Skip to content
thumbnail_IMG_0195_1467046938687_3491521_ver1.0

Arrests follow protest of SCOTUS anti-immigrant decision

Atlanta saw four arrests for acts of civil disobedience during a protest of the recent SCOTUS (in)decision which will effectively overturn DAPA — the federal government’s program to protect undocumented parents from deportation.

thumbnail_IMG_0195_1467046938687_3491521_ver1.0

“We are defending the security and stability of our families, sending a direct message to the Obama Administration,” said Carlos Medina of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, according to Think Progress, adding, “We know that he has the ability to stop deportations at any given time. Our fight will not stop. The only thing that we will stop is the sinister machine that is the deportation machine created by this administration.”

DAPA, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, would have provided a pathway for parents to legally stay in the country, much like its predecessor DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

The Supreme Court — still lacking a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia — has been busy the last couple weeks, ruling on issues as diverse and divisive as abortion access, stop and frisk practices, gun control, affirmative action and immigration policy.

This last issue got a 4-4 ruling; this deadlocked decision means the lower court’s ruling that the DAPA program is unlawful stands.

Georgia was one of 17 states to sue the federal government over the program.

This is a state where 90 percent or more of all asylum claims are denied, and Atlanta’s ICE office has been the source of the largest number of raids and arrests in the nation this year.

Families rounded up in raids earlier this year provided haunting details of fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, only to face frightening early morning raids by ICE officials unwilling to provide legally required warrants, access to lawyers, or respect for existing supervision agreements with the agency.

The ever-hateful D.A. King had this to say, according to The Atlanta Voice:

“We need to cut off their jobs, their benefits and their services.”

Meanwhile, families around Georgia are wondering if setting up their utilities, traffic violations on the way to work, or other routine activities will see their family ripped apart, and loved ones sent back to countries they were fleeing or places that haven’t been home in decades.

Share this post