FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2014

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, [email protected], 213-400-7822

National Immigration Law Center Welcomes New Directors of Development and Finance

LOS ANGELES — The National Immigration Law Center (NILC), a premier immigrants’ rights organization, is proud to announce two new members of its senior management team, Director of Development Nancy Peponis and Director of Finance and Administration Margaret Lopez.

Ms. Peponis, NILC’s first director of development, will give strategic direction to, manage, and coordinate the expansion of NILC’s fundraising efforts. This new position was created with the goal of diversifying NILC’s revenue sources, and especially to expand support from corporations, unions, new foundations, and individuals.

As the director of finance and administration, Ms. Lopez will manage the finances and administrative operations of the nearly five-million-dollar organization.

“We’re excited to be joined by Nancy and Margaret, two very talented individuals in their fields with well-rounded experience in the nonprofit and corporate environments,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of NILC. “They come to NILC at a critical moment in our 35-year history, as we enter a new growth phase to expand our advocacy on behalf of all those living in the United States, regardless of where they were born or how much money they have.”

The new members of NILC’s senior management team also have rich immigrant backgrounds. Ms. Lopez is a first-generation immigrant from Macao, China, and Ms. Peponis is the granddaughter of Greek immigrants.

Before joining NILC, Ms. Peponis served as executive director of Learning Rights Law Center, a Los Angeles legal-services nonprofit, where she managed fund development, marketing, finance, strategic planning, and all administrative functions. She has a wide range of experience in the nonprofit sector, including work in child welfare, human services, health, and the performing arts. She served as the development officer for major gifts at New York City’s Ballet Hispanico. Her for-profit experience has focused on marketing in the areas of entertainment (as a director of marketing for Capitol Records) and technology (as a consultant for Adobe Systems and as co-founder of a software startup). Ms. Peponis received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a bachelor of music degree in theory and composition from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University.

Before joining NILC, Ms. Lopez served as director of financial services at Hillsides, a service organization for at-risk children and their families, in Pasadena, Calif., for nearly a decade. Ms. Lopez also has served as controller at the Pacific Asia Museum (also in Pasadena), audit manager at Whittemore & Associates Nonprofit CPAs, Inc., and auditor in various accounting firms. In addition, she has served as an independent consultant helping the nonprofit sector and has taught immediate accounting on an adjunct basis at DeVry University. Ms. Lopez is a certified public accountant in California. She received a master of accounting degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa after receiving a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from the same university.

Established in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center is the only advocacy organization in the United States exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their families. NILC advances its mission through an integrated strategy of advocacy, litigation, and communications, along with education and technical assistance. Over the past three decades, NILC has won landmark legal decisions protecting fundamental rights, thwarted policies that would have devastated the lives of low-income immigrants and their family members, and advanced major policies that reinforce our nation’s values of equality, opportunity, and justice for all.

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2014

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, [email protected], 213-400-7822

Federal Court Orders Department of Homeland Security to Allow Class Action Lawyers to Meet with Children Fleeing Violence

LOS ANGELES — Salvadoran children who have recently been taken into custody by federal agents after crossing the U.S. border and detained in Nogales, Ariz., will be allowed to meet privately with attorneys to learn their rights, a Los Angeles federal district court judge ruled today.

The order, which requires the federal government to provide attorneys in a class action lawsuit with access to the detained children by July 30, comes after attorneys with the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Immigrants’ Rights Project, ACLU of Southern California, and Munger Tolles & Olson LLP were repeatedly denied permission to meet with the children at newly opened federal detention facilities, including one in Nogales, Ariz.

NILC, ACLU and co-counsel have repeatedly expressed concerns that the government may not be complying with the Orantes-Hernandez v. Gonzales federal permanent injunction, which orders the government to protect the due process rights of detained Salvadorans.

“Since its inception, our country has been a place of refuge for people fleeing persecution,” said Linton Joaquin, general counsel of the National Immigration Law Center. “Sadly, in recent weeks detained Central American children and families have been blocked from visiting with attorneys who could help them determine whether they can and should be protected from being returned to the violence they escaped. Today’s ruling is important not just for these children, but for those of us who believe in protecting the most vulnerable among us.”

In its original injunction, the court found that the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which preceded the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), had engaged in a pattern and practice of coercing and otherwise improperly encouraging Salvadorans to waive their rights to apply for asylum. Salvadorans were pressured to accept voluntary departure and waive a hearing during their arrest and processing, and this pattern and practice of misconduct extended to detention centers, where their access to counsel and information about their rights was severely restricted.

