Press Releases

2024

  • Federal court hearings begin today in a pair of legal challenges to Texas’s Senate Bill 4

    Austin, TX – This morning, advocates and border residents met outside the United States Courthouse in Austin, Texas, to strongly condemn Texas’s Senate Bill 4 ahead of the first day of federal court hearings in two challenges to the law. Speakers at the press conference included litigants in the lawsuit filed by the ACLU, the ACLU of Texas, and the Texas Civil Rights Project on behalf of American Gateways and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center. The United States Department of Justice has also sued the state to stop the bill’s implementation.

    SB 4 is the latest in a long line of policy failures made in service to Operation Lone Star, Texas’s multibillion-dollar border scheme. Texas has seized a public park from local officials in Eagle Pass, staged a “war zone” backdrop for social media videos along the river banks using concertina wire and a heavy police and military presence, and blocked federal Border Patrol agents from entering the park, setting off a standoff with the federal government that has continued despite a Supreme Court order reinstating federal officials’ access to the border. The new law is poised to make a bad situation worse by creating a new class of state-level “illegal entry” crimes punishable by deportation that will target Black and brown Texans regardless of their immigration status.

    Governor Abbott signed SB 4 into law on December 18, 2023. Without intervention, it will go into effect on March 5, 2024.

    “Our city of Eagle Pass borders Piedras Negras, Mexico, and it is not invaded by migrants; it is invaded by the military,” said Pastor Julio Vasquez of Iglesia Luterana San Lucas in Eagle Pass. “Our parks meant to be for kids, games, and families are currently closed because of the military. We should all unite so our country continues to be great—great with immigrants.”

    “SB 4’s unconstitutional power grab represents not a response to an uncontrollable sudden invasion of the border but the culmination of a long-term project by this state and this governor to harden our border with Mexico through systemic and literal violence, even if that means upending the tranquility of border communities against their very will,” said Aron Thorn of Texas Civil Rights Project, one of the plaintiffs in the case.

    “If SB 4 stands, it would set a dangerous precedent of allowing individual states to resist any federal laws they don’t agree with, which will only create more chaos and disorder, and will prevent the hope of ever actually solving some of our biggest problems,” said Kristin Etter of Texas Immigration Law Council.

    “SB 4 allows local and state law enforcement to put our parents, friends, neighbors, coworkers, classmates, and loved ones on a new pathway to deportation,” said Elyse McMahon on behalf of American Gateways and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, both plaintiffs in the case. “We are here to protect the people of Texas from the unconstitutional overreach of the State of Texas.”

    “I am a person directly impacted by the SB 4 bill the governor wants to implement on March 5,” said a member of Mujeres Luchadoras who spoke at the press event and prefers not to be named.“This bill affects all of us who are in the process of receiving asylum, people with pending visas, and youth with DACA. We’re all at risk of deportation, and we’re calling on the judge to hear us.”

    Click here to watch the full press conference!

Advocates outside the U.S. Courthouse in Austin, Texas, to strongly condemn Texas’s Senate Bill 4 ahead of the first day of federal court hearings, February 2024.

2023

  • Day packed with events led by those directly impacted by the criminal justice and immigration systems and will speak out on bills that directly impact their communities

    WHAT: #kNOwMORE2023 Advocacy Day Rally

    WHO: Formerly incarcerated people and immigrants across Texas

    WHEN: January 27, 2023, 3:00 PM CT

    WHERE: Texas State Capitol, South Steps

    AUSTIN — Members of Texas Advocates for Justice (TAJ), ICE Fuera de Austin (IFA), Mujeres Luchadoras (ML), and Grassroots Leadership will gather hundreds of formerly incarcerated community members, their families, and advocates from Central Texas and the Houston metropolitan area.

    Those attending the rally include community members impacted by incarceration and immigration detention; and see these issues as interconnected and rooted in systems of oppression and exploitation.

    Those formerly incarcerated, deported, and their families demand that communities impacted by criminalization, deportation, and incarceration policies be consulted in a meaningful way when policies are written, amended, or enacted. Legislative visits are scheduled in order for directly impacted people to advocate for towards shutting down youth prisons, cutting off funding for $4+ billion Operation Lone Star, and our collective efforts to amend the Texas Constitution and abolish slavery once and for all.

    “Those of us who are impacted need our voices to be heard,” said Nikki Luellen, organizer for Texas Advocates for Justice, a network of formerly incarcerated people and their loved ones. “We’re in this fight together, and we must be a key part in ending this system of modern-day slavery called mass incarceration.”

    The rally will also include a performance by the Northeast Early College High School Band, spoken word performances from TAJ members, and a tabling event with local community and advocacy organizations, including including Mano Amiga, Woori Juntos, Statewide Leadership Council, BRAVE communities, and more.

  • Day packed with events led by those directly impacted by the criminal justice and immigration systems and will speak out on bills that directly impact their communities

    AUSTIN, TEXAS— On January 27, 2023, Texas Advocates for Justice (TAJ), ICE Fuera de Austin (IFA), Mujeres Luchadoras (ML), and Grassroots Leadership gathered hundreds of formerly incarcerated community members, their families, and advocates from Central Texas and the Houston metropolitan area at the Texas State Capitol. The rally was led by those directly impacted by the criminal justice and immigration systems and was packed with performances and speeches from community leaders speaking out on bills that directly impact their communities.

    “We had over 100 attendees at our rally and I felt our community be truly united,” said Sybil Sybille, organizer for Texas Advocates for Justice. “We are grateful for the support we received from legislators and community members who stand with us in our fight against the mass incarceration machine and in support of policies that value the lives, dignity, and rights of our communities.”

    The attendees, who included community members impacted by incarceration and immigration detention as well as allies, demanded that communities impacted by criminalization, deportation, and incarceration policies be consulted in a meaningful way when policies are written, amended, or enacted. Legislative visits were scheduled earlier in the day in order for directly impacted people to advocate for shutting down youth prisons, cutting off funding for $4+ billion Operation Lone Star, and our collective efforts to amend the Texas Constitution and abolish slavery once and for all.

    The rally included a performance by the Northeast Early College High School Band, spoken word performances from TAJ members, and a tabling event with local community and advocacy organizations.

    "Advocacy Day is such an important day where our community has the opportunity to share their personal stories on why they’re impacted, and that there is still much work to be done," said Annette Price, Co-Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership. "We encourage members of the community to continue to support our efforts and to take action to end mass incarceration and deportation in Texas and everywhere else."

  • Creation of State-Sponsored Vigilantes a Dangerous Global Precedent

    (Austin, March 29, 2023) – Bills before Texas lawmakers that attack migrants, including one that would deputize state-sponsored vigilantes to “deter and repel” people at the border, are dangerous and extreme, Human Rights Watch said today.

    Texas’ HB 20 would create a “Border Protection Unit” whose head would answer to Governor Greg Abbott. The bill would allow the administration to deputize any “law-abiding” citizen to serve in the unit, and thereby arrest, detain, and deter people from crossing the border between the United States and Mexico. People serving in the unit would be granted criminal and civil immunity against claims of wrongdoing. HB 20 would also claim authority for Texas to deny entry on specious public health grounds similar to the abusive US federal policy called Title 42 that was invoked during the Covid-19 pandemic. The bill would create a third-degree felony charge of criminal trespass with a minimum $10,000 fine; and would further fund the Texas border wall.

    “Operation Lone Star and Texas’ new immigration proposals are extreme among states in the US and among countries in the world,” said Bob Libal, consultant to Human Rights Watch based in Texas. “Giving Texas police power to vigilantes is dangerous.”

    US President Joe Biden and federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security should immediately stop working with and end funding to Texas agencies implementing Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border initiative, Human Rights Watch said.

    Another bill, Texas’ HB 7, would create a “border protection” court and criminal system that would institutionalize much of Governor Abbott’s separate Operation Lone Star dragnet.

    “Over the past two years, Operation Lone Star has allowed state politicians to overstep their power on federal immigration policy; HB 20 and HB 7 are a naked attempt to consolidate this illegal overreach by embedding it into Texas law,” said Roberto Lopez, senior advocacy manager for the Beyond Borders Program at the Texas Civil Rights Project. “The new police force and court system would allow state politicians to continue arresting and sentencing some of the most vulnerable people in our society – people seeking refuge from violence, terror, and poverty – with no real oversight. This is a dangerous power grab offering no solution to the humanitarian emergency.”

    The new bills build on Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, a discriminatory and abusive operation that targets perceived migrants and others for arrest, prosecution, and incarceration on state misdemeanor and felony offenses. Operation Lone Star has led to injuries and deaths, consistently violated the rights of migrants and US citizens, and suppressed freedoms of association and expression of groups providing basic aid in Texas, Human Rights Watch said. The operation has cost more than $4.4 billion while failing to reach its stated aim of “deny[ing] Mexican Cartels and other smugglers the ability to move drugs and people into Texas.”

    “The Biden administration’s collaboration with Operation Lone Star and failure to investigate its constitutional and human rights violations has emboldened Texas lawmakers to adopt these extreme proposals that further endanger the lives of migrants and others throughout Texas and drain resources for basic needs,” said Alicia Torres, immigration campaigns coordinator at Grassroots Leadership. “Vigilante hate groups have already used these programs to formalize relationships with border sheriffs. Who will protect Texas immigrants when vigilantes are deputized, granted immunity, and allowed to patrol the whole state under these extreme proposals?”

    For more Human Rights Watch reporting on the US, please visit:

    https://www.hrw.org/united-states

  • HB 20 and HB 7, two new bills in the Texas House would establish a dangerous state and national precedent; legislation would further waste vital state resources

    What: As state representatives hold a public hearing at the State Capitol on notable pro-vigilante, xenophobic, and anti-immigrant bills, HB 20 and HB 7, Texas border and immigrant advocates, community members, and civil rights organizations will hold a rally and press conference to denounce the attacks on border communities, immigrants, and the use of state resources to promote a white-supremacist, xenophobic agenda.

    When: Wednesday, April 12, 2023, 9am CT

    Where: North steps of Texas Capitol building

    Who: Immigrants and border residents impacted by Governor Abbott’s border policies

    ** The press conference will be in English, but there will be speakers available to take questions in Spanish. / La rueda de prensa será en inglés, pero habrán portavoces disponibles para contestar preguntas en español. **

    Austin, TX – Dozens of Texas community members, border and immigrant advocates, and civil rights organizations will come together in protest outside of the Texas Capitol building on Wednesday April 12 at 9am as the Texas House of Representatives considers two profoundly dangerous and anti-immigrant bills, HB 20 and HB 7.

    HB 20 is a far-reaching bill that would establish and empower a separate unit within the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to recruit individuals not employed by the department and without any experience in law enforcement to roam the streets of Texas and arrest and detain any community member they perceive as a “migrant.” These vigilantes would be granted criminal and civil immunity against claims of wrongdoing. The bill would heighten the criminal penalties and up to a $10,000 fine against migrants.

    HB 7 would institutionalize the system of criminalization under Operation Lone Star which has arrested and prosecuted on state charges more than 12,000 people seeking freedom and safety at the border. It would expand the current parallel court system where people arrested for so-called “border crimes,” including trespassing, are sent to privately operated processing centers where they are magistrated in trailers and jailed in TDCJ prisons rather than county jails.

    Advocates and community members say they oppose these bills because they argue that they are an attempt by Governor Abbott and legislators to distract the public from real problems and the shameful misspending of Texans’ tax dollars under Operational Lone Star. In Texas, from the Gulf to the Panhandle and from our barrios to our ranches, community members know that if these bills are allowed to advance, they will become a license for roaming vigilantes motivated by racial animus to divide our communities and, worse, cause significant harm to people who are only seeking protection or a better life.

  • Austin, Texas—Advocacy organizations are urging the Travis County Commissioners Court to approve independent oversight for the Public Defender's Office in order for it to be truly efficient and effective. Recent turmoil within the leadership of the Justice & Public Safety division has prompted discussions on reorganizing the office under the guidance of an interim director.

    Chantel Pridgon, Grassroots Leadership Participatory Defense Organizer: “The residents of Travis County that rely on this office to represent them to the highest level will not receive the treatment they deserve when there is a "middle man" county executive over them. The best interests of this interim director are to do what's best for the court and its voters, not the marginalized communities whom this office serves.”

    As part of the proposed changes, there will be a presentation on Tuesday, April 18th to consider the creation of a new community legal division and a new county executive position, which will continue to impact the operations of the Public Defender's Office. One significant improvement advocates note being proposed is the unification of three public defense service providers, including the Juvenile and Mental Health Public Defender offices, under one entity with the Travis County Public Defender Office. This consolidation aims to foster better collaboration and increased efficiency in providing legal representation.

    Advocates for the Public Defender's Office highlight the importance of independence in the restructuring process. They argue that an independent Public Defender's Office can effectively advocate for the needs of their clients without being influenced by conflicting priorities of other departments. The confidential nature of the work carried out by the Public Defender's Office necessitates a deep understanding of the cases and clients they serve, which may not be possible for an intermediate County Executive who supervises multiple departments.

