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New Hill Community Association Sues to Stop Partners From Dumping Sewage on New Hill

Durham, NC – On behalf of the New Hill Community Association (NHCA), the Southern Coalition for Social Justice has filed a Petition for Contested Case Hearing in the state Office of Administrative Hearings to challenge the Western Wake Partners’ proposed placement of a sewage treatment plant in the center of the New Hill community. “We have been willing to host the Partners’ sewage treatment plant so long as it was not in the middle of our community, but the Partners won’t meet us halfway,” says Rev. James E. Clanton of the First Baptist Church New Hill and a leader and a leader in the NHCA. “It is unfortunate we have to resort to litigation to have our voices heard.” The Petition contests the issuance of a 401 Water Quality Certification by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Water Quality (DWQ). It highlights deficiencies in the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which the 401 Water Quality Certification relied upon heavily. The Petition requests a hearing on these issues and seeks an injunction to prevent site construction until a hearing can be held. Among the specific concerns documented in the Petition are that: - Site 14 has larger human and environmental justice impacts than other, more suitable alternatives, including land previously condemned by Progress Energy in the same general vicinity. - Noise, odor, traffic, and light spill from the sewage treatment plant will impact the New Hill Historic District, including the predominantly African-American First Baptist Church and cemetery. - Western Wake Partners reverse-engineered Site 14 by prematurely committing nearly $10 million to the site before considering its human and environmental impacts. This commitment of resources prevented an unbiased consideration of better, alternative sites in the same general vicinity. “There are better places to put this plant. We understand the Partners’ needs for additional sewage capacity. We simply ask that they do not put the burdens of their growth in the middle of our community, next to our churches,” said Elaine Joyner, a congregant at First Baptist Church New Hill. The filing of the Petition is a turning point in the five year struggle pitting the overwhelmingly African-American residents of New Hill against some of the state’s wealthiest municipalities. To pay costs associated with litigation, New Hill recently held a barbecue fundraiser at the First Baptist Church New Hill and raised $4,648. Additional litigation support came from a $10,000 grant from the Impact Fund, an organization supporting efforts to achieve economic and social justice. Rev. Clanton says, “It is David versus Goliath all over again, but we know how that turned out, don’t we?” For more information visit: www.southerncoalition.org/newhill www.newhillca.org www.indyweek.com/indyweek/dumping-on-new-hill/Content?oid=1593974 Contact: Chris Brook, attorney, Southern Coalition for Social Justice (919) 323-3380; chris@southerncoaltion.org Elaine Joyner, New Hill Community Association etjoyner@bellsouth.net Rev. James Clanton, First Baptist Church New Hill (919) 218-4066; clantonjames@bellsouth.net

April 29th, 2010: Rights groups challenge Zebulon Police Department’s practice of targeting Latino churchgoers

