Our MissionFamilies for Freedom is a New York-based multi-ethnic defense network by and for immigrants facing and fighting deportation. Read more

Widespread Denial of Justice for New Yorkers Facing Detention and Deportation,

New Report Finds US Immigration Authorities Seen Terrorizing City’s Immigrant Community
July 20, 2012
In the wake of growing deportation programs such as the recently-activated “Secure Communities” initiative, this new report sheds light on the precise ways in which current detention and deportation practices are wreaking havoc on New York City immigrants and their communities. The deportation system is devastating families by not only threatening to exile their loved ones, but also often forcing immigrants to fight their cases for years while locked up in far-away immigration jails. WHAT: Advocates and immigrant families will hold a press conference to release previously secret federal government data detailing the harsh impact that Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) operations have had on New York City residents and their families. The data, which the NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, includes findings that reveal that, between October 2005 and December 2010, 77% of New Yorkers in deportation were funneled there from the criminal justice system, and that 91% of those in immigration jails lost their cases.
In the Media

'Operation Endgame' and the profitable purge of legal immigrants

July 11, 2012
Javian K Lawrence came to the US in 1999 as a legal immigrant with his parents and brothers and sisters. He was 14 years old at the time. Three years later, when he was 17, he was arrested for sexual misconduct, for having intercourse with a 16-year-old girl. Shortly after his 18th birthday, he was sentenced to six months in jail for this offense, but served less than four. That misdemeanor conviction has been a noose around Javian's neck ever since. It meant that, unlike the rest of his family, he could not trade in his green card for an American passport; and it is the primary reason why, 13 years later, he is sitting in a prison cell in an immigrant detention center in Alabama facing possible deportation back to a country where he no longer has any family, friends or prospects.
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Radio Show

War On Immigrants Radio on SB1070 Supreme Court Decision 7/10

Show Description

Listen to this month's War on Immigrants Report hosted by Abraham Paulos and Donald Anthonyson of Families for Freedom and Adem Carroll. The recent Supreme Court ruling on Arizona’s SB1070 had some of its supporters claiming victory and its opponents fearing more agony. While the discussion and disseminations will continue for some time, this month, we ask what has it changed for the people who will be affected, directly and indirectly? Given the history of the Supreme Court and its’ many race based decisions, how will the struggle to maintain dignity and justice play out? How did it play out in the past? On today's show we will speak with Dr. Alfonso Gonzales, Assistant Professor, Political Science at Lehman College and Carlos Garcia, the director of Puente Arizona, and Diana Perez-Ramirez an organizer at Puente Arizona.
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Important Warning for People Interested in Applying for Obama's Deferred Action Program

Alert for DREAMers applying for Deferred Action.pdf

United We DREAM, the National Immigrant Youth Alliance and the NIPNLG prepared this very informative warning advisory about how your criminal history could relate to Obama's deferred action program. There are thousands of people who will benefit from this deferred action program. However, many people's criminal history for a wide range of offences, including those commited as a juvenile can make you not only ineligible for this program, but also detainable and deportable.   Until the regulations and rules
regarding the program are released in 60 days or so, the creators of this document urge you to use this time to collect documents that
will help prepare your case.  

Download PDF from link above.


 
 

Radio Show

War On Immigrants Radio on Deferred Action & "The Rise of Asian Americans"

Show Description

This month’s War On Immigrants Report hosted by Donald Anthonyson of Families for Freedom and Adem Carroll will be focusing on the recent DHS announcement regarding deferred action for ‘Dreamers’and we will also looking at the Pew Research Center’s report “The Rise of Asian Americans” Our guests will include Yajaira Saavedra from Dream Scholars, Anayely Gomez from the New York State Leadership Council, Khin Mai Aung, of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and John Choe, the Director of One Flushing Community Economic Development Center.
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News and Annoucements

S-Comm and Stop and Frisk: A Threat to Society, A Letter from ED Abraham Paulos

June 12, 2012
The activation of Secure Communities (S-Comm) last month basically put New York City in the same category as Arizona, whose recent law, SB 1070, is regarded as the most draconian immigration law in the country. That is because in New York City, S-Comm is combined with the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) policy of Stop and Frisk. While NYC police officers cannot ask us our immigration status, they don’t have to; a quick trip to the precinct can give them that information. Today, the police precincts are virtual immigration checkpoints, driving us further into the shadows of a police state.
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Radio Show

War On Immigrants Radio on NY S-COMM Activation

Show Description

This month’s show focuses mainly on the activation of DHS’s Secure Communities in New York State. We will also continue to look at detention conditions and efforts to not only bring awareness, but to ultimately shut these awful places down. The Secure Communities program was fully activated in New York State on May 15th 2012, almost a year after the New York State Working Group Against Deportation (NYSWGAD) campaigned heavily to stop activation in 2011 and actually did get Gov. Cuomo to reject it.
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News and Annoucements

I, Too, Sing America: Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies visits FFF

June 08, 2012
As part of their History studies, a group of twenty 11th grade students at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies visited Families for Freedom. We helped break down the “Crimmigation system” which is the crossroads of the Criminal and Immigration system and explain the work we do. Our conversations focused on these questions: How do people maintain their dignity within an oppressive society? What are the most effective and humane ways to make positive change in our communities, society and world at large?
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