"I saw him in the park, saw his colors. There was no mean mug or rivalry because we realized that what's happening here is so much bigger then gang rivalry", stated Shabaka.

From AFSC:

Sherrod Britton, 29, was initiated into the Bloods when he was 18 years old. He joined because he felt lost and wanted to be a part of something.

Sherrod was walking down Peachtree Street past Troy Davis three weeks ago and saw all the tents. “I wanted to know what was going on, so I stopped by, I haven’t left since”, said Sherrod.

Sherrod expressed feeling a deep connection to the message and process of Occupy Atlanta.” I stayed for the common cause, speaking for the people. I feel strongly that we have the right to jobs, health care, and affordable higher education.”

Around the same day Sherrod showed up Shabaka Addae Guillory, 20, saw a story on the news about Occupy Atlanta and had to see it for himself. Shabaka stated, “I knew this kind of movement was coming I just didn’t know it would come so soon.”

Shabaka and Sherrod both found a common cause in Occupy Atlanta, but they also share another commonality in their narrative.

Shabaka was recruited into the Crips when he was 14 years old. “My parents were divorced, grandfather passed away, a lot of problems at school, and there was a lot of confusion at the time.”

On Shabaka’s first day at Occupy Atlanta he approached a group of folks doing an impromptu free style session and saw Sherrod. “I saw him in the park, saw his colors. There was no mean mug or rivalry because we realized that what’s happening here is so much bigger then gang rivalry”, stated Shabaka.

Shabaka Added, “Now we’re the best of friends.”

“I let him sleep in my tent because he didn’t have one. We are connected through music, faith, and Occupy Atlanta”, stated Sherrod.

Sherrod and Shabaka are now both very committed full time occupiers. Occupy Atlanta may have started as an act of civil disobedience designed to shine a light on the extreme wealth disparity in our city, country, and around the world. It’s important to acknowledge that one of the beautiful byproducts of this new movement is the transformative experiences that arisen as a result of so many different people from different walks of life occupying a space together for a common cause.

Tim Franzen

Georgia Peace Education Program Director

By CLAY WADENA

Thousands of prisoners in Georgia made history on Dec. 9 when they carried out what has been hailed as the largest prisoner strike in American history—refusing to work or leave their cells in 11 of the state’s prisons.

The prisoners issued nine demands that began with a call for a living wage for the work they perform and included demands for better educational and vocational opportunities, better health care, better food and living conditions, better access to their families, ending all cruel and inhumane punishments, and a more just parole process.

The strike lasted a week in most prisons, with isolated pockets of resistance still being reported later, and was an outstanding achievement for the prisoners’ rights movement even if their demands were not immediately met.

Prisoners in Georgia are standing up to a mighty force when they confront their state machinery, as Georgia leads the nation with the highest rate of adults that are under state control or supervision.  According to the Pew Center on the States, one out of 13 adults in Georgia is in a prison or jail, or on parole or probation—higher than any other state.

Georgia nearly tripled its prison population between 1988 and 2009, and this included a disproportionate amount of African American inmates, who now make up 63% of Georgia’s prisoners but are only 30% of the state population.  Of the Georgia inmates who make it out, two-thirds will be rearrested within three years of their release (such a high recidivism rate that even conservative Newt Gingrich was prompted to write an editorial calling for Georgia to focus on lowering it). Additionally, Georgia spends only $49 a day per prisoner, compared to a national average of $79.

On top of it all, Georgia is one of only a few states where the inmates are paid absolutely nothing for their labor (unless they have one of a handful of exclusive jobs that are not readily accessible to the general inmate population). Inmates perform road cleanup for states and local governments and they provide labor to prison-run businesses that make furniture, garments, and signs—but they receive nothing for it. Most inmates across the country work for pennies an hour doing the same thing, a pittance that can’t be considered fair in any way, but in places like Georgia, Texas, and Arkansas they don’t even get that chance.

Georgia politicians seemingly wouldn’t have it any other way, and displayed their disgust for the prisoners’ demands when interviewed by the press during and after the strike. Republican state senator Johnny Grant said, “If they want to get paid, they shouldn’t commit crimes. … If we started paying inmates, we’d also start charging them for room and board, as well. They ought to be careful what they ask for.”

Democratic state representative Barbara Massey Reece agreed: “After all, they are behind those prison walls for a reason. They are there to make restitution to society for whatever their crime was. … I can’t see paying inmates anything. I would much rather take that money and put 25 more state troopers on the highway. … Most of the men that I have encountered on [unpaid] work details take real pride in their work and are appreciative of the chance to work. If they weren’t out working, they’d just be sitting behind the fence.”