RALEIGH (April 29, 2010) – Community churches are supposed to be a safe haven for worshippers, not sites for police to target. But Latino churchgoers in eastern Wake County say police officers routinely set up illegal checkpoints outside their parish – and even interrupt services themselves. This morning, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF), the North Carolina Justice Center, and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice launched an investigation into the practice of targeting Latino churchgoers by the Zebulon Police Department and the Wake County Sheriff’s Office. Congregants at the Iglesia de Dios “Catedral de Jesus” in Zebulon report that Zebulon police officers, with alleged participation by Wake County sheriff’s deputies, have repeatedly posted license checkpoints outside the church during church services. Members of the congregation report that police officers routinely “wave through” Caucasian and African-American drivers, stopping only those drivers who appear to be Latino. “The reality is that these types of license checkpoints are often no more than covers for blatant racial and ethnic profiling of the Latino community,” said Katy Parker, Legal Director of the ACLU-NCLF. “This includes those members of the community who are undocumented as well as those members who are American citizens and lawful permanent residents of North Carolina.” The groups have filed a public records request asking police to provide all documents related to license checkpoints, as well as all documents related to compliance with the North Carolina Racial Profiling Act. Police officers, congregants say, have entered church property and interrupted services to harass members of the congregation seeking information. Officers routinely select the entrance of the church at 717 S. Arendell Avenue to set up license checkpoints during regularly scheduled church events, such as church services on Saturday nights from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., church members say. These scare tactics by police have caused a significant decrease in church attendance, as many congregants are afraid to attend church lest they be harassed by law enforcement in the process. “Even though Arizona’s outrageous new anti-immigrant law has made national headlines, we see similar disastrous policies and practices here in North Carolina,” said Dani Martinez-Moore of the NC Justice Center. “It’s shameful that checkpoints are routinely set up in Latino neighborhoods and in front of churches where services are conducted in Spanish.” The three groups sent a letter this morning to Zebulon Police Chief Tim Hayworth and Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison outlining the illegality and unconstitutionality of these practices under both state and federal law. “Using local police officers for immigration enforcement erodes public trust in law enforcement, systematizes racial profiling, creates incentives for illegal arrests and prevents police from doing their job, failing to keep some of our most vulnerable communities safe,” said Rebecca Fontaine of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. To read the three organizations’ North Carolina Public Records Request, visit http://www.ncjustice.org/?q=node/499. The public records request is part of “Uncovering the Truth,” a weeklong national campaign of coordinated actions and advocacy highlighting the effects of local law enforcement collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on community safety. CONTACT: Katy Parker, ACLU-NCLF, (919) 834-3466, acluncklp@nc.rr.com; Dani Martinez-Moore, NC Justice Center, (919) 856-2178, dani@ncjustice.org; Rebecca Fontaine, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, (919) 323-3380, rebecca@scsj.org

April 1, 2010: Triangle Community Welcomes Immigrant Students Walking the East Coast for Just Immigration Reform

Contact: Erin Krauss, UNC Graduate Student intern with Reform Immigration for America; (828) 273-0927 or Rebecca Fontaine, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, (781) 277-1314, Rebecca@SCSJ.org Durham, N.C. - Four immigrant students walking 1,500 miles from Miami, FL to Washington, D.C. will arrive in the Triangle this weekend as part of their "Trail of Dreams" to demand just immigration reform. Peers at UNC-Chapel Hill are hosting the group and immigration reform supporters will be walking with the students for parts of their journey.Several organizations are also hosting events and dinners to support the effort and the message. North Carolina, like other southern states, has seen a significant increase in deportations, workplace raids, and barriers to higher education for immigrant students. "We hope to share our own experiences as immigrant students with the larger community, and to explain the fear and pain that detentions and deportations cause within families," said Gaby Pacheco, one of the walkers. "We seek real solutions to fix our broken immigration system and to stop the deportation of students just like us who know the United States as their only home and want to make it prosperous for all." Pacheco and the other students: Felipe Matos, 23; Carlos Roa, 22; and Juan Rodriguez, 20, started their walk on January 1 to raise awareness about the need to reform the U.S. immigration system; they are expected to arrive in Washington, DC on May 1. The Triangle community will welcome the walkers by hosting a number of events to promote dialogue on the issue of immigration reform and access to education for all immigrant students. Saturday, April 3: Walk begins at 7:30am at the McDonald's at 105 E South St, Raleigh; lunch will be held at the Fruit of Labor World Cultural Center at 4200 Lake Ridge Dr. Monday, April 5: A 12:00 noon rally at the Wilson Library at UNC, then the walk kicks off at 1pm at the Franklin Street Post Office and ends at 5:30pm with a community dinner at CAARE, 214 Broadway St., in Durham. Ron Bilbao, chair of the North Carolina Coalition for College Access said, "The Dreamers are an inspiration. Their presence at UNC, the nation's first public university, shows their commitment to achieving educational access for all students. We welcome them with open arms." To follow and support the Trail of DREAMS' campaign, send a text message to: 3-0-6-4-4 with the word TRAIL. For more information and biographies on the Dream Walkers visit www.trail2010.org

March 23, 2010: Students and Alumni of the Wake County School System Led a Sit-in Today During a Meeting of the Wake County School Board, Demanding All Students Receive a Quality Education

