Testimony for Ad Hoc Hearing, November 21, 2011
Mary Bauer
Statement for Congressional Hearing
"HB 56: Alabama’s 2011 Civil Rights Crisis"
Birmingham City Council
November 21, 2011
Thank you for the opportunity to speak about the devastating effects that Alabama’s extreme anti-immigrant law, known as HB56, has had on this state.
My name is Mary Bauer. I am the Legal Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Founded in 1971, the Southern Poverty Law Center is a civil rights organization dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights of minorities, the poor, and victims of injustice in significant civil rights and social justice matters. The Southern Poverty Law Center is one of several civil rights groups representing plaintiffs in HICA v. Bentley, a lawsuit challenging HB56 in federal court. That case is currently pending before Judge Sharon Blackburn in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, and the ruling on Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction is on appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
During my legal career, I have represented thousands of immigrants throughout the Southeast and elsewhere. I have been lead counsel in at least a dozen major class action lawsuits on behalf of immigrants. I am also the author of several reports about immigrants in the U.S, including Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States, published in 2007; Under Siege: Life for Low-Income Latinos in the South, published in 2009; and Injustice on Our Plates: Immigrant Women in the U.S. Food Industry, published 2010 (co-authored with Mónica Ramírez)
The Origins of HB56
HB56 was drafted, at least in part, by Kris Kobach, who is with the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). IRLI is the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform(FAIR), a group listed as a nativist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. This law, then, is clearly part of a national nativist agenda, but its effects are being perpetrated upon the state of Alabama.
The law was sponsored in Alabama by Senator Scott Beason, who urged his fellow legislators to “empty the clip and do what needs to be done” in discussing the need for this law to combat illegal immigration. Sam Rolley, “Beason: The Dems Don’t Want to Solve Illegal Immigration Problem” The Cullman Times, February 6, 2011. Alabama Representative Micky Hammon, the House co-sponsor of the bill, has said that, in drafting the bill, they intended it to “attack every aspect of an illegal immigrant’s life.” Kim Chandler, “Alabama House Passes Arizona-Style Immigration Law,” The Birmingham News, April 5, 2011.
The law as passed had 30 provisions; seven of those provisions have been enjoined by either the District Court or the Court of Appeals. The provisions that have been enjoined include Section 13, which made it a crime to transport or provide shelter to undocumented immigrant, thereby criminalizing many charitable and religious operations; Section 8, which prohibited many legal immigrants from attending any public college or university in the state; and Section 28, which required school officials to inquire as to the legal status of public school children and their parents. Section 28 went into effect for approximately two weeks before it was enjoined by the Court of Appeals. Although we’re certainly pleased that the provision has been enjoined, great damage has already been done: Latino children have heard the message, loud and clear, that they are not wanted in this state.
In fact, HB56 has devastated the immigrant community in Alabama. It would be hard for me to overstate the human tragedy that has been unleashed upon Alabama by HB56. Under the provisions of this law that are currently in effect, undocumented persons are unable to interact with the government—in any way and for any purpose.
It has turned a significant class of people, effectively, into legal non-persons, subjecting them to a kind of legal exile. It has destroyed lives, ripped apart families, devastated communities, and left our economy in shatters.
The Real World Effects of this Law
After HB56 went into effect, SPLC and the other groups representing plaintiffs in HICA v. Bentley started a telephone hotline to field calls about the law. In the first weekend, we received close to 1,000 calls. We have now received close to 4,000 calls through the hotline, and we’ve received many other complaints through other means, including through know your rights presentations we have conducted around the state. The breadth of the problems—created directly and indirectly by the law,—is breathtaking. A small sample of the kinds of concerns people have raised follows:
- A mother in northern Alabama was told she could not attend a book fair at her daughter’s school without an Alabama state ID or driver’s license.
- A father called to report that his U.S. citizen daughter came home weeping from school after other students told her she did not belong there and needed to go back to Mexico—a country she had never visited.
- A judge advised a lawyer that the lawyer had obligation to report her own client to ICE as undocumented. The same judge stated that he might have to report to ICE any person who asked for an interpreter, as such a request would be a red flag.