Don’t be fooled by Ms. Reece’s claims; by issuing their own demands the prisoners have made sure that no politician can claim to speak for them and paint a rosy picture of modern-day slavery.  And contrary to her view that prisoners “appreciated” working for free, the prisoners made it very clear that this issue was the biggest driving force of the entire strike.

It is important to note the desperate economic position these inmates are placed in by the system. They are not provided enough food and amenities to squeak out even a minimally sufficient life, and often come from families who can’t afford to keep money in their commissary account. Even for those inmates who can get money wired in, the monopoly on money transfers held by private company J-Pay takes a 10% commission and the commissary prices are high. If inmates would like to talk to their family members legally, it costs $55 a month for once weekly 15-minute phone conversations.

Normally, the meager conditions of prison life and the astronomical prices they pay for basic necessities are offset, very slightly, by the ability of inmates to earn a tiny amount of money doing work in or for the prison. In Georgia, however, inmates are not even able to provide for themselves in this hyper-exploited manner, despite the work they do.

With deplorable conditions and practically no institutional route of addressing them, the prisoners took it upon themselves to be heard, and put in a momentous amount of work to pull the strike off and bring their message to the public. This cannot be overstated. It is worth noting the different roadblocks these men faced and overcame, so what they have accomplished can be truly appreciated.

First, these prisoners had to overcome the divisions that normally prevent any type of unified inmate action. Prison administrations count on all forms of racial, sexual, economic, and street-organization violence to sow deep division among the prisoners and make them easier to control. In a testament to the organizers of this action, inmates in Georgia were able to overcome these divisions, which normally wreak havoc.

“It’s a universal, unified effort on the part of men who have been treated like slaves, whether Black, white, or Latino,” said Elaine Brown, spokesperson for the prisoners and former leader of the Black Panther Party.

Additionally, the prisoners had to coordinate both the protest action (in multiple prisons) and the media outreach from inside prisons, where all normal correspondence can be monitored. To accomplish this, they used contraband cell-phones, bought from prison guards anxious to cash in on the lucrative prison illicit market (where a $20 cell-phone can easily go for $350).

In the articles that were eventually written about the strike, much has been made of these cell-phones, both about the ingenuity of the prisoners and the illegal and high-priced nature of the phones themselves. It is worth noting, primarily, that these prisoners acquired and effectively used these phones under great physical and legal danger; being caught with one is a felony charge and might be accompanied by a ruthless beating from corrections officers.

Coordinating the protest action was done on cell-phones and by word of mouth. But without the cell-phones it would have been nearly impossible to overcome the initial media blackout of their protest action. After a couple days a few major outlets finally covered the prisoner strike, but this was only after the Georgia Dept. of Corrections (DOC) had declared that they had instituted a “lockdown,” and the story was generally reported as such (as opposed to a self-imposed work strike).

It was largely left to the alternative media (notably Black Agenda Report and “Democracy Now”), prisoners’ advocates like the Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights (CCRPR), and the prisoners themselves to get the story out. The New York Times did not run a story on the strike until after the prisoners had contacted the paper themselves. But the prisoners took responsibility for advancing their message against all odds and had a fair amount of success given the initial blackout.

“The mere fact that this got the attention of the nation, that in itself is a lot, because once it got the attention of the nation, people began looking, people began inquiring. …  It was powerful,” said Robert King, author and Black Panther Party member who organized in Louisiana prisons in the 1970s and spent decades in prison when he was framed by prison officials as a result.

The capitalist media’s hesitation to report on the strike prompted accusations from prison activists that they were purposely withholding the story to prevent the strike from spreading. And while the prisoners struggled to find a hearing for their voice outside of the prison walls, they also faced severe repression inside the walls.

In a statement released New Year’s Eve, the CCRPR detailed a severe reprisal beating administered on accused striker Terrance Bryant Dean at Macon State Prison by prison guards.  On Dec. 16, the seventh day of the strike, Dean was reportedly carried from his cell cuffed at his hands and ankles, and beaten unconscious. He was then subsequently hospitalized. Reports of beatings aimed at breaking the strike were reaching activists in the CCRPR at this time, who then demanded that the DOC allow them to tour the affected prisons and talk to prisoners.

