Posted on July 20 at 1:29 a.m.

Lorenzo was an intelligent young man, witty, considerate, and always willing to help others. He did not deserve to die like this. We will miss you Lorenzo!

On Westside Teen Fatally Stabbed

Posted on June 1 at 5:31 p.m.

This tragedy is an example of what ICE calls "collateral arrests". When agents serve a deportation order, they don't just go after the person listed on the warrant, but interrogate anyone else that happens to be in the residence or general vicinity.

As many as two-thirds of the 20,000 deportations that have been carried out since the beginning of Operation Return to Sender have been the result of collateral arrests. (see http://www.fresnobee.com/columnists/sali... and and http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro...).

It is important for immigrants, regardless of their status, to know their rights. They have a right not to incriminate themselves and to due process, i.e. having their case heard before an immigration judge. Unless ICE agents have a warrant, they do not even have to open the door. The migra has been known to use tricks such as taking advantage of peoples' ignorance of their rights.

These tactics have been used with increasing frequency despite the congressional debate over a "comprehensive immigration reform." Could it be that the executive branch, in an effort to placate its conservative base just prior to an election year, is using the enforcement agencies at its disposal to quelch last year's mass movement against HR 4437, now demanding legalization, through psychological warfare?

If ICE can come in to university housing and detain a member of our community that they weren't even looking for, what can stop them from doing the same to other UCSB students who are foreign-born, have non-Anglo last names, or just "look" foreign? We are living in a dangerous time, when abuse of power is rampant. We must ask all the entities that have powers to protect us: the university, the city councils, and the board of supervisors, to join with local churches in the New Sanctuary Movement that offers refuge to immigrants who are threatened with separation from their families and lives.

The hypocritical policies that court a low-wage immigrant labor force only to seek its deportation once it begins demand its rights have gone on long enough. We need economic justice on a global scale and empowerment for those marginalized communities that have already risked their lives to come here.

On Immigration Raid Challenged