- Latino workers on a construction jobsite were threatened by a group of men with guns, who told them to go back to Mexico and threatened to kill them if they were there the following day. They declined to report the crime to law enforcement because of fears of what would happen to them if they did.
- A clerk at a store in Bessemar told a Latino man (lawfully in the United States) from Ohio that he could not make a purchase with his bank card because he did not have an Alabama state issued identification or driver’s license.
- A victim of domestic violence went to court to obtain a protective order. The clerk told her that she’d be reported to ICE if she proceeded.
- A local bar association has advised its lawyers that if they are asked to report information about their undocumented clients to law enforcement, the requirements of HB56 will override the legal obligation to preserve a client’s confidences.
- By the first Monday after HB56 was allowed to take effect, 2,285 Latino students were absent from schools across Alabama; 7 percent of the total Latino school population. Since then, the Attorney General and the state have refused to share enrollment and absentee data to anyone, including the United States Department of Justice.
- A public school in Montgomery asked already enrolled Latino students questions about their immigration status and that of their parents. As a result, some parents are keeping their children out of school.
- In Allgood, the water authority posted a sign indicating that water customers would have to produce identification documents proving immigration status in order to maintain water service.
- In Northport, the water authority provided notices to Latino customers that their services will be shut off if they didn’t provide proof of immigration status immediately.
- In Madison County and in Decatur, the public utilities have announced that they will not provide water, gas, or sewage service to people who could not prove their status.
- Numerous probate offices, including the Montgomery Probate Office and the Houston County Probate Office, have published notices indicating that they will not provide any services to anyone without proof of immigration status. As a result, many immigrants cannot request birth or death certificates.
- An apartment complex manager in Hoover told residents they would not be able to renew their leases without proof of immigration status.
- Legal immigrants, including those with temporary protected status, have been told that they cannot obtain drivers’ licenses in the state.
- A worker called to say that his employer refused to pay him, citing HB56, and stated that the worker had no rights to be paid under this law.
- A mother spoke to the local office of the Department of Human Resources about her U.S. citizen children’s eligibility for food stamps. The social worker told the mother that she would be turning the mother into the federal government for deportation. The family went into hiding.
- Alabama Power told a family that they would not be able to have their electricity reconnected without providing proof of immigration status. That family left the state.
- A husband called us to report that his wife, nine months pregnant, was too afraid to go to a hospital in Alabama to give birth, and that he was trying to decide whether to have her give birth at home or somehow to try to get to Florida.
- A Latino man was arrested and detained. While in jail, he was told that he could not use the telephone to call his attorney because the use of the phone would be a “business transaction” prohibited by HB56.
Need for Government Action
HB 56 has created a humanitarian disaster in this state. We have been heartened by the interest in our state by the Members of Congress who have traveled to Alabama for this hearing, by the United States Department of Justice, and by other federal agencies. But much more needs to be done. Most importantly, we need action by the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We were pleased to read that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has stated that DHS will not help Alabama implement this law, but we have yet to hear specifics about what that will mean in the real world. In the meantime, it appears to us on the ground that it is “business as usual” for ICE in Alabama. We have received calls from dozens of individuals whose family members have been arrested as a result of this law. People who are arrested pursuant to this law are being detained and put into removal proceedings. That needs to stop.
The Rights Working Group, of which we are a member, sent a letter to Secretary Napolitano earlier this month asking that DHS take concrete steps to ensure that it does not, wittingly or not, assist Alabama in implementing this law. SPLC followed up on that letter with its own request, and we also sought a meeting with the Secretary to discuss the crisis in Alabama. I have attached copies of both letters to this testimony. We are still hopeful that that meeting will happen, but we have yet to receive a response to our request. The people of Alabama need assurance that the federal government will not further acquiesce in or enable this terrible law.
Conclusion
Alabama is suffering a humanitarian crisis, a crisis that hearkens this state back to the bleakest days of our racial history.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. I welcome your questions.
Alma Martinez
Statement for Congressional Hearing
"HB 56: Alabama’s 2011 Civil Rights Crisis"
Birmingham City Council
November 21, 2011
My name is Alma Martinez and I am the youngest of five children. I've been in this country for more than 18 years. My dad came to this country 24 years ago, was able to adjust status because of the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1988. Most of our family was able to adjust status through him within 6 years. But my sister had to wait 18 long years before she was approved as a legal resident. I share this to demonstrate how difficult it is to adjust your status in this country even when you try to follow the law.
