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Mireya Reith and Lawrence Benito, Opinion contributors Published 6:00 a.m. ET Aug. 12, 2020 | Updated 10:19 a.m. ET Aug. 12, 2020

After 9/11, the U.S. enforced stricter control on immigration. This enforcement led to the birth of Homeland Security and ICE, but what is ICE exactly? We explain. USA TODAY

Our vibrant immigrant community doesnt have to remain a vulnerable population.

States like Arizona,Florida andTexas have madeheadlines as ones that could turn the tide against President Donald Trumps reelection for his negligent handling of the coronavirus outbreak. But dig deeper into this latest spike in the Sun Belt and youll find another story: one of a virus devastating our immigrant communities.

Some of the most harrowing scenes are in migrant camps and detention centers inU.S.-Mexico border states. More crowded than ever, detention centers which are often unsanitary, lack basic necessities like soap and deny people basic medical care are obvious hotbeds for the disease. Thefirst cases of the virus recently wereconfirmed at a largemigration encampment on the border, where Trumps shutdown of the asylum process has caused people to be stuck for months in places where social distancing is nearly impossible.

For those not trapped in detention, many are on the front linesworkingessential jobs. But the title of essential bears no protection for these low-wage workers. Theirimmigrationstatus takes precedence, and they are left out of the resources that federal and state governments have offered others: protective gear, hazard pay, paid leave and unemployment insurance.

In ArkansasandIllinois, the states we call home, meatpacking plants have been at the center of outbreaks. In these facilities, workers, with little to no benefits like sick leave or disability, stand elbow to elbow in assembly lines.Immigrants make up30%of the industrys workforce in the United States,and many of theundocumented families will go hungry without financial assistance.

DACA recipient surprised and relieved at Supreme Court decision, but vows to concentrate on permanent protection for immigrants. (June 18) AP Domestic

Even those undocumented immigrants who are noton the front lines still face grave danger if they contract the virus they either cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket costs for a doctor, or are tooafraid to get testedor go to hospitals for fear of being exposed and ending up in detention.

Across the nation, we see the consequences of inhumaneimmigrationpolicies that leave families without protection, resources or access to care. But our vibrant immigrant community doesnt have to remain a vulnerable population.

We have the power to create a system where all of us are afforded basic human rights. We saw a glimpse of that power with theSupreme Court decision in favor of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. For a brief moment, 650,000 young immigrants could breathe a sigh of relief as their status was protected. It was a monumental feat of organizing by the immigrant community.

But Trumps reaction told us all we need to know about half-measures.He called the court's decision and one in favor of rights for LGBTQ workers shotgun blasts into the face of Republicans. And his plans forimmigrationpolicyif he were to wina second term are terrifying.

If we want to ensure immigrants are offered the full breadth of human rights and no longer remain pawns in a political game, we must pass animmigrationplan that createsan accessible, equitable road map to full citizenship.

The first step is to reimagine what safety for all of us looks like. That means ending family separation and reuniting those who have been torn apart by deportation. It also requires us to reverse provisions of the Illegal ImmigrationReform and Immigration Responsibility Act that strip due process and criminalize immigrants. We need to keep enforcement agencies out of schools, courtrooms and places of worship. And we must take the financial incentive out of detention, end private detention centers and instead invest in community-based alternatives to detention.

Immigration activists rallied outside the Supreme Court in April as the justices heard arguments on the Trump administration's plan to ask about citizenship in the 2020 census.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)

True safety goes beyond dismantling violentimmigrationenforcement. It also requires that we create the conditions where immigrant communities can thrive. That includes equitable access to health care, higher education andaffordable housing, and access to benefits that they are already paying for through taxes. And as an essential workforce, immigrants must be protected when they report labor violations.

Seventy-five percentof Americans across the political spectrum believe thatimmigrationis good for the United States. And theyre right. Immigrants make us stronger, more diverse and more innovative. So not only do we have a moral obligation to treat people who have migrated with dignity, but we have the political and electoral power to do so.