Raleigh, N.C. (March 23, 2010) - This evening the Wake County School Board is scheduled to take a final vote on dismantling the system's nationally recognized diversity policy. In response, an organized group of Wake County students, alumni, and their supporters began chanting "Shut it Down, No Segregation in our Town." Demonstrators were forced from the building where they continue to rally outside. The policy is a measure that seeks to ensure socio-economic diversity in all schools as a statistically proven way to bring more equity to the education system by avoiding low-performing high-poverty schools. Demonstrators, who believe this vote will move the community toward re-segregated schools and a two-tier system of education, attempted to enter the meeting en masse and declared the new school board majority was violating both legal and moral laws by continuing to operate as it had been. Concerned parents, students, and community members have been packing the school board meetings for months, trying to stop these measures by the new majority, who were elected by less than 5% of the voters in the county. "Separate but equal didn't work then and it wont' work now. This is a right-wing agenda being pushed on the people of Wake County and its being bank-rolled by some of the richest conservatives in our state - Art Pope, and the chair of Civitas, Robert Luddy, who runs several private and charter schools," stated Andy Koch, a junior at UNC Chapel Hill and alum of Wake public schools. Demonstrators and the public were also outraged by new procedures that sought to further limit public input on the measure by limiting attendees to only those who could pick up tickets at 10:30am for the 3pm meeting. "How are students or working parents able to meaningfully participate and have their voices heard if the only people who attend are those who can afford to show up at 10:30 on a Tuesday morning? This is a clear maneuver to limit participation by working class people, who happen to be the people who will be most affected by this decision," said Alicia Sidney, a single mother of two. In addition, the school board was slated to vote on a new policy that threatened suspension for any student who picketed or protested the new policies. "This is a violation of our human rights - what kind of civics lesson are they trying to teach us by threatening to suspend students for using their voice as we attempt to exercise our First Amendment Rights?" stated an outraged Jacob Ehrlich, a Wake County high schools student. Demonstrators demand: that all following school board meetings be held at a time and place that allow for meaningful public participation, that the school board not move forward on any radical alteration of its policies until a full review of the data and fiscal implications, to drop the so-called "student disruption" policy that seeks to limit student's First Amendment Rights, and finally, a re-call election to allow the people of Wake County to determine if these members truly have the support of the community. Contact: Elena Everett, Southern Coalition for Social Justice (919) 413-1276; Elena@southerncoalition.org Ben Carroll, HKonJ Youth (919) 604-8167, itsaredletterday@gmail.com

March 19, 2010: Environmental Justice Summit to be Followed by a Press Conference at the Prospective Site of Cary and Apex's Sewage Treatment Plant

New Hill, N.C. - Elected officials, candidates for office, leaders of statewide organizations, as well as members of a community threatened with a negative environmental impact, will gather for an Environmental Justice Summit Saturday, March 20. Currently Site 14, which is located in the New Hill historic district, is the preferred location for the Western Wake Regional Wastewater Management Facility, causing great concern among New Hill residents and their supporters. The Summit is being put on by the New Hill Community Association in conjunction with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network to discuss the environmental impact of a planned sewage treatment plant. The Environmental Justice Summit will focus on the history and legacy of environmental racism in North Carolina, and on environmental consequences that Site 14 will place on the New Hill community. Media are invited to attend the summit and asked to be present for a 12:15 news briefing outside the church, in a location adjacent to the site of the prospective sewage treatment plant. New Hill is a rural, majority community of color in Western Wake County, located near the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant. Since 2005 residents have been opposing efforts by the Western Wake Partners (an organization comprised of the towns of Apex, Cary, Holly Springs and Morrisville) to place a wastewater treatment plant in middle of their community. Speakers at the summit will include Gary Grant, Director of the NC Environmental Justice Network, attorney Chris Brook of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Dr. Steve Wing, an adjunct professor at UNC Chapel Hill, Reverend Campbell of the Rogers-Eubanks Community Association, Reverend James Clanton of the First Baptist Church New Hill, and Paul Barth, President of the New Hill Community Association. When: March 20, 2010 Time: 8:30 AM -12:30 PM Where: First Baptist Church New Hill 3016 New Hill Holleman Road New Hill, NC 27562 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Environmental injustice - when members of low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately burdened with environmental hazards or risks for the benefit of affluent, predominately white communities and corporations. www.southerncoalition.org www.newhillca.org Contact: Elena Everett, Southern Coalition for Social Justice (919) 323-3380x112; Elena@southerncoalition.org Paul Barth, President, New Hill Community Association (919) 362-7905; NCDeerHunter29@aol.com Rev. James Clanton, New Hill First Baptist Church (919) 218-4066; clantonjames@bellsouth.net