I was the first in my family to obtain a degree, and this year I was accepted to Medical School and I was supposed to leave Alabama to fulfill my dream. I was serving as a Sunday school teacher at my church and when HB 56 came into effect, my classrooms became empty. The students were crying. My nieces received good-bye letters from their friends saying they had to leave. In good conscious I could not leave, and I put aside my dreams to stay with my community and to fight back. I could not turn my back on the community that has given me so much. This has not been easy. The people who have decided to stay in Alabama are afraid to come forward, afraid to report abuse, because they feel that there are no protections for them and to complain is to admit you are undocumented. That is why I am here giving testimony on behalf of my community.
We met with Senator Bedford, on October 13th with over 700 people in our community center in Russellville. After hearing testimony from the community, Senator Bedford, who had voted YES on HB 56 said that after hearing how families had been devastated by HB 56, he no longer supported the law. He said that he was grown up enough to know when he had made a mistake. That should have felt like a victory, but to many in the community, it felt empty, because HB 56 is still in effect and while they want the law to be repealed, they want relief now.
Some people are saying that after HB 56, the number of deportations have not gone up in Alabama. But I want to make it clear that HB 56 has only made legal what was already standard racist practice in Alabama. For example, the police in some districts will find any reason to stop you and they will find any reason to arrest you. My neighbor got stopped in daylight for not having her lights on after it rained. Another for supposedly not making a complete stop. If you get stopped for suspicion of drunk-driving and refuse to take a breathalyzer test, you are automatically booked for drunk driving and once you arrested, the police tell the family the person will be deported. The judges tell defendants that they will be deported. But the only agency that can deport you is ICE. The police instill so much fear in families that they just give up in fear of getting the whole family deported.
I have an eight year old son who was born here and I dread the day anyone will question whether he belongs in this country. Since the introduction of HB 56, my son has anxiety that he is going to lose me and has nightmares that I have been killed or disappeared. The weekend after the law passed my friend called me worried about her sixteen year old son and told me that he didn't wanted to come out of his bedroom saying that he would rather die than go back to Mexico, because he fears for his life due to the drug cartel's violence. He was brought to this country when he was 2 years old and the United States is the only country he knows. A group of us went door-knocking in our community to talk to families about their rights, and the saddest part to see was that the children were the ones answering the door and looked frightened when we would ask for their parents. They would ask "What do you want with my parents?" Little children should not be put in the situation where they feel they have to protect their parents from the police or immigration.
It is too big of a burden for children to question their existence or to fear losing their parents. Children do not have the capacity to understand the complexity of discrimination or racism. HB 56 not only targets the undocumented, it targets all Latinos. And they hurt us where it is most important: OUR CHILDREN.
I have decided to stay here in Alabama and help my community fight back. I am asking that the President, Congress and the courts do their part and put a stop to HB 56 and pass immigration reform.
Angie Baylon
Statement for Congressional Hearing
"HB 56: Alabama’s 2011 Civil Rights Crisis"
Birmingham City Council
November 21, 2011
Good afternoon Members of Congress. I thank you for coming today and listening to the stories of how HB 56 has affected our community.
My name is Angie Baylon and I am an ESL teacher for the Birmingham public schools.
I was born here in Birmingham in 1965. I was raised here during the height of the civil rights movement and can even recall the forced integration of the first African American student into my first grade class. From there, I watched as African Americans became further integrated into the community. My parents taught me “People are People,” and I’ve carried those values with me my entire life. Even though African Americans were gaining further rights and opportunities within Alabama, I remained conscious of underlying separation that we needed to overcome, especially in the classroom. Perhaps that is why I am so passionate about creating an equal environment for my students today.
I have been teaching for 10 years in the Birmingham Public School system. In college I studied multiple subjects but found my love for teaching English when I when I lived abroad in Japan. From there, I went on to teaching at other International schools because we didn’t yet have a large bilingual community in Alabama.
When I returned to Alabama years later, the immigrant population had grown and I was able to apply my ESL skills within the classrooms of my community. Over the years, I’ve taught many students and have watched them grow up and fully assimilate into Alabama.