    Jorge Renaud, LatinoJustice National Criminal Justice Director: “The Public Defender's Office is one of the only Travis County entities whose members actually work alongside and with the justice-impacted community members they represent. Travis County should consolidate the PDO into an autonomous and truly independent entity, free of the well-meaning, paternalistic, and ultimately harmful meddling by the neo-liberal bureaucracy that is Travis County. The disproportionately lack and brown individuals who need representation in this county should be provided the best we can offer and not have that representation provided by the same entities responsible for and supportive of the gentrification that pushed them out of their neighborhoods and left them desperate and despairing.”

    The current disparity in resources between the Public Defender's Office and the better-funded District Attorney's Office raises concerns about the ability of the former to compete effectively. Advocates emphasize the need for the Public Defender's Office to have autonomy in budget advocacy to ensure equitable access to resources for defending their clients' rights. They argue that in an adversarial legal system, all parties should have an equal amount of resources and autonomy to ensure fairness and justice for all.

    Nathan Fennell, Texas Fair Defense Project Staff Attorney: ["It's important to note that it's just the defense function that Travis County thinks requires an additional person between them and the Commissioner's Court. Nobody is suggesting that the prosecutors need to be under a County Executive. Because the role of the Public Defense function is to protect our friends and neighbors from government overreach, the Public Defender's Office is the most in need of independence."

    As the discussions on reorganizing the Public Defender's Office continue, advocates urge the Travis County Commissioners Court to fulfill their commitment to ensuring that the Public Defender's Office operates in a manner that honors the values and solutions provided by the communities that are most adversely impacted by the criminal justice system. This includes investing in resources and autonomy for the Public Defender's Office to effectively represent their clients and uphold the principles of justice and fairness.

    Cynthia Simons, Texas Center for Justice and Equity GMTW Foundation Women's Justice Director: “We need clear and distinct delegation of roles when it comes to the legality and operations of the Justice Planning and the integration of the public defender’s office. It does not best serve the community for the public defender’s office to have to have oversight or the need to answer to a county executive. This leaves the potential for a conflict of interest thus leaving the already vulnerable populations underserved to the best of the PD’s ability.”

    In 2018, the city of Austin stood out as the largest city in the country without a Public Defender's Office to handle felony cases. This gap in legal representation for indigent defendants caught the attention of grassroots organizations such as Grassroots Leadership and Texas Fair Defense Project, who came together to advocate alongside community members to fulfill this crucial need. After persistent efforts, Travis County’s Public Defender Office was established to serve eligible residents; the journey has not been without challenges.

Grassroots Leadership community organizations, Texas Advocates for Justice, ICE Fuera de Austin, and Mujeres Luchadoras together for Advocacy Day, January 2023.

2022

  • These 8 migrants are part of the Segovia 11 migrants that were arrested under Operation Lone Star and have been detained for up to 170 days, many without speaking to an attorney and some without a charge

    What: Protest outside the McAllen CBP family with advocates, attorneys, and community members

    When: March 2, 2022; 3:30 PM CT

    Where: 3000 W Military Hwy, McAllen, TX 78503; will also stream on Grassroots Leadership’s Facebook Live

    Who: Grassroots Leadership, LatinoJustice, Texas Fair Defense Project, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, community advocates

    Why: Wednesday afternoon, community advocates and attorneys will demand the immediate release of 8 of the 11 migrants arrested under Operation Lone Star who were transferred to CBP this morning. The Segovia 11 have been detained for up to 170 days and counting in grueling conditions, suffering physical and psychological abuse and deprivation of food. Some of the men have lost 30-40 pounds during the time of their confinement. Many haven’t spoken to attorneys, and some have not been charged.

    Last week, Grassroots Leadership was able to post bail for 11 migrants. Monday was the last day the men were able to freely make phone calls. The jail has limited their access to communicate with anyone, including their family members.

    Claudia Muñoz, Co-Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership: “We’re demanding that these men be allowed to remain in the country to reunite with their families and recover physically. These men deserve to be treated with dignity and be released immediately so they can be with their loved ones.”

    Visuals: Community advocates and attorneys outside CBP with posters and chants.

  • CONTEMPT HEARING: IMMIGRANT RIGHTS GROUPS SEEK CONTEMPT OF COURT AGAINST TEXAS OFFICIALS IN OPERATION LONE STAR

    On Friday, May 13, 2022 the 63rd District Court will be holding a second hearing to determine whether Texas officials were in contempt of a judge’s order issued last October in relation to Operation Lone Star. Back in October 2021, a judge issued the immediate release of Ivan and David after a prosecutor dropped their charges. Despite their detainer being dropped, Texas officials continued to hold these individuals without any charges and in violation of their due process and the judge’s order to release them.

    This is the second part of a contempt hearing against Texas officials and the latest in litigation against Governor Abbott’s unconstitutional order, Operation Lone Star, an operation by the state of Texas to detain migrants and turn them over to Customs and Border Patrol for deportation.

    WHEN: FRIDAY, MAY 13 AT 1:30 CT

    WHERE: VIRTUAL LINK HERE

    WHO: Counsel for Ivan Nuano Rava, previously detained under Operation Lone Star:

    Kathryn Dyer, Nate Fennell with the Texas Fair Defense Project, Grassroots Leadership, and Just Futures Law

  • The picnic will also highlight T. Don Hutto’s recent change in population from detaining all women to all men.

    What: Separated by Hutto, United by Heart: A Father’s Day Picnic in Celebration and Honor of Separated Families Fighting for Reunification

    When: Saturday, June 18, 2022, from 11-2 PM

    Where: T. Don Hutto Detention Center, 1001 Welch St., Taylor, TX 76574

    Who: Grassroots Leadership, Mujeres Luchadoras (women formerly detained at T. Don Hutto fighting to shut down the detention center), community advocates; English and Spanish speakers available for interviews.

    Why: Mujeres Luchadoras and Grassroots Leadership will host a Father's Day Picnic outside of the notorious T. Don Hutto Detention Center in Taylor, Texas. The group will create Father’s Day cards that will be delivered to the front doors of the detention center for the fathers inside that are unjustly separated from their families.

    We will also hear Mujeres Luchadoras members share their personal experiences and why they are fighting to shut down this immigration jail.

    For years, T. Don Hutto has detained women, children, and families coming to this country seeking safety. However, this past December, Hutto quietly changed its population to detain only men seeking asylum.

    Community advocates still have no access to the men inside as any visitation programs remain shut down.

    Visuals: Posters that say “Communities Not Cages,” “Shut Down Hutto”; cardboard cutouts of male silhouettes representing the missing fathers currently detained inside T. Don Hutto; Picnic materials (blankets, tent, ice coolers, games for children).

  • Community advocates call on the Biden Administration to follow through on his campaign promises

    Taylor, Texas—Women and children previously detained, as well as community advocates, gathered Saturday afternoon at T. Don Hutto for a Father’s Day picnic in celebration and honor of fathers currently detained just a few feet away.

    “While families across the country will be celebrating this Father’s Day, the fathers and sons currently detained at Hutto don’t know when they’ll see their families again,” said Alicia Torres, Immigration Campaigns Consultant for Grassroots Leadership. “Under President Biden’s administration, more jails for migrant children continue to open, and private prison companies like CoreCivic continue to profit from the incarceration of mothers, children, and fathers.”

    The event, called “Separated by Hutto, United by Heart” featured a card-making session for members of the community. More than a dozen mothers and children, many of whom were also previously detained at T. Don Hutto, are calling the Biden Administration to take measures to shut down the detention center and end racist policies enacted by the Trump Administration, such as Title 42.

    This past December, T. Don Hutto’s population quietly changed from detaining only women seeking asylum to now only men seeking asylum. However, community advocates note that it does not matter who is detained at T. Don Hutto, only that the fight continues to shut down this detention center once and for all. There are approximately 100 men currently detained at T. Don Hutto.

    “Separation of men is also separation of families,” said Sulma Franco, a member of Mujeres Luchadoras who was previously detained at T. Don Hutto for more than four months. “Under Biden, Hutto remains open and separating families. When Biden arrived at the White House, he promised to reverse the harmful policies put forward by the Trump Administration. It’s now 2022, and nothing has changed for us.”

    Once the Father’s Day cards were created, community advocates then attempted to deliver the handmade cards in the hopes they are delivered to the fathers detained. “We hope they get delivered, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the guards threw them away intstead,” said Bethany Carson, Policy and Research Manager for Grassroots Leadership.

    If members of the community are interested in supporting those currently detained, Grassroots Leadership is seeking donated items in order to support the fathers and sons released from T. Don Hutto. You can email info@grassrootsleadership.org for more information.

    Backpack

    Small traveling blanket

    Traveling pillow

    Prepaid Phone that costs no more than ($50) and a $25 card to activate it

    Toothpaste

    Toothbrush

    Small comb

    Hair gel

    Deodorant

    Socks

    Small mirror

    Shoelaces

  • Advocates demand an end to the inhumane and expensive program, noting Briscoe Unit was the first prison cleared out to incarcerate migrants criminally prosecuted under the program

    What: Rally and car caravan

    When: October 7, 2022; 2 PM

    Where: Dolph Briscoe Unit; 1459 TX-85, Dilley, TX 78017

    Who: Grassroots Leadership, community advocates, representatives from Tsuru for Solidarity, Texas Fair Defense Project, Just Futures Law, SA Stands, Immigrant Legal Resource Center

    Why: Friday, community advocates will rally outside the Dolph Brisoce Unit to protest Operation Lone Star, the multibillion dollar program created by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. The rally comes after a two-week delegation coordinated by Grassroots Leadership for individuals to witness the scope of Operation Lone Star, the hyperfunding of the carceral system, and the militarization of the border under the program.

    In just the last 18 months, Texas has misspent roughly $4 billion of taxpayer dollars on Operation Lone Star. Texas now spends $20 million a week on the program. All while our state grid system goes unfixed and our housing crisis across the state grows.

    Visuals: People of different cultures and ethnicities wearing yellow shirts, cars with handwritten messages on windows, posters that say “End Operation Lone Star”, hand-painted banner that says “End Operation Lone Star / Stop the carceral system”

Grassroots Leadership with Witness OLS delegation members outside of Dolph Briscoe Unit demanding an end to Operation Lone Star and immediate release of detained, October 2022.

2021

  • The baseless lawsuit could potentially put a halt on efforts to provide relief for immigrant communities across the country

    Austin— More than a dozen pro-immigrant rights organizations along with impacted community members held a virtual press conference Tuesday morning to condemn the state’s unfounded lawsuit to halt the Biden Administration’s 100-day moratorium on deportations and to call on the Biden Administration to exercise its full power and defend the legality of the moratorium.

    On Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit in federal court in Victoria, Texas in an attempt to stop the immigration memorandum issued by the Acting DHS Secretary on January 20, 2021. The memorandum, among other things, calls for a moratorium on deportations for 100 days and directs DHS agencies to conduct a much-needed comprehensive review of enforcement policies and priorities.

    Judge Tipton has not yet ruled on the State of Texas’s request for a temporary restraining order, but advocates expect a decision to come any day now. Should Judge Tipton grant the TRO, it will allow the state of Texas to dictate federal immigration policy and temporarily stop the Biden administration from providing relief to millions of immigrants after four long years of racist attacks and blatant abuse by the Trump Administration and ICE.

    Advocates noted that this is not the first time Texas has exploited anti-immigrant sentiments to drive lawsuits that attack undocumented communities in this nation, such as in the previous DACA and DAPA lawsuits. Today, grassroots groups and undocumented communities in Texas say enough and will not stand and watch this state put the relief of millions at risk. Not only should the Biden Administration exercise its full power to defend the legality of the memorandum, Texas legislators and congressional representatives must call on Attorney General Paxton to drop this baseless lawsuit.

    The organizations in today’s press conference include Grassroots Leadership, Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative, Detention Watch Network, ICE Out of Austin, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Laredo Immigrant Alliance, LatinoJustice-PRLDEF, Mijente, Mujeres Luchadoras, Texas Advocates for Justice, Texas Fair Defense Project, Texas AFL-CIO, Texas Organizing Project, RAICES, Workers Defense Project, Workers Defense Action Fund, and the Waco Immigrants Alliance.

    Below are the statements from the organizations participating in today’s press conference.

    Annette Price, Co-Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership, said: “This is not new to us. Our state government constantly uses and weaponizes the law to maintain the oppressive and white supremacist status quo—whether it be on public health matters and their effort to continue putting us at risk and keeping us from necessary resources; or criminal justice matters as we have seen them do through the COVID crisis where state prisoners have died by the hundreds due to their insistence in punishment; or in this instance, where their hatred towards immigrants are fueling their every move. But our communities have been fighting back. We see our own beauty and worth. And the more the state orients toward death, the more we push back to orient toward life. Enough is enough. It was people like us from all over the country who fought for the moratorium, and it is us who will defend it.”