Even as the DOC allowed the CCRPR to tour the prisons they did not admit that at least one prisoner was hospitalized from a guard-administered beating. In addition to the plight of Terrance Dean and the strikers at large, the CCRPR has also stated concern for the 37 men that the DOC has identified as strike “conspirators,” who are likely being targeted for violence by the DOC. The CCRPR intends to release a full report on its investigations and the prison visits it has conducted.

Mainstream analysts believe that Georgia is currently facing $2 billion in budget cuts, and that the state is poised to cut services and funding to prisoners even further, rather than grant prisoners’ wishes. Refusing to negotiate with the prisoners on these issues—while raining terror and brutality upon them—could have tragic results, as prisoners have been quoted in the press to the effect that cooler heads prevailed this time as prisoners decided what course of action to take; but that without any change the next action may be guided by those who favor violent protest.

These prisoners need allies on the outside of the prison walls who will assist them in building a mass movement dedicated to overthrowing this system of modern-day slavery, these warehouses of human beings. If the DOC sparks a violent confrontation it could turn into a bloodbath, which would generally serve the interests of the oppressors at great cost of human life for the prisoners. The real conditions of these gulags must be exposed, and this unjust system must be torn down as the French once tore down that old symbol of their own imprisonment—the Bastille. Please join with activists as we educate, agitate, and organize to end this oppression!

To see the full press release from CCRPR:

http://www.ushrnetwork.org/content/pressrelease/georgia-prison-striker-severely-beaten-department-corrections-cover

Celebrated gang truce disintegrates

Jahmol Norfleet was a youth leader who helped organize the peace treaty. The peace lasted beyond Jahmol's murder a year later, but is believed to have fallen apart recently.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/08/16/bostons_06_gang_truce_disintegrates/

The shooting death in May of a 14-year-old honors student has done more than shock the city; it has also unraveled the final remnants of a 2006 gang truce once hailed as a historic success.

During the recent arraignments of Jaewon Martin’s alleged assailants, prosecutors said Martin, who had no gang ties, was apparently targeted by members of the H-Block gang because he was hanging out on a basketball court frequented by their Heath Street foes.

The truce was struck in July 2006, following months of shootings between H-Block, a group of about two dozen individuals from Roxbury around Humboldt Avenue, and Heath Street, whose 20 to 30 members live in or near Jamaica Plain’s Bromley-Heath housing complex.

The FBI had attributed 20 shootings to the feud between January 2005 and June 2006. That summer, a 17-year-old man was shot several times on the basketball court near Bromley-Heath. A month later 18-year-old Herman Taylor 3d, who police believe was an innocent bystander, was fatally shot standing on Humboldt Avenue next to an H-Block leader.

The violence spurred ministers and neighborhood leaders at the Bromley-Heath housing complex to collaborate with probation officers, school and city police, and gang unit officers to broker an agreement between the two groups.

Denver Bloods, Crips unite in peace march

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15650439

Red and blue, Blood and Crip, active gang members and ex-gang members stood side-by-side Saturday at the Heal the Hood Peace March in a display of solidarity and commitment to stopping the violence.

Community activists marched alongside gang members and residents from Five Points, the heart of Crips territory, and from the Holly Shopping Center in Park Hill, the heart of Bloods territory. They met in the middle at Colorado and East Martin Luther King boulevards to rally for peace, change and a cease-fire.

Brother Jeff Fard, of Brother Jeff’s Cultural Center in Five Points and an event organizer, said the march is in response to what he called a hot summer with a number of unreported killings in east and northeast Denver.

“We’re bringing the community together in its fullness. That’s saying, together we can stop the violence and peace is possible,” Fard said.

Terrance Roberts, an former Blood who is now executive director of The Prodigal Son Initiative, said the violence needs to be removed for the neighborhoods to heal.

Members of The Prodigal Son Initiative were dressed in camouflage as a symbol of unity.

“Take a guess, I bet you can’t tell who’s Crip and who’s Blood in this crowd,” Roberts said.

A Crip who goes by the name Lotto reminded people to think about their beginnings. He said he grew up a nerd, in a good home with his grandparents, going to church.

“But my focus was lost because I had hate in my heart. I lost focus, but I was still a schoolboy with church values,” Lotto said. “We all know where we really come from because we all grew up together.”

Lotto turned to the man to his right and said, “This man pulled a gun on me, but now I can look him in the eyes and say, ‘I forgive you.’ “

Supa Nova Slom, a Brooklyn rapper, wore blue and red beads in his hair as a reminder to people that different gangs can come together for a common goal. He said both Bloods and Crips originated as groups for social justice.