We should createthe conditions to build up ourimmigrationsystem, not tear it apart. We can change the U.S. immigrant story from one of a community ravaged by violent policiesand a deadly virus, to one that is vibrant and living in harmony with all of us who want to create a brighter future for the next generation.

Mireya Reith and Lawrence Benito are co-chairs of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement.

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Many immigrants live in fear, lack basic rights: We have the power to change the system. - USA TODAY

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Former President George W. Bush is publishing a new book Out Of Many, One: Portraits of Americas Immigrants, the announcement Thursday from publisher Crown comes as the Trump administration continues to take a strong stance on immigration in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

Former President George W. Bush waves at the crowd during a football game in 2019.

The book includes 43 portraits the 43rd president painted of immigrants he knows, as well as biographical essays he wrote about each person.

Bush writes in the introduction obtained by AP News, that while he acknowledges that immigration can be an emotional issue he does not believe it is a partisan issue, adding, It is perhaps the most American of issues, and it should be one that unites us.

Bush notes in the introduction that he did not want the book to be published during the election season he has yet to endorse Trump or the presumptive Democratic nominee former Vice President Joe Biden.

The book and an accompanying exhibition at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas will include bold, principle-based solutions that comprehensively address the current debate on immigration, Crown said in a statement.

The former president will donate a portion of the books earnings to organizations that help immigrants resettle, although the advance amount and other financial details have not been disclosed.

Since leaving the White House, Bush has written three bestsellers: his presidential memoir Decision Points, a biography of his father former President George H.W. Bush 41 and Portraits of Courage, a collection of oil paintings and stories honoring American military veterans.

While in office, Bush pushed forward a comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2007 that wasnt passed. It would have offered legal status to millions of illegal immigrants while trying to secure the nations borders. The vote was criticized by conservatives who thought it was a form of amnesty for lawbreakers, and his views continue to differ with some conservatives. At a naturalization ceremony at George W. Bush Presidential Center last March, he said, "America's elected representatives have a duty to regulate who comes in and when," adding, "In meeting this responsibility, it helps to remember that America's immigrant history made us who we are. Amid all the complications of policy, may we never forget that immigration is a blessing and a strength."

At its core, immigration is a sign of a confident and successful nation. Immigrants' talent and hard work and love of freedom have helped us become the leader of the world, Bush has said.

Former President Bush pays tribute to immigrants in new book (AP News)

Immigration Bill Fails to Survive Senate Vote (New York Times)

Bush: Immigration is a Blessing and a Strength (US News)

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New Bush Book Will Include His Paintings Of Immigrants - Forbes

A new book by former President George W. Bush will highlight an issue which now sets him apart from many of his fellow Republicans immigration.

Crown announced Thursday that Bushs Out Of Many, One: Portraits of Americas Immigrants will be published March 2. The book includes 43 portraits by the 43rd president, four-color paintings of immigrants he has come to know over the years, along with biographical essays he wrote about each of them.

Bush, who served as president from 2001-2009, has often praised the contributions of immigrants, a notable contrast to President Donald Trumps rhetoric and policies. As president, Bush supported a bipartisan immigration reform bill that narrowly failed to pass in 2007, with opposition coming from both liberals and conservatives.

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While I recognize that immigration can be an emotional issue, I reject the premise that it is a partisan issue. It is perhaps the most American of issues, and it should be one that unites us, Bush writes in the new books introduction, noting that he did not want it to come out during the election season. Bush has not endorsed Trump or his presumptive Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden.

My hope is that this book will help focus our collective attention on the positive impacts that immigrants are making on our country."

The book will serve as a companion to an upcoming exhibition at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.

Both Out of Many, One and the exhibition of the same name will include bold, principle-based solutions that comprehensively address the current debate on immigration, according to Crown. At the heart of the recommendations is the belief that every year that passes without reforming the nations broken system means missed opportunities to ensure the future prosperity, vitality, and security of our country.

Bush has become a dedicated portrait painter and best-selling author since leaving the White House. His memoir Decision Points has sold more than 3 million copies, and his other books include 41, about his father, former President George H.W. Bush; and a collection of paintings of military veterans, Portraits of Courage.