    Zenobia Lai, Executive Director of Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative, said: “We applaud the Biden Administration’s initiative to put a pause on most deportation. For too long, black and brown immigrant families have been torn apart by racist criminal system that fed the detention-deportation pipeline. The lawsuit filed by A.G. Paxton aimed to derail President Biden’s initiative to fix our immigration system is frivolous and is nothing short of a racist act. A.G. Paxton knew, or should have known, that the agreement he cited to support the lawsuit was unenforceable, since it was signed by Ken Cuccinelli whose appointment to his position was found to be illegal by a federal court last March. That agreement is void and the lawsuit should be dismissed immediately.”

    Liz Castillo, Organizer at Detention Watch Network, said: “The Texas lawsuit represents nothing more than a shameful attempt to behold the new administration and communities across the country unto the failed and deathly policies of the last administration. For years now, people inside of detention have sounded the alarm on the dangers posed by ICE’s negligence and abuse. With the compounded dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic, we should be focusing on protecting and expanding the moratorium while releasing people from detention and shutting down detention facilities immediately.”

    Miriam J., ICE Out of Austin member, said: “I am an undocumented immigrant as well as my parents. My husband was deported last year, and my children, who are American citizens, have also been impacted due to the constant persecution against my community. These attacks are putting us once again in danger, and it is not fair what's happening to us. As a community, we must stay united against the attacks made by Texas officials to stop the relief our communities deserve and continue fighting for our safety and dignity.”

    Anita Gupta, Staff Attorney, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said: “Texas lacks standing to bring this lawsuit and is basing it on an invalid agreement signed with the Department of Homeland Security during the waning days of the Trump administration. That agreement was put in place to preserve Trump’s countless racist policies against immigrants, and deprive the Biden administration of policymaking authority. This lawsuit is nothing but a meritless show of allegiance to racist, white supremacist policies. We call on Judge Tipton to end this farce now. We demand dignity, respect, and protection for immigrants from every branch and level of government.”

    Ilse Méndez, Laredo Immigrant Alliance member, said: “The actions of the governor only serve to continue inciting a negative and racist narrative rather than addressing the devastating issues our Texas towns are facing especially in our border towns where we have a lack of hospital capacity and medical care professionals to support this ongoing surge. This should be the priority of the state government. Undocumented continue to face fear and anxiety while still trying to sustain thier families with no support.“

    Jorge Renaud, Regional Director of Policy and Advocacy, LatinoJustice-PRLDEF, said: "The retaliatory actions from Atty. General Paxton are the latest attempts by him and other Trump acolytes to dehumanize the Latinx communities by criminalizing their very right to exist. We raise our voice in protest at these desperate appeals to continue Trump's racist ideologies."

    Marisa Franco, Executive Director, Mijente, said: "This Texas lawsuit represents nothing more than the last gasps of a racist, xenophobic presidential administration that wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on the criminalization of immigrants, dehumanized vulnerable migrants, and swelled already-overcrowded jails and prisons. The Biden administration understands that we must undo the damage President Trump has done to our immigrant community and our national character, and we strongly support its deportation moratorium and commitment to a thorough audit of the practices and policies of the Department of Homeland Security. Today, we ask that the administration double down on its commitment to righting the wrongs of President Trump and exercise its full power in defending the legality of its memorandum.”

    Sonia A., Mujeres Luchadoras member, said: "I have been fighting for my family and myself for 5 years to not be deported, and we are tired that Texas is a racist and discriminatory place. That is why I am here calling on all politicians, businessmen, and leaders of faith to please do something so that what the new President Biden has proposed can be fulfilled."

    David Johnson, Organizer, Texas Advocates for Justice, said: "Texas Advocates for Justice fights in solidarity with the people most-directly harmed by these white supremacist and xenophobic attempts to deny the human right to migration and self-determination."

    Montserrat Garibay, Texas AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer, said: “Our state’s latest lawsuit seeking to continue a broken deportation machinery at the expense of immigrants is heartless.Texas must stop scapegoating immigrant workers. The Texas AFL-CIO stands with ALL workers. Until immigrant workers have a fair shot that protects their workplace rights instead of generating fear, all workers will suffer.”

    Amelia Casas, Policy Analyst with the Texas Fair Defense Project, said: "At TFDP, we stand in solidarity with directly impacted immigrants, organizers and advocates across the state to ensure that vulnerable immigrants are protected and treated with the humanity and dignity to which every Texan is entitled.”

    Damaris Gonzalez, Immigrants’ Rights Community Organizer with Texas Organizing Project said: “We need our elected officials at all levels of government to step into their power to protect immigrant families from this blatant partisan attack from Ken Paxton that seeks to further dehumanize us. TOP will also keep pushing our elected officials in Washington to pass comprehensive immigration reform that will benefit the millions of families who are still living right now with uncertainty in the shadows.

    Ken Paxton, listen carefully: We aren’t going anywhere. We are undocumented, unapologetic, and we are here to stay!”

    Juana Guzman, Texas Grassroots Organizer, RAICES, said:

    "As a legal service and advocacy organization, RAICES is currently exploring our options to protect our clients and we are considering taking legal action. Even though Trump is gone, his supporters, like Ken Paxton, will continue to make the lives of immigrants impossible. We will not let that happen. Whether through legal action or community organizing, we WILL fight back."

    Emily Timm, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Workers Defense Action Fund, said: "We turned a new leaf by ushering in the Biden Administration, but it was inevitable that Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott would buckle down on their efforts to preserve Trump’s racist and hate-filled agenda to further dehumanize and criminalize immigrant communities. These attacks demonstrate the real threat that Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott are to our democracy--not immigrants--and we must vigorously reject their efforts."

    Hope Balfa-Mustakim, Executive Director, Waco Immigrants Alliance said: "Located in the heart of Texas, we see the tangible effects everyday of racist policies like Abbott's SB4, MMP, and the constant attack on DACA. We have worked hard for four years to try to mitigate the traumatic and damaging consequences of such policies and we are DONE. We say "enough!" Our community members deserve to live in peace and not fearing deportation or unjust detention. This country has voted in a new Administration. We are moving forward. Trump's reign is over and we will keep constant pressure on our elected officials to support legislation that honors the dignity and worth of every single immigrant life. Period."

  • Women formerly detained at T. Don Hutto are leading the fight to shut down this immigration jail once and for all.

    What: Car caravan and rally

    When: Wednesday, March 24, 2021; 4-6 PM

    Where: T. Don Hutto Residential Center, 1001 Welch St, Taylor, TX 76574; attendees will meet at baseball fields next to T. Don Hutto (S Doak & W Oak)

    Who: Grassroots Leadership, Mujeres Luchadoras, ICE Fuera de Austin, Texas Advocates for Justice; mothers/women previously incarcerated at Hutto; Amy Nelson of Folk Uke

    Why: On Wednesday, March 24, 2021, Grassroots Leadership along with Mujeres Luchadoras, ICE Fuera de Austin, Texas Advocates for Justice, and members of the community will bring dozens of people together for a car rally to demand the Biden Administration shut down T. Don Hutto Detention Center.

    We will also hear from a Mujeres Luchadoras member, currently fighting to be finally reunited with her 10-year old daughter currently detained inside an immigration facility.

    Today’s direct action is one of several actions taking place across the country during Detention Watch Network’s Week of Action for the “First Ten to Communities Not Cages'' campaign. The campaign is demanding the shut down of 10 immigration detention facilities in the first year of the Biden administration.

    To-date, Biden has yet to address ICE’s deadly immigration detention system, despite immigration being a priority issue for the administration. COVID-19 outbreaks in detention are ongoing, and 2020 was the deadliest fiscal year in ICE custody since 2005. With detention numbers currently at their lowest in 20 years, advocates underscore the time is now to shut down detention centers. The "First Ten" detention centers provide a roadmap of where the Biden administration should start shutting facilities down and terminating contracts — T. Don Hutto is on Detention Watch Network’s “First Ten” list.

    Visuals: Bright colorful banner with the Mujeres Luchadoras logo; attendees will wear t-shirts with the Mujeres Luchadoras logo; dozens of cars decorated with colorful posters saying “Shut Down Hutto”; Mothers and children previously separated marching together; women previously detained at Hutto will lead the car caravan.

  • Researchers recommend that the federal government permanently shut down T. Don Hutto in a report that explores why T. Don Hutto remains open—despite a long and troubled history

    Austin, Texas – Today, Grassroots Leadership and the Texas Law Immigration Clinic released a report detailing why the federal government must close T. Don Hutto.

    Despite repeated reports of abuse, substandard conditions, and community opposition, ICE continues to contract with CoreCivic to keep Hutto open. CoreCivic and its many subcontractors record substantial profits while the women detained at the facility suffer the results of the companies’ cost-cutting measures—and ultimately it is the public that pays for this secretive arrangement. Researchers note that the only appropriate response the federal government must take is to close down Hutto for good and develop humane community-based alternatives to immigration detention.

    Sulma Franco, Community Organizer at Grassroots Leadership: “For years, detained people have been ringing the alarm on the harm these places cause to any person that spends even one day behind those walls. We hope this report paints—through our experiences, legal background, and history—the cruel picture of the abusive and violent nature that is Hutto Immigration Jail, and it drives members of Congress, elected officials, and any person with powers to close it down to take immediate action.”

    Some of the key findings from the report include:

    ICE contracted directly with CoreCivic for detention at Hutto in an arrangement that flouts federal law

    CoreCivic has strong incentives to maintain or expand immigration detention at Hutto. These incentives encourage high levels of detention despite the expense to taxpayers and the lack of any sound policy reason

    CoreCivic and its contractors at the Hutto facility maximize profits in large part by delivering poor service, subjecting detained women to unacceptable conditions—ranging from deprivation of adequate food to sexual abuse to forced labor.

    Federal government auditors who purportedly monitor compliance with detention standards and contractual obligations at Hutto have a financial interest in continued detention at the facility.

    Researchers noted that because of prior litigation and advocacy, conditions at Hutto are, on paper, held to a higher standard than at many other immigration detention facilities. Nonetheless, Hutto remains a prime example of the many serious problems with federal civil immigration detention, including the web of profit incentives woven into the fabric of the system.

    Denise Gilman, Clinical Professor and Co-Director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law: “ICE's decision to contract with CoreCivic at Hutto flouts federal law. The law envisions detention by the government, not by private prison companies. Even worse, detention at Hutto violates constitutional rules that require strong government justification for a deprivation of liberty. The women at Hutto do not need to be detained at all since they have relatives willing to receive them while they pursue asylum under the law.”

    T. Don Hutto Detention Center holds women seeking asylum during their immigration proceedings, even though most women need not be detained at all, because they have family or community organizations willing to host and support them as they participate in hearings and wait for a decision on their asylum claims. Up to 512 women are detained at the facility at any given time, isolated from legal counsel, family, and other support. The Hutto facility, located in Williamson County, Texas, is managed and owned by private prison company CoreCivic (known as the Corrections Corporation of America until 2016). Hutto is operated pursuant to a direct contract between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) and CoreCivic that lasts for ten years—beyond this presidency and the next.

    Elsa (not her real name), a 32-year-old woman previously detained at T. Don Hutto: It is so unfair that they treat us immigrants without respect or mercy. Being at Hutto was traumatic because the guards did what they wanted with us. They decided when I would eat, when I could bathe, when I would go to sleep, and when I could go outdoors to take a walk [...] It is so unfair that we have no rights. We could not stand up to the guards, because they threatened us with punishment. [...] It is hell to be incarcerated and deprived of justice.”

    The full report can be found here.

  • The call comes after a bombshell report from Buzzfeed shows that Austin Police Department officers may used Clearview AI software

    Austin— Grassroots Leadership and Just Futures Law today called on the Austin City Council to take proactive steps to ban law enforcement’s use of facial recognition software following a series of exposés on the company Clearview AI.

    Clearview AI’s facial recognition tool allows for instantaneous identification and tracking of people by law enforcement. Clearview AI has amassed a database of over three billion facial scans by scraping photos from websites like Facebook and Twitter, and storing user images without permission. This database is then sold to law enforcement departments, government agencies, and private companies across the world. Multiple lawsuits allege that Clearview’s surveillance technology violates privacy rights and facilitates government monitoring of protesters, immigrants, and communities of color. The company also has troubling ties to the far-right.

    Today, Buzzfeed News published a bombshell report and an interactive database showing more than 7,000 individuals and 2,000 public agencies had accessed the database of images maintained by Clearview AI.

    Approximately 100 local law enforcement agencies in Texas may have had officers access the Clearview AI database. The database, whose accuracy Buzzfeed said Clearview would neither confirm nor deny, listed between 11-50 searches stemming from the Austin Police Department (APD).