The need to continue the injunction’s protections was reaffirmed by federal courts in 2007 and 2009.

Now, as tens of thousands of refugees cross the U.S. border, immigrants’ rights attorneys have been denied access to the children to determine if their rights and the Orantes injunction are being violated.

“It’s beyond belief that the government has been categorically denying children at Nogales, who are fleeing violence, the right to meet with counsel,” said Jennifer Chang Newell, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “The court’s ruling means that despite the urgency of the situation at the border, the children’s rights must be fully respected.”

In the filing with the court, the civil rights groups argued that recent press reports and photographs of the Central American children at the border show that “children and families are being detained in large facilities that were not designed for this purpose, in extremely overcrowded and inadequate conditions (including sleeping on the floor), and where it appears highly likely that the terms of the permanent injunction in this case regarding access to telephones, law libraries and legal rights materials, as well as attorney visitation, are being violated . . . .”

“We are delighted that Judge Morrow has taken this big step to ensure that the rights and safety of these vulnerable children are protected,” said Brad Phillips, a lawyer at Munger Tolles. “Her ruling reaffirms one of the fundamental principles for which this country has always stood — that everyone, no matter their status, is entitled to be treated with fairness and decency and in accordance with our Constitution.”

NILC, the ACLU, and the law firm of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP are currently serving as class counsel for the Orantes class members. Attorneys on the case include: Linton Joaquin, Karen Tumlin, and Alvaro Huerta of NILC; Ahilan Arulanatham and Jennifer Chang Newell of the ACLU; and Brad Phillips, Steve Kristovich, Susan Nash, David Taylor, Emily Murphy, Kenneth Trujillo-Jamison, and Thomas Clancy of Munger, Tolles & Olson.

The court’s order is available at www.nilc.org/document.html?id=1114.

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2014

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, [email protected], 213-400-7822

NILC Calls on DHS to Release Jose Antonio Vargas

Texas border arrest of well-known undocumented immigrant highlights “golden cage” border zone residents live in

WASHINGTON — Undocumented leader Jose Antonio Vargas has been detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the McAllen International Airport near the Texas-Mexico border. He arrived in McAllen last week to help United We Dream and its local affiliate, Minority Affairs Council, highlight the dire situation refugee children who have fled increased violence in Central America are facing. Once in McAllen, Vargas became aware of border checkpoints and contacted the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) for guidance.

The following is a statement by Marielena HIncapié, NILC’s executive director:

“The photos of Jose Antonio being handcuffed by Customs and Border Protection agents is a reminder of what millions of aspiring Americans, like Jose, are at risk of. Fortunately, Jose Antonio is a prominent undocumented leader, but this is not the case for most people.

“A little-known fact about our nation’s 100-mile southwest border zone is that everyone’s rights are limited. Along the border — a thriving commercial area full of communities with deep and long ties to this land — ‘show me your papers’ isn’t a potential threat, it’s a way of life.”

“Like so many others, Jose Antonio Vargas wasn’t aware of this reality when he visited the thousands of children who are detained in the area. As a result, he has been detained, and the future of this Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist is in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security.

“We call upon DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson to exercise prosecutorial discretion and release Jose immediately. More importantly, we hope this unfortunate event shines a spotlight on the damage this 100-mile-wide rights-free zone causes for millions of border residents, who deserve more than to be treated as suspects in their own neighborhoods. Jose’s detention is another reminder that President Obama must make good on his promise to use his executive authority to allow immigrants such as Jose to obtain temporary status and be free from the fear of deportation. Jose’s contributions to our nation have been many and great. The president should go bold and big now.”

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2014

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]

Clark County Sheriff Places Public Safety Over Politics, Restricts Immigration Holds in County

Move comes after months of advocacy from National Immigration Law Center, UNLV Law Clinic, and Holland & Knight LLP

LAS VEGAS — Following the prelitigation efforts of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), the Immigration Clinic at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law, and Holland & Knight LLP, Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie announced that his department would no longer enforce most U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds, also known as ICE holds or immigration detainers. These holds, which request that local law enforcement detain immigrants who are potentially removable, have come under increasing scrutiny across the country.

“With this move, Clark County joins dozens of other states and localities that have determined what we already know: These hold policies that allow people to be detained for weeks at a time, are not constitutionally defensible,” said Melissa Keaney, staff attorney of the National Immigration Law Center. “We hope news of Clark County’s about-face on detainers reaches the ears of officials in Washington, DC, who for too long have advocated for this clearly broken policy of turning local law enforcement officers into de facto immigration agents.”