He will donate a portion of his Out Of Many, One proceeds to organizations that help immigrants resettle. Financial terms were otherwise not disclosed. Bush was represented by Robert Barnett, the Washington attorney whose other clients have included former President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton.

The book will be released as a standard trade hardcover and in an autographed deluxe edition, listed for $250, that will be clothbound and contained within a slipcover.

More:
Bush to publish book with his paintings of 43 immigrants - NBC News

A new Netflix documentary shows the challenges facing the U.S. Immigration system, and it features a veteran with New Mexico ties who was deported.Cesar Lopez served in the Marines for several years. Lopez said it was one of the biggest honors in his life. "You can say whatever you want about me, but if you didn't serve in the armed forces, you cannot say you're more American than me," he said. "A lot of people join to get papers. I didn't join to get nothing. I just wanted to be a Marine and protect people. That's why I joined." The veteran shared his deportation story in a new Netflix docuseries called "Immigration Nation.""I was hoping that it would help us come home, but I really didn't expect it to have the impact that so far it has," said Lopez.A few years after leaving the Marines, Lopez was driving through New Mexico, when he was caught with 50 pounds of marijuana."That's another thing with the system, that's really what I'm fighting now," he said. "It's just little pieces of the system that targets Latinos." Lopez eventually returned to the United States and used his platform to advocate for deported veterans."The immigration system is broken," said Lopez. "The Democrats and the Republicans, every person that I have talked to about the deported veteran issue, agrees that we should come back." Lopez hopes this documentary brings policy change for the hundreds of veterans who have a similar fight."For everybody to call their representatives, tell them to stop deporting veterans and make it a sit-down point on their negotiation for immigration reform," he said. In June, Cesar was pardoned by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for the crime he committed. He's still trying to become a U.S. citizen. "Immigration Nation" is currently one of the top trending series on the streaming site.

A new Netflix documentary shows the challenges facing the U.S. Immigration system, and it features a veteran with New Mexico ties who was deported.

Cesar Lopez served in the Marines for several years. Lopez said it was one of the biggest honors in his life.

"You can say whatever you want about me, but if you didn't serve in the armed forces, you cannot say you're more American than me," he said. "A lot of people join to get papers. I didn't join to get nothing. I just wanted to be a Marine and protect people. That's why I joined."

The veteran shared his deportation story in a new Netflix docuseries called "Immigration Nation."

"I was hoping that it would help us come home, but I really didn't expect it to have the impact that so far it has," said Lopez.

A few years after leaving the Marines, Lopez was driving through New Mexico, when he was caught with 50 pounds of marijuana.

"That's another thing with the system, that's really what I'm fighting now," he said. "It's just little pieces of the system that targets Latinos."

Lopez eventually returned to the United States and used his platform to advocate for deported veterans.

"The immigration system is broken," said Lopez. "The Democrats and the Republicans, every person that I have talked to about the deported veteran issue, agrees that we should come back."

Lopez hopes this documentary brings policy change for the hundreds of veterans who have a similar fight.

"For everybody to call their representatives, tell them to stop deporting veterans and make it a sit-down point on their negotiation for immigration reform," he said.

In June, Cesar was pardoned by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for the crime he committed. He's still trying to become a U.S. citizen.

"Immigration Nation" is currently one of the top trending series on the streaming site.

Read more from the original source:
Veteran with NM ties featured in new Netflix series 'Immigration Nation' - KOAT New Mexico

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller disembarks from Air Force One. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)

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In March of 2016, Donald J. Trumps campaign for the Republican presidential nomination was in trouble. His poll numbers were collapsing, and he was repeatedly the subject of jokes on major TV networks and elsewhere for his attacks on women, Muslims, and Mexicans. Fox News criticized his extreme, sick obsession with Megyn Kelly. The bottom is dropping out for Donald Trump, read one article on NBC News. Even immigration hard-liners werent sure about the reality-TV star. They knew his promised border wall was a costly, impractical symbol; for decades, border barriers had underwhelmed in their ability to decrease immigration.Ad Policy

Stephen Miller had a plan, though. Trumps lanky 30-year-old senior policy adviser and speechwriter had connections in the Border Patrol and ICE unions from his time derailing a bipartisan immigration reform bill as communications director for thenAlabama Senator (soon-to-be Attorney General) Jeff Sessions. Miller reached out to the Border Patrol unions president, Brandon Judd. It was the first in a long chain of decisions that would help transform the Department of Homeland Securitywith its mandate to defend against everything from terrorism to pandemicsinto a tool for pushing Trumps political agenda, focused on strangling legal immigration and social justice causes.