    APD responded to Buzzfeed that its “Police Technology Unit is not familiar with this company and has not worked with them.” However, Buzzfeed also reported that many law enforcement leaders were unaware that employees were using the Clearview database.

    In Austin, local advocates and legal experts are calling on City officials to address the report, investigate whether APD officers used the software, and ban the use of facial recognition software by local law enforcement agencies and federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which used the database more than 2,200 times as of February 2020.

    “Clearview AI’s software has the potential to completely destroy privacy as we know it, adding to the criminalization that is already widespread in communities of color” said Claudia Muñoz, co-Executive Director of Austin-based Grassroots Leadership. “Austin needs to be proactive about this and ban the use of facial recognition software amongst its employees, especially law enforcement agencies.”

    “Communities in Austin and beyond should be able to lead their lives without the fear of surveillance and criminalization,” said Julie Mao, attorney at Just Futures Law, a law project working to support grassroots organizations. “Police departments that deploy Clearview AI make it impossible to walk down the street without fear that your likeness can be captured by the company, and used against you any time in the future. There can be no meaningful privacy in a society with Clearview AI.”

  • As the Biden administration launches its audit of ICE, civil rights organizations across the country to conduct their own investigations

    What: Community Forum

    When: Saturday, April 24, 2021; 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM

    Where: San Antonio ICE Field Office; 3523 Crosspoint, San Antonio, TX 78217

    Who: Grassroots Leadership, SA Stands, ICE Fuera de Austin, Mujeres Luchadoras

    Why: Grassroots Leadership, along with SA Stands, ICE Fuera de Austin, and Mujeres Luchadoras, will hold a “Truth and Accountability” forum. The purpose is to invite community members who have been personally impacted by ICE to testify to the agency’s devastating impact.

    This forum is part of a series of forums by Mijente happening across the country to expose the failures and abuses of DHS’s policies and practices, how community has organized to survive so far, and learn more about the way forward.

  • If passed, this bill would allow Texas voters an opportunity to amend the Texas Constitution to fully abolish slavery

    What: Press Conference introducing The Abolition Bill (HJR 51 / SJR 66) to Abolish Slavery in Texas

    When: May 5, 2021; 11:00 AM

    Where: Texas African American History Memorial - 100 W 11th St, Austin, TX 78701

    Who: Coalition to Abolish Slavery - Texas (CAST), Grassroots Leadership, Texas Advocates for Justice; Savannah Eldrige - Executive Director of Be Frank 4 Justice and Co-Founder of CAST, David Johnson - Policy Liason for Grassroots Leadership and Co-Founder of CAST, and Jorge Renaud - Regional Director of Policy and Advocacy for Latino Justice

    Why: Wednesday morning, members of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery - Texas (CAST) will announce the Abolition Bill (HJR 51 / SJR 66) and their work with legislators to end slavery in Texas. State legislators, led by Rep. Alma Allen, Rep. Ron Reynolds, Rep. Ana Hernandez, Rep. Sheryl Cole, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, Sen. Borris Miles, with support from many more, including Rep. Rafael Anchia, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC), Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and Rep. Ann Johnson, seek passage of this legislation.

  • Today, women formerly incarcerated as well as civil rights groups like Grassroots Leadership, Texas Fair Defense Project, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, and others held a press conference outside the Travis County Commissioners Court urging commissioners to vote against the building of a new women’s jail, or as commissioners call it, a “trauma-informed women’s facility.”

    “I am here to speak against building a brand new, state-of-the-art cage for women in Del Valle,” said Annette Price, co-Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership. “It doesn’t matter what name you give it, it’s a dehumanizing place to put anyone in.”

    In the last several years, Travis County voters – along with City and County public officials – have approved a number of reform measures that have reduced the jail population. These efforts, along with reductions in crime, have resulted in the lowest jail population in Travis County since 1990.

    “Jail caused me trauma,” said Maggie Luna with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. “The person I was before going to jail is not the same one that came back out. Ask [directly impacted women] what’s going on, and when you ask us, listen to us. Nothing inside that jail helped me become a better person. We need to invest in communities, not jails.”

    These policy changes also signal widespread public support for investments in alternatives to mass incarceration that address the root causes of crime and violence outside of the criminal legal system. When the women’s jail project was delayed in 2018, the Travis County Commissioner’s Court committed to undertaking efforts both to analyze the drivers of incarceration for women and create a complete asset map of diversion programs. Neither of these projects were completed, and the need for these analyses as a foundation for any planning has only become more clear with the decreased jail population and public support for alternatives to mass criminalization and incarceration.

    “Building another jail isn’t going to help anyone,” said Pam Bryant, a member of Texas Advocates for Justice. “You can redecorate it, but it’s not going to get any better. It’s still going to be hard cement floors, the food will still be nasty, and you still need to stay there until you’re sentenced.”

    Formerly incarcerated people and civil rights groups are urging the Travis County Commissioners Court to vote down new expenditures on the Women’s Jail and embark on a community-led process to create a Justice Reinvestment Plan led by directly impacted leaders to replace the outdated “Master Plan.”

    “The women’s jail population has gone down even more drastically, from 383 in 2017 to 153 people today, said Amanda Woog, Executive Director of the Texas Fair Defense Project. “That’s a more than 60% reduction. It is mind boggling that the Travis County commissioners are seriously considering continuing with these plans, and as part of them, an $80 million investment in a women’s jail.”

  • Advocates endorse alternatives that would stop jail “master plan” that would ultimately spend more than $600 million on new jail facilities

    Austin, TX — Today, nearly 30 community organizations and more than 65 community leaders sent a letter to Travis County Commissioners Court members urging them to vote against the building of a new women’s jail and commit to a community-led process to create a Justice Reinvestment Plan to replace the outdated “Master Plan.”

    Organizational signatories to the letter include: Austin Justice Coalition, Communities of Color United, Grassroots Leadership, Jane’s Due Process, Latino Justice, Lilith Fund, MEASURE, MELJ Center, Reentry Advocacy Project, SAFE, Texas After Violence Project, Texas Civil Rights Project, Texas Fair Defense Project, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, and Workers Defense Action Fund, amongst others.

    Individual signatories include nearly 70 clergy, law professors, progressive leaders, environmentalists, and reproductive and gender justice leaders. The full list is here.

    “I am here to speak against building a brand new, state-of-the-art cage for women in Del Valle,” said Annette Price, co-Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership, one of the organizational signatories. “It doesn’t matter what name you give it, it’s a dehumanizing place to put anyone in.”

    In the last several years, Travis County voters – along with City and County public officials – have approved a number of reform measures that have reduced the jail population. These efforts, along with reductions in crime, have resulted in the lowest jail population in Travis County since 1990.

    “Jail caused me trauma,” said Maggie Luna with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, one of the signatories to the letter. “The person I was before going to jail is not the same one that came back out. Ask [directly impacted women] what’s going on, and when you ask us, listen to us. Nothing inside that jail helped me become a better person. We need to invest in communities, not jails.”

    These policy changes also signal widespread public support for investments in alternatives to mass incarceration that address the root causes of crime and violence outside of the criminal legal system. When the women’s jail project was delayed in 2018, the Travis County Commissioner’s Court committed to undertaking efforts both to analyze the drivers of incarceration for women and create a complete asset map of diversion programs. Neither of these projects were completed, and the need for these analyses as a foundation for any planning has only become more clear with the decreased jail population and public support for alternatives to mass criminalization and incarceration.

    “Building another jail isn’t going to help anyone,” said Pam Bryant, a member of Texas Advocates for Justice. “You can redecorate it, but it’s not going to get any better. It’s still going to be hard cement floors, the food will still be nasty, and you still need to stay there until you’re sentenced.”

    Formerly incarcerated people and civil rights groups are urging the Travis County Commissioners Court to vote down new expenditures on the Women’s Jail and embark on a community-led process to create a Justice Reinvestment Plan led by directly impacted leaders to replace the outdated “Master Plan.”

    “The women’s jail population has gone down even more drastically, from 383 in 2017 to 153 people today, said Amanda Woog, Executive Director of the Texas Fair Defense Project. “That’s a more than 60% reduction. It is mind boggling that the Travis County commissioners are seriously considering continuing with these plans, and as part of them, an $80 million investment in a women’s jail.”

  • Commissioners listened to over three hours of testimony from more than 100 community members, advocates, and formerly incarcerated women

    Austin, TX — Travis County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to postpone any formal motion to move forward on a women’s jail indefinitely. The vote came after over three hours of testimony from more than 100 community members, advocates, clinicians, and formerly incarcerated women. Advocates see this delay as an opportunity to continue reducing the Travis County jail population and divert resources to fund community-centered programs addressing homelessness, substance use, affordable housing, among other issues predominantly affecting Black and brown Travis County residents.

    “Yesterday’s victory is an important step towards a future where mass incarceration is a thing of the past,” said Annette Price, Co-Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership. “As people who have been harmed by jails, we know the importance of having a county that doesn’t recklessly spend money based on outdated data and solutions. We are grateful that our community made their voices heard and stopped this jail. The only way that we will have a healthy and safe community is to ensure that people’s wellbeing is put first, always.”

    Earlier this week, 30 community organizations and more than 80 community leaders sent a letter to Travis County Commissioners Court members urging them to vote against the building of a new women’s jail and commit to a community-led process to create a Justice Reinvestment Plan to replace the outdated “Master Plan.”

    Organizational signatories to the letter included: Austin Justice Coalition, Communities of Color United, Grassroots Leadership, Jane’s Due Process, Latino Justice, Lilith Fund, MEASURE, MELJ Center, Reentry Advocacy Project, SAFE, Texas After Violence Project, Texas Civil Rights Project, Texas Fair Defense Project, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, and Workers Defense Action Fund, amongst others.

    “This victory belongs to our community and especially formerly incarcerated women. Today and over the past weeks, hundreds of people stood alongside people who have experienced the trauma of the criminal legal system to say resoundingly: ‘no more,’” said Amanda Woog, Executive Director at Texas Fair Defense Project.

    Individual signatories include 80 clergy, law professors, progressive leaders, environmentalists, and reproductive and gender justice leaders. The full list is here.

  • As City Manager budget doubles down on police and surveillance funding, community members demand funding for community initiatives

    Austin, Texas – As Austin debates its vision for public safety, an upcoming report by Grassroots Leadership, Just Futures Law, and the Boston University School of Law Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Program lays out the role Austin Regional Intelligence Center, also known as ARIC, plays in the surveillance and data sharing of Austinities. The report, titled The Silicon Hills Eyes: How ARIC Fusion Center Surveillance Makes Austin Less Safe, is scheduled for release July 19th.

    The report also details the technology ARIC uses to carry out its surveillance, the kind of information ARIC knows about the general public, the corporations and law enforcement agencies involved, as well as how this infrastructure harms some of Austin’s most vulnerable community members—including activists, immigrants, and students.

    Key findings from the report include:

    ARIC conducts invasive surveillance on a wide array of Austin residents through a web of high-tech surveillance and data sharing contracts, as well as in-person monitoring.

    ARIC uses city resources to share personal information of vulnerable Austin residents - including students and immigrants - with federal agencies, placing them at greater risk of arrest, detention, and deportation.

    ARIC has refused to abide by even the weak oversight mechanisms and civil liberty protections proscribed in its policy.

    Authors of the report note that high tech surveillance and data sharing networks like ARIC that seek to preemptively monitor and profile people’s behavior and whereabouts are no longer confined to works of fiction like George Orwell’s 1984, but are increasingly a reality in many Black, brown, and poor neighborhoods.

    Report recommendations include moving funding from the ARIC Fusion Center towards funding for immigrant legal defense through the Travis County Public Defender’s Office. The report also recommends establishing a mandatory Equity Office oversight process prior to consideration of city procurements, grants, and Council agenda items pertinent to public safety, as proposed by the Reimagine Public Safety Task Force. Not only would these initiatives begin to remedy some of the harm that ARIC has caused to vulnerable community members, they would also prevent the same threats from resurfacing through other surveillance and information sharing proposals.

    The report follows the recent release of a budget proposal from the City Manager’s office that increases funding to the Austin Police Department by $8.5 Million compared to the 2019 budget, including transferring all items placed in the Reimagine and Decouple funds in last summer’s budget process back into the APD budget. ARIC was one of the units that had been placed in this fund after community alarm over its invasive surveillance practices, but is now slated to return to APD for continued funding.

    Only $1.9 Million is allocated in the City Manager’s budget proposal for items recommended by the Reimagine Public Safety task force, despite robust proposals to fund programs that would remedy inequities in overpoliced communities. On Monday July 12, Communities of Color United, Grassroots Leadership, and Texas Harm Reduction Alliance demanded that the following be funded in this year’s budget proposal instead of increasing police funding above the levels required by law:

    Community neighborhood hubs

    Universal basic income pilot program

    Community health workers

    Mandatory equity oversight process prior to consideration of city procurements, grants, and Council agenda items pertinent to public safety

    Claudia Muñoz, co-executive director of Grassroots Leadership: “ARIC claims to protect the public, but that’s impossible to achieve through surveillance. In reality, ARIC creates a network of information that empowers the police state to continue its criminalization and persecution of Black and brown communities. Instead of continuing to fund ARIC surveillance and data sharing, we urge the City of Austin to shift funding toward initiatives such as community hubs, public health workers, universal basic income, and immigrant legal defense that will actually keep our communities safe.”

