[North-NV-Greens] Forum on Post 9-11 Immigrants’ Rights this Saturday

[Bob Tregilus]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: 3/31/05

FROM: American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada

CONTACT: Laura Mijanovich, 775/884-9089, mijanovich at powernet.net

SUBJECT: Forum on Post 9-11 Immigrants’ Rights this Saturday

RENO, NV – A community forum on Post 9-11 Immigrants’ Rights is 
scheduled for this Saturday, April 2, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM, at the Neil 
Road Recreational Center (3925 Neil Road). The event is sponsored by the 
American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, Latinos for Political 
Empowerment (LAPE), Nevada Hispanic Services, and the UNR Latino 
Research Center.

The forum is designed to help immigrants understand how their rights 
have changed since 9-11. Featured speakers will Mariana Bustamante, 
National Education Coordinator for the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, 
and Laura Mijanovich, Northern Coordinator for the ACLU of Nevada. Two 
local immigration attorneys will also be present to answer questions.

Participants in the forum will learn about local enforcement of 
immigration laws and comprehensive immigration reform. They will also 
have an opportunity to speak out against the proposed REAL ID Act, which 
will drastically limit the rights of both U.S. immigrants and citizens 
alike.

Already approved by the house the REAL ID Act will be considered in the 
first week of April when the senate returns from recess. The bill will 
make it more difficult to seek asylum and creates a de-facto national ID 
card. It also eliminates judicial review for many types of immigration 
cases, including challenges to government error, incompetence, or 
misconduct.

"The right to appeal to an independent court if the government takes 
away your liberty," said Mariana Bustamante of the ACLU's Immigrant 
Rights Project, "is one of the fundamental human rights in the 
Constitution and the REAL ID takes away that importance text on 
government action."

“A lot of lawful permanent residents with ties to this country will end 
up in detention or deportation with no legal recourse if REAL ID becomes 
law because someone decided that lawful permanent residents don’t 
deserve the same constitutional protections as citizens,” Bustamante added.

The Immigrant Rights Project (IRP) is committed to defending the civil 
and constitutional rights of immigrants through a comprehensive program 
of impact litigation and public education. The need to protect 
immigrants' rights has increased as immigrants have become scapegoats 
for myriad social and economic woes, especially since 9-11. The IRP 
works to protect the historic guarantee to judicial review, enforce fair 
employment practices, and maintain constitutional safeguards against 
detention practices and biased asylum adjudication.

For more information on immigrant rights please visit: 
http://tinyurl.com/44yrj & http://tinyurl.com/3zbwn.

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