Austin, TX – El Secretario de Seguridad Nacional, Jeh Johnson, ha ordenado al consejo consultivo de la agencia revisar el manejo que dan los corporativos privados a los centros de detención para inmigrantes. El movimiento surgió unos días después de que el “Departament of Justice” (Departamento de Justicia) de los Estados Unidos anunciara que está haciendo ajustes al uso de ceder la operación de prisiones federales a empresas privadas con fines de lucro.

El “Deparament of Homeland Security” (Departamento de Seguridad Nacional) anunció el lunes que revisará su política de detención de inmigrantes en instalaciones manejadas por compañías privadas. El anuncio del Secretario Jeh Johnson llega muy poco después de que surgiera la decisión del Departamento de Justicia en el sentido de hacer ajustes a la operación de la operación que las empresas privadas hacen de los reclusorios federales.

Christina Parker, directora de programas de inmigración en Grassroots Leadership, dice que su grupo ha documentado una retahíla de problemas y abusos en las instalaciones lucrativas para inmigrantes de Texas y de muchas partes.

“Dicen que llevarán a cabo una revisión visual de todos los aspectos de contratación en esos lugares, cómo han operado y qué pasó, el tipo de abusos y negligencias que vemos en esas instalaciones. Cualquier revisión honesta tendría que llevar a finalizar sus contratos, tal como lo hizo el DOJ (Departamento de Justicia).”

Las instalaciones de centros de detención están en Karnes City, Dilley y en varios lugares más de Texas. La mayoría de los centros son operados por el Grupo GEO y “Corrections Corporation of America” (Corporación de Correccionales de América).

Un reporte reciente afirma que compañías privadas manejan cerca del 72 por ciento de las camas en los centros de detención para inmigrantes que hay en el país.

Parker comenta que Grassroots Leadership y otros grupos defensores han documentado el mismo tipo de condiciones en reclusorios federales para migrantes que el Departamento de Justicia mencionó al anunciar su decisión de eliminar gradualmente el uso de corporaciones carcelarias con fines de lucro.

“Es muy frecuente ver aquí problemas de negligencia médica, mala alimentación, condiciones insalubres, inhumanas y el abuso de los guardias. Son lugares que no deberían existir, y claro que no deberían ser manejados por corporativos privados.”

Johnson ordenó al “Homeland Security Advisory Council” (Consejo Consultivo de Seguridad Nacional), dirigido por el ex Director del FBI y de la CIA William Webster, revisar el uso de las compañías de prisión privadas.

Dos texanos, el Jefe de la Policía de Austin, Art Acevedo, y Annise Parker, quien fuera Mayor de Houston, también forman parte del panel. El reporte del Consejo será entregado el 30 de noviembre.

La declaración del “Departament of Homeland Security” está (en inglés) en: http://pnsne.ws/2cmWdwr


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Just 14% of California's 94,000 undocumented college students receive some form of state financial aid, according to a new report.

Researchers from the California Student Aid Commission found that only half of the people who are eligible for state aid for higher education even apply.

Marlene Garcia, the commission's executive director, said a lot of community college undocumented students apply to get their fees waived for coursework, but don't realize they could get a Cal Grant to help with living expenses.

Paperwork appears to be one of the issues.

"They may be applying for the College Promise, and they think that they've completed the financial aid application," said Garcia. "But then, they find out they have to complete the California Dream Act application. And sometimes, you'll lose students in that process."

Starting this year, state law requires all high school seniors to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the California Dream Act application, so school counselors are going to have their hands full.

Garcia said many steps could be taken at the federal level to help undocumented students, including making the Pell Grant available, or reviving the DACA program and extending its provisions to allow students to have the right to work.

"If you're an undocumented student and you don't have work authorization to get a job after you graduate from college," said Garcia, "that's going to raise the question about where the value proposition is for a college degree for you."

Another barrier is the requirement that undocumented students sign an affidavit that they attended at least three years of high school in California. A new bill now in the California Legislature would integrate that affidavit into the California Dream Act application.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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Nebraska welcomed more than 10,000 refugees between 2002 and 2016, and some are still hoping to bring family members to the U.S.

Under the Department of Homeland Security's proposed changes to the asylum application process, it could become more difficult.

They are designed to prevent a surge of migrants at the southern border once the federal health emergency ends in May, ending Title 42. They would deny entrance to anyone who lacks the proper documentation and can't meet certain expectations. Those who enter at the southern border would also need proof they applied for, and were denied, asylum in a third country they passed through.

Joe Lord, lead asylum attorney for the Immigrant Legal Center in Omaha, said it is an often untenable expectation.

"A lot of those countries don't have either an asylum system in place at all, or an effective or safe asylum system in place," Lord pointed out. "It's a complication that's not very fair to people actually fleeing danger and trying to get somewhere safe."

Lord believes the changes could lead to more family separations. He noted no consideration is given for the common case of a person coming to the U.S. alone and later petitioning for family members to join them. He added the backlog of immigration court cases in the Nebraska-Iowa region is currently 28,000, and believes the changes would make the wait even longer.

Another aspect of the changes Lord considers unrealistic is the expectation migrants will use a smartphone app to schedule an appointment with a border agent.

"A lot of people that come through the southern border have nothing when they get here, and that includes access to a smartphone," Lord stressed. "That would be a massive impediment to a lot of people applying."

The Department of Homeland Security proposal makes exceptions for people having a medical emergency, facing an imminent threat or the risk of being trafficked.

Lord pointed to the far greater effect the expectations will have on lower-income people entering through the southern border than on those who can afford to apply for a visa and fly to the U.S. He also believes the changes violate U.S. laws and treaties designed to protect people seeking asylum.

"The laws in the United States explicitly guard an asylum-seeker's right to seek protection, regardless of how they arrive here," Lord emphasized.

The proposed changes are open for public comment until March 27. Lord added he fully expects they will be challenged in court.


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Unionized farmworkers recently signed a collective-bargaining agreement with the North Carolina Growers Association.

The new agreement protects the rights of more than 9,000 H-2A visa workers on hundreds of farms throughout the state.

Baldemar Velasquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, said the two-year agreement gives workers participating in the immigrant visa program unprecedented security. He explained H-2A workers are prone to exploitation by labor contractors who steal wages or force them to live in unsafe housing.

"One of the big items in the collective-bargaining agreement is that the workers have a right to file grievances without retaliation for recruiting violations in Mexico," Velasquez explained.

The agreement also ends the widespread practice of "blacklisting" workers who lodge complaints. North Carolina is one of the largest users of this type of temporary agricultural visa, with between 14,000 and 17,000 H-2A workers annually, according to state data.

Velasquez pointed out the collective-bargaining agreement also secures the right for workers to return to the U.S. again and work after their contacts have ended, based on seniority.

"We've had workers that have been coming back since 2005, when we initiated this collective-bargaining agreement," Velasquez emphasized. "That gives them seniority ability to return and continue to make money for the families in Mexico."

He noted the latest agreement does not extend to all farmers in the state, and added the union continues to work on ways for farms to systemically respond to labor issues.

"There's no structure," Velasquez contended. "Part of our challenge is creating a structure that would allow us to have a systemic response to these things."

According to the Farm Labor Organizing Committee's Impact Report, union organizers processed more than 1,600 farmworker cases last year.