He reminded the crowd what both gangs stand for, Bloods, Brotherly Love Overpowering Oppressive Destruction; and Crips, Community Revolution In Progress, and said that regardless of affiliation, both groups should have the same purpose: “If you ain’t reppin’ for black power than you forgot what should be reppin’ for.”

Matthew Ricks, president of Four Corners Coalition said he credits organizations that bring members from both groups together for reducing violence.

“The violence won’t be there when you recognize each other,” he said. “It’s hard to kill someone you know.”

City Council

Suspended gang unit officer corroborates abuse allegations

Officer AJ Blake (center) said the GPD gang unit has focused almost exclusively on the Latin Kings despite the fact that other gangs have been shooting against each other. Also pictured are the Rev. Cardes Brown and Blake’s fiancee, Sandra Sanchez

http://www.yesweekly.com/article-6428-news.html

Officer AJ Blake (center) said the GPD gang unit has focused almost exclusively on the Latin Kings despite the fact that other gangs have been shooting against each other. Also pictured are the Rev. Cardes Brown and Blake’s fiancee, Sandra Sanchez. (photo by Jordan Green)
The Latin Kings, a provocative Latino street organization labeled a gang by the Greensboro Police Department, found perhaps the most unlikely of allies earlier this month a former member of the department’s gang unit. Officer AJ Blake, who is currently suspended without pay as he appeals a conviction for two counts of assault on a female, told reporters at New Light Missionary Baptist Church on June 2 that the gang unit has almost exclusively focused on the Latin Kings, even to the exclusion of investigating gangs that were shooting at each other.

“The Latin Kings have been specifically the focus, given to me by my supervisor, Sergeant [Ronald] Sizemore that he referred to as being directed by Captain [John] Wolfe,” Blake said. “The gang unit was instructed to charge the Latin Kings with any possible violations that we could.” Blake said certain investigative tools used against the Latin Kings qualified as abuses of police authority.

“For example, we’re investigating an attempted murder on, I believe it was, Maplewood Lane, and we were having difficulty locating one of the Latin King members that was involved allegedly in the incident as the driver of the vehicle,” he said. “Her parents were not cooperating, so the strategy of my sergeant was to order several officers to stay outside her house waiting for the mother and father to leave because they did not have a license, to wait for them to get a certain distance away from the house, to then arrest them for driving without a license, and tow the car. Which to me is outrageous.”

Blake said he approached Sizemore last year with a concern that the squad was focusing exclusively on the Latin Kings while two street gangs on Martin Luther King Drive were actively shooting at each other.

“To me, preservation of life is more important than going after what we think [the Latin Kings] might be doing,” he said. “When I approached my sergeant, and said, ‘We need to stop this incident before someone gets killed,’ he still wanted to focus on the Latin Kings.” Chief Tim Bellamy dismissed Blake’s allegations.

“If someone has given you a directive you don’t agree with, our directives allow you to file a complaint,” he said. “He filed two complaints before. Why didn’t he file a complaint about this? I talked to his chain of command and no one recalls him bringing this forward.”

Blake said the gang unit’s obsession with the Latin Kings dates back to 2006, when arrested members of the Latin Kings refused to cooperate with police officers who were trying to book them and, as Blake described

it, “attempted to assault the arresting officers,” requiring them “to call the deputies to assist them.” Blake himself was the subject of complaint by the Latin Kings.

Cornell said after he was arrested in December 2007 and charged with assaulting a police officer, Blake asked him which hand he wrote with. Cornell responded that he wrote with his left hand, and said that subsequently a warrant was drawn up alleging that he struck Officer Robert C. Finch with his left arm. A year later, Cornell was acquitted of the charge.

Blake responded at the press conference that he “told Jorge I only asked questions relevant to the investigation.” The suspended officer, who played the “good cop” with the Latin Kings, described an attitude of hostility among his colleagues.

“Once when I was interviewing Cesar Herrera, a member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, I was interrupted by Officer Sizemore, who took over the interview,” Blake said in his prepared statement. “Officer Sizemore began shouting at Cesar and said that he wished Jorge Cornell, the leader of the ALKQN who had been recently shot, had been killed. It was not said in a joking manner.”

During the same episode, in which Latin Kings
were accused of carrying out a retaliatory attack against someone who turned out to be completely uninvolved, Jason Yates said Sizemore made the same statement to him. “I made an off-hand joke,” Sizemore told YES! Weekly when asked about the allegation last November. “Probably it was in bad taste. He was laughing. I was laughing.”