When HB56 passed a few months ago, I did not lose any students in numbers, but I lost motivation, drive and desire. Many of my students have had to reevaluate their futures overnight. I’m here to share their stories.
I teach two siblings who came to Alabama when they were in middle school. Within four years of being here, they mastered the language and subject material. Today they are enrolled in AP classes and are on the high school honor roll. Prior to HB56, they had been studying intensively for the ACT exam. After the law passed, however, they changed their minds and now they are not going to take a college entrance exam. They simply don’t know where Alabama immigration law will take them. I constantly hear my students saying, “I might have to go back.” Yet they are not educated in their native language. These students no longer see the possibility of attending college.
Another student that I’ve taught was disenrolled last week. Her undocumented family had found it impossible to find work under the new law. My student was 16 years old and was born and educated here in the United States. She was another AP honor roll student. On the disenrollment form, she listed moving destination as unknown.
I teach several families that include both documented children and undocumented children. These families are preparing for how the family will be broken up, if forced to leave. One pair of siblings has to ask themselves, who will stay who will go.
I watch as one student must put all household bills and payments in his name. Besides taking over bills, he handles transportation for his siblings and parents. And now he seeks legal ways to adopt his siblings. He feels responsible for everyone else in their family. This student shares the story of many others at my school.
When the law first passed, there was so much uncertainty. My students were all turning to me for answers that I did not have. Some parents texted me asking me if it was safe to send their kids to school. I responded that my classroom will absolutely remain safe.
I’ve had parents concerned about taking their children to the school bus stop and have asked me to handle transportation. Families are forced to think about ways to get their kids to school without committing a felony.
At my school, there was an incident of a teacher asking an immigrant child where they were from and whether they should be here. The witnesses of the event shared what they had seen with me and the school addressed the incident immediately. But the fact is, law abiding educators don’t know how they are supposed address this law.
Overall, the community is confused; families as well as educators don’t know how to separate what’s true from what’s not. There are so many rumors that add to the fear within the schools. Everyone is just preparing and asking the “what ifs.”
As a teacher, I am committed to providing access to education in a safe and equal environment. I am here to tell you today that HB 56 is standing in the way of letting me do my job.
Jose Antonio Castro
Statement for Congressional Hearing
"HB 56: Alabama’s 2011 Civil Rights Crisis"
Birmingham City Council
November 21, 2011
Good afternoon Mr. Chair and Members of Congress.
Thank you for inviting me to share my testimony with you today.
My name is Jose Antonio Castro. I am the proud father of four children. I entered this country as undocumented when I was fifteen years old seeking a better life, working in the fields picking grapes in the San Joaquin Valley in California.
I returned to Mexico to continue my studies and returned to this country when I was eighteen.
I started to work as a radio announcer in Bakersfield and have been on the radio now for twenty four years.
I became a legal permanent resident in 1986 due to the legalization signed by Republican President Ronald Reagan. I became a citizen in 1994 and I believe that I have contributed to the richness of my country.
If our leaders today were to demonstrate the same kind of leadership as President Reagan, we would have a law in place that would work for millions of immigrants just waiting to come out of the shadows.
I came to Alabama one year ago to work at the radio station La Jefa.
It was a hard decision to leave my family in California to come to work in Alabama but it was a great opportunity to join a growing radio station.
I understand firsthand the hard ship and suffering of separating families—now that this law has passed thousands of families across Alabama are now being separated too.
When HB 56 passed, I started to immediately hear stories of families fleeing the state. But I wanted to hear these stories in person to understand the real impact on Alabama communities.
So that’s why I started a march across the state to talk to people in their own communities.
We started on Route 56 accompanied by Orlando Rosa and Pepe Estrada.
We have traveled more than 180 miles, and visited 14 cities in 14 days.
We initiated dialogues with the Hispanic, African American and White communities gathering testimonies about the impact that the law is having on the unity and welfare of communities.
In Athens, we met with more than 300 people who were looking for a solution to their fears. With the help of Lawyer Jessica Domingues, they learned about their rights.
In Huntsville, we met with a group of strong women who are United States citizens who oppose the law and who fear that this law is leading to family disintegration.
