Latest news with #HispanicCulturalDay
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Enforcement of Oklahoma immigration law blocked indefinitely
Protestors at a Hispanic Cultural Day rally outside the Oklahoma State Capitol on May 15, 2024, hold flags representing the United States, Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. Hundreds gathered to protest the newly enacted House Bill 4156, which created the criminal offense of impermissible occupation. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma City federal judge this week placed an indefinite ban on enforcement of a state law criminalizing undocumented immigrants living in Oklahoma. The decision from U.S. District Judge Bernard Jones extends the two-week hold he implemented for House Bill 4156 on May 20 to last until he makes a final ruling on a lawsuit challenging the statute. HB 4156, enacted last year, created the state crime of 'impermissible occupation,' threatening fines and jail time for immigrants living in Oklahoma without legal residency. Past rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court and judges across the country have made clear that immigration enforcement is the federal government's responsibility, not an individual state's, Jones wrote in his decision issued Tuesday. Federal law preempts state laws on the issue, rendering Oklahoma's new statute unenforceable, the judge decided. 'In the end, that is why H.B. 4156 must fail — not to excuse unlawful presence or shield criminal conduct, but because it is what the Constitution demands,' Jones wrote. Oklahoma still has the power to prosecute U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike for crimes that might stem from unlawful immigration, the judge said. Attorney General Gentner Drummond had contended HB 4156 helps law enforcement stop drug trafficking and other crimes. Drummond called Jones' previous two-week hold 'outrageous,' 'perverse' and 'contrary to the rule of law.' 'The attorney general is committed to ensuring the state has the agency to protect Oklahomans,' Drummond's spokesperson, Phil Bacharach, said Thursday. 'HB 4156 is a commonsense and necessary law and Oklahoma must be able to enforce it.' Jones blocked enforcement of the law for nine months last year after former President Joe Biden's Administration filed a lawsuit. The ban lifted when President Donald Trump withdrew Biden's case. Two undocumented residents of Oklahoma and two immigrant-focused organizations based in the state refiled the lawsuit last month, contending HB 4156 is unconstitutional. Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Tulsa law firm Rivas & Associates are representing the plaintiffs. 'Once again, the court has made it clear that the state of Oklahoma may not enforce HB 4156 while our litigation proceeds,' ACLU of Oklahoma legal director Megan Lambert said. 'People who are immigrants join the long American tradition of coming here in search of a better life and the freedom and opportunity we offer. Anti-immigrant policies do not represent our state, and we are grateful for the relief this provides while we continue to fight for the rights and safety of Oklahoma's immigrant communities.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge temporarily blocks Oklahoma immigration law
Hundreds of people, most of them Latino, attend a Hispanic Cultural Day rally outside the Oklahoma State Capitol on May 15, 2024, to protest the newly enacted House Bill 4156, which creates the criminal offense of impermissible occupation. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma City federal judge on Tuesday put a two-week hold on the state's enforcement of a law criminalizing immigrants living in Oklahoma without legal residency. House Bill 4156 created the state crime of 'impermissible occupation' last year. Federal District Judge Bernard Jones blocked enforcement of HB 4156 from June until March, when President Donald Trump's administration dropped his Democratic predecessor's lawsuit challenging the law. Two undocumented immigrants living in Oklahoma and two organizations based in the state refiled the case this month. Jones agreed, like he did last year, that their case against HB 4156 is likely to succeed in court. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly found that control of immigration is an exclusively federal power, he wrote in his decision issued Tuesday. Jones found that federal law on this issue is likely to preempt state laws. 'Based on the comprehensive and exhaustive immigration framework that Congress designed, the Court is left with one conclusion: H.B. 4156 must fail,' Jones wrote. Jones' decision blocks enforcement of the law until June 3, but the order could be extended. The judge decided the undocumented residents could proceed under the pseudonyms Barbara Boe and Christopher Coe. His ruling also provisionally creates two classes of plaintiffs, an 'Entry Class' including those who unlawfully entered the country and a 'Reentry Class' made up of individuals who were deported and have returned to the United States. Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the judge's decision is 'outrageous.' He said HB 4156 is essential to stopping drug trafficking and other illegal activities in the state. 'In the name of federal law, the court is protecting admitted lawbreakers from federal and state consequences,' Drummond said in a statement. 'This is perverse, contrary to the rule of law, and we will be evaluating all options for challenging the ruling.' Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma are leading the plaintiffs' legal team. 'The court's decision today is a victory for Oklahoma's immigrant community, but the damage of HB 4156 and the national rhetoric repeated by local politicians has already created an environment of fear in our state,' ACLU of Oklahoma executive director Tamya Cox-Toure said in a statement. 'No matter what someone looks like, sounds like, or what their immigration status may be, they should feel safe in their own communities. We will continue to fight for the rights and dignity of immigrants and their families.' Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a statement from ACLU of Oklahoma executive director Tamya Cox-Toure, which wasn't available before initial publication. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hispanic festivities combine cultural celebration with immigration anxiety at Oklahoma Capitol
