Rally in Hartford for Said Zaim-Sassi, and March to Liebermans Office!

The fight to free Said Zaim-Sassi Continues:



Please Forward to your lists and congregations:

We will protest the abduction and imprisonment of Said Zaim-Sassi again this week.

A rally at the Immigration Court will be followed by a march to Senator Lieberman's office.

Lieberman is chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
and he can act to free Said.

Please call the following politicians so that they can act in this matter:

Dodd (860-258-6940)
Lieberman (860-549-8478)
DeLauro (203-562-3718).

FREE SAID ZAIM-SASSI, STOP THE RAIDS

What: Protest and March from Immigration Court to Senator Lieberman's Office

When: 8:00 am Friday 31 August, 2007

Where: in front of Immigration Court, 450 Main Street, Hartford
At around 5:00 am on August 20, ICE agents raided the Zaim family home in Wallingford, CT
searching for Said Zaim-Sassi.

His terrified children woke as ICE shined flashlights in their faces, yelling profanities.

In the 20 years he has lived in the U.S., Said has had absolutely no criminal record
and has been completely compliant with immigration requirements.

His work and charity have benefited many in his community.

ICE has treated him and his family like criminals.

His three kids and his wife, all U.S. citizens, don't know when they will see him again.

ICE's actions, designed to instill fear in the community, rip families apart.

Community members and activists from throughout Connecticut
will be in front of Immigration Court in Hartford on Friday August 31
to demand the release of Said Zaim-Sassi and other innocents like him in detention.

We will not allow our neighbors, our friends, and our family to be treated like animals.

Immigrants are workers, not criminals. Stop the Raids.

Sponsored by Unidad Latina en Accion, Stop The Raids-Trinity College, Middle East Crisis Committee.

Proudly endorsed by People of Faith.


You can view footage of last weeks protest here.

Labor Shortage disproves the statement "They're takin' yer jobs!".

Since the federal crackdowns on undocumented immigrants started reaching the boiling point here in the US, farmers have been complaining, around the country, that they can no longer find enough workers to pick their crops, and that crops are rotting in the fields because of it. They have warned us for a long time, that the loss of migrant workers would result in crop loss, and thus, in the long run, higher prices for all of our meat and produce at the markets. This article from Yahoo points to new evidence that the statement which claims Immigrants are "stealing our jobs" and creating a job shortage in America, for American Workers is a bald faced lie. In fact, there is no job shortage, there is a shortage of laborers to FILL those jobs. Not just in the agricultural sector, but spanning various markets including construction, landscaping, food prep, telemarketing, and more.

Video Documentary on Detention Centers.

While many people hear about, and are horrified about the way that a raid is carried out, often, the media fascination with that story, and possibly the public interest, seems to end, then and there. However, for the immigrant taken in that raid, the horrific paramilitary style of raid in which they are captured, is only the tip of the iceberg of their misery. Often, they are denied adequate legal counsel. Often, their basic rights which any "American" prisoner would have are denied to them, (such as visits with family, etc). And often, they are housed in horrible conditions. Sometimes, they are thrown in with hardened criminals in a county jail. Or, thrown into a privatized detention center, which in many ways, is not better, but worse, due to the lack of federal regulations. Media rarely picks up on the horror stories which occur in these prisons and detention centers, but there have been occasional stories of prisoners dying due to the awful conditions in them. Steward County Detention Center's conditions were SO deploreable, that 1,000 of its immigrant prisoners launced a two day hunger strike, at one point, in protest of the horrible conditions. And this three part series documents some of the reasons why.

Part 1.




Part 2.


Part 3.

Full Vigil Footage now Available.

The full footage from the vigil is now available at www.hatcityblog.com.

Highlights Here:


Online Videos by Veoh.com



Enjoy! (Thanks CTBlogger!)

More on the Story of Said..

In a story eerily reminiscent of that of the Santos Family, though perhaps even more drastic and disturbing, Morroccan Immigrant, Said Zaim-Sassi was forced from his home in the early morning hours of Monday Morning, and now sits in a jail in Rhode Island awaiting his deportation trial, which will be held in Hartford, CT tomorrow morning. A report from WTNH states:

Wallingford (WTNH) _ A Wallingford family is demanding answers from the government for raiding their house and seizing a man in front of his kids.

Said Zaim-Sassi, a Moroccan immigrant, was doing everything he could to stay in this country legally but he lost his last court battle in January.

