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Border Patrol
makes move toward respecting Places of Worship, Schools, and
Human Service
Op Ed by the
Alliance for Immigrants Rights & Reform
DETROIT,
Feb. 22, 2013: The Alliance for Immigrants Rights and Reform
and Michigan Organizing Project (AIR – MOP) praised the
release of a new policy memorandum from U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.
The memo explicitly provides guidelines and some protection for
people attending places of worship, schools, and human service
agencies. Whether immigrant or U.S. citizens, parents taking
their children to school in communities with immigrants have
been harassed and detained by Border Patrol agents. This
is particularly important in Detroit, where St. Anne’s Church,
Latino Family Services, and the Detroit Hispanic
Development Corporation have all been harassed by Border
Patrol in recent years.
“Human service agencies are places people come to because they
are in need and often vulnerable,” said Lidia Reyes,
executive director of Latino Family Services. “Our workers and
clients can both breathe a bit easier knowing there is less
chance Border Patrol is going prevent us from serving vital
community needs.
Now that we have a policy in writing,
we will work hard to improve it and ensure that Border Patrol
actually follows their own rules.”
AIR-MOP, the Northern Borders Coalition, Southern Border
Communities,
and many other immigrant rights groups have been trying for
years to get Border Patrol to create a public policy that
recognizes places of worship, schools, and human services
agencies as sensitive places, off-limits to normal immigration
enforcement.
“This new policy is the result of more than a year of organizing
and work by community leaders across the country. We are pleased
that it recognizes the sanctity of house of worship, and we look
forward to improving and enforcing this policy through community
action," said Deacon Tim Pilon, director of Hispanic
Ministry for the Archdiocese of
Detroit, “This is one more step that shows the growing
momentum for comprehensive immigration reform."
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