A group performs a traditional Mexican dance during Hispanic Cultural Day on Wednesday at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — Amid the bright colors, booming music and plates of food at the state Capitol's Hispanic Cultural Day was an undercurrent of uncertainty. While performers put traditional dances on display in the Capitol rotunda, multiple booths offered information and advice for encounters with law enforcement as federal authorities ratchet up immigrant arrests and deportations. Latino legislators, local business owners and faith leaders met with Oklahoma's Republican governor on Wednesday about immigration policies and Oklahoma's reliance on immigrant labor. Latino lawmakers' biggest ask, Sen. Michael Brooks said, was for the governor to follow through with his opposition to the Oklahoma State Department of Education's proposal to have public schools collect students' immigration status. Gov. Kevin Stitt previously pledged to block the proposed rule, saying 'putting kids on a list is not something we should do.' 'That was well received,' Brooks, D-Oklahoma City, said. 'The governor has continued to be able to maintain that he's committed to making sure those rules do not go into effect.' State Superintendent Ryan Walters has said he proposed the rule to better account for resources needed to serve immigrant students. He also said his administration would share the collected information with the federal government, if asked, and would support immigration raids in schools. A resolution that passed the state Senate this week would reject the rule. It now advances to the House for consideration. Stitt said he heard from leaders of various industries during the roundtable meeting Wednesday that the proposed rule had made some Oklahoma families 'really, really scared and nervous about sending their kids to school.' 'They were just asking me to help them on that (and) be able to protect the young people in the state of Oklahoma,' Stitt said. 'It's a complicated issue. It's an issue that normally is a political issue that nobody on my side of the aisle would jump in and say, 'Hey, let's attack this.' So, I knew it was going to be political and people were going to come after me for it, but it's the right thing to do.' Stitt's stance on the issue was a balm for families in Santa Fe South Schools, an Oklahoma City charter district where about 97% of the student body is Hispanic, said the district's superintendent, Chris Brewster. But, the district's community is still experiencing crises and heightened anxiety with the growing number of deportations, Brewster said. A month ago, he said, a Santa Fe South fifth grader learned his mother and other members of her roofing crew had been placed in immigration detention. Brewster said the boy and his mother had entered the country to seek asylum from violence in Honduras. He said school officials scrambled to get in touch with the 11 year old's mother, who is now slated for deportation, and to contact his estranged father, who now has custody of the child. 'This is not an isolated issue, and we have hundreds of these stories in our community,' Brewster said. 'As a conservative Christian and an American, I don't find this to be tenable, the way that we treat children, those that have been made in God's image, that they should go through this type of turmoil and tragedy because of what's taking place in our immigration system.' The Oklahoma Legislative Latino Caucus, though in agreement with Stitt on the Education Department's proposed rule, continues to oppose a bill the governor signed into law last year to create the state crime of 'impermissible occupation.' Scores of Latino Oklahomans gathered at the Capitol last year on Hispanic Cultural Day to protest the policy. A lawsuit challenging the law was refiled this week. Wednesday's festivities were a far cry from the large-scale protest that took place last year. With the added fears that the immigrant community now faces, Brooks said 'having a huge event on the steps of the Capitol wasn't the right thing to do this year.' To meet uncertain times with music and dancing is a testament to the community's temperament, said Rep. Annie Menz, D-Norman, a member of the Latino caucus who founded the Hispanic Cultural Day event. 'Whenever we feel like our community is coming under attack, it's up to us to fight back,' Menz said. 'We will remain prayerful that those (attacks) remain few and far between, and it's in that spirit that we wanted to go back to our original format for this event and kind of lighten it a little bit and remind people we are no threat. Our community is no threat. We are your neighbors. We are your friends, we are your coworkers.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigration advocates renew lawsuit against Oklahoma crime of ‘impermissible occupation'
A young woman places a paper on the door to the Governor's Office to oppose House Bill 4156. The papers read, "You chose politics over people. You broke my heart." Hundreds gathered at the Oklahoma State Capitol to oppose the new immigration law during Hispanic Cultural Day on May 15, 2024. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — Several Oklahoma civil rights groups on Tuesday filed an amended lawsuit seeking to block the enforcement of a controversial anti-immigration law after they said state officials have been allowed to enforce it. The latest legal wrangling comes after the U.S. Department of Justice in March dropped its objections to the implementation of House Bill 4156, which created the crime of 'impermissible occupation' for undocumented immigrants in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, the National Immigration Law Center, Padres Unidos de Tulsa and the League of United Latin American Citizens Oklahoma City chapter, Barbara Boe and Christopher Coe filed the amended lawsuit on behalf of undocumented immigrants living in the state. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Tipton are among those named as defendants. 