Despite his acquittal last December for the charge of assaulting a police officer, Cornell said the gang unit has continued to harass the Latin Kings, and his organization has filed five or six formal complaints with the human relations department. They have also been using digital video to document their interactions with the police.

“We’ve actually got an officer on tape laughing at us,” Cornell said, “saying, ‘You can go ahead and file all the complaints you want with human relations; it’s not going to help.”

Racism alleged to be widespread on force

Blake, who is a black officer of Honduran descent, suggested the abuses of the Latin Kings that he has described are tied in to a larger culture of racism within the department. He said that when he “indicated that there was other more serious gang activity than the harassment activities in which we were engaged, Sergeant Sizemore said that his image of a gang member is a Latino male.” Blake said he filed two complaints against fellow officers for making racist statements, and the department took no action to correct problems.

Then a member of a street narcotics squad, Blake said he filed a complaint in 2006 against a Sgt. Hafekaneyer for describing Latinos as “wet-backs” and saying during surveillance of a Latino club “that all the members there looked like illegal immigrants and he was disgusted that a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman would degrade herself with illegal immigrants.”

Blake said he filed a complaint with the sergeant’s supervisor, who investigated it and told the complainant that the offending sergeant “admitted making the ‘wet-back’ comment, but [said] that he did not realize I was Latino.”

Blake said he also filed a complaint against Officer Ashley Brown, who “said because I am from Honduras I must be a gang member and that he considers everyone from Honduras to be gang members.” The response from Lt. Whisnant and Capt. Dwight Crotts, who is now an assistant chief, Blake said, was that he could not substantiate his complaint and “I was claimed to be hyper-sensitive towards jokes about Latinos, that I can’t take a joke.”

Asked to respond to Blake’s account, Chief Bellamy said the complaints “were investigated by supervisors and appropriate actions were taken.” The chief said he could not discuss the outcomes of the complaints, but questioned Blake’s credibility, stating, “Everybody he’s talked to he’s done changed lines about what he’s said.” Blake acknowledged that his motivation for coming forward is his unhappiness with the city’s decision to suspend him without pay after he was criminally charged. That policy has been applied selectively, he said.

During the press conference, Blake apologized to the city, to the police department and to his fiance, Sandra Sanchez, for his behavior at a drunken police party to celebrate the birthday of Michael Caudle at the Police Club on Jan. 16. Blake acknowledged that he and Sanchez became engaged in an argument but denied attacking either her or Lorraine Galloway, another guest at the party. A warrant against Blake alleges that he grabbed Galloway around the neck and shoved her backwards; Blake maintains that put his hands in Galloway’s chest area and pushed her back in response to the woman shouting and raising her hands at him. Blake was suspended without pay the following day.

The department’s gang unit targeted the Latino community and officers were ordered to “charge the Latin Kings with any possible violations that we could,” and “certain tactics used to investigate the gang were abusive.”

“Sergeant Sizemore said that his image of a gang member is a Latino male.”

“Sergeant Hafekaneyer [described] Latinos as wet-backs.”

“Officer Sizemore began shouting… that he wished that Jorge Cornell, the leader of the ALKQN who had been recently shot, had been killed.”

We at Malcolm-Che stand in solidarity with King Jay and the ALKQN of North Carolina while they attempt to unify oppressed people.  To quote King Jay himself, “The black and the brown, that’s who’s enduring this.  We have to stand together. We can’t let the government divide us any more.”

City councilman denies offering police officer a deal

Greensboro Police Officer A.J. Blake read a statement at a news conference Tuesday afternoon at New Light Missionary Baptist Church.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/06/02/article/officers_brother_claims_councilman_offered_deal_to_suspended_officer

GREENSBORO — The brother of police Officer A.J. Blake and the leader of the local chapter of the NAACP said Tuesday that Councilman Mike Barber made Blake an implied offer to get assault charges against him dismissed in exchange for removing his name from a lawsuit against the city.

Barber denied making the offer. He was interviewed at a City Council meeting Tuesday night.

He said he has no relationship with the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office that would allow him to get Blake a deal.

A.J. Blake was found guilty of two counts of assault on a female in March, stemming from an incident at a private party at the Greensboro Police Club on Jan. 17.

He has been suspended without pay and has been recommended for termination from the police department.

He is appealing the conviction and the recommendation for termination.

At a Tuesday news conference, Blake admitted making bad decisions at the party, which involved a night of heavy drinking.
However, he denied the assault charges.