    Paromita Shah, Executive Director of Just Futures Law: “It is impossible to maintain this surveillance and data sharing infrastructure without violating our core human rights and civil liberties. Its existence threatens all residents’ rights to privacy, freedom of speech, and movement. ARIC poses tremendous risks to Black and immigrant Austin residents to criminalization, arrest, and deportation. “

    The full report will be made available Monday, July 19th.

  • As City Manager budget doubles down on police and surveillance funding, community members demand funding for community initiatives

    Austin, Texas – As Austin debates its vision for public safety, a new report released today lays out the role Austin Regional Intelligence Center, also known as ARIC, plays in the surveillance and data sharing of Austinities. The Silicon Hills Eyes: How ARIC Fusion Center Surveillance Makes Austin Less Safe, is a joint project by Grassroots Leadership, Just Futures Law, and the Boston University School of Law Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Program.

    The report examines the technology ARIC uses to carry out its surveillance, the kind of information ARIC knows about the general public, the corporations and law enforcement agencies involved, as well as how this infrastructure harms some of Austin’s most vulnerable community members—including activists, immigrants, and students.

    Key findings from the report include:

    ARIC conducts invasive surveillance on a wide array of Austin residents through a web of high-tech surveillance and data sharing contracts.

    ARIC uses city resources to share personal information of vulnerable Austin residents - including students and immigrants - with federal agencies, placing them at greater risk of arrest, detention, and deportation.

    ARIC has refused to abide by even the weak oversight mechanisms and civil liberty protections proscribed in its policy.

    Authors of the report note that high tech surveillance and data sharing networks like ARIC that seek to preemptively monitor and profile people’s behavior and whereabouts are no longer confined to works of fiction like George Orwell’s 1984, but are increasingly a reality in many Black, brown, and poor neighborhoods. ARIC threatens the rights of all Austinites and places Black, brown, and poor communities at increased risk of criminalization, incarceration, and deportation through the following: training hundreds of private citizen informants, creating the infrastructure to share resident utility data and students profiled by school district police as gang members, and enlisting tech companies to mine and share social media, license plate, and location data. ARIC continues to operate without accountability, flaunting requirements to have a “criminal nexus” to store and share information, and refusing to comply with external audits and other provisions intended to safeguard civil liberties.

    Report recommendations include moving funding from the ARIC Fusion Center towards funding for immigrant legal defense through the Travis County Public Defender’s Office. The report also recommends establishing a mandatory Equity Office oversight process prior to consideration of city procurements, grants, and Council agenda items pertinent to public safety, as proposed by the Reimagine Public Safety Task Force. Not only would these initiatives begin to remedy some of the harm that ARIC has caused to vulnerable community members, they would also prevent the same threats from resurfacing through other surveillance and information sharing proposals.

    The report follows the recent release of a budget proposal from the City Manager’s office that increases funding to the Austin Police Department by $8.5 Million compared to the 2019 budget, including transferring all items placed in the Reimagine and Decouple funds in last summer’s budget process back into the APD budget. ARIC was one of the units that had been placed in this fund after community alarm over its invasive surveillance practices, but is now slated to return to APD for continued funding.

    Only $1.9 Million is allocated in the City Manager’s budget proposal for items recommended by the Reimagine Public Safety task force, despite robust proposals to fund programs that would remedy inequities in overpoliced communities. On Monday July 12, Communities of Color United, Grassroots Leadership, and Texas Harm Reduction Alliance demanded that the following be funded in this year’s budget proposal instead of increasing police funding above the levels required by law:

    Community neighborhood hubs

    Universal basic income pilot program

    Community health workers

    Mandatory equity oversight process prior to consideration of city procurements, grants, and Council agenda items pertinent to public safety

    Claudia Muñoz, Co-Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership: “ARIC claims to protect the public, but that’s impossible to achieve through surveillance. In reality, ARIC creates a network of information that empowers the police state to continue its criminalization and persecution of Black and brown communities. Instead of continuing to fund ARIC surveillance and data sharing, we urge the City of Austin to shift funding toward initiatives such as community hubs, public health workers, universal basic income, and immigrant legal defense that will actually keep our communities safe.”

    Paromita Shah, Executive Director of Just Futures Law: “It is impossible to maintain this surveillance and data sharing infrastructure without violating our core human rights and civil liberties. Its existence threatens all residents’ rights to privacy, freedom of speech, and movement. ARIC poses tremendous risks to Black, brown and immigrant Austin residents to criminalization, arrest, and deportation.”

    Professor Sarah Sherman-Stokes, Clinical Associate Professor of Law at the Boston University School of Law: “What we’re seeing here is the damage caused by ARIC in distributing sensitive, personal and identifying information to other local and federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It increases exposure of Austin area residents to deportation while also subjecting all Austinites to unprecedented levels of police surveillance in their daily lives.”

    The full report can be found here.

  • The demand comes after proposed budget for FY 2021-2022 includes an additional $10.5M to the Austin Police Department from 2019 budget and only $1.9M for Reimagine Public Safety Task Force recommendations

    WHAT: Car caravan

    WHO: Grassroots Leadership, Texas Advocates for Justice, ICE Out of Austin, Communities of Color United, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, and Undoing White Supremacy Austin

    WHEN: Friday, August 6, 2021; 3:30 PM

    WHERE: Outside W Austin, 200 Lavaca St, Austin, TX 78701

    AUSTIN, Tex. — Friday afternoon, community advocates and people directly impacted by police violence and systemic inequity will hold a car caravan outside Austin City Mayor Steve Adler’s residence, the W Austin hotel. The goal is to urge Mayor Adler and City Council to not give more funds to the Austin Police Department than needed to be in compliance with HB 1900, which requires police department budgets like Austin’s to return to its amount in FY 2019-2020.

    According to the budget proposal by Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk, an additional $10.5M was added to the police department’s budget. Meanwhile, only $1.9M have been allotted for Reimagine Public Safety Task Force recommendations.

    The main demands from Grassroots Leadership, Communities of Color United, ICE Fuera de Austin, and Texas Harm Reduction Alliance are funding for the following:

    $11M to establish the first-year funding for 10 neighborhood hubs to fund equity-focused community resources in communities made vulnerable by structural disinvestment. Neighborhood hubs are centers of community life providing services folks need every day regarding transit, shopping, quality food, schools, parks, and social activities – and would bring together all ethnic, income, and age groups.

    $12M to create a Guaranteed Basic Income pilot program, providing immediate financial support to families in cash. These pilots target particularly vulnerable and underserved communities and provide a steady and reliable income stream that helps recipients respond to needs as they arise and at their own discretion.

    $4.5M for the development of a workforce and training hub of Community Health Workers. They would serve as front-line public health workers who are from and have a close relationship with the communities. Because of this close relationship to the communities, CHWs serve as trusted liaisons between health and social services and community members to facilitate access to services and improve quality of service delivery.

    $2M shifted away from harmful surveillance and data sharing conducted by the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC) and invested instead to support a mandatory Equity Office review prior to consideration of city procurement, grants, and city council agenda items pertaining to Reimagining Public Safety proposals and shift funds to the public defender's office. This would create a 30-day Equity Office review process for any item it notifies Council that it wishes to review. The review would then be attached to the agenda item when it is posted, and an Equity Office representative would be given space in the public meeting to present its findings. Funding for the public defender's office would provide support to people in the community that need adequate representation.

  • The demand comes after proposed budget for FY 2021-2022 includes an additional $10.5M to the Austin Police Department from 2019 budget and only $1.9M for Reimagine Public Safety Task Force recommendations

    AUSTIN, Tex. — Community advocates and people directly impacted by police violence and systemic inequity will hold a virtual press conference urging Austin City Council to not give more funds to the Austin Police Department than needed to be in compliance with HB 1900, which requires police department budgets like Austin’s to return to its amount in FY 2019-2020. According to the budget proposal by Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk, an additional $10.5M was added to the police department’s budget. Meanwhile, only $1.9M have been allotted for Reimagine Public Safety Task Force recommendations.

    Alicia Torres, member of ICE Fuera de Austin: “Last summer, Austin City Council voted unanimously to cut funding from APD—not just because of the uprisings but because report after report stated that APD had many issues from within that needed to be addressed. What has changed since then? Where has this support for our community gone? For Black and brown communities, nothing has changed. If anything, things are worse because of both the state backlash and white backlash against our efforts to demand more money be invested in our communities instead of policing. At a moment when we need Council to show true political courage, they are abandoning our community instead.”

    David Johnson, policy analyst with Grassroots Leadership: “We know that APD's proposed budget for this fiscal year is $10M more. That additional $10M should go to our recommended community initiatives—not to create more policing against our community. We also understand that in this proposed budget there is a $6M wage increase for police officers as well as $7M set aside for “other”. Yet only $1.9M could be found to fund community recommended initiatives. This budget proposal is very clear: APD first, community last.”

    Sue Gabriel, member of Communities of Color United: “For many past and present Austinites, incomes don't increase at the same pace as the cost of living. Working class Blacks, Browns, and other vulnerable populations have been left behind or pushed out by the city. It is clear that Mayor Adler, Spencer Cronk, and the council members have no interest in retaining and sustaining all communities and residents. Instead, their proposal is to massively inflate the police department budget. The proposed budget does not reflect what the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations are. It merely reinvests in the same failed system of "politics as usual".”

    Ashleigh Hamilton, member of Communities of Color United: “I am embarrassed that our city has engaged in such a disingenuous process with directly impacted communities. Do what's right and fund these very basic recommendations. This is the least that can be done. Y'all owe us. I remember last year fighting and begging for RISE funds to be awarded to families that desperately needed help. After we had to plead for that help, the city mysteriously found five million dollars for live music venues in Austin. Let's just pretend these recommendations are the same and fund them. Let's be the number one city that benefits everyone versus the best place to live in the country for wealthy white people. Fund communities, not police.”

    The main demands from Grassroots Leadership, Communities of Color United, ICE Fuera de Austin, and Texas Harm Reduction Alliance are funding for the following:

    $11M to establish the first-year funding for 10 neighborhood hubs to fund equity-focused community resources in communities made vulnerable by structural disinvestment. Neighborhood hubs are centers of community life providing services folks need every day regarding transit, shopping, quality food, schools, parks, and social activities – and would bring together all ethnic, income, and age groups.

    $12M to create a Guaranteed Basic Income pilot program, providing immediate financial support to families in cash. These pilots target particularly vulnerable and underserved communities and provide a steady and reliable income stream that helps recipients respond to needs as they arise and at their own discretion.

    $4.5M for the development of a workforce and training hub of Community Health Workers. They would serve as front-line public health workers who are from and have a close relationship with the communities. Because of this close relationship to the communities, CHWs serve as trusted liaisons between health and social services and community members to facilitate access to services and improve quality of service delivery.

    $2M shifted away from harmful surveillance and data sharing conducted by the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC) and invested instead to support a mandatory Equity Office review prior to consideration of city procurement, grants, and city council agenda items pertaining to Reimagining Public Safety proposals and shift funds to the public defender's office. This would create a 30-day Equity Office review process for any item it notifies Council that it wishes to review. The review would then be attached to the agenda item when it is posted, and an Equity Office representative would be given space in the public meeting to present its findings. Funding for the public defender's office would provide support to people in the community that need adequate representation.

  • Texas advocacy groups warn the process is rife with constitutional violations, such as misleading migrants into waiving their right to an attorney

    Bracketville, Texas – Thursday night, Grassroots Leadership released a video shared by the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office showing mass magistration outside in a parking lot for migrants arrested and charged with criminal trespass under Governor Abbott’s Operation Lonestar. Through this operation, law enforcement officers are encouraging ranchers to file criminal charges against migrants. Migrants charged are currently held in Briscoe Unit, a Texas state jail recently cleared by Governor Abbott’s orders in order to incarcerate migrants pretrial.

    Advocacy groups are extremely alarmed by reports that individuals arrested in Kinney County have been misled in quasi-legal proceedings into waiving their Constitutional rights to court-appointed legal representation. As of today, the Texas Indigent Defense Commission—the state entity charged with ensuring that indigent clients have access to court-appointed quality legal representation—has not intervened to stop this blatant violation of constitutional rights in Kinney County.