March 15, 2010: Defendant in Lawsuit Regarding an Assault by a Greensboro Security Guard Agrees to Pay Latin King Member $13,500

Greensboro, N.C. - On March 8, 2010, Byron Meadows and Lankford Protective Services, a security agency that contracts with the City of Greensboro, agreed to pay $13,500 to Russel Kilfoil, a member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN), who was assaulted and detained while waiting for a bus the night of July 2, 2008. Kilfoil was punched in the face by Meadows, a Lankford Protective Services employee. Meadows claimed Kilfoil was smoking in the wrong place at the Depot and displayed an "attitudinal posture." He further claimed he had not punched Kilfoil, but attempted to execute an arm bar, and that this action was justified under the circumstances. Meadows's claims were refuted by the security footage of the event. In December 2008 the Greensboro Human Relations Department concluded that there was reasonable cause to believe that discrimination played a role in the incident. Kilfoil is a young man of Puerto Rican descent. Kilfoil was represented by Southern Coalition for Social Justice staff attorney, Chris Brook free of charge. In December 2008, the Greensboro Collaborative retained the legal services of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a non-profit community lawyering organization based in Durham, NC. The Greensboro Collaborative is comprised of the Beloved Community Center, the Pulpit Forum, and Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation of Greensboro (ALKQN). One of the Collaborative's primary concerns was continued harassment of the Latin Kings by the Greensboro Police Department's Anti-Gang Task Force. In June 2008, the leader of the Kings, Jorge Cornell, called for peace and an end to violence on the streets of Greensboro. Since that time violence directed at the Kings and harassment by the Anti-Gang Task Force and other law enforcement entities has escalated. Members of the Task Force follow King members home and around town, and have repeatedly harassed members at their places of work - actions that have led to ALKQN members losing their jobs. In March 2009 the Pulpit Forum Clergy and the Beloved Community Center submitted a document to the city entitled "A Paradigm Shift," which Rev. Nelson Johnson describes as follows: "Specifically, it proposed that street groups of young people, some of whom self-identify as gangs, could be seen and worked with as a resource for community safety, community justice, and greater community unity." SCSJ will continue to provide representation to the Greensboro Collaborative and individuals affiliated with the Latin Kings in matters involving police misconduct, discrimination, and violations of human rights Staff attorney Chris Brook stated, "...this is not only an excellent result for Russ, but also sends a clear message to Lankford Protective Services that such treatment of individuals is unacceptable." "SCSJ played a huge role in helping me set right what happened to me as I waited for the bus that evening," said Russell Kilfoil. Contact: Chris Brook, staff attorney; Chris@SCSJ.org; 919.323.3380 ext.111 or 919.928.2444

March 8, 2010: Rural Wake Co. Community Invites Citizens and Elected Officials to a March 20 Environmental Justice Summit to Discuss the Impacts of a Prospective Sewage Treatment Plant & Incinerator