In Decatur I had the pleasure of meeting with many farmers and business owners who were African American and Caucasian who spoke candidly to me about the economic impacts that this law is having.
Mr. Smith shared that next year Alabamans can expect an increase in their food prices due to the lack of workers to harvest the fields.
Also in Decatur I met with a farmer who will only be able to plant 30 acres next year instead of the 80 acres he expected to plant before the bill passed because he does not expect to have a stable workforce.
And yet another community member in Decatur spoke to me about the possible increase in the money coming in to our community if instead of scapegoating immigrants, politicians passed laws to make them legal.
Right now many families are separated due to our broken immigration laws and immigrant workers here in the United States send money back to their home countries—if these immigrant workers were granted legal status, they could invest that money here in Alabama in buying homes and supporting their families here.
In Cullman, we listened to the stories of and went to the homes of women who left their jobs to stay in their homes as a strategy against deportation while fathers risked themselves by going to work.
A special story was Helena’s: a mother who told us with tears in her eyes about her 19 years old son.
He arrived in this country when he was 3 years old. He decided to stay indoors for 10 days because of the fear of being deported to a country that he has never known.
In Albertville, we visited businesses that are suffering from the absence of Hispanics—as workers and as customers.
I also met Gilberto who shared his fear of being deported and having to leave his 7 year old citizen daughter who has special needs unprotected.
The fields of Oneanta are now empty and lack the strong and skilled hands of those who know how to work the land.
I repeat this: Oneanta is suffering from a lack of skilled workers. The politicians think that you can just send anyone into the field to pick the vegetables and fruits that we enjoy at our dinner tables.
But Oneanta is a clear example that this is not true.
In Pinson, we found Francisco who closed part of his business because of a lack of workers.
There are now many parked cars without license plates in communities across Alabama because people can no longer register their cars.
In Tuscaloosa, I met with a mother named Maria who survived a tornado. She was left without a house. Her 15-year-old son protected her from the tornado in a bathtub.
She and her son confronted nature’s fury but her citizen son cannot protect her against the aggressive HB56 law and she has left the state.
I met a United States citizen of Cuban descent who was discriminated against because he looks like he is undocumented. He was denied basic services in stores, which is a form of discrimination.
The trip demonstrated the human impact, the pain, the fear, and the suffering that this law is imposing on families and communities.
HB56 is a way to implement fear, divide our communities and to disconnect hard working immigrants from our larger community.
The shadows are a refuge for the immigrants. A form of integration does not exist if you have them subjected to fear, inequality and contempt.
We have to recognize their years of work, their contributions to our communities, and their ties to our Country through their citizen children.
HB 56 is bad for Alabama and bad for America. Congress should do everything it can to stop laws like these from being passed by states and should focus on a federal solution that will bring immigrants out of the shadows.
As one smart Alabaman shared with me when I asked what he thinks of people who say “illegal is illegal”—his response was, “Make them legal!” Instead of debating the issue of legality versus illegality and blaming the immigrant worker, we should be working to fix the system.
Trini
Statement for Congressional Hearing
"HB 56: Alabama’s 2011 Civil Rights Crisis"
Birmingham City Council
November 21, 2011
Good afternoon Mr. Chair and Members of Congress.
Thank you for inviting me to share my testimony - it is a great honor to be able to speak with you today.
I appreciate you coming to Alabama to understand what is happening here.
I'm here sharing my story and the story of my peers, of my community who have asked me to be their representative before you today. My story is being repeated and repeated throughout communities across Alabama.
My name is Trini and I live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
I have lived in Alabama for more than 10 years and my children have grown up here.
It is our home.
Now I'm going to talk about HB56 and how it is affecting my community.
I bear witness that in Alabama there are many good people who accept us and they are outraged by this law.
For example, the mother of a friend of my son is African American. We always try to communicate, to strengthen our bonds of friendship.
Between her and me there are no barriers
As Members of Congress, I am asking for your support for my family and my community because HB56 has caused a chain reaction that prevents us Hispanics in Alabama from living with dignity.
We are attacked as a group for our appearance, language and culture.
Everything has been complicated by this law, we have problems with housing, employment, transportation, education, and health.