    Katy Dyer, a clinical professor with the University of Texas School of Law, was one of the first attorneys to witness the group magistrations, where proper procedures were being skimmed over in favor of efficiency. “There are currently more than 300 migrants jailed at Briscoe Unit, and at least 150 do not have legal representation. Local officials in Kinney County are conducting quick, incomplete proceedings that lead to confusion and misunderstanding of constitutional rights. Many migrants are signing pre-filled forms declining to request an attorney without being able to read the forms in a language they understand. Some migrants have been without representation for over three weeks now.”

    Carolina Canizales from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center: “Anti-immigrant and racist Texas officials continue to show complete disregard for human rights, as this video shows. The only ones benefiting in this situation are the cruel prison system and Abbott's political agenda. How many more bad actions does Texas need to do before the Biden-Harris Administration steps in to provide much needed relief to migrants and all those suffering from this cruelty?”

    Amanda Woog, Executive Director for the Texas Fair Defense Project: “The everyday cruelty of the Texas criminal legal system is now being unleashed on migrants through Operation Lone Star. People are being denied their right to counsel, set unaffordable bail, and are targeted because of the color of their skin and their national origin. This is a cynical ploy by Governor Abbott and the state and local officials that are enabling him, and we are prepared to fight back.”

    Jorge Renaud, National Criminal Justice Director for LatinoJustice PRLDEF

    “The entire operation is lawless, unconstitutional, inhumane, and ripped from Trump’s playbook of demonizing brown and black communities for political advancement.”

    Advocate organizations are urging state and county officials to drop all charges and end Operation Lonestar immediately.

    The full video can be found here.

  • Legal action follows Grassroots Leadership’s groundbreaking work to expose the systematically racist, abusive, and unconstitutional nature of Governor Abbott’s Lone Star Program

    Del Rio, Texas – This Tuesday, September 28, civil rights groups will demand the release of two migrants at a public virtual hearing in the 63rd District Court in Texas scheduled to begin at 10:30am CT. Grassroots Leadership and Just Futures Law filed two petitions earlier this month for writ of Habeas Corpus for the men–Ivan Nava and David Muñoz–arrested in Kinney County, Texas, through Operation Lone Star. The charges were filed at the 45-day mark, and the men have now been detained for more than 50 days.

    The Lone Star Program is a multi-billion dollar Texas law enforcement operation designed by Governor Greg Abbott to faciliate the rapid deportation of immigrants by targeting suspected migrants through racial profiling and then prosecuting them based on the lowest-level state misdemeanor offenses, such as trespassing. Videos posted by one county sheriff show individuals herded into mass hearings in parking lots. The migrants were forced to sign pre-filled legal forms in English they could not understand and detained for extended periods of time in inhumane prison settings. Hundreds have been arrested in the Lone Star Operation since the program launched in March of 2021.

    Following the shocking images that recently emerged of U.S. enforcement officers reprehensible treatment of Haitian refugees along the US-Mexico border, Operation Lone Star stands out as yet another example of a sprawling immigration enforcement system rooted in cruelty and racism.

    In addition to dropping charges and releasing Ivan Nava and David Muñoz, the civil rights groups demand that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cease any collaboration with Texas law enforcement in Operation Lone Star, and that Texas terminate this unlawful program immediately.

    “Operation Lone Star was designed to be abusive, dangerous, and unlawful; that makes Texas a very dangerous place for migrants and people of color,” said Annette Price, Co-Executive Director for Grassroots Leadership. “Texas has taken what is already a horrifying criminal justice system and is now weaponizing it against a new class of people of color.”

    “Governor Abbott’s unlawful Operation Lone Star decimates basic constitutional protections in the Texas legal system,” said Kevin Herrera, Staff Attorney for Just Futures Law. “These arrests were racially motivated and unlawful. Texas must dismiss the misdemeanor charges against Mr. Muñoz and Mr. Nava and release them from custody, and ICE must stop cooperating with this abusive program. Through their use of detainers extending the unlawful detention of people arrested under Operation Lone Star, ICE is facilitating the abuses that are happening in Texas courts and jails.”

    “Operation Lone Star has created a separate, unconstitutional legal system where people are targeted by race, national origin, and gender. Those people are then put into inhumane prison facilities hundreds of miles from the courts where the cases are being heard, and have separate proceedings and separate, non-local judges from other people charged with crimes,” said Kathryn Dyer, a clinical professor and criminal defense attorney. “The men trapped in this process have faced considerable obstacles gaining access to legal counsel, access to courts, and continue to be incarcerated despite grounds for release due to their unlawful arrest and procedural delay. Rather than focus on actual public safety concerns, Governor Abbott has prioritized using unconstitutional means to a political end.”

    Reporters and members of the public are encouraged to attend the virtual public hearing on Tuesday, September 28, 2021 at 10:30am CT on the 63rd District Court’s YouTube account and through a Grassroots Leadership Facebook event. Read more about the Operation Lone Star in this fact sheet. Representatives from Grassroots Leadership and attorneys Kevin Herrera and Kathryn Dyer are available for comment.

  • Press conference comes one day after Texas refused to release migrants illegally held under Operation Lone Star more than 48 hours after their charges were dismissed

    WHAT: A press conference demanding release of immigrants illegally detained more than the 48 hours mandated by federal statute

    WHO: Organizers from Grassroots Leadership

    WHEN: Friday, October 1, 2021, 11am

    WHERE: Outside the Dolph Briscoe Unit, 1459 West Highway 85, Dilley, Texas 78017

    DILLEY, TX — Immigration and Criminal Justice Advocates will gather in front of the Dolph Briscoe Unit in Dilley, Texas to demand the release of two migrant fathers — Ivan Nava and David Muñoz — who are now being illegally held after the state dismissed their cases.

    On Tuesday, September 28 at 1:47pm cst, the state of Texas dropped misdemeanor charges against two migrant fathers who had been arrested and detained for more than 50 days as part of Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. Grassroots Leadership and Just Futures Law filed two petitions for writ of Habeas Corpus seeking their release earlier this month.

    Despite the court’s ruling ordering their release, the jail is illegally holding both men on an immigration detainer request that expired yesterday. Federal law allows jailers to detain immigrants on an immigration detainer, but no more than 48 hours past the time they were ordered released. There are no exceptions to the 48 hour requirement that a person must be released promptly if the 48-hour time period has expired without ICE assuming custody.

    Just Futures Law sent a demand letter to the Briscoe Unit Warden, Maria Ramirez, yesterday advising her that the 48-hour detainer period had officially expired. When advocates inquired in person about the release of Mr. Nava and Mr. Muñoz, they were told the men would not be released despite the illegal nature of their further detention.

    Relevant legal documents available upon request

  • Hearing follows Grassroots Leadership’s groundbreaking work to expose the systematically racist, abusive, and unconstitutional nature of the Lone Star program.

    WHAT: A hearing seeking contempt of court against Texas officials who defied a September 28, 2021 court order to release two men being held unlawfully under Operation Lone Star.

    WHEN: Monday, December 13, 2021 at 3PM CT / 4PM ET / 1PM PT

    WHERE: The virtual hearing can be watched live on the 63rd District Court’s YouTube account and via a Grassroots Leadership “Pack the Court” Facebook event.

    WHO:

    Ivan Nava, one of the men who was detained and ordered released

    Kathryn Dyer, attorney representing Ivan Nava and David Muñoz

    Additional co-counsel for Ivan Nava and David Muñoz

    Attorneys representing the state of Texas

    Judge Roland Andrade of the Texas 63rd District Court

    WHY: In a first-of-its-kind legal victory, on September 28, 2021, in the 63rd District Court in Texas, attorneys for the state of Texas dropped misdemeanor charges against two men–Ivan Ruano Nava and David Vega Muñoz–who had been arrested and detained for more than 50 days as part of Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. The motions to dismiss the men’s criminal charges was signed by Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan and stamped by the Kinney County Clerk at 1:47 PM on September 28, 2021. Judge Roland Andrade from the 63rd District Court issued another order on October 1st commanding their immediate release without further detention or transportation. Texas officials, however, failed to release the men, instead moving them to a new facility and continuing their detainment without providing a public explanation for ignoring court order. Attorneys from Just Futures and collaborators filed motions for contempt against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Kinney County Sheriff, and others for the officials’ failure to follow court order.

Mujeres Luchadoras members sharing their stories of abuse at the hands of ICE during Migra en la Mira forum in San Antonio, Texas, April 2021.

Grassroots Leadership policy organizer and CAST co-founder David Johnson speaking at press conference urging passing of bill to abolish slavery, May 2021.

Grassroots Leadership participatory defense organizer, Chantel Pridgon, with TAJ member Maggie Luna at press conference urging pause on women’s jail, June 2021.

2020

  • Despite being one of the most diverse cities in the United States, Harris County court data revealed that Black people—while comprising 19% of the population—accounted for 45% of bookings in the Harris County jail and served 51% of the nights in jail from 2015 to 2018

    HOUSTON, Tex. — A new report by Grassroots Leadership and Texas Advocates for Justice was released in a press conference today outside Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s office. The report, Care Not Cages, revealed significant racial disparities in policing and jailing in Harris County.

    The reasons for these disparities are varied and complex, but undoubtedly two of the most significant factors are biased policing that feeds Black people into the criminal legal system, and well-chronicled wealth-based bail practices that keep poor, and largely Black, people in jail pretrial, coercing guilty pleas resulting in longer confinement, and creating or adding to criminal records subsequently used to justify the next arrest, pretrial detention and conviction.

    Based on the findings of the report, community leaders and activists call on Houston and Harris County elected officials to immediately act on the following:

    Houston Police Department eliminate racial profiling and unnecessary searches.

    Harris County Commissioners Court immediately prioritize funding pre-arrest alternatives to incarceration for drug possession.

    Harris County Criminal Court Judges implement a policy to grant automatic personal recognizance bonds to all defendants charged with POCS <1g.

    Harris County District Attorney stop prosecuting POCS <1g cases.

    Harris County Sheriff’s Office increase data transparency, accuracy and community accessibility.

    According to the report, Black people comprised 19.7% of the Harris County population in 2017, yet from March 1, 2015 through March 1, 2018 made up 45.4% of bookings into the Harris County jail and served 51% of the nights in jail — over 3.9 million combined nights.

    “Harris County must stop wasting tax dollars arresting, incarcerating, and funneling people through the criminal court system,” said Monique Joseph, field organizer for Texas Advocates for Justice. “We demand investment in community-based response to substance use and recovery rather than punishment. Our communities deserve better than this.”

    The report also revealed the lead charge driving the most nights spent in the Harris County jail over the studied timeframe was possession of less than one gram of a controlled substance in penalty group one (POCS PG1 <1g). Community activists feel the prevalence of this charge reflects how discriminatory police and bail practices combine to drive racially disparate jailing.

    Darren Joseph, a native Houstonian, shared his experience when he was a student at Texas Southern University and was sent to jail for three days after his traffic ticket led to a warrant for his arrest. “When I got pulled over, the police officer told me that the car would be impounded—I asked if someone could take it, they told me no. After the three days I was in jail, the cost to get my car out was around $600. The warrant and traffic ticket in combination was close to another $400,” he shared. “I could not afford all of that along with my rent, my car note, paying for school out of pocket, and then on top of that, sitting in jail for three days. It felt like a violation. I felt like no one cared, especially those that have the power. It felt like they didn’t care about my life at all, and this happening more than once throughout my life has really been a burden. I really think something needs to change.”

    “Being stopped, detained, arrested and put into a cage for days at a time; feeling hopeless from fear of losing your car, job, family—I know the agony. I have lived through generations of family members being put into the criminal justice system for low-level offenses,” said Dianna Williams, field organizer for Texas Advocates for Justice. “We didn’t have money, so cash bail was never an option. Those arrests would have been best handled as public health and safety issues. It would have stopped the recidivism in my family. Social services and sustainable diversion programs should always be the alternative to incarceration. If there is more care instead of cages, not only will it help end mass incarceration, but our communities will be safer and healthier.”

    Of the top charges involved in arrests and bookings into the Harris County Jail, two are associated with driving without proper documentation. Combined, Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility (No insurance) and No Driver’s License charges were the most common charges among Harris County bookings over the studied period.

    “We’re fighting for a Texas that recognizes the role of institutional racism in our justice system and puts an immediate stop to pretextual stops of Black and brown communities,” said Annette Price, acting executive co-director for Grassroots Leadership. “The failed ‘War on Drugs’ skyrocketed the mass incarceration crisis we have on our hands. This has done irrevocable damage to our communities and families—it’s time for our communities to heal.”

    Houston is the third-largest city and one of the most diverse cities in the country. Incarcerating nearly 9,000 people per night, the Harris County jail is larger than the prison systems in 19 states and is the largest jail system in the most incarcerated state in the most incarcerated nation on earth.

  • County and City should use harm reduction and public health strategies, not arrests and incarceration

    Austin, TX—A review of 2,900 drug possession arrests in Travis County from June 2017 to May 2018 reveals troubling police practices that harm communities, exacerbate racial disparities in arrests and jail detention, and fail to address underlying needs of people who use drugs.