New Hill, N.C. - On Saturday, March 20, the New Hill Community Association, in conjunction with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, will host a summit on environmental justice and environmental racism at the First Baptist Church New Hill from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Media are invited to attend the summit and asked to be present for a 12:15 news briefing outside the church, which is adjacent to the site of the prospective sewage treatment plant. Currently Site 14, which is located in the New Hill historic district, is the preferred location for the Western Wake Regional Wastewater Management Facility, causing great concern among New Hill residents and their supporters. The Environmental Justice Summit will focus on the history and legacy of environmental racism in North Carolina, and on environmental consequences that Site 14 will place on the New Hill community. New Hill is a rural, majority-minority community in Western Wake County, located near the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant. Since 2005 residents have been opposing efforts by the Western Wake Partners (an organization comprised of the towns of Apex, Cary, Holly Springs and Morrisville) to place a wastewater treatment plant in middle of their community. Speakers at the summit will include Gary Grant, Director of the NC Environmental Justice Network, attorney Chris Brook of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Dr. Steve Wing, a UNC Chapel Hill researcher and epidemiologist, Reverend James Clanton of the First Baptist Church New Hill, and Paul Barth, President of the New Hill Community Association. When: March 20, 2010 Time: 8:30 AM -12:00 PM Where: First Baptist Church New Hill 3016 New Hill Holleman Road New Hill, NC 27562 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Environmental injustice - when members of disadvantaged, ethnic, minority, poor or other marginalized groups are disproportionately burdened with environmental hazards or risks for the benefit of affluent, predominately white communities and corporations. www.southerncoalition.org www.newhillca.org Contact: Elena Everett, Southern Coalition for Social Justice (919) 323-3380x112; Elena@southerncoalition.org Paul Barth, President, New Hill Community Association (919) 362-7905; NCDeerHunter29@aol.com Rev. James Clanton, New Hill First Baptist Church (919) 218-4066; clantonjames@bellsouth.net

February 4, 2010: New Bond Fund Helps NC Immigrants Get Fair Day in Court; SCSJ works with the fund to help low-income immigrant families

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Contact: Rebecca Fontaine or Marty Rosenbluth, Immigration Unit, SCSJ (919) 323-3380x116 or (919) 949-9050 Rebecca@scsj.org or Marty@scsj.org Pat Malone, Director, National Immigration Bond Fund (212) 781-2140; pmalone@publicinterestprojects.org New Bond Fund Helps NC Immigrants Get Fair Day in Court; SCSJ works with the fund to help low-income immigrant families Durham, NC – A new Bond Fund is helping immigrants who are arrested post bond and access legal services. The Southern Coalition for Social Justice partnered with the National Immigrant Bond Fund to provide zero interest matching loans to immigrants who cannot afford to pay a full bond. The fund was created from a pool of private donors committed to protecting dignity and due process for immigrants. Since its inception in September, SCSJ has used the fund to help seven families. Undocumented immigrants do not have the same right to due process and a fair trial afforded U.S. citizens. If immigrants cannot post bond immediately after entering Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, it can dramatically affect their ability to get justice. Detainees are then accelerated into deportation proceedings, which are difficult to contest because they do not have the right to an attorney if they cannot afford one, face language barriers, and lack access to documents they need to build their case since they are in custody. Unlike bonds in the criminal courts, most families must pay immigration bonds in cash, rather than being able to pay 10% to a bond agency. Failure to post bond immediately can also result in a rapid transfer of detainees to courts outside of the state in which they were arrested. This was the case with Samuel, who was arrested in Greensboro and rapidly transferred to the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. "Everyone there was like me: we had no money and no resources. They treated us worse than criminals. They treated us like animals," he says, pointing to the freezing temperatures and the lack of adequate food and water, clean clothes or soap for bathing. In some cases, detainees have sufficient grounds to petition to be able to stay in the U.S., but are unable to explore those options and build their case while in detention. Even when these options are not available, being able to post bond and spend a few additional months with their family or being able to sell their property and prepare to return to their home country makes a huge difference. When Edwin Aly Ramirez was arrested while translating for a friend in Greensboro, his first thought was of his wife and two children — with another on the way. "I thought I would never get to meet my newborn," he said. Edwin came here at thirteen from war-torn El Salvador, "…this is my country. I don’t want to leave." "When immigrants are detained without being able to pay their bond, they are denied the right to fully defend their right to stay in this country, which often unjustly results in their being deported without being able to see their families or tie up outstanding obligations," says SCSJ staff attorney Marty Rosenbluth. "The Bond Fund is an important step in combating the injustice and inequities in the immigration system." The Southern Coalition for Social Justice empowers minority and low-income populations to defend and advance their political, social and economic rights. 115 Market St., Suite 470; Durham, NC 27701; www.scsj.org