My friend says that if this is happening to us, it could happen to her too.
At the same time, I'm here with sadness and anger because I've seen how this anti-immigrant law is affecting the lives of many families, including mine.
I and five of my close friends in my neighborhood cannot renew the license plates or mobile home stickers, preventing us from enjoying the property that with work and effort we have acquired. If you drive through my neighborhood you can see that more than a quarter of my neighbors are having the same problem of not being able to register their mobile homes due to this law.
Due to a tornado in April we lost the house that we were renting. We made the decision to use all of our savings to buy a mobile home to be able to address our living situation and now because of this law we can’t even register our home. That Is unjust.
Our schoolchildren feel monitored, their minds are troubled, thinking that their parents could be imprisoned or deported at any moment. Instead of focusing on learning in school they are worried about their parents.
My 13 year old son asked me how he should respond when someone or a friend asks if he has papers.
Our homes are filled with uncertainty and stress.
We have all had to say good bye to friends and family who have decided to flee the state, and those who are still here wonder how much longer we will be able to resist this situation that is causing immense psychological damage that has allowed the seeds of racism to still exist in the twenty first century.
Because of this law my brother and his wife have moved to Chicago and a couple of friends are already preparing to move. In my church, ten families have now moved out of state because of this law.
My friend was afraid to take her daughter to the doctor for fear of the questions that the doctor would ask. She sent his daughter to school sick that day but the teacher asked her to take her to receive medical care. And for this reason my friend made the decision to move to Wisconsin because she wanted to be safer and no longer live in these circumstances.
I continue to hear stories in my community of people being deported, arrested, who are scared, who are suffering from insomnia, who are now unemployed, and families being devastated because all plans are up in the air waiting to see what happens next.
It's amazing how in the name of the law, many injustices are being committed:
Families are locked up in their houses because they are afraid to come out and be arrested for a simple traffic violation.
But we have faith in God and hope that you will fight alongside us to defeat this law.
Children have the right to live in the place they call home.
And their home is in Alabama with their parents.
My husband and I have been waiting for more than a decade for the government to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Our children are students with high aspirations.
We have had to cut their sports and leisure activities to avoid the risk of driving.
I used to participate in festivals and activities in our community but now I don’t go out and feel like a prisoner in my house.
We miss the freedom to go out for dinner or go to the park without being monitored.
Our beautiful Alabama should not suffocate and steal our dreams.
We are families with principles, we do not hurt anyone.
As much as we can, we try to be helpful to our community.
It is only just that we should be recognized by the elected leaders of Alabama for contributing to the richness of this State instead of having them waste time chasing working people, blaming us for all the economic problems facing the state.
As a mother, I know that in the future the consequences of this law are going to be manifested deeply in the country and world.
I am here to ask you to right the wrongs that this law has caused in Alabama and pass federal immigration laws that fix our broken immigration system so that states like Alabama can no longer attack immigrants.
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Buenas tardes Representante Gutierrez y miembros del Congreso.
Gracias por haberme invitado a compartir mi testimonio - que es un gran honor poder hablar hoy con ustedes.
Aprecio que hayan venido a Alabama para entender lo que está sucediendo aquí.
Estoy aquí compartiendo mi historia y la historia de mis compañeros, de mi comunidad quienes me han pedido ser la porta voz para ellos hoy dia. Mi historia se repita y se repita por todo los pueblos de Alabama.
Mi nombre es Trini y yo vivo en Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Tengo más de 10 años viviendo en Alabama y mis hijos han crecido aquí. Es nuestro hogar
Ahora voy a hablar de HB56 y cómo la ley está afectando a mi comunidad.
Quiero decirles que soy testigo de que en Alabama hay mucha gente buena que nos acepta y están indignados por esta ley.
Por ejemplo, la mamá del amigo de mi hijo es afroamericana, siempre tratamos de comunicarnos, fortaleciendo nuestros lazos de amistad. Entre ella y yo no existen barreras
Como miembros del Congreso, les pido su apoyo para mi familia y mi comunidad, porque HB56 ha causado una reacción en cadena que nos impide a los hispanos en Alabama de vivir con dignidad.
Nos ataca como grupo por nuestra apariencia, idioma y cultura.