“Today’s news is win-win for all Clark County residents, regardless of where they were born, said Professor Fatma Marouf of the UNLV Immigration Clinic. “By disentangling itself from immigration enforcement activities, Sheriff Gillespie has sent a strong message to immigrants that they should not fear coming forward as victims of — or witnesses to — crime. As a result, public safety will improve for all residents.”

Since 2001, the Clark County Detention Center and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department have operated under a practice of refusing to accept bail from pretrial inmates who are the subject to ICE holds. Sheriff Gillespie’s announcement represents a significant and welcome change in the Sheriff Department’s policy and NILC, UNLV Immigration Clinic, and Holland & Knight applaud the sheriff’s decision.

“After months of prelitigation efforts, we are pleased to see that Sheriff Gillespie has decided to do what’s best for his community by refusing to honor ICE hold requests in most cases,” said Robert Barton, associate at Holland & Knight LLP. “Draconian detention practices tear at the fabric of our society and undermine the values enshrined in our Constitution. This announcement should be considered a victory for all those who believe in protecting the freedoms outlined by our nation’s founders.”

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2014

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]

Breaking ICE Holds
NILC Praises Los Angeles for Standing Up for Public Safety

LOS ANGELES — Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Charlie Beck today announced that city police will no longer honor most requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain immigrants suspected of being deportable. This announcement, which comes after several years of immigrant-led organizing, makes Los Angeles one of several California cities that has created a policy that goes beyond the California TRUST Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from turning community members who have been arrested for minor infractions over to ICE. Below is a statement from Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, which is based in Los Angeles:

“All Angelenos — no matter where they were born — should celebrate this welcome piece of news that will go a long way toward restoring trust between local law enforcement and immigrant communities. By breaking the vicious detention and deportation cycle facilitated by LAPD and ICE, residents of all backgrounds will once again feel safe coming forward as survivors of or witnesses to crime without making themselves, their neighbors, or their loved ones susceptible to being placed in the detention and deportation system.

“Today’s news is the result of years of organizing and advocacy by immigrant Angelenos, who have borne the brunt of President Obama’s disastrous Secure Communities policy, which has streamlined the immigration detainer process since 2009. This program has shattered thousands of Los Angeles families and cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year.

“Los Angeles is the latest in a long line of cities and counties that have declared a collective ‘Ya basta!’ to ICE detainers. We hope this message reaches open ears in Washington, where U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder are reviewing the nation’s detention and deportation practices. They should follow the lead of immigrant-rich Los Angeles and make immigration detainers — which have caused immeasurable pain to immigrant families and hurt public safety for all of us — a thing of the past.”

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2014

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]
Patricia Flynn, ACLU national, 212-519-7835, 917-442-4024,[email protected]
Larry Gonzalez, MALDEF, 202 466-0879, [email protected]
Steve Kilar, ACLU of Arizona, 602-492-8540, [email protected]

Federal Appeals Court Rules Arizona Must Offer Driver’s Licenses to DREAMers

DREAMers celebrate panel’s conclusion that young immigrants are being harmed by Gov. Brewer’s license ban

PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was wrong to bar some young immigrants from receiving driver’s licenses, a panel of federal judges ruled today. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division to end its policy of denying licenses to young immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. This group of young people—who have permission from the federal government to live and work in the U.S.—are seriously harmed by their inability to get drivers’ licenses, the court said.

The court ruled that Arizona’s license denial policy is likely unconstitutional because it improperly discriminates against some young immigrants. This is the latest legal step in a civil rights coalition’s lawsuit against the discriminatory policy, which prevented Arizona youth granted work authorization through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program from applying for state-issued identification.

The news was welcomed by plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including Carla Chavarria, a member of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, who said, “Today’s decision will remove a tremendous burden that I—along with thousands of other Arizonans—face on a daily basis. By allowing us to apply for the licenses we need to drive to school and work, we’ll finally be able to contribute more fully to the communities we love.”

Karen Tumlin, managing attorney of the National Immigration Law Center, said, “Today’s decision finally recognizes that Arizona’s immigrant youth are no different from anyone else authorized to live and work in the country, and to treat them differently is simply wrong. Our plaintiffs have fought long and hard to be recognized by the state they love, and we are thrilled to see that the courts have ordered the removal of one major barrier from allowing these young people to more fully contribute to their families, community, and economy.”