    According to key findings from the report, which is scheduled for release February 18, Black residents in Travis County represented 29.4 percent of drug possession arrests, despite comprising only 8.9 percent of the population. Researchers found that half of the arrests analyzed arose from motor vehicle stops, typically for minor traffic violations such as failure to signal or expired registration. The review also showed that drug possession arrests are concentrated in specific areas of Austin where Black and Latinx communities predominantly reside. These findings confirm a recent City of Austin report finding that Black and Latinx residents are overrepresented in Austin Police Department motor vehicle stops.

    The report authors emphasize the need to build upon current efforts, such as the Sobering Center and elimination of arrests for low-level cannabis possession, to create a different approach to addressing drug use within the county. Instead of arrest and incarceration, which are costly and disruptive to families and communities, local policy-makers should invest in resources that provide avenues for treatment for those who seek it and prevent harms like overdose.

    Doug Smith, Senior Policy Analyst at the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, said, “Typical War on Drugs enforcement, especially for low-level possession, is a net negative for the community. Even short periods in jail result in the loss of jobs or housing, family separation, child welfare system involvement, and a host of long-term consequences that limit future opportunities.”

    Cate Graziani, Policy and Operations Director at the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, said, “A harm reduction approach would limit the role of the criminal justice system in addressing substance use, and instead, link people to the appropriate support they need. Ultimately, this is the only approach that has been proven to be effective in addressing problematic drug use. Countries around the world that have abandoned the War on Drugs and focused on building a public health approach to substance use have seen no increase in crime rates, and have lower rates of communicable disease and overdose.”

    David Johnson, Criminal Justice Organizer at Grassroots Leadership, said, “People should not be punished for needing help, yet the reality is that people have been locked away for mental illness and substance use for generations. I know firsthand the countless ways in which lives are torn apart by the misdiagnosis and mistreatment of public health issues as criminal justice ones. Punitive policing and mass incarceration help no one. It’s time for Travis County to do better and invest in services that help those who need it the most.”

    The full report will be released on February 18 and will detail the community harm that comes from arrest-based drug enforcement, while offering alternative approaches to address health and safety. The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, Grassroots Leadership, and the Civil Rights Clinic of the University of Texas School of Law conducted this research in response to rising rates of low-level drug possession arrests in Travis County. Read key findings from the upcoming report here.

  • WHAT: District Attorney Candidates’ Forum

    WHO: Grassroots Leadership, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, Jose Garza, Margaret Moore, Erin Martinson

    WHEN: Sunday, February 9, 2020, 4-6 PM

    WHERE: Sunrise Community Forum, 4430 Menchaca Rd, Austin, TX 78745

    AUSTIN, TX — On Sunday, February 9, Grassroots Leadership, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, and Texas Harm Reduction Alliance will co-host a candidates’ forum in Austin to educate the community on candidates running for Travis County District Attorney and present questions to the candidates.

    The forum will specifically address the role prosecutors play in promoting public health approaches to drug use, harm reduction, and pre-arrest diversion programs.

    The forum occurs days after the hosts published key findings showing Black residents in Travis County representing 29.4 percent of drug possession arrests, despite comprising only 8.9 percent of the population.

    The candidates attending the forum are District Attorney Margaret Moore, Workers Defense co-director Jose Garza, and attorney Erin Martinson.

  • TAYLOR, Tex. — On February 24, a group of African women detained at the T. Don Hutto detention center held a sit-in in front of the medical clinic protesting lack of medical attention. Following the sit-in, ICE suspended visitation, turning away attorneys and community visitors as well as blocking access to legal representation and community members who could help bring attention to the medical abuses happening inside.

    ICE is threatening to transfer all the women who protested in retaliation for speaking out for their rights. For roughly the past six months, ICE has denied granting parole or bond to any of the women detained. This leaves women who present themselves at the port of entry—what the US government says they should do—languishing in detention for the duration of their asylum case without any way to appeal for their release. Right now, many of these women who crossed the bridge are from Cameroon, where the English speaking population is fleeing persecution from the French majority. According to estimates from women detained there, there are about 300 Cameroonians currently detained at T. Don Hutto.

    This protest comes as ICE continues to push for a direct contract with CoreCivic, the for-profit company that operates the detention center, to renew its contract to keep T. Don Hutto for 10 more years. In June 2018, Williamson County ended its contract with ICE after Commissioners received pressure to shut down the detention center in the wake of outrage over the detention of mothers separated from their children at the border and allegations of sexual assault by a guard.

    “The brave actions of these women show us why we cannot tolerate 10 more years of ICE’s abuse. ICE must release stop retaliating against these women for speaking up for their human right to proper medical care and release them immediately on humanitarian parole,” said Bethany Carson, immigration researcher and organizer at Grassroots Leadership.

    Grassroots Leadership is asking community members to make calls to the T. Don Hutto detention center and San Antonio ICE office to demand ICE stop the transfers and immediately release on humanitarian parole all of the women who protested for their right to medical care. Grassroots Leadership will hold a rally on Saturday at 10 am outside the detention center to continue to call for their release, demand the restoration of parole for all of the women detained at T. Don Hutto, and continue to call on local and national elected officials to intervene and stop the new 10-year contract between ICE and CoreCivic.

  • WHAT: Rally

    WHO: Grassroots Leadership

    WHEN: Saturday, February 29, 2020 @ 10AM

    WHERE: T. Don Hutto Detention Center, 1001 Welch St, Taylor, TX 76574

    TAYLOR, Tex. — Saturday morning, Grassroots Leadership will hold a rally outside the T. Don Hutto Detention Center on behalf of the 80 Cameroonian women who held a sit-in on February 24th to demand for their release. As a result of the February 24th sit-in, ICE retaliated by transferring 47 Cameroonian women to the Laredo Processing Center.

    Grassroots Leadership is calling for the release of all the women detained at T. Don Hutto and will continue to call on local and national elected officials to intervene and stop the new 10-year contract between ICE and CoreCivic.

  • If Congress doesn’t act, these contracts will serve as an expansion model for detention across the country

    PEARSALL, Tex. — Pearsall, Texas -- Today, Grassroots Leadership and immigrant advocates from across Texas rallied outside of the South Texas Detention Complex to demand Members of Congress take bold action to stop three new 10-year Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracts in the state. The new ICE contracts are targeted to expand capacity at existing detention facilities at the South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall, the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, and the Houston Processing Center in Houston.

    “The five months I spent detained at the T. Don Hutto detention center was psychological abuse,” said Sulma Franco, the Detention and Immigration Organizer at Grassroots Leadership. “Being locked away meant the guards had total control over my life to the point where I no longer felt human. They determined when I slept, when I ate, when I showered, and when I could talk to my loved ones. I was given no moment of privacy.”

    In 2019, these facilities detained almost 22 percent of the average daily population (ADP) in Texas. All three are known to have facilitated family separations, as well as a wide range of mistreatment and abuse, including deaths and sexual assault; most recently, the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor faced public backlash following the retaliation of 47 Cameroonian asylum-seeking women after protesting their indefinite confinement and inadequate medical care.

    “If ICE is able to secure these contracts in Texas, it will mean extending the harm of this administration far beyond Trump’s term in office, further binding Texas—currently the leading immigrant incarcerating state in the country—to an already massive for-profit detention system for the next decade,” said Bethany Carson, Immigration Policy Researcher and Organizer at Grassroots Leadership. “The responsibility falls on Congress to do whatever they can to stop these new 10-year contracts. They must defend the public from ICE's abuses and shady measures that allow our massive detention structure to remain in place despite widespread community opposition.”

    To-date, Texas Representatives have sent a letter to the Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Acting Director of ICE and the Director of the Office of Management Acquisition urging them to immediately suspend the current solicitation for the facilities in violation of federal procurement laws. The congressional letter also outlines abuse and inadequate, oftentimes life-threatening, medical care, while underscoring ICE’s ongoing lack of transparency and accountability.

    “Texas Representatives have tried to sound the alarm on these illicit contracts that will have a tremendous impact on the state and our local communities to no avail -- they need to do more, and they need to do it now,” added Carson. “Communities from across the state have been organizing to shut down detention centers for years, our elected officials need to hear us now and act.”

    The contracts are set to be awarded any day as the final solicitation deadline passed earlier this week. The letter by Texas representatives follows a request from 45 Texas-based non-governmental organizations to members of Congress in early December urging them to use their oversight authorities to investigate ICE’s attempt to evade procurement law and disregard community opposition to contract extensions in Texas for immigration detention.

    “Deaths and ongoing allegations of abuse should be reason enough to close down these facilities,” said Barbara Suarez Galeano, Organizing Director of Detention Watch Network. “ICE is already overspending the ever-increasing funds that Congress allocates for its detention account and asking to be bailed out each fiscal year. We must recognize ICE’s constant, often unchecked, exponential growth of the immigration detention system for what it really is: a wholesale attack on immigrants.”

  • The letter sent to officials offer solutions that promote effective practices in institutions such as public housing, jails, health care and public education

    AUSTIN, Tex. — 10 advocacy organizations sent a letter Friday afternoon to local and county officials regarding social distancing restrictions and what can be done to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 in Central Texas and will be holding an e-press conference on Monday, March 16 at 11am. Join by clicking here at the meeting start time.

    While local and county officials are releasing plans of action to limit the spread of the virus, community advocates stress the importance of providing effective solutions that help the most vulnerable populations, from people in prison, the elderly, and unsheltered people to people with disabilities. Given that we face an unprecedented situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, community advocates believe it warrants an unprecedented, swift, and necessary response from local and county authorities with the power to save and protect as many of the most vulnerable people as possible.

    “Austin and Travis County need to prepare now for a growing healthcare disaster," said Selena Xie, President of Austin EMS Association. “While there are no confirmed cases of community spread COVID-19 yet, no one denies that the virus is in our community. Our ICUs have a limited capacity. We expect critical care transports to increase. We must take steps immediately to ensure that the most vulnerable, those most likely to get the sickest, can be treated, managed, and transported by our medics at ATCEMS. This means we need equipment we don't have enough of right now: powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs) for every ambulance, IV medication pumps, updated ventilators, and portable ultrasound units."

    “We shouldn’t have to choose between our health and our safety,” said Claudia Muñoz, acting executive co-director at Grassroots Leadership. “If the Austin community is expected to be as prepared as possible and keep our most vulnerable safe, we need county and city officials to ensure that all community members feel safe to ask for help and limit interaction with law enforcement as much as possible, whether it’s on the streets, in court, or in jails. This includes ensuring everyone—regardless of immigration status—feels safe to seek treatment without fearing ICE presence and not being exposed to hazardous conditions inside jails. Other cities have taken bold action, it’s time we do the same.”

    “It shouldn’t take a pandemic for us to realize that no one should choose between their family’s health and their livelihood, but here we are,” said Erika Galindo, organizing program manager at Lilith Fund in Austin. “This is an unprecedented event and we need a response that is unprecedented in both scale and vision. Lilith Fund believes that the vision offered to us by reproductive justice is the place to start. It is a vision that says the right to be healthy and safe should be guaranteed to all. In particular, the inability to take time off work as a barrier to abortion care as been known to reproductive justice activists for years. Now COVID-19 has shown us all how this problem impacts every worker and every family. Austin can do better and so we must.”

    “Four million workers in Texas do not have access to paid sick leave, including over 200,000 workers in the greater Austin area. Tragically, a lawsuit pursued by Attorney General Ken Paxton and other corporate interests has prevented the City of Austin’s 2018 paid sick leave ordinance from going into effect,” said Ana Gonzalez, Policy Director at Workers Defense Project. “This, however, should not stop our local government leaders from urging area businesses to provide the necessary protective equipment to working employees and to implement emergency paid sick leave policies now. The health and safety of their employees, their customers, and our entire community depend on it.”

    The organizations that signed on to the letter are Grassroots Leadership, MELJ Center, Central Texas National Action Network, Austin EMS Association, Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity, NARAL-Pro Choice Texas, GoAustinVamosAustin, Community of Color United for Racial Justice, Workers Defense Project, and Youth Rise Texas.

    The full letter can be found here.

  • Immigration, criminal legal reform, and civil rights groups call on DOJ to halt immigration prosecutions, close “Operation Streamline” courts, and drop existing charges

    In a letter sent to Attorney General William Barr today, more than 160 immigration, faith, civil rights, and community organizations called on the Department of Justice to enact immediate changes in the criminal prosecution of migrants to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

    Several federal courts have already stayed court hearings until May and are declining to bring unnecessary charges like unauthorized entry or reentry against immigrants at the border due to the spreading coronavirus. Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli has said that federal courts in Arizona and New Mexico would be suspending certain prosecutions. However, according to media reports, the Operation Streamline court in Yuma, Arizona is continuing to prosecute and incarcerate migrants and reentry prosecutions are proceeding across the country.