Todo se ha complicado por la presente ley, tenemos problemas con la vivienda, el trabajo, el transporte, la educación, y la salud. Mi amiga dice que si esto nos está pasando a nosotros le puede pasar a ella también.
Mi amigo dice que si esto nos está pasando, le podría suceder a ella también.
A la vez, estoy aquí con tristeza y coraje porque he visto como esta ley anti-inmigrante está afectando la vida de muchísimas familias, incluyendo la mía.
Yo y cinco de mis amigos en mi vecindario no podemos renovar las placas de los carros ni la calcomanía de las casas móviles impidiéndonos disfrutar de los bienes que con trabajado y esfuerzo hemos adquirido. Si manejas por mi vecindario puedes ver casi la cuarte parte de familias en mi vecindario tenemos el mismo problema.
Por causa del tornado en Abril yo perdi la casa que rentaba, y hicimos la decisión de usar nuestros ahoros comprar un tráiler para aleviar nuestra situación de vivienda pero ahora ni puedo registrar a mi tráiler por causa de esta ley-no es justo.
Nuestros hijos se sienten controlados, sus mentes están preocupados, pensando que sus padres podrían ser encarcelados o deportados en cualquier momento. En lugar de centrarse en el aprendizaje en la escuela están preocupados por sus padres.
Mi hijo de 13 años me ha preguntado cómo debe responder cuando alguien o un compañerole pregunta si tiene papeles.
Nuestras casas están llenas de incertidumbre y estrés.
Todos hemos tenido que despedir a nuestros amigos y familiares que han decidido huir del estado, y los que siguen aquí se preguntan cuánto tiempo más vamos a ser capaces de resistir esta situación que está causando inmenso daño psicológico que ha permitido que las semillas de el racismo que existe todavía en el siglo XXI.
Mi hermano y su esposa se movieron a chicago, mis compadres se movieron a Wisconsin y otro par de amigos ya se están preparando a mover. Conozco a diez familias de mi iglesia quienes se han movido del estado por causa de esta ley.
Mi amiga tenia miedo de llevar a su hija al doctor por miedo del riesgo y las preguntas que le hivan a hacer. Mando a su hija a la escuela ese dia pero la maestro le pidió que la llevara a recibir asistencia medica. Y por esta razón hico la decisión a mover se a Wisconsin porque quería ser mas seguridad y ya no vivir en estas circunstancias.
Sigo escuchando las historias de mi comunidad de las personas deportadas, detenidos, que tienen miedo, que sufren de insomnio, que ahora están desempleados y las familias están devastadas, porque todos los planes están en el aire esperando a ver qué más va a sucedir.
Es increíble cómo en nombre de la ley se están cometiendo tantas injusticias:
Las familias se están encerradas en sus casas porque tienen miedo de salir y ser detenidas a causa de una simple infracción de tránsito.
Pero tenemos fé en Dios y esperanza en que ustedes van a seguir luchando junto a nosotros para derrotar esta ley.
Los niños tienen derecho a vivir en el lugar donde ellos consideran su hogar .y su hogar está en Alabama, con sus padres.
Mi esposo y yo tenemos más de una década esperando que el gobierno se ponga de acuerdo para una reforma migratoria comprensiva.
Nuestros hijos son estudiosos con muchas aspiraciones.
Hemos recortado sus actividades deportivas y de esparcimiento para evitar el riesgo de manejar.
Yo participaba en los festivales y actividades en mi comunidad pero en este momento me siento como presa en mi casa.
Extrañamos la libertad de ir a comer fuera o ir al parque sin sentirnos observados.
Nuestra hermosa Alabama no debería asfixiarnos y robarnos los sueños.
Somos familias con principios, no le hacemos daño a nadie. En todo lo posible tratamos de ser útiles a nuestra comunidad.
Ya es justo que podamos vivir con el reconocimiento de nuestros dirigentes, en vez de ser perseguidos, culpándonos por todos los problemas económicos que enfrenta el estado.
Como madre, sé que en el futuro las secuelas de esta ley se van a manifestar profundamente en todo el país y mundo.
