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Brooklyn residents receive free food as part of a Bowery Mission outreach program on December 5, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. John MooreGetty Images

(NEW YORK) A crackdown on illegal immigration under President Donald Trump has driven some poor people to take a drastic step: opt out of federal food assistance because they are fearful of deportation, activists and immigrants say.

People who are not legal residents of the U.S. are not eligible to take part in what is formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

But many poor families include a mix of non-legal residents and legal ones, such as children who have citizenship because they were born in the U.S. In those cases, it is often an adult who is not a legal resident who submits the application.

Some now feel that is too dangerous under a president who has made immigration enforcement a priority. Throughout the U.S., there are accounts of people resisting efforts of nonprofit organizations to sign them up for food stamps, letting benefits lapse or withdrawing from the program because of the perceived risk.

"They don't want to put their name and address on a form for a government public benefit out of fear that they'll be sought out and asked to leave," said Teresa Smith, executive director of Catholic Charities of Orange County, California.

The food stamp program provides monthly payments, typically about $125 per eligible household member, to poor families to buy essential staples. Going without can be an extreme decision, advocates say.

"This means less food on the table, fewer meals in houses where the kids have rights because they are U.S. citizens," said Andrew Hammond, an attorney for Chicago's Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.

It is not possible to determine the extent of the phenomenon. The number of food stamp recipients has declined as the U.S. recovers from the Great Recession and people could drop out for various reasons.

A 52-year-old woman interviewed in New York City, a Mexican in the country illegally, told The Associated Press she was motivated in January to drop a benefit that was supporting her teenage daughter, a U.S. citizen, purely because she was afraid of being in the food stamp system, which requires applicants to state their immigration status.

"I had been told that it's OK to apply for food stamps. But, for the moment, I don't want to take any risks," said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of her immigration status and was introduced to AP through an organization that helps immigrants, the Mexican Coalition of the South Bronx.

"I need it but I have peace of mind because my case is closed," said the woman, who makes $8.50 an hour cleaning houses and lives in small apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

A Honduran immigrant and single mother with one child in Silver Spring, Maryland, decided not to renew the food stamps she received when they expired in January. "We fear deportation," said the 29-year-old immigrant, who also spoke on condition of anonymity and was introduced to AP through a local nonprofit. She normally earns about $350 per week answering phones at a travel agency but has been working extra hours cleaning homes to make up for the loss of about $150 per month in food stamps.

Mark Krikorian, a well-known advocate for reducing immigration to the U.S., said their situation reflects the fact that many people who come to the country lack the skills to earn enough money here. "It is an attempted moral blackmail to say 'If you Americans don't give me your money, I can't stay here and feed my children,'" he said. "Well, it's your choice. No one made you sneak into the United States."

About 3.9 million citizen children living with noncitizen parents received food stamps in the 2015 fiscal year, the most recent available data, according to the Department of Agriculture, which administers the food stamp program.

The Department of Agriculture says a lower percentage of noncitizens who qualify for the program known as SNAP have historically used the benefit than citizens because of an incorrect perception that it could affect their immigration status or hurt their chances of becoming a U.S. citizen.

"It is important for non-citizens to know they will not be deported, denied entry to the country, or denied permanent status because they apply for or receive SNAP benefits," the agency says on its website.

Driving the most recent fears about the program is an increase in immigration enforcement.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 40% more people suspected of being in the country illegally in the first 100 days under Trump than in the same period a year earlier. The agency said nearly 75% of them had been convicted of criminal offenses but "non-criminal arrests" were up by more than 150%.

Immigrant advocates see the aversion to food stamps as a reflection of a climate of fear that drives people in the country illegally deeper underground, which in some cases also makes them reluctant to report crimes.

"We should care if people are afraid to interact with institutions that all of us rely on for our health and well-being," said Tanya Broder, senior attorney at the National Immigration Law Center.

See more here:
President Trump's Immigration Crackdown Is Driving Some Poor People Off Food Stamps - TIME

The facilities Homeland Security uses to detain illegal immigrant families are actually clean, well-run and meet the governments standards, the inspector general said in a new report Wednesday that contradicts the complaints filed by immigrant-rights advocates.

Investigators said they made unannounced spot visits last year to three U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities that detain families, and, while they spotted some problems with security and preventing intrusions, they did not see problems with the treatment of illegal immigrants themselves.

The facilities were clean, well-organized, and efficiently run, Inspector General John Roth said. Based on our observations, interviews, and document reviews, we concluded that, at all three facilities, ICE was satisfactorily addressing the inherent challenges of providing medical care and language services and ensuring the safety of families in detention.