When Trump became president, Miller went to work. It should be no surprise, then, that less than four years later the Department of Homeland Security is openly defying a US Supreme Court decision to maintain Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era deportation protection program for people brought to this country as children. The DHS has also been cracking down on anti-racist protesters at demonstrations in Democratic-run cities that began after George Floyd was murdered. The department has become a partisan weapon largely detached from its mission of protecting homeland security.

During the campaign, I would speak to [Miller] once a month maybe, Judd told me while I was reporting for my book, Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump and the White Nationalist Agenda. He and I were in El Paso on July 26, 2019, a few days before a white terrorist killed 23 people, the majority of whom were Mexican-Americans, at a Walmart nearby. This terrorist had imagined he was defending the United States from a Hispanic invasion.

Earlier in the day, Judd had spoken at a border wall symposium sponsored by NumbersUSA, an anti-immigration group propped up in the 1990s by the eugenicist John Tanton, who believed in race-based pseudoscience and population control for nonwhite people. The Border Patrol union had long-standing ties with Tantons think tanks. Judd complained on stage about Border Patrol agents being called Nazis. You cant even tell a mundane joke without all of the political correctness stepping out and saying youre a bad person, he said.

The symposium featured far-right influencers such as Pizzagate conspiracist Mike Cernovich and Trumps former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who had left the White House in August 2017. The event was livestreamed in front of a privately funded stretch of steel border wall as speakers hatemongered about an alleged invasion. Quiet on the set! Bannon cried between speeches. Tens of thousands of other people watched online. Kris Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, told viewers it was important for them to act against the alleged invaders. The battle of Fort McHenry, which our Star-Spangled Banner is aboutwas that won only by George Washingtons professional soldiers? No. It was the private citizens, the farmers of Maryland who held the line against the British, he said.

A bald man with deep-set eyes, Judd was in good spirits. Miller had kept most of the promises hed made to the union in 2016. Sure, he hadnt succeeded in putting Kobach at the helm of the DHS like they wanted, but he tried. Ultimately, Kobachs too-glaring ties to white supremacy were deemed an issue. Still, Miller and Trump gave Border Patrol agents unprecedented power, inviting Judd to the White House repeatedly. Judd gushed to me about Miller: If anybody wants to say that hes not an alpha personality, theyre wrong, he said. He absolutely has an alpha personality.Current Issue

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In 2016, Miller had wanted the union to endorse his boss, giving Trump real border security credentials. The union had never endorsed a presidential candidate before. But Judd said morale among agents had been low ever since thousands of Central American youths fleeing violence began arriving at the border in 2014. Our agents have been pulled from the field to babysit, clean cells, change diapers, Judd grumbled then. Were actually making burritos. Thats not our job. Our job is to protect the border.

The reality of the Central American crisisrooted in US foreign policyhad impinged on the agents perceptions of themselves as vanguards and warriors of the border. Miller understood their unhappiness. As a young man, Miller had repeatedly referred to the United States as a female endangered by multiculturalism, perhaps imagining himself on a quest to save a damsel in distress. America is a living thing, with a beating heart, he wrote in 2007. The Border Patrol could help him. Agents wanted to keep asylum seekers locked up. Families who convinced asylum officers that they had a credible fear of persecution if returned to their home countries were often released on parole because of legal limits on how long children can be detained. This caused many agents to feel useless. They called it catch and release. They complained that high-ranking Obama officials didnt always listen to them about their desires to detain and deport people.

