Knoxville News (Tennessee) by Lance Coleman: Juana Villegas said she was three days' from giving birth when law enforcement in Middle Tennessee took her into custody to be deported. She was shackled until minutes before she gave birth in a hospital.
Villegas was one of about eight women who took the stage Thursday night during a rally at a North Knoxville union hall to protest Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g), a federal policy that community groups fear will be adopted by the Knox County Sheriff's Office.
The policy authorizes local law enforcement to enforce federal illegal immigration law.
While proponents say the measure enables local law enforcement to get violent illegal immigrants off the street, those gathered Thursday said the measure creates an atmosphere where racial profiling is rampant, individuals arrested on misdemeanors are deported and civil-rights abuses occur.
The rally was organized by community organizations such as Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Allies of Knoxville's Immigrant Neighbors and Knoxville United. In the past five weeks, members of the groups have tried unsuccessfully to speak with Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones and appeal to him to not work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enact the 287(g) policy in Knox County.
Jones announced late last month that his office is awaiting a memorandum of understanding from ICE that will detail how the program would be used in Knox County. Jones said officers will be trained in the corrections division to enforce immigration laws for those already under arrest. Patrol officers would not be involved in the program.
The women's group We Belong Together brought in women from across the region to Knoxville to speak out against the 287(g) policy.
Villegas, who lives in Nashville, said the Davidson County Sheriff's Office works with ICE through the 287(g) program. The program trains and certifies local and state law enforcement to serve as immigration officers through a memorandum of agreement.
Villegas, through a translator, described in tears how she was treated when she was taken into custody for driving without a valid driver's license.
Authorities later found out she was in the country illegally.
"I was three days away from my due date and when they took me from the jail to the hospital. … As I was about to give birth I was still shackled at the arms and legs and they only removed them as I was about to go into labor," she said.
Villegas, a Mexican national, said she was not allowed to take a shower in the hospital and the telephone was removed so she couldn't speak with her husband.
"When I was returned to jail, they took away my son and I did not know who had him," she said.
She sued the sheriff's office in 2011 and won a $200,000 judgment.
Villegas did not share what happened to her child or what her present circumstances are but she said the 287(g) policy is harmful because it separates families.
"I ask people to not keep quiet. We all have the same rights although we are not all Americans," she said.
Amado Guizari said he came to East Tennessee with his son 10 years ago on a work visa. He said he works 12- to 14-hour days to support his son, who is now 19 and going to college. Guizari said he brought his son to the United States to have a better life.
Guizari said there is a misperception about undocumented or illegal immigrants.
"They say we're here to take jobs but that's not true. I'm here to work. I work to pay bills and my taxes," he said.
Miguel Carpizo with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said residents in the community were inspired to act when word spread the Sheriff's Office was poised to participate in the 287(g) policy.
"We've sent a delegation to Sheriff Jones and have heard no word from him," Carpizo said. "We're going to keep fighting to get transparency from him."
Villegas was one of about eight women who took the stage Thursday night during a rally at a North Knoxville union hall to protest Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g), a federal policy that community groups fear will be adopted by the Knox County Sheriff's Office.
The policy authorizes local law enforcement to enforce federal illegal immigration law.
While proponents say the measure enables local law enforcement to get violent illegal immigrants off the street, those gathered Thursday said the measure creates an atmosphere where racial profiling is rampant, individuals arrested on misdemeanors are deported and civil-rights abuses occur.
The rally was organized by community organizations such as Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Allies of Knoxville's Immigrant Neighbors and Knoxville United. In the past five weeks, members of the groups have tried unsuccessfully to speak with Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones and appeal to him to not work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enact the 287(g) policy in Knox County.
Jones announced late last month that his office is awaiting a memorandum of understanding from ICE that will detail how the program would be used in Knox County. Jones said officers will be trained in the corrections division to enforce immigration laws for those already under arrest. Patrol officers would not be involved in the program.
The women's group We Belong Together brought in women from across the region to Knoxville to speak out against the 287(g) policy.
Villegas, who lives in Nashville, said the Davidson County Sheriff's Office works with ICE through the 287(g) program. The program trains and certifies local and state law enforcement to serve as immigration officers through a memorandum of agreement.
Villegas, through a translator, described in tears how she was treated when she was taken into custody for driving without a valid driver's license.
Authorities later found out she was in the country illegally.
"I was three days away from my due date and when they took me from the jail to the hospital. … As I was about to give birth I was still shackled at the arms and legs and they only removed them as I was about to go into labor," she said.
Villegas, a Mexican national, said she was not allowed to take a shower in the hospital and the telephone was removed so she couldn't speak with her husband.
"When I was returned to jail, they took away my son and I did not know who had him," she said.
She sued the sheriff's office in 2011 and won a $200,000 judgment.
Villegas did not share what happened to her child or what her present circumstances are but she said the 287(g) policy is harmful because it separates families.
"I ask people to not keep quiet. We all have the same rights although we are not all Americans," she said.
Amado Guizari said he came to East Tennessee with his son 10 years ago on a work visa. He said he works 12- to 14-hour days to support his son, who is now 19 and going to college. Guizari said he brought his son to the United States to have a better life.
Guizari said there is a misperception about undocumented or illegal immigrants.
"They say we're here to take jobs but that's not true. I'm here to work. I work to pay bills and my taxes," he said.
Miguel Carpizo with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said residents in the community were inspired to act when word spread the Sheriff's Office was poised to participate in the 287(g) policy.
"We've sent a delegation to Sheriff Jones and have heard no word from him," Carpizo said. "We're going to keep fighting to get transparency from him."
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