Investigators didnt have any recommendations for changes.

The facilities have long been controversial, but have come under even more scrutiny with the massive influx of illegal-immigrant children and families from Central America who poured across the U.S.-Mexico border, fleeing rough conditions at home and seeking to take advantage of lax enforcement under President Obama.

Advocates said the families were being maltreated, and said any detention at all of families is inhumane.

The Obama administration and now the Trump administration have defended the facilities, saying they are needed to ensure that illegal immigrants are deported properly. They also said the facilities are as humane as can be.

In the new report, investigators detailed well-run facilities that look more like schools and dormitories than prisons.

Detainees are given medical care, information is provided in English, Spanish and even Quich, an indigenous Central American language spoken by some of the new arrivals.

Advocacy groups have complained about conditions, including having lights on at night in some areas and doing welfare checks throughout the night, but the investigators concluded those were reasonable safety measures.

Originally posted here:
DHS audit clears facilities that detain illegal immigrant families ... - Washington Times

The mere election of Donald Trump has had salutary effects with regard to illegal immigration. Reportedly, for example, the number of people trying to enter the country illegally has dropped dramatically. The Associated Press hasnt expressed an opinion on that trend, to my knowledge, but it is concerned about a similar phenomenon: fewer illegal immigrants are signing up for food stamps.

A crackdown on illegal immigration under President Donald Trump has driven some poor people to take a drastic step: opt out of federal food assistance because they are fearful of deportation, activists and immigrants say.

People who are not legal residents of the U.S. are not eligible to take part in what is formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

That is correct.

But many poor families include a mix of non-legal residents and legal ones, such as children who have citizenship because they were born in the U.S. In those cases, it is often an adult who is not a legal resident who submits the application.

So once again, the anchor baby is the hook.

Some now feel that is too dangerous under a president who has made immigration enforcement a priority. Throughout the U.S., there are accounts of people resisting efforts of nonprofit organizations to sign them up for food stamps, letting benefits lapse or withdrawing from the program because of the perceived risk.

A 52-year-old woman interviewed in New York City, a Mexican in the country illegally, told The Associated Press she was motivated in January to drop a benefit that was supporting her teenage daughter, a U.S. citizen, purely because she was afraid of being in the food stamp system, which requires applicants to state their immigration status.

I had been told that its OK to apply for food stamps. But, for the moment, I dont want to take any risks, said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of her immigration status and was introduced to AP through an organization that helps immigrants, the Mexican Coalition of the South Bronx.

Note that this individual had been toldit is not clear by whomthat its OK to apply for food stamps. The AP, on the other hand, says the food stamp system requires applicants to state their immigration status. This is technically true, but highly misleading. The applicant is the child who is eligible for SNAP benefits, not the illegal alien parent or other relative who fills out the form. The U.S. Department of Agriculture makes it very clear that an illegal immigrant can apply for food stamps on behalf of an eligible personwho is, technically, the applicantwithout divulging anything about immigration status:

To ensure that only those who are eligible for SNAP receive the benefits they are eligible to receive, State agencies must verify the immigration status of only those individuals who are applying for SNAP benefits. State agencies are not required to verify the immigration status of anyone who is applying for SNAP on behalf of others in their household. For example, a non-citizen may choose to apply only for his or her U.S. citizen children in the household.

Under no circumstances may a State agency:

1) Require any information about the citizenship or immigration status of anyone who is not applying for SNAP;

2) Deny SNAP to applying household members because a non-applicant household member has not disclosed his or her citizenship or immigration status or Social Security number; or

3) Try to establish or verify immigration status through any means other than the procedures outlined below. DHS has primary responsibility to determine the status of non-citizens.

Why is this important?

Eligible persons have an entitlement to food assistance and the Food and Nutrition Act requires that State agencies provide fair service to applicants. Some applicants (typically eligible children in families where other adults are not eligible) cannot apply on their own. They depend on adult household members to secure assistance. States must be able to structure an application process that enables these members to apply for children without divulging information about their own immigration status.

It is hard to see how the federal government could make it any clearer, or what, exactly, the AP is complaining about.

The AP, to its credit, got a quote from Mark Krikorian:

Mark Krikorian, a well-known advocate for reducing immigration to the U.S., said their situation reflects the fact that many people who come to the country lack the skills to earn enough money here. It is an attempted moral blackmail to say If you Americans dont give me your money, I cant stay here and feed my children, he said. Well, its your choice. No one made you sneak into the United States.

