Latest news with #ElPueblo
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Civil rights groups protest North Carolina bills targeting undocumented immigrants
Maria Fernanda Najera-Aguilar, an organizer with El Pueblo, said she prays for the safety of her family and friends each day amid a crackdown by immigration authorities. (Photo: Brandon Kingdollar / NC Newsline) Immigrant rights advocates called on a crowd of about 100 to stand up against bills targeting undocumented immigrants in the state as part of an Immigrant Rights Advocacy Day demonstration outside the North Carolina General Assembly Wednesday. Speakers from the ACLU of North Carolina, the Education Justice Alliance, the Carolina Migrant Network, Muslim Women For, and El Pueblo rallied on the lawn of the Legislative Building and denounced a set of four bills as part of a broader anti-immigrant agenda by lawmakers. After the demonstration, they split up into groups to talk to legislators and leave informational materials with their offices and marched to the Governor's Mansion to deliver a petition demanding the veto of the bills. The four bills seek to crack down on undocumented immigrants in a variety of ways: House Bill 318 requires sheriffs cooperate with ICE; Senate Bill 153 does the same for state law enforcement; House Bill 261 increases the felony level of criminal charges against defendants with past immigration-related offenses; and House Bill 690 requires state agencies and universities to vet the immigration status of benefit recipients. Fernando Martinez, an organizing director with the Education Justice Alliance, urged lawmakers to 'stop playing politics with our families.' He denounced North Carolina politicians for 'painting us as criminals' who are 'invading this country' and stressed that immigrants are neighbors, colleagues, and classmates who make up a fundamental part of the community. 'We go to prayer houses together. We serve and produce food. We are teachers, we are nurses, we are building this state — literally,' Martinez said. 'Immigrants belong here, [we] are North Carolinians — and stop pushing us out.' America Juarez, a coordinator for the Carolina Migrant Network, said families in Charlotte are living in fear of ICE, alleging that agents in unmarked vehicles have been detaining employees at their places of work and children at school in an expansive operation that began May 12. She said her organization has received more than 133 calls for help in just over a week, and warned that provisions in the bills expanding cooperation with ICE would only worsen this crackdown. 'When federal agents in unmarked vehicles and civilian abduct members in our community, our neighbors, our coworkers, our families, it does not make North Carolina safer, it makes us all less safe,' Juarez said. 'For our elected officials, your silence is complicit. Will you stand by as children in your district lose their parents?' Nora Khalifa, an organizer with Muslim Women For, said such 'intimidation tactics' have had a tangible impact on her community. She said she's noticed people who no longer come to worship services out of fear that they might be detained by ICE and has heard from people who avoid public spaces as much as possible for the same reason. Closing the demonstration, Maria Fernanda Najera-Aguilar of El Pueblo said she prays for the safety of her family and friends every day amid the ongoing mass detention of immigrants, and in particular, last year's House Bill 10, which required sheriffs to follow ICE detention orders. She urged lawmakers to take a stand for 'basic human rights.' 'How can we pursue happiness and achieve aspirations when peace and security are constantly under threat?' she asked. 'I stand here today not just to speak, but to remind you that we are watching, we are organizing, and we are not going anywhere.'