February 12, 2010: Rural Wake Community Challenges Placement of Sewage Treatment Plant & Incinerator; Joins Civil Rights March in Raleigh to call for Environmental Justice

SOUTHERN COALITION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE http://www.scsj.org For Immediate Release: Friday, February 12, 2010 Contacts: Chris Brook, Staff Attorney, Southern Coalition for Social Justice (919) 323-3380x113; Chris@Southerncoalition.org New Hill, N.C. – On Tuesday February 9, 2010, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice submitted an official response on behalf of the New Hill Community Association to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding the Corps’ Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). Released December 18, 2009, the document examines a proposed wastewater treatment facility in the New Hill community (also referred to as Site 14). New Hill is a rural, majority-minority community in Western Wake County, located near the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant. Residents have been opposing the placement of the plant in their community since 2005; community members are calling it a case of environmental racism and have received the support of the NC Environmental Justice Network, the NAACP, and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. Next Saturday, February 27, New Hill residents and supporters will be marching in HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) with other communities from across North Carolina. The event begins at 9:30am at Shaw University and ends at the North Carolina Legislative Building. Point 10 of the HKonJ Peoples Agenda is “Promote Environmental Justice.” They will be available for media interviews at the event (contact Rev. Clanton during the event). The wastewater plant would serve nearby Apex, Cary, Holly Springs, and Morrisville, not New Hill. THE KEY FINDINGS AND CONCERNS OF THE RESPONSE ARE:
  • Site 14 has a much larger human and environmental justice impacts than other suitable alternatives considered by the FEIS in the vicinity of New Hill.
  • The FEIS does not make clear how the disposal sewage sludge, which contains “a wide range of toxic substances and chemical compounds,” will occur. Options under consideration include land application, which has potential groundwater impacts, and incineration, which would result in residents of downwind communities inhaling sewage sludge residue.
  • The selection of Site 14 will have a direct and major impact on the New Hill Historic District.
  • The selection of Site 14 was reverse-engineered via the commitment of Western Wake Partner resources and money prior to the consideration of human and environmental impacts associated with this site. This reverse engineering has short-circuited a true consideration of alternative sites.
  • The choice of the Cape Fear River as the discharge point for the sewage treatment plant was reverse engineered and alternatives were not adequately considered. An alternative scenario involving discharge to Harris Lake, which would involve much less sewage pumping, fewer water quality implications, and no impact upon the CFR’s Raven Rock State Park, is no longer under consideration. The Partners did not adequately consider this discharge point and now are unwilling to complete a thorough review of this option.
SCSJ staff attorney Chris Brook states: “The recently published Final Environmental Impact Statement fails to either inform the public of impacts from the proposed action or compare viable alternatives. Instead, they have rationalized the siting of a sewage treatment plant in the middle of the New Hill community. The process of considering alternatives remains tainted by the Western Wake Partners condemnation of land for the sewage treatment plant before considering the site’s environmental or human impacts. How can the public trust all options are considered equally when the parties pushing the project have already invested millions in their preferred site?” For more information, the full report, and copies of letters to the Army Corps of Engineers visit: www.SCSJ.org/newhill www.NewHillCA.org

Oct. 2, 2009: SCSJ Applauds Law Enforcement, Congressional Caucus' Opposition to I.C.E's 287(g) Program