 He said the charges and an investigation into the incident were tainted by racist sentiments within the department.

Blake’s brother, Amili Blake, and the Rev. Cardes Brown, leader of the local NAACP, also said that Officer Blake met with Barber regarding his suspension.

Amili Blake said Barber implied at that meeting that he could get charges against Officer Blake dismissed in exchange for removing his name from a the federal lawsuit filed against the city in January by about 40 black officers alleging racial discrimination within the police department.

Amili Blake said Barber implied the city had wronged Officer Blake “due to the black book incident,” and said that “we have something here (the assault suspension) that is hurting you, go ahead and do this (leave the lawsuit) and they’ll cancel each other out.”

Officer Blake said he would not comment on his meeting with Barber on the advice of his attorney.

Other than Amili Blake’s recollection of the meeting with Barber, no one at the news conference could present proof that Barber offered a deal.

At the City Council meeting Tuesday night, Barber said he had met with Officer Blake on several occasions, but said at no time did they discuss Blake’s EEOC claim.

Barber said Monday night he spoke to Officer Blake’s attorney, who offered an apology from Blake.

Barber also denied ever meeting Amili Blake.

Among other claims Officer Blake made:

— The department’s gang unit targeted the Latino community and officers were ordered to “charge the Latin Kings with any possible violations that we could,” and “certain tactics used to investigate the gang were abusive.”

Officer Blake said he reported his concerns to supervisors, but the information fell on deaf ears.

In reaction, police Chief Tim Bellamy said no reports from Officer Blake were made to internal affairs or through any department supervisors.

He denied the department targets anyone because of race or nationality.

— Officer Blake expressed concerns that he was suspended without pay, when other officers accused of similar crimes got paid suspension in the past. 

Bellamy said the case in question, which involved Officer E.N. Tate, happened years ago. He said it was handled under prior department policy.

 That policy allowed for paid suspension.

That policy was changed last year because of a recommendation from the city Human Resources Department, which requires all suspended city employees be unpaid, Bellamy said.

Marching against racial profiling

http://www.carolinapeacemaker.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=95842&sID=4

http://www.elon.edu/pendulum/Story.aspx?id=2050

http://www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-guilford-287g-protest-090409,0,4195424.story

Members of he Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace held their 22nd annual journey last week, where they walked across North Carolina seeking justice for workers here and in Latin America. When the pilgrimage passed through Greensboro it focused on issues of peace and justice, immigrant access to higher education and the latest controversial 287(g) program which under the Immigration and Nationality Act, will allow local law enforcement to perform the duties of an International Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer and legally detain anyone who is in the country illegally.

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Gail Phares, director of the Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America and coordinator of the Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace said, “We need immigration reform as soon as possible. We need to change our immigration and free trade laws rather than punishing them (the workers). All they’re trying to do is feed their families; they shouldn’t be treated like bad people.”

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Although the pilgrimage focused on several issues, it was the 287(g) program that has sparked recent community discussions. “It is an unjust program that has been misrepresented to help (protect) people, when in fact it targets people based on racial profiling,” said Eric Jonas, immigrant assistance center director at FaithAction International House. He explained how the whole program depends on how local law enforcement wants to implement the law. A person’s legal status can be checked from a minor traffic violation all the way to serious offenses.
One of the destinations led marchers to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department. “I think the sheriff needs to know there is a large group of the community that does not support this,” said Jonas. Protestors of the 287(g) program believe it will add to the Latino community’s fear of the police as well as increase racial profiling tactics.

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Jorge Cornell, leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, has been very vocal in his stance against 287(g) as well. “When I stepped up in 2006 to call for peace between gangs, they were using Latino gangs as a way to push for the implementation of 287(g). There will be no safety for Latinos, so now we’re speaking up for those who cannot.”

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According to Guilford County Sheriff B.J. Barnes, law enforcement will only check people within the jail system and currently only 45 inmates have been ordered by (ICE) to be detained. “Most are drug trafficking, sexual assault or crimes that are against and harmful to other people. ICE isn’t holding people for minor violations, but if they are committing crimes, ICE is putting detainers on them,” Barnes explained.

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Barnes also said that if anyone is pulled over by the police, and they do not have a drivers license or proper documentation stating who they are, lawa enforcement can legally check in the system, which will take minutes with the ICE software versus two weeks with the current method.

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“I don’t have any options here,” said Barnes, “I am obligated by law to check who is legal and who is illegal.”