ICE Descends on Rhode Island: Activists and advocates cope with a “climate of fear.”

from Dollars&Sense:



ICE Descends on Rhode Island
Activists and advocates cope with a “climate of fear.”
By Rachael Scarborough King



All day on July 15, the activist community in Providence, R.I. had the sense that something was about to happen. As an immigration panel convened by Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri met, rumors were flying about possible raids and arrests throughout the state.

In the early evening, calls began pouring in to an immigration hotline and to activists’ cell phones. Dozens of people were under arrest following raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at six of the state’s courthouses. Soon, supporters of a coalition of immigrant advocacy organizations in Rhode Island had assembled in front of the ICE headquarters in downtown Providence.

“Within a couple of hours there were 200 people at ICE downtown who knew people had been detained and were trying to figure out how to let them know that we support them,” said Rachel Miller, the director of Rhode Island Jobs with Justice. “And also to let ICE know, as much as they try, they don’t operate in secret.”

Since then, about half a dozen activist groups—in addition to state legislators and attorneys working pro bono—have been scrambling to help the 31 janitorial and maintenance workers detained that day and to inform other immigrants in the state about their rights in an increasingly hostile climate.

“For the last two years we’ve been organizing against the pretty virulent anti-immigrant sweep which began politically at the State House,” Miller said. “The anti-immigrant policies that people are trying to get passed at the State House represent a huge threat to civil liberties and people’s basic rights.” ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2008/0908king.html