The article contains this shocking statistic:

About 3.9 million citizen children living with noncitizen parents received food stamps in the 2015 fiscal year, the most recent available data, according to the Department of Agriculture, which administers the food stamp program.

Some of those parents are legal residents, of course, but no doubt the large majority are not. So out of more than three million, the AP found two who have given up food stamps out of an excess of caution.

Visit link:
AP Worries: Fewer Illegal Immigrants Getting Food Stamps - Power Line (blog)

AURORA| Aurora Public Schools board member Cathy Wildman pushed back Tuesday night against accusations that she had previously made racist comments as the school boardconsidered a measure created to aid some illegal immigrants and their families.

Claiming that immigrants make parts of America unsafe is a dangerous narrative that fuels hate, racial hierarchy and supremacy, Kristen Pough told school board members Tuesday night during the boards regular meeting. Pough is a 2012 Aurora Central High Schoolgraduate and now a political activist and member of the NAACP in Aurora. She and two current APS students told the school board that Wildman was out of line.

On May 16, the school board approved aresolution directing the school district to make plans to push back against federal immigration requests for information about the citizenship status of students or their families. The measure also calls for plans to be prepared for students whose families may be arrested by immigration police.

The measure passed, with Wildman voting for the resolution.

As board members commented on the policybefore voting, Wildman discussedher ambivalence over the measure because she said itaccommodated rule breakers, referring to illegal immigrants. She later talked about familymembers in Arizona who were warned off traveling to border communities because of safety issues created by tension over illegal immigration.

Aletter to the editor written last week to the Aurora Sentinel by a local political activist seized on the comments, criticizing Wildman for being racist and demeaning to illegal immigrants and all immigrants.

Tuesday, Wildman told the audience that her comments were misconstrued. During an at-times emotional speech, she did not apologize but said that she has always been fastidious about following rules and insisting others do, too.

I think it really was political and preparing for the next election, Wildman said after the meeting. My concern is Im being misinterpreted. I taught school for 40 years and never been accused of racism or the other words that were used.

Pough said she works withYoung Aspiring Americans for Social and Political Activism, and its director wasapproached by members of a Denver-based group called A-Plus Colorado, which advocates for education reform and school choice and charter schools. The group has issued critical audits of APSs performance.

Wildman, a career teacher, also highlightedthe Sentinel letter written by Republican Party strategist Tyler Sandberg, which pointed out her support of the Aurora teachers union and asking union members to call out Wildmans comments.She also called outan A-Plus Colorado blog post from May 19 critical of her comments and a portent toa political attack in preparation for the board elections this fall. Wildmans term, however, is up in 2019.

Liz Reetz , A-Plus Coloradosdistrict advocacy director, authored the blog post for the group. Reetz said characterizing her response to Wildmans comments as political was a way to distract from Wildmans lack of an apology.She reached out to other community groups to inform them of the chance to speak against Wildman so the APS board would know this issues wasnt going to be forgotten by the community.

Shes pitting us against the teachers union and saying its politically motivated to distract from her comments, Reetz said. Are we thinking about if Cathy Wildmanis serving kids well with thatattitude? Absolutely. ButI think itsa little bit ofa stretch to say its politically motivated.

Pouch and Reetzsaid the comments were offensive and the parts of the letter read to the audience showed that Wildman didnt understand the problems with her comments on May 16.

With a district that has a growing population of immigrants, especially immigrants attending innovation schools, that APS wants to fix, there is no room for disparaging and privileged comments, Poughtold the board.

Read the rest here:
APS board member: Allegations she made racist remarks about illegal immigration policy are politically motivated - Aurora Sentinel

A Chicago hotel and restaurant workers union has created a cellphone ringtone that's meant to curb arrest and deportation of immigrants.

Unite Here Local 1 launched the Spanish-language ringtone on its website over the weekend, and advertisements promoting it are planned throughout the month.

The ringtone aims to let immigrants know they have the right to remain silent and ask for an attorney if immigration agents arrest them.

"[The union is] using technology to notify every immigrant in this city: you've got rights," organizing director Angel Castillo told the Chicago Sun-Times.

NEBRASKA SCHOOL DISTRICT HELPS REFUGEE STUDENTS WITH TRAUMA

The jingle, in Spanish, says: If immigration comes to arrest you, keep calm. You have the right not to sign anything and not to say anything. You have the right to remain silent, also the right to ask for an attorney.

The campaign comes amid stepped up federal actions and policies implemented by President Donald Trump. Several immigrant rights groups have stepped up similar know-your-rights training.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

See the article here:
Illegal immigrants now have ringtone alerting them from deportation - Fox News