Latino Memphis members distribute immigration information

Rather than taking proactive measures, most politicians, business owners, and citizens have remained silent while a shadow economy developed in agriculture, construction, and the service industries. The vast majority of Americans said nothing as generations of undocumented immigrants toiled in the U.S.A., constructing our houses, preparing our food, and taking care of our children.

We Americans perpetuated the lie that this system was somehow mutually beneficial. We professed our personal support for legislation reforming this broken system, but failed to take effective action to make reform a concrete reality.

Our silence and inaction have created the perfect storm, whereby entire communities live under siege as a callous opportunist seeks political gain by tearing families apart. The greatest enemy to these communities is not President Trump, but the apathy of those who profit from decades of work undertaken by the undocumented. If Trump is to be stopped in his supposed “patriotic” pursuit of deportation, American apathy must end immediately.

In light of deep fears spreading through a community under attack, the response of our elected leaders has been silence. County Mayor Mark Luttrell has said nothing. Several months ago, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland stated that the city would not enforce immigration laws and that Memphis remained a “welcoming city.” Those were important statements at a time when the threat was largely theoretical.

But now our community is struggling to make sense of the ICE incursions. With the school year starting, families will be exposed to ICE stops and raids while carrying out the most mundane of tasks, such as taking their kids to school. The time for broad platitudes from our mayors is over. We need action immediately.

First, school property must be declared a safe zone from ICE enforcement. Second, the Shelby County Sheriff should refuse any future collaboration with ICE at the Shelby County jail. Third, our city and county mayors should begin monthly meetings with the Latino community to explore policies to help resist and impede ICE enforcement within our city and county.  

But resistance to this assault cannot be left solely in the hands of our local government. Individual citizens must demand action. We can begin by contacting local, state, and federal government officials, demanding a stop to ICE’s cruel tactics. We should also call for passage of comprehensive immigration legislation that includes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. As the government continues its raids, we can push back against the ICE machine via sustained resistance both in the courtrooms and in the streets.  

Silence and apathy have led us to where we are today, together with a political neophyte president in D.C., who reveals, daily, dictatorial tendencies.  If Memphis is truly a “welcoming city,” we must not sit idly by while ICE tears families apart.

Bryce Ashby is a Memphis-based attorney. Michael J. LaRosa is an associate professor of history at Rhodes College.

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We Recommend We Recommend

Latino Memphis’ Festival de Brazil at Overton Park

Brazil knows how to pitch a party. Every year, for four days preceding Ash Wednesday, the country shuts down for Carnival. It’s Mardi Gras writ large, with parades rolling day and night, revelers packing the sidewalks, and colorful costumed characters dancing in the streets. Although Carnival season has already passed down in São Paulo, Memphians can still march to samba rhythms and savor the aromas of churrasco when Latino Memphis’ annual festival pays tribute to Brazil in Overton Park this weekend.

The Latino Memphis’ festival started small with a 5K followed by a salsa competition. Like the community it celebrates, the festival has grown, then blossomed into a day-long event highlighting the diversity of Latino culture.

Festival de Brazil

Latino Memphis’ communications director Fabiola Cervantes promises “Samba dancers, Brazilian martial arts, and a Brazilian pavilion where you’ll be able to taste Brazilian food and learn all about Brazil in this huge, colorful tent at the center of the festival.” There will also be a a Brazilian-infused Zumba class, samba dance classes, mask and musical instrument-building workshops, a soccer clinic, and more. Festivities kick off at 9 a.m. The parade, led by the University of Tennessee at Martin’s percussion ensemble, starts at 11:30 a.m. Festival-goers are invited to to dress up in costumes and bring musical instruments to play.

Because parking is limited, organizers are encouraging people to carpool and ride bikes, and the first 75 cyclists to arrive will receive a gift. They have partnered with the Roo bus, which will shuttle festival attendees from parking locations at Christian Brothers University, Idlewild Church, and First Baptist Church.

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News The Fly-By

Tennessee Joins Multi-State Lawsuit Against President Obama

Latino Memphis Executive Director Mauricio Calvo came to Memphis from Mexico City two decades ago to attend Christian Brothers University. Since then, he’s witnessed close friends, who were in the U.S. without proper documentation, deported from Memphis back to their native countries.

“When [undocumented immigrants] say goodbye to their loved ones [in the morning], they don’t know if they’re going to come home that night,” Calvo said. “And that’s a real hard thing to live with.”

A coalition of 26 states, led by Texas, has filed a lawsuit against President Obama, alleging his recent executive actions on immigration are unconstitutional. Tennessee was among the last states to join the multi-state coalition.

Latino Memphis’ Mauricio Calvo speaks with immigrants.

Last November, Obama introduced his “Immigration Accountability Executive Action” to provide relief to undocumented immigrants nationwide.

The executive action seeks to enable undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for at least five years or are the parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to remain in the country temporarily. They would have to pass a criminal background check and pay back taxes. Those who qualify would be eligible to receive a three-year work permit.

Under the new policy, Obama would also expand the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program currently prohibits the deportation of people brought into the U.S. illegally as minors by their parents before June 15, 2007. The expansion would extend the cutoff date to January 1, 2010.

There’s a substantial number of immigrants in Tennessee, many of whom are undocumented. According to the Pew Research Center, around 300,000 Hispanic immigrants reside in the Volunteer State. More than 130,000 are undocumented.

According to a statement provided by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slater, Tennessee joined the lawsuit because “the executive directives issued by the White House and Homeland Security conflict with existing federal law. They replace prosecutorial discretion, normally determined on a case-by-case basis, with a unilateral non-enforcement policy protecting over four million people.”

In addition to Texas and Tennessee, other states in the lawsuit include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, and several others.

Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris (R-Collierville) supports Slater’s decision to join the lawsuit. He said Obama’s executive action is an abuse of regulations that’s contrary to the law.

“Somebody has got to stand up and push back against this madness,” Norris said. “As the attorney general put it, it’s not about immigration as much as it is about regulation and the illegality of extending regulations beyond what the law will allow.”

There are estimated to be more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the nation, according to the Pew Research Center. More than four million will be able to benefit from Obama’s new deportation relief programs if a judge doesn’t rule in the states’ favor to block the executive action.

“It’s a waste of resources,” Calvo said. “With all of the things that we have to do as a state, we’re allocating tax money to fight the federal government on something that’s a dead end. The president acted within his power, regardless of how they feel about this. We are wasting money on a lawsuit that makes no sense.”