Yo estoy aquí para pedirles que corrigen los errores que esta ley ha causado en Alabama y que aprueben las leyes federales de inmigración para arreglar nuestro sistema roto de inmigración a fin de que estados como Alabama ya no puedan atacar a los inmigrantes.
Y.J.
Statement for Congressional Hearing
"HB 56: Alabama’s 2011 Civil Rights Crisis"
Birmingham City Council
November 21, 2011
Good afternoon. I am 17 years old. I was born here in Birmingham, Alabama. I have two little sisters who were also born in Alabama. My parents were both born in other countries but they met and married in this country. They both came here because they were looking for a way to support themselves and their families and they did not have that in their home country. They have built a life for us here and have always worked hard to provide a good and safe life for me and my sisters.
I am a junior in high school. School is very important to me. I am part of the dance team, a member of the drama club and am a good student. I am a youth leader in activities like the Alabama Dreamers for the Future, the Birmingham Pledge Teen Summit and the Legacy Youth Leadership Program at the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum. As part of the Legacy Youth Leadership Program I volunteer to give tours at the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum. I am proud to be the first Latina in the program.
Every time I give a tour at the museum I tell something about what is happening to immigrants in Alabama right now and compare it to the way African American’s were treated in Alabama’s past. For example, in the galley of the museum part of the tour talks about how before the civil rights movement African Americans had to work in really hard jobs, that no one else would do for horrible or for no pay, like working in the coal mines and fields, cleaning people’s houses and being servants. I talk about how this is similar to what to what Latino people are facing now. They are working these same hard jobs that other people don’t want to do and are being abused, taken advantage of and being treated as less than other people because of how they look and talk. People think this type of treatment is over, but it is not. Not in Alabama. I talk about this so people know that these racist things are still happening only now it’s because a new racist law, HB56, is ruining a different group of people’s lives.
I know about the effects of HB56 first hand because my parents are undocumented. Before the law passed my family’s life was really peaceful. We didn’t have a lot to worry about. We could go to places in peace. On the weekends we would go do errands, go shopping, go out to eat together or walk to the park. I loved our life. Since the law passed my family lives in a constant state of fear. Every time when my dad and mom leave the house I give them a blessing to protect them. It makes me feel better. Every day in school though I worry how my parents are. All day long I send them texts, just to make sure that they are still okay. And all day long I wonder if they will be there to pick me up when school lets out.
Since the law passed our lives have changed. I see how stressed and worried my parents are. One of the hardest and saddest things we’ve had to do was to make a plan for what our family will do if my parents were deported. My sisters and I are all US citizens and have the right to an education in this country. None of us have ever been to my parents’ country and our lives and futures are here. My family decided that if something happened to my parents, we would stay here with a close family friend. The choices my parents face are impossible choices. Why should they have to make a decision between our education or keeping our family together?
My mother’s health has also suffered since HB56 passed. My mother cries and worries a lot, but doesn’t want us to see so she tries to hold everything in. Just last week while she was driving she started having chest pains and had to pull over and get out of the car because she couldn’t breathe. A friend came and took her to the hospital. They did some tests on her and said the pain she was having was related to stress from something. From what? HB56.
I didn’t think my little sister who is only 5 would understand anything about this law, but it has also affected her too. She cries and tells my parents she doesn’t want them to leave her. It makes me so sad to hear her cry and not be able to tell her everything will be okay. We have all seen our friends dropping out of school because they are scared and their parents are scared. This isn’t right. I try to encourage people to stay, to have hope that things will change and get better. If the African American people made changes in the past, we can do it too!
Once we felt police were people who would protect our communities; now they feel like the enemy. Once we felt that we belonged; now everyone looks at us with suspicion, with hate, like we don’t belong, like we are criminals. We used to sit outside on our porch in the evenings. Now we don’t even go outside in our neighborhood.
I wish I could do something for my parents, for my family, to change the law, to keep us together. In the future I hope to become a civil rights lawyer so I can help people. I want to fight for my families’ rights, children’s’ rights, and parents’ rights. Members of Congress, I would ask for your help and more support to end this law in Alabama. I know this isn’t the only state where this is happening. Alabama got this law from Arizona and I don’t’ want to see this spread. My dream is to live in peace, like African Americans are. I know we have their support in this battle and I’m asking for yours too. Thank you.