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democratic representatives form new caucus, focus on limiting immigration enforcement
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — House Democrats pushing two bills this week, all focused on undocumented people living in North Carolina. The first, House Bill 78, would ban law enforcement from any immigration raids at schools, places of worship, or hospitals. 'Imagine a woman in a Temple praying for a peaceful and better life when unexpectedly, individuals armed with deadly weapons take her away without notice to her family,' Democratic Representative Renee Price said. Sponsors of the bill say they're already expecting no more movement on the bill. It's the same story for House Bill 80. 'This bill would prohibit local law enforcement from engaging in immigration enforcement at work sites, ensuring that our farms and constructions remain places of productivity,' Democratic Representative Deb Butler said. Research shows around 325,000 undocumented people live in North Carolina. Supporters of these bills say without them, the state's economy will crumble. 'Of the total number of undocumented people, at least 220,000 are workers and are equivalent to 4.3% of the total workforce in North Carolina,' Mario Alfaro with El Pueblo said. The vast majority of those undocumented workers work in construction. About 35% of construction workers are undocumented. Sponsors of House Bill 80 say if those workers are scared of being targeted at work, they simply won't work. 'North Carolina's economy depends on agriculture and construction, those are industries that rely on a steady, dedicated workforce,' Representative Butler said. While there's little to no confidence in either bill progressing, House Democrats are forming a new caucus called Progress Now, where they say the fight continues. 'Our name comes from two needs, the needs for progressive policy, and the needs for urgency and timeliness,' Democratic Representative Marcia Morey said. 'There are people in our state who need help now. Not tomorrow, not next week.' This week Senator Phil Berger introduced a bill that directs local law enforcement to comply completely with any ICE regulations. Democrats today say they're hopeful the Senate will abandon that bill. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
An undocumented, pregnant NC woman fears Trump's attack on birthright citizenship
Twenty years ago, she entered the United States from Mexico illegally in search of a better life. She found it in North Carolina. At 35, she is a farmworker living in Fayetteville and married to another undocumented immigrant. They have two children — girls 11 and 13. But now this woman, who asked to be identified only as Andrea, has more than her and her husband's status to worry about. She's pregnant, and the president of the United States wants her third child to be born without a country. President Trump declared this week by executive order that the son Andrea is due to deliver in August will inherit his parents' undocumented status. The order, effective Feb. 19, would end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants. Speaking in Spanish through an interpreter from the Latino advocacy group El Pueblo, Andrea said, 'I had heard about his plans to do this under his last administration, but then it happened under this new administration and the reality has been really hard to face.' A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, but that hasn't calmed Andrea's anxiety. She has long lived in the shadows of a broken immigration system that does not provide a realistic path to citizenship for longtime undocumented immigrants. Now she not only faces Trump's stepped up deportation efforts, but also the possibility that her next child will not have the rights and opportunities of her two daughters, who were born in the U.S. Her daughters, she said, are good students who are 'already planning a future of growing up to be somebody in the United States.' But her next child may not have that opportunity or hope. He should have the right 'to claim the place where he was born as the place he will live in,' she said. Andrea is receiving prenatal care and she knows what hospital she will give birth in, but now she fears that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents may come to the hospital to take away her or her husband. In that case, there would be no one to care for their daughters. They would have to all return to a Mexico she left long ago and that her children have never known. And she is uncertain about what will be the status of her newborn child. 'If this law goes into effect,' she said, 'I don't know what the process is. I don't know if I can go pick up my child's birth certificate. I don't know what nationality will be recorded on that birth certificate.' Andrea wishes that she and other undocumented immigrants would be offered a way out of living with such vulnerability and uncertainty. 'I believe that the best way would be to have a pathway to citizenship,' she said, 'but I know that is not realistic right now. I think having at least a work permit could help the community to be here without fear and work peacefully.' El Pueblo estimates that there are at least 300,000 undocumented immigrants living in North Carolina. They are here to fill a strong demand for their labor. Many of them pay taxes that support public benefits they are ineligible to receive. Andrea said the government should give legal status to those who are here to do hard jobs instead of trying to banish them and their children. 'I would like to see an administration that values justice, equality, fairness and respect for human rights,' she said, 'an administration that wouldn't attack immigrants, but rather find ways for all of us to live and work peacefully in harmony.' Andrea's work includes picking blueberries, strawberries and sweet potatoes. She is here because farmers need her labor. She will continue to pick and carry produce during her pregnancy because she cannot afford not to. She is not a threat to the nation; she helps to feed it. The child she will deliver here will be a citizen of the United States under the Constitution. Trump has the power to frighten Andrea. He does not have the power to revoke what the Constitution provides. Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at nbarnett@