We decided that we had to have a voice and that we had to have a bigger voice, Judd told me. He liked Millers message about Trumps plans to reduce immigration. If we cant get it done through Congress, then [look] within the laws and [look] at what can be done through regulation, through executive order, Judd recalled.

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On March 23, Miller appeared on Breitbart radio to make his promises to the entire Border Patrol union. I am here today to say that we are going to work closely, directly and intimately with the National Border Patrol Council to develop a border policy for this nation. theyre gonna have a direct line into our policy-making on a routine basis.

He was promising, in other words, to invert the power structure at the DHS.

The union, which represents thousands of agents, endorsed Trump. On its Breitbart-funded podcast, The Green Line, a dramatic soundtrack set up stories about the invasion. Union leaders revealed far-right leanings, attacking progressives and calling Black Lives Matter protesters terrorists. Jenn Budd, a senior Border Patrol officer who left in 2001, says the culture has long been steeped in racism and antiquated notions of masculinity. Its the same characteristics as Donald Trump, she said. Its this white male mentality of I say whatever I want and get whatever I want, Last year, a ProPublica investigation revealed a secret Facebook group where thousands of Border Patrol agents make racist jokes about migrant deaths and throw burritos at Latin-American members of Congress. (It is unsurprising when one considers the origins of the Border Patrol, which began with the appointment of Jeff Milton, a son of a Confederate governor, as the first Border Patrol officer, after his stint with the Texas Rangers, which was the KKK of the border, falsely mythologized as a band of rugged heroes.)Stephen Miller

The ICE union followed the Border Patrol in endorsing Trump six months later. Peter Vincent, ICEs principal legal adviser and senior counselor for international policy under Obama, says putting the unions in charge of the agenda at the Department of Homeland Security is risky: When attorneys with DHS and the DOJ are no longer serving as the guardrail or a restraint on the natural proclivities of undisciplined law enforcement officers, that is a very dangerous step.

Draconian steps were taken to deter family immigration over the course of the Trump administration. Starting in January 2017, Trump signed an executive order expanding the Border Patrols ability to detain and deport people, and ending the dreaded catch and release. Thousands of children were separated from their parents to skirt legal limits on how long children can be locked up. Slowly, through steps taken to force people to await their asylum court proceedings in Mexico, the asylum system at the US-Mexico border was obliterated. Most top positions at DHS are vacant or held by people in an acting capacity, making officials the puppets of Trump, Miller, and the union.

In July 2020, the DHS war on migrants expanded to include American citizens who oppose white supremacy. Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf is regurgitating Millers apocalyptic talking points. He penned an article in The Federalist in July 2020 characterizing anti-racist protesters as lawless mobs destroying America. Wolf didnt used to speak like this. To see [Wolf] pull a strongman routine is shocking, said a former senior DHS official who worked closely with Wolf and Miller during their time at the White House. He [was] so dry and vanilla, which is a huge part of the reason Stephen wanted him to be secretary. Stephens idea is, Lets put someone in whos not going to stand in my way. Another former senior official agreed. I never saw him as an ally of Miller, said the former official.Border Patrol

Wolf, formerly a high-paid lobbyist, caved during the second half of 2017, while getting the crap beat out of him by [Miller], said the former official, speaking figuratively. Wolf worked on pulling together memos for addressing the surge of people coming across the border that December, when he was chief of staff for then-Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. One of the options in the memos was separating children from their parents. He became acting secretary in fall 2019.

Now, the DHS is defying court orders to protect young migrants and fomenting chaos on the streets, fueling the illusion that the country is under siege and that Trump is a wartime president. Border Patrol and ICE agents can once more feel like warriors. Miller can appear on TV in bespoke suits, playing savior. This is about the survival of this country, Miller said on July 23. It is a dramatic fantasy Trump will lean on ahead of November to distract from the thousands of more deaths that will occur from a virus he failed to contain.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf wrote memos for separating children from their parents in December 2017. He had worked on pulling together the memos but did not write any himself.

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How Stephen Miller Turned the Department of Homeland Security Into a Political Weapon - The Nation