He told immigration officials he would surrender whenever they wanted, but instead they raided his home before dawn on Monday. Now relatives are saying that his children have been traumatized for no reason.

You can also watch the video of the story at the same link.

EMERGENCY ALERT! (warning, harsh language)

From People of Faith, CT:

Please Forward to your lists and congregations:

FREE SAID ZAIM-SASSI, STOP THE RAIDS

What: Press Conference and Protest on Recent Raids

When: 8:00 am Friday 24 August, 2007

Where: in front of Immigration Court, 450 Main Street, Hartford
Media Contacts: Khalil Iskarous 203-668-2698
Yusuf Zaim-Sassi 203-606-4942
At around 5:00 am on August 20, ICE agents raided the Zaim family home in Wallingford, CT. Yelling "where the f**k is Said? Where the f**k is Said?", agents pushed Said's mother-in-law to the wall. His terrified children woke as ICE shined flashlights in their faces, yelling profanities. They abducted Said in front of his traumatized family. Is he a killer? A rapist? A thief? No, he's a man who has lived for his family and his community. In the 20 years he has lived in the U.S., Said has had absolutely no criminal record and has been completely compliant with immigration requirements. His work and charity have benefited many in his community. ICE has treated him and his family like criminals. His three kids and his wife, all U.S. citizens, don't know when they will see him again. ICE's actions, designed to instill fear in the community, rip families apart.

Community members and activists from throughout Connecticut will be in front of Immigration Court in Hartford on Friday August 24 to demand the release of Said Zaim-Sassi and other innocents like him in detention. We will not allow our neighbors, our friends, and our family to be treated like animals.

Immigrants are workers, not criminals. Stop the Raids.


Sponsored by Unidad Latina en Accion.

Proudly endorsed by People of Faith.


Developing..

Know your rights broadcast.

I found this today, and thought it might be helpful.

Vigil Results..

The Prayer Vigil for Immigrants Rights, and Racial Tolerance was an absolute success. 75-80 people came down to Kennedy Park to join in prayer, song, witness, and solidarity for the ideals that all human beings are equal, and that NO human being is illegal. A collection was taken on behalf of the Santos family (torn apart by ICE) and on behalf of ARC's emergency legal aid fund. Over $350.00's was raised for these two worthy causes. In addition to 7 clergy as speakers, there were roughly four or five other clergy in the gathering, as well as numerous lay members of various churches, as well as activists, community leaders, and public officials. There were members of the immigrant community, as well as supportive friends and concerned citizens. It was truly a microchosm of all that makes Danbury such a wonderful city. And all were united in a single purpose, to support, and stand in solidarity with our Immigrant brethren.

The event was not even marred slightly by the few anti immigrant protesters who found their way down to the site of the Vigil, intent on creating disruption. One man held up a sign that said "Immigrants have no rights" and another member of CTIC showed up and started loudly complaining. The man with the sign stood at a respectful distance, perhaps realizing that disrupting a religious assembly would be a very unintelligent move. The woman was quickly reminded of that, and left shortly.

It was a truly inspirational day to those of us gathered at Kennedy Park. We have pledged to work together in the future, to educate, to support, and to protest when needed, all in solidarity with our Immigrant brethren.

You can read the Danbury News Times Coverage of the event here.

And keep an eye on Hat City Blog for full video coverage, and write ups regarding the vigil.

When Local Police Collaborate with ICE...

Unfortunately, this type of article will most likely become an ongoing theme here at the Stop the Raids blog, unless we are finally able to create a true unification of compassionate and humane minded people to stand up to this sort of treatment of Immigrants. A Brazilian man living in Rhode Island was pulled over for a traffic offense, and when discovered to not have legal documentation, was held for questioning by ICE. This man had a dangerous form of epilepsy, that without medication, could result in his death. And though his Sister rushed to the Police Station immediately upon his arrest, to give the police officers his medications, the local police refused to administer the medication to this man, which then did, in fact, result in his tragic death.

What sort of country are we becoming, when we allow such things to occur without a nationwide outcry?

Interfaith Vigil 8/12

Area clergy, and activists are coming together in solidarity to defend our Immigrant Community here in Danbury on 8/12, at 2pm at Kennedy Park. This Vigil is planned to be quite large, and from all appearances, promises to be a very strong statement on the issue of Immigrants Rights.