Grassroots Leadership In The News

City Council’s decision to revise ordinances related to where homeless people may camp, sit or lie down continues to cause controversy in the city, with some claiming the changes are making things worse for everyone, particularly law enforcement. Read more about Camping rules continue to stoke arguments

Grassroots Leadership's Rebecca Sanchez says families and other civil rights groups are concerned.

"It is really devastating. We know of a lot of folks who did not go to work today because of that threat it's going to happen right after the Fourth of July holiday. We know of a lot of folks thinking of new routes to work, trying to figure out alternative ways to live their day-to-day lives," Sanchez said.

Now, Grassroots Leadership members are working around the clock to prepare families who may be targeted.

"We are being super proactive. If you are approached, if somebody comes knocking on your door, don't answer it, don't let your kids answer the doors. Be vigilant, and exercise your right to remain silent as much as possible," Sanchez said. Read more about Civil rights groups bracing for post-Fourth of July ICE raids

She wove together various sources of film for the video, including shots of her father singing and playing guitar, historical clips from the Library of Congress and footage from rallies she attended at the Texas Capitol last year and at a South Texas detention center in 2015.

Participants in that 2015 demonstration, organized in part by Texas organization Grassroots Leadership, called for a shutdown of what was then the largest immigration detention center in the nation. “I felt that was a s sad as it could get. I had no idea where we were headed,” Amy says.

Amy will also perform at this year’s Picnic with Folk Uke, which includes Cathy Guthrie, daughter of folk singer Arlo Guthrie. They’ll play a short set on the main stage during a set change before Jamey Johnson’s performance.

Folk Uke’s material centers on humor rather than politics, but Amy said she might use the occasion to raise awareness about immigration issues. After O’Rourke’s appearance at the 2018 Picnic, the door seems open for more activism at the Independence Day event.

“Dad doesn’t get on the soapbox very often; he usually just does his show,” she notes. “But maybe I’ll say something. I’ll try to get people to support Grassroots Leadership, because they are doing some amazing stuff.”

If nothing else, she points out, Clark’s “Immigrant Eyes” speaks for itself. “I’d never heard Guy sing it until after Dad recorded it,” she said. “We’re hearing it with different ears today, now that this reality has set in.” Read more about Willie’s Picnic: Celebrating America through Guy Clark’s ‘Immigrant Eyes’

Following the passage of Texas' anti-"sanctuary city" Senate Bill 4 in 2017, and with evidence of persistent racial disparities in local policing, a grassroots coalition of justice advocates pushed for rules that would protect immigrants and reduce disproportionate arrests. In June 2018, the Austin City Council passed the Freedom Cities Policies, an effort led by groups including Grassroots Leadership, Workers Defense Project, United We Dream Texas, and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. One year later, the organizations applaud some headway made, but say there's a lot more work to be done when it comes to compliance.

One goal of the policies is to reduce the Austin Police Depart­ment's discretionary arrests for such citation-eligible offenses as driving without a license, and racial disparities in arrests generally. This work was informed by Grassroots Lead­ership's report, based on 2015 booking data, showing black residents experience significantly longer periods of jail time and are incarcerated at much higher rates than the white population charged with the same crimes in Travis County. Read more about A Year After Austin's Passage of the Freedom Cities Policies, Activists Urge APD to Do Better

According to the Austin Police Department's report, racial inequities in these arrests decreased but only slightly. The Hispanic community accounted for about 36 percent of discretionary arrests before this year, going down to 29 percent. Black people accounted for 31 percent and now they account for 27 percent, still overrepresented, to be just 8 percent of Austin's population.

"The black community and Latino community, it's still disproportional because of the population here in Austin," said Chantel Pridgon, Grassroots Leadership. Pridgon said she experienced a low level arrest firsthand. She says she was arrested for having an invalid license. Read more about 'Freedom city' policies bring misdemeanor arrests down by more than 60 percent

An O’Rourke administration would limit detention of migrants to those with criminal backgrounds serious enough to represent “a danger to our communities.” Although the plan doesn’t specify what types of offenses would warrant detention, his pledge to eliminate private prison contractors from the detention system would drastically scale back the number of beds for which Immigration and Customs Enforcement now contracts.

Prior to Trump’s election, Congress mandated that ICE maintain a detention bed capacity of about 34,500. In practice, that number has shot up to more than 50,000 in the years since Trump took office. Before the Trump expansion, about two-thirds of those beds were managed under private contracts, according to a report by Austin-based advocacy group Grassroots Leadership.

While O’Rourke’s plan would leave the illegal entry statute untouched, his pledge to more broadly cancel federal contracts with private prison companies would put a major dent in prosecutions for petty border-crossing violations. O’Rourke’s plan would eliminate private contractors from both migrant detention and the federal prison system, campaign spokesman Chris Evans confirmed. Read more about Beto O’Rourke’s Immigration Plan Shows How Trump Has Shifted The Democratic Debate

La tarde del martes, la Corte de Comisionados del condado Travis aprobó la creación de la oficina de defensoría pública.

Los comisionados votaron 4 a 1 a favor del plan y aunque activistas apoyaban la formación de la agencia debido al crecimiento de la jurisdicción, no estuvieron de acuerdo con las estipulaciones de la propuesta que aprobaron.

El proyecto contempla la inversión de más de $20 millones de dólares y la firma de contratos con diferentes entidades y asociaciones que proporcionen abogados que se encarguen de los procesos legales.

La oficina operará las 24 horas y defenderá al 30% de las personas acusadas por delitos menores y de mayor cuantía.

Sin embargo, los activistas dijeron que su aprobación no representa una victoria completa para la comunidad.

“Tal y como fue aprobada, no hay representación de la comunidad, no se nombró una junta de supervisión y se incluyen fondos no restringidos, además de que no piden transparencia del servicio de defensa privada, un sistema que ha fallado a nuestra comunidad”, dijo Claudia Muñoz, directora de programas de inmigración de Grassroots Leadership.

Por ahora, la corte decidirá en los próximos días cuando efectuarán la entrega de los fondos. Read more about Corte de comisionados aprueba creación de oficina de defensoría pública

Travis County commissioners spent much of Tuesday afternoon contemplating a grant proposal to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission that (if approved) would initiate the creation of a public defender's office, beginning next year (see "Workers Defense," May 10). It's hardly the first time the issue has been discussed, but the subject has become increasingly pressing. One of the embarrassing notes sounded as the question has been raised is that Austin is "the largest city in the country without a public defender's office," charged with the legal obligation and institutional purpose to defend poor people accused of crimes. Read more about Point Austin: Rising to the Defense