SIREN has a vision of a new America where immigrants are valued, integrated, and seen as essential to our society, and where the human rights of all persons are protected and honored. SIREN’s core value is immigrant empowerment. We focus on immigrants themselves being the primary agents of change. By strengthening and deepening the participation level and leadership of immigrants, we work toward long-term systemic changes that promote social justice and equality, freedom from oppression, and an end to poverty. Through these long-term systemic changes, immigrants will have the opportunity for individual/social responsibility, self-determination and political participation. By accomplishing this, we will have a society that is compassionate, inclusive and united.
On October 6, 2022, a federal appeals court continued to leave the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival Program (DACA) in limbo. More than 600,000 DACA recipients across the country continue to wait for a decision…
Read MoreFor Immediate Release:
January 26 2022
Contact: Jose Servin, Director of Advocacy and Communication, SIREN
jose@sirenimmigrantrights.org, 714-728-2520
SIREN Statement on Santa Clara Board of Supervisors Decision to Build a New Jail in Santa Clara County
California - Maricela Gutiérrez, the Executive Director of the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) and SIREN Action issued the following statement:
Yesterday’s majority decision by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to move forward with building a third jail in our community was a cruel commitment to racial injustice.
The majority of San Jose residents wholeheartedly oppose the creation of a new jail in Santa Clara County, as evidenced by the nearly unanimous opposition expressed through hours of public comment.
Despite years of community opposition and a bold proposal by Supervisor Susan Ellenberg to expand mental health resource facilities rather than build a new jail, Supervisors Otto Lee, Joe Simitian and Mike Wasserman voted in favor of expanding the carceral state in San Jose.
The recommendations in the Framework for the County’s Justice-Involved Clients report presented at yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting did not reflect the reality that Santa Clara county residents live and experience. The Framework report acknowledges that the County of Santa Clara is committed to reducing the jail population and states that the proposal to create this new jail is supposed to lead to a reduction of population, but as expert advocates with 35 years of experience advocating for immigrant communities that are often the target of incarceration in both the criminal justice system and the immigrant carceral system, the SIREN team is well aware that when a county decides to expand incarceration, they are unequivocally committing to incarcerate more people of color, not the other way around. It is extremely concerning that despite nearly unanimous opposition through public comment yesterday, the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors voted to move towards building a new jail.
Yesterday, SCC County Supervisors had the opportunity to turn the tide on California’s dependence on mass incarceration as an outdated, tried-and-failed practice. What residents in Santa Clara County actually need are housing support services, wrap-around care and mental health services not rooted in the punitive carceral system.
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It is without exaggeration that we say that the future of many people in this country depends on what will be included in the Build Back Better Plan.
Undocumented immigrants have fought for decades for legislative relief, and this past election cycle Democrats campaigned heavily on immigration reform. Now that they are in power, these elected leaders are caving to interparty pressure and robbing American’s of a once in a lifetime opportunity to rectify a key part of our broken and disastrous immigration system.
The ‘parole’ option that is now being offered to the undocumented community as ‘relief’ is restrictive, inaccessible, and costly to immigrant communities already being impacted by economic exploitation during a global pandemic. Additionally, temporary solutions like parole are a tried-and-failed tactic. DACA, for example, is a temporary policy solution with an uncertain future that has faced legal battles since its inception.
Read MoreToday, a panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals directed the District court to block California’s AB 32, a state law signed in 2019 which banned private prisons and private immigration detention centers in the state. This same federal district court judge, Janis Sammartino, had largely upheld the law last year, but a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit - including two Trump appointees - reversed that decision today. The State of California now has the option of either appealing the decision to a larger “en banc” panel of judges on the Ninth Circuit or asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case.
Read MoreThe Sept. 30 Mayorkas memo is an underwhelming reiteration of the interim guidelines set into place by the Biden administration back in January. The resulting memo relies on the same tired, criminalizing language that enabled the Trump administration to reign terror on immigrant communities for four years. Unfortunately for the communities we serve, the result of Mayorkas efforts to reset immigration enforcement away from Trumpian levels of targeted, racist persecution did not match the bold proclamations of Democrat leaders on the campaign trail, who, under Biden’s leadership, promised more than they have delivered.
Read MoreToday, Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled against Democrat efforts to create a path to citizenship through the budget reconciliation process, citing that the measures effect to the budget would be “merely incidental,” in a three-page memo sent to the Associated Press.
Read MoreThis past Friday, Democrats in the House of Representatives released draft language for a much-needed immigration proposal to be included in the budget reconciliation process. The draft bill includes language that would put millions on the pathway to citizenship, including DACA Recipients, TPS Holders, Farmworkers and Essential Workers. Now, we await a complicated political showdown where the Senate Parliamentarian must approve this bill for the budget reconciliation process. This process is intended to get around the obstructionist filibuster, used by Republicans for years to block progressive legislation.
Read MoreSIREN’s mission is to empower low-income immigrants and refugees in Santa Clara County through community education and organizing, leadership development, policy advocacy and naturalization services. We believe that all people regardless of legal status or nationality are entitled to essential services, human dignity, basic rights and protections, and access to full participation in society.
Help us fight for immigrant and refugee rights. Please make a donation or become a monthly donor. Your support will help us provide legal services, advocate for more just and humane laws, and train our future community leaders!
Ayúdanos a luchar por los derechos de los inmigrantes y los refugiados. Por favor, haga una donación o conviértase en un donante mensual. ¡Su apoyo nos ayudará a proporcionar servicios legales, abogar por leyes más justas y humanas, y capacitar a nuestros futuros líderes comunitarios! ¡Muchisimas Gracias!
For faster access and client conviance, we offer clinics via the phone. Free telephonic legal consultations are available by appointment only. Call us at (408) 453-3003 to set up a consultation for potential affirmative relief. If you are in removal proceedings, call (559) 840-0005 to set up an appointment.
To sign up for an upcoming DACA clinic, email daca@sirenimmigrantrights.org. To sign up for an upcoming naturalization clinic, email natz@sirenimmigrantrights.org.
Para mejor acceso y facilidad para el cliente, hacemos las consultas via telefono.. Las consultas legales telefónicas gratuitas solo están disponibles con cita previa. Llámenos al (408) 453-3003 para establecer una consulta para un posible alivio afirmativo. Si está en un proceso de deportación, llame al (559) 840-0005 para concertar una cita.
Para inscribirse en una próxima clínica DACA, envíe un correo electrónico a daca@sirenimmigrantrights.org. Para inscribirse en una próxima clínica de naturalización, envíe un correo electrónico a natz@sirenimmigrantrights.org.
