Come learn about the mass incarceration of immigrants at the YWCA tomorrow night.

This is the third event the YWCA is hosting as part of their ongoing talks on the country’s sentencing and prison system, and their effects on the community. Tucson-based immigration attorney Margo Cowan, Coalición de Derechos Humanos‘ Isabel Garcia and Caroline Isaacs, program director of the American Friends Service Committee, will focus on Operation Streamline, and its connection to private prisons’ bed quota and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

A reminder of what Operation Streamline is:

Operation Streamline began in Del Rio, Texas back in 2005,  It made its way to Tucson three years later, and now operates in a total of seven border cities. After migrants are apprehended by the Border Patrol, oftentimes while crossing the Sonoran Desert, some are put in temporary detention facilities and others forced to sign paperwork in English, which many of them do not understand, and by doing so they agree to immediate deportation back to Mexico and other native countries. 

But every day, at least 70 migrants who are apprehended are then prosecuted in federal court. They get less than 20 minutes to talk to a public defender. They are shackled and given no option but to plead guilty to illegal entry, which leads to a sentence of up to six months in prison. They are then deported, except now with a felony conviction in their record. 

“The session will offer a context of why the Latino population is booming in prison right now, and how much state money is being allocated to Operation Streamline,” says Liane Hernandez of the YWCA. 

Members of the group Mi Familia Vota will also participate. After the talk, they will help people register to vote for the upcoming elections.

The discussion is on Wednesday, Sept. 23 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2015.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I moved to Tucson about 10 years ago. Since I was old enough to enjoy reading, I developed an interest in writing, and telling stories through different...

11 replies on “Mass Incarceration of Immigrants is the Focus of a YWCA Discussion Tomorrow Night”

  1. Ah yes – who can forget Isabel Garcia, proudly spreading her hate to TUSD students with her “Republicans hate latinos” rant sponsored by the Grijalva’s.

  2. If they are here illegally, put them in jail then send them back to where ever they came from and bill the government of the country of origin for all costs incurred.

  5. Wasn’t Isabel the one that marched in front of the bookstore with the Sheriff’s head on a pike? The President may be the only person that the death threatening law protects. Why is that?

    She threatened law enforcement months before it became vogue.

  7. “They get less than twenty minutes to talk to a PD. How much time do you think an American would get in Mexico? Nada.

  9. We all understand the problem and some of us have compassion for those that are coming here illegally. But, there must be an orderly way to enter. Marco Rubio proposed immigration reform and those on the far right opposed it along with those on the left (unions) that like things the way they are. The real answer is economic growth in the countries they are fleeing from. Most of the immigrants I have talked to would rather be back in their home country and took great risk getting here. Those on the left opposed NAFTA, yet that has created the economic growth in Mexico that is surpassing our own country.

  10. But the Pope is opposed to capitalism so I would suspect his next stop is Mexico and he will demand that they stop participating in free enterprise and put all those workers back on the street.

    Can we really make anybody happy?

  11. If every state did this we would be on our way to solving unemployment, SAVING Social Security, Medicaid & Welfare.

    Hispanic births, drive 78% US population growth. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/……

    42% of Latino households are single parent. http://datacenter.kidscount.or…
    53% of Hispanic women have illegitimate births ● http://www.nationalreview.com/…

    Welfare use by Immigrant Households with Children in states where the households have the highest use rates are Arizona (62%) Texas, California and New York (61%) each and Pennsylvania(59%).The study focused on eight major welfare programs that cost the government $517 billion the year they were examined.
    http://cis.org/immigrant-welfa..

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