'We are fighting once more against this harmful law, which the court already enjoined last year as unconstitutional' said Noor Zafar, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, in a statement. 'Every day that HB 4156 is in effect, it puts immigrants in Oklahoma at risk of arrest, detention, and banishment from the state and undermines the federal immigration system that Congress set up. We are using every legal tool available to stop this law from tearing apart communities across Oklahoma.' First-time violators of the law, signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt in April 2024, face up to a year in jail and a fine up to $500, or both, and the person must leave the state within 72 hours. A second offense is punishable by two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. Several of these groups and the U.S. Department of Justice, which was led by former President Joe Biden's administration, had separately sued last year to stop it from taking effect. The suits, filed in the Western District of Oklahoma, were combined. A federal judge then put the law on hold ahead of its July 1, 2024, implementation. Opponents argued that federal authorities are responsible for enforcing immigration. In March, the Department of Justice, led by President Donald Trump, announced that it no longer objected to the law and dismissed the case. The groups argued Tuesday that the state officials have 'unprecedented power to arrest, detain, and expel noncitizens,' by creating a 'novel system' with immigration crimes completely outside the federal system. 'For far too long, Oklahoma law enforcement was stymied because the federal government had declined to do anything about deporting illegal immigrants found working at illegal marijuana grows,' said Carrie Burkhart, a spokesperson for Drummond, in a statement. 'Enforcing HB4156 ensures the safety and security of Oklahomans, and our office will vigorously defend it.' A bill proposed this session, House Bill 1362, would have repealed this law, but did not advance from a Senate committee. It would have allowed an individual to be arrested and charged with a new felony punishable by five years in prison if they are apprehended for a violation of Oklahoma's criminal law and are determined to be an undocumented immigrant. But they could agree to be returned to their country of origin by federal immigration enforcement rather than be imprisoned if they have no other felony charges or previous convictions for a violent offense. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Crime of ‘impermissible occupation' now enforceable in Oklahoma, feds say
Hundreds of people, most of them Latino, attend a Hispanic Cultural Day rally outside the Oklahoma State Capitol on May 15 to protest House Bill 4156, which created the criminal offense of impermissible occupation. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — People who enter the United States without legal authorization can now be arrested and jailed in Oklahoma, the federal government said, but groups challenging the controversial anti-immigration law say enforceability remains unclear. The DOJ, under the Trump administration, on Friday voluntarily dismissed its challenge against Oklahoma's law that created the crime of 'impermissible occupation.' The lawsuit was filed during Joe Biden's presidency, but was dropped as President Donald Trump continues to make immigration and mass deportations a priority of his administration. The 'voluntary dismissal terminates the action and dissolves the preliminary injunction,' according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Monday filing in Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond's appeal of an order that prevented the law's enforcement. Phil Bacharach, a spokesperson for Drummond's office, said the attorney general's office is 'reviewing the situation for clarity, but at least the federal government appears to indicate it believes the law is enforceable.' Drummond applauded the dismissal Friday and said in a statement that it marked the 'start of a new day for public safety' in Oklahoma. The controversial law, signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt in April, created the crime of 'impermissible occupation' and allows Oklahoma law enforcement to arrest people who are in the U.S. without legal authorization. The first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by one year in county jail and a fine of up to $500 or both. The person would be required to leave the state within 72 hours. A second offense is a felony with up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. The law was previously put on hold by a federal judge days before it was supposed to go into effect this summer in response to two enjoined lawsuits arguing that House Bill 4156 circumvents federal authority to enforce immigration law. One lawsuit came from the federal government under the Biden administration and a similar case was filed by private plaintiffs, which includes the advocacy group Padres Unidos de Tulsa and individual clients. Drummond had appealed the injunction, issued by a federal judge in the United States District Court Western District of Oklahoma, in July to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Elissa Stiles, an attorney for Padres Unidos, said Wednesday the group will continue to challenge the controversial law and would 'be filing another injunction expeditiously.' She said it was unclear if the previously issued injunction is still in effect, making the enforceability of the law unclear. The private plaintiffs Sunday asked the courts to reconsider their individual case before allowing enforcement. The filing from DOJ said while the private plaintiffs are free to seek a preliminary injunction in their own case, they cannot use Drummond's appeal as the vehicle to do so as 'the order appealed from has been dissolved.' House lawmakers have also advanced a separate measure to the Senate that would repeal House Bill 4156 and create a new felony for being in the country illegally. It allows an individual to be arrested and charged with a new felony punishable by five years in prison if they are apprehended for a violation of Oklahoma's criminal law and are determined to be an undocumented immigrant. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