Southern Coalition for Social Justice MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, October 2, 2009 Contact: Marty Rosenbluth, Immigration Attorney (919) 323-3380x113, (919) 949-9050 cell; Marty@SCSJ.org Elena Everett, Community Media Director (919) 323-3380x112, (919) 413-1276 cell; Elena@scsj.org Durham, NC – Yesterday, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus issued a letter to President Obama urging him to “immediately terminate all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) under the 287(g) program and cease to establish further such agreements.” The caucus calls for action due to a “serious concern” of local law enforcement agencies using these “new powers to target communities of color, including a disproportionate number of Latinos, for arrest.” Additionally, two Massachusetts law enforcement agencies – the Framingham police and the Barnstable County sheriff’s department – have discontinued their participation in the 287(g) program, stating that they felt pressured by federal officials to broaden their enforcement in ways inconsistent with department policies. The 287(g) program was initially established by I.C.E. with a stated goal to combat terrorism and criminal activity by partnering with local law enforcement agencies. Currently, Alamance, Cabarrus, Cumberland, Gaston, Henderson, Mecklenburg, Wake Counties and the city of Durham have 287(g) agreements. In February 2009, the UNC School of Law Immigration Human Rights Clinic and ACLU of North Carolina released a 152-page report on the problematic outcomes of law enforcement agencies' partnerships with the 287(g) program. On August 27, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice was one of over 500 civil rights, community, and immigrant rights organizations to ask that the program be immediately terminated. In a letter to President Obama, these organizations, which included the NAACP, ACLU, MALDEF, and Anti-Defamation League, cited the civil rights abuses, specifically the racial profiling, endemic to the program. "It is our hope that law enforcement agencies in North Carolina and around the country acknowledge the legitimate concerns of the Congressional Caucus and follow the lead of their Massachusetts counterparts by ending their involvement in this dangerously misguided program," stated Marty Rosenbluth, immigration attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

September 1, 2009: Newly Launched Bond Fund Partnership to Help Low-Income Immigrant Families in the South

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, September 1, 2009 Contact: Marty Rosenbluth, SCSJ Immigration attorney (919) 323-3380x111; Marty@SCSJ.org Bob Hildeth Chairperson, National Bond Fund (617) 423-0211 rhildreth@ibsboston.com Newly Launched Bond Fund Partnership to Help Low-Income Immigrant Families in the South Durham, NC – The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) and the National Immigrant Bond Fund (NIBF) have formed a partnership to provide legal and bond assistance to persons arrested by local authorities and detained for removal proceedings. The purpose of the joint project is to: (A) educate the public about the importance of getting out of immigration detention and obtaining an attorney to have a fair hearing; (B) call attention to the problems of local enforcement of immigration law; and (C) provide bond assistance to individuals who cannot otherwise afford to pay an immigration bond. The Southern Coalition for Social Justice is one of few legal organizations in the south providing pro-bono legal support to immigrants facing deportation; this is particularly significant as undocumented immigrants are not entitled to indigent defense or legal counsel. “We are very excited to partner with the National Immigrant Bond Fund – every week I see families whose lives are being torn apart because a father or brother was picked up on a minor and sometimes unsubstantiated charge - and because their immigration status is not current, they are put into removal proceedings without being able to see their families or tie up outstanding obligations. The Bond Fund will help us help more families,” said Marty Rosenbluth, immigration attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. Bond Fund Chairperson Bob Hildreth states, “the Bond Fund works on a simple principle – we can provide up to 50% in matching funds to enable families to post bond for their loved one – we do this because we believe immigrant detainees should be afforded basic rights and that our current immigration laws are in urgent need of reform.” “Through our partnership, families and communities come to SCSJ with their case, they raise 50% of the bond and apply for a match, and then we can give SCSJ the balance of the bond in the form of a 0% interest loan, which is repaid when the immigration case is completed.” The National Immigrant Bond Fund (NIBF) is a project of Public Interest Projects, Inc. www.publicinterestprojects.org. The Southern Coalition for Social Justice empowers minority and low-income populations to defend and advance their political, social and economic rights. www.scsj.org

July 10, 2009: Immigration Customs Enforcement to Announce Major Change to 287(g) Program

Contact: Marty Rosenbluth, immigration attorney, Southern Coalition for Social Justice (919) 323-3380x111 or cell (919) 949-9050; Marty@SCSJ.org Durham, NC – Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expected to announce major changes to the department’s policies regarding its 287(g) program. 287(g) enables ICE to enter into Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) with local law enforcement agencies and give them training and authority to enforce immigration law. This program has led to widespread criticism from communities who feel it is being misused, and from advocates who charge that the lack of oversight is creating conditions that encourage racial profiling and targeting of immigrant communities. Southern Coalition for Social Justice immigration attorney and policy specialist, Marty Rosenbluth, will be available to give comment on the changes when they are made public. The announcement from ICE is expected to come out today or over the weekend.