Immigrants Gain DHS Assurance: No Checkpoints in Gustav Evacuation

Press Release from the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice:

Immigrant workers demanding a safe evacuation from the path of Hurricane Gustav received key assurances from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that no immigration enforcement actions or checkpoints would occur in the evacuation process or along evacuation routes. The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice gained the assurances for safe passage of immigrant workers just as mandatory evacuations began across the Gulf Coast. ...

As Gustav approached, immigrant workers and their families feared evacuation due to anticipation over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints. Of the over 200 surveys of day laborers which the Workers' Center conducted as Hurricane Gustav approached, the fear of detention and deportation by DHS was identified as the single greatest obstacle to accessing humanitarian relief. "We want to take our families to safety. We should not have to face deportation as we escape from the storm," said Dennis Soriano, an organizer with the Congress of Day Laborers.

Excerpt of the agreement:

OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Gustav
· All residents of the Gulf Coast region need to evacuate.

· There are no immigration enforcement operations, and there are no immigration enforcement checkpoints associated with the evacuations.

· The Department of Homeland Security's top priorities in any emergency are life-saving and life-sustaining activities, preventing the loss of property to the extent possible, and assisting with a speedy recovery of the affected region.

Gustav

· Todos los residentes del la region de la Costa del Golfo
deben evacuar.

· No hay operacions de inmigracion, y no hay puntos de inmigracion asociados con las evacuaciones.

· Las prioridades mas altas del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS por sus siglas en Ingles) en cualquier emergencia son las de salvar y sostener la vida, preevenir la perdida de propiedad lo tanto posible, y asistir con la recuperacion de la region afectada.