“This is a huge victory for the young immigrants who want nothing more than to make meaningful contributions to communities in their home state of Arizona,” said Alessandra Soler, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona. “Gov. Brewer chose to play politics with the hopes and dreams of these young people by denying them licenses and we’re extremely happy the court saw through this and found there was no rational reason to single them out.”

The National Immigration Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Mexican American Legal and Educational Fund and the ACLU of Arizona challenged Gov. Brewer’s executive order and related policies in court, alleging the ban violates DREAMers’ constitutional right to equal protection of the laws.

Today, in granting a preliminary injunction, the Ninth Circuit agreed that DREAMers suffered “irreparable harm” because of Gov. Brewer’s policy, particularly because the denial of a driver’s license limits employment opportunities. The court also found that plaintiffs may be successful in establishing that Gov. Brewer’s arbitrary ban improperly infringes on the federal government’s exclusive immigration authority by inhibiting plaintiffs’ ability to work as authorized.

“The Court’s ruling confirms that Arizona’s discrimination against these hardworking young immigrants violates our Constitution. These DREAMers are Americans in their hearts and minds, and it’s time for Gov. Brewer to start treating them that way,” said Jennifer Chang Newell, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project.

In September 2013, in an effort to get out from under the lawsuit, Gov. Brewer expanded the drivers’ license ban to other groups of immigrants—including crime victims, domestic violence survivors and their children. Brewer’s administration apparently hoped that expanding the ban to other “deferred action” categories of immigrants would make the ban on DREAMers constitutional by imposing the state’s discriminatory policy on other, similar groups of non-citizens. However, as the Plaintiffs have argued in court, targeting additional groups of immigrants in order to continue the state’s discrimination against DREAMers is equally unconstitutional.

“Today, the federal courts had to step in to prevent Arizona from discriminating against the DACA recipients that it should be embracing,” said Victor Viramontes, MALDEF National Senior Counsel, who argued the case in the Ninth Circuit. “After yet another loss in court, Arizona should stop its senseless battle against immigrants.”

A copy of the order is available at www.nilc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/9thciradacop.pdf.

More information about the lawsuit challenging the policy in Arizona denying driver’s licenses to DREAMers is available at www.nilc.org/drivers-licenses/ (click on the “Litigation” tab).

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 3, 2014

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]

National Immigration Law Center and Human Rights Groups Tell President to Abandon Efforts to Expedite Deportations of Children Fleeing Violence

WASHINGTON — President Obama should reconsider his plans to quickly deport Central American children who have arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking safety, and should instead properly screen the children for trafficking and persecution, and extend humanitarian protections, according to a letter sent to the president Thursday by almost 200 immigration, civil and human rights, faith, labor, and community groups.

In the letter to the president, organizations including the National Immigration Law Center faulted the White House proposal for being focused on deterring migration instead of protecting children. “The proposed plan would appear to place at risk … existing legal protections, jeopardizing the lives of children seeking safety in the United States,” the groups wrote.

The president is expected to formally request expanded authority from Congress next week, along with $2 billion in emergency funding, allowing the administration to place Central American children in expedited removal proceedings. About 52,000 children traveling alone and 39,000 adults with children have been stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border since October.

“Congress must reject the administration’s plans to almost precipitously deport children without giving them a fair day in court and meaningful due process,” said Marielena Hincapié, NILC executive director.

“The politics of fear in the immigration debate is always uncalled for, but especially when we are talking about deporting children who deserve our protection. Ensuring that the most vulnerable members of our society are cared for isn’t a matter of sound policy or politics — it’s simply the right thing to do.Furthermore, treating those fleeing persecution or violence with dignity is simply the traditional American way,” Hincapié added.

NILC has previously secured nationwide permanent injunctions to ensure basic protections for detained immigrants.

President Obama’s plan undermines the “rights and safety” of the children, opponents stated in the letter urging President Obama to reverse his policy.

The groups noted that removal of the children through a nonjudicial process circumvents protections in the bipartisan Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008.

“Instead of affording these children proper screening for trafficking and persecution, as well as the opportunity to receive fair and full consideration of their legal claims before an immigration judge, the administration appears to propose to quickly deport them, without access to legal counsel,” according to the letter.

Established in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center is the only advocacy organization in the United States exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their families. NILC advances its mission through policy analysis and litigation, along with education and advocacy. Over the past three decades, NILC has won landmark legal decisions protecting fundamental rights, thwarted policies that would have devastated the lives of low-income immigrants and their family members, and advanced major policies that reinforce our nation’s values of equality, opportunity, and justice for all.

To read the letter, click here.

# # #