    The groups called on the Department of Justice, in conjunction with CBP, ICE, and the U.S. Marshals, to immediately enact changes in all districts including: ending arrests, referrals, and criminal prosecutions for unauthorized entry (8 USC §1325) and unauthorized reentry (8 USC §1326); halting “Operation Streamline” magistrate courts; dropping all charges for unauthorized entry and unauthorized reentry and prioritizing release of those currently being held on such charges; and agreeing to re-sentence people held in BOP or private prisons on entry or reentry offenses.

    Quotes

    “Criminal charging and locking up migrants is always dangerous. In a time of a pandemic, it is not only dangerous, it also may be deadly. Reducing the number of people who are unnecessarily locked up is a pressing public health issue, and these recommendations will go a long way towards that goal,” said Claudia Muñoz, acting co-Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership.

    “As recently as last week, ICE was conducting raids in our communities, indifferent to the existing fear and chaos of this pandemic. In just one of those instances in North Carolina, at least 200 of our friends and neighbors were taken into custody, and many of them are currently being prosecuted for re-entry” said Jacinta Gonzalez of Mijente. “The DOJ should do the right thing, act now to stop any more arrests, and decline these unnecessary prosecutions so that the many thousands of people around the country, including hundreds of our people in North Carolina, can return safely home to their families.”

    “The Department of Justice’s decision to continue prosecutions and imprisonment jeopardizes the lives of thousands of imprisoned individuals and our communities,” said Julie Mao, Deputy Director of Just Futures Law. “They must act swiftly on these recommendations to avert a catastrophe.”

    “In the face of this unprecedented health crisis, the only humane thing to do is halt these prosecutions and stop putting immigrants in harm’s way before it’s too late,” said Miryan Villalobos of The Bail Project. “We urge the Department of Justice to rise above politics and do the right thing.”

    “The administration needs to immediately cease the abusive practice of prosecuting people for immigration-related offenses,” said Jesse Franzblau, Senior Policy Analyst with the National Immigrant Justice Center. “Such prosecutions are a cruel form of double punishment, cause unwarranted harm to migrants, and are especially reckless during a public health crisis.”

  • Houston, TX — Last week Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) awarded the Houston Processing Center a nearly $50 million contract to keep the for-profit immigration detention facility open for the next decade. The 10-year contract is the first of a three facility solicitation for increased detention capacity in Texas that ICE initiated in November. The other two facilities are the South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall, Texas and the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas. All three are operated by for-profit prison corporations.

    “ICE is exploiting this moment of crisis to quietly expand the immigration detention system,” said Bethany Carson, Immigration Policy Researcher and Organizer at Grassroots Leadership. “Doctors and advocates alike have been sounding the alarm for weeks that people in detention are sitting ducks in a system notorious for its fatally flawed medical care and abysmal conditions. We need to release people from detention now instead of expanding the system.”

    The Houston Processing Center, operated by CoreCivic, was the nation’s first private prison, opening in1984. Since 2003, the Houston Processing Center has reported at least nine deaths in which ICE’s own investigations have identified more than a dozen violations of government detention standards with no record of improvement.

    All three detention centers are operated by private prison companies and are known to have facilitated family separations, as well as a wide range of mistreatment and abuse, including deaths and sexual assault.

    At the South Texas Detention Complex, operated by private prison giant GEO Group, people inside the facility have reported that groups of detained people are participating in worker strikes in protest to ICE neglecting those showing signs of illness consistent with COVID-19. There are also alarming reports of ICE tear gassing detained immigrants.

    “We’re hearing there’s very little food, and we don’t know if it’s because of lack of personnel or if there is a food shortage in the detention center,” added Carson.

    “Immigrants detained at Pearsall report they are no longer allowed to see the doctor or watch TV, and they’re afraid of the phone lines being cut off. Detention is no place for anyone, and allowing people to remain there during a pandemic after ICE has proven they are not capable of taking care of people in their custody is a recipe for disaster.”

    Now advocates are urgently calling on ICE to release people from detention and end the solicitation of future immigration detention contracts, a demand that has widespread community and congressional support. In January, Texas Representatives sent a letter urging ICE to immediately suspend the current solicitation for the facilities in violation of federal procurement laws.

    “Any available federal funding should be used for the expansion of critical supplies for health care workers, testing and treatment for all as the coronavirus continues to spread -- not on detaining immigrants,” said Gaby Viera, Advocacy Associate at Detention Watch Network. “Members of Congress must fight to protect the immigrant community, call for the immediate release of people in detention, and advocate for significant cuts in funding to these abusive and deadly agencies.”

  • Organizations say communities of color and immigrants are most impacted by efforts to stop the spread of the pandemic

    Austin, TX — With social distancing measures in place followed by the recent shelter-in-place order issued by Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt in effect through April 13, thousands of Austinites are out of work and don’t know when, or if, they will be able to return to their jobs. While the federal government continues to work on a stimulus package that will benefit millions of Americans across the country, community advocates fear the most vulnerable communities will be left without the much-needed economic relief.

    In a letter sent today to Austin council members, community-based groups, including Communities of Color United for Racial Equity, urge bold solutions from the city of Austin to not only stabilize our community but to ensure Austin’s Black and Brown communities will not be left out of recovery efforts.

    The organizations behind this effort believe the time to act is now. They are requesting Austin City Council to allocate $10 million for cash assistance to be given in a one-time cash transfer of $1,000 to 10,000 unique families experiencing financial hardship brought on by COVID-19. Unrestricted cash transfers are the best option to support our friends and neighbors right now. They know best what their families need.

    “If power is money, then we must give power to the people. People in our communities are smart, resilient and strong. We need to stop guessing what they need and give them the freedom to decide what works best for them in any situation, now more than ever,” said Ivanna Neri, director of Family Independence Initiative Austin, one of the organizations behind this effort.

    A stimulus package given by the federal government will only benefit individuals with a social security number, which means undocumented families, some of our most vulnerable residents, would be excluded. Unemployment benefits do not cover undocumented families, contractors or small businesses that may not have unemployment insurance. A direct cash transfer can help fill in the gap that may mean the difference between being able to keep a roof over a family’s head, seek medical help, or feed a family in this dire time.

    “We have 200 members in our Central Texas network of domestic workers who are being affected economically by this crisis. They are hard-working people who deserve dignity and respect. We know that the only way to get by is by putting cash into our hands,” said Rosario Nava, leader with Mujeres Inspiradas en Sueños, Metas y Acciones (MISMA), an organization supporting this effort.

    “There are more than 100,000 undocumented people in the Austin metro area who are currently living with an immense weight on their chest not knowing whether they will be able to keep their family fed, sheltered, or safe in the next month because of COVID-19’s effect on their jobs,” said Alicia Torres, member of ICE Fuera de Austin, a community member group of Grassroots Leadership, “If there was ever a moment for the city of Austin to let the undocumented community know that they too are part of Austin’s community at large and will also be protected, that time is now.”

    Advocates believe the city must act fast and give all residents what they really need now: cash. In the last 26 days, Austin has canceled all major conventions and festivals, including SXSW and ACL. Many Austinites have experienced a sudden and unexpected loss of income and the potential loss of their job in the long-term.

    "Direct and immediate financial relief for the people most negatively impacted by this crisis will be critical to communities' capacity to organize and engage in driving the longer-term systemic changes that our society desperately needs to be healthy," said Carmen Llanes, executive director of Go! Austin, Vamos! Austin.

    ”We respectfully with urgency ask the Austin City Council to support funding in this cash assistance initiative to help reduce the fear and instill hope,” said Ofelia Zapata, leader with Advocates for Social Justice Reform.

  • Austin City Council is being accused of being complicit in police violence, community displacement, anti-immigrant practices, and chronically underfunding the Austin Public Health Department

    WHAT: Public demonstration

    WHO: Grassroots Leadership, Austin DSA, Austin Youth Liberation Movement

    WHEN: Saturday, August 8, 2020; 6-8PM

    WHERE: Austin City Hall Plaza, 301 W 2nd St, Austin, TX 78701

    VISUALS: Plaza set up like a courtroom, banners listing the charges and evidence

    AUSTIN, Tex. — Saturday evening, community advocates, and people directly impacted by police violence, community displacement, and systemic inequity will hold a people’s tribunal outside Austin City Hall.

    The People's Tribunal will be presided by judges that have been directly impacted by such complicity of violence on part of the Austin City Council and will offer testimony as evidence.

    This demonstration occurs the week before Austin City Council plans to vote on the upcoming city budget after a heated summer of community pressure to significantly defund the Austin Police Department following numerous incidents of police violence.

  • Leaders say effort is critical to ensuring communities of color and immigrant communities are part of recovery

    Austin, TX — On Wednesday, more than 200 civil rights, immigration, criminal justice reform, and civic organizations and community leaders called on Austin City Council to fully fund a direct cash assistance program to provide relief for Austinites suffering due to the economic pains caused by COVID-19. A vote on the proposed measure, Items 81 and 87, is expected later today during Austin City Council’s scheduled meeting.

    The letter calls on city officials to ensure that Austin’s Black, Brown, and Asian communities will not be left out of the COVID-19 pandemic recovery efforts. It calls on city officials to allocate $7.5 million for cash assistance in one-time cash transfers to families experiencing financial hardship brought by COVID-19 and to include no restrictions on how direct cash assistance should be spent or managed by the recipients shall be placed.

    Furthermore, the letter calls on the City of Austin to include anyone who is experiencing hardship is eligible for the one-time cash transfer regardless of their citizenship status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and age. It asks that the money allocated for direct cash assistance is awarded through an organization like Family Independence Initiative which has committed to ensuring 100% of the funds go directly to the most vulnerable families in Travis County by absorbing overhead or any other operational cost.

    Last month, community organizations called on Austin City Council to commit to bold solutions to not only stabilize our community but to ensure Austin’s Black and Brown communities will not be left out of recovery efforts.

    Quotes

    “There are more than 100,000 undocumented people in the Austin metro area who are currently living with an immense weight on their chest not knowing whether they will be able to keep their family fed, sheltered, or safe in the next month because of COVID-19’s effect on their jobs,” said Alicia Torres, member of ICE Fuera de Austin, a community member group of Grassroots Leadership, “If there was ever a moment for the city of Austin to let the undocumented community know that they too are part of Austin’s community at large and will also be protected, that time is now.”

    At this time, my husband is currently detained at the South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall, TX, the only way for us to communicate with him is by keeping my phone bill paid,” said Miriam Jaimes, member of ICE Fuera de Austin. “Without a job right now, making those payments is incredibly difficult. If Austin City Council passes this proposal, people like me will benefit greatly and will allow us to stay in contact with our loved ones.”

  • The RISE resolution will allow those not immediately eligible for federal relief aid to receive economic support from the city during the COVID-19 pandemic

    Austin, TX— Earlier this afternoon, the Austin City Council unanimously voted in favor of Items 81 and 87, locally known as the RISE resolution. The resolution allocates $15 million for direct assistance to people facing financial hardship. Of the $15 million, $7.5 million will be available in the form of direct cash assistance to struggling Austinites.

    This victory is much-needed for Austin undocumented workers, mixed-status families, those who work in the cash economy, independent contractors, and college students who were left out of federal relief efforts. With many losing their jobs overnight due to social distancing practices and Austin’s stay at home order, direct cash assistance will allow individuals to have agency on how the money will be spent.

    Prior to the vote, more than than 200 civil rights, immigration, criminal justice reform, and civic organizations and community leaders sent a letter to Austin City Council urging passage of direct cash assistance. The ample public commentary before the vote was a testament to the overwhelming need for this type of relief that currently exists in Austin.

    Last month, community organizations called on Austin City Council to commit to bold solutions to not only stabilize our community but to ensure Austin’s Black and Brown communities will not be left out of recovery efforts.

    Quotes:

    Claudia Muñoz, acting co-executive director for Grassroots Leadership: “We are pleased that Austin City Council has chosen to invest in our communities that are hurting due to this horrifying pandemic, including many of our members who lost their income and worked hard to see this resolution come to fruition. City officials will now decide on the best method for disbursement. During this time of much turmoil and uncertainty, I am proud of my city for leading the way with this bold relief effort.”

    Alicia Torres, member of ICE Out of Austin: “Austin City Council has done the right thing. By voting in favor of the RISE resolution, Austin has ensured that some of its most vulnerable residents will not be left out of the COVID-19 recovery efforts. The people most impacted by this pandemic testified in support of the RISE resolution, and it’s a great feeling knowing we were heard.”

    Maria L, member of ICE Out of Austin: “It was time for a bold solution. My family and I have been going through some really difficult times. This assistance will help us get back a little bit of stability and security as we continue to cope during these really hard times.”

    David Johnson, member of Texas Advocates for Justice: "I am humbled and inspired by the power of a community united. This is the kind of change we can achieve by looking not only at our individual experiences of injustice but recognizing that they are all just individual examples of the great injustice that harms us all."

  • Simultaneous protests across Texas demand action to prevent mass deaths in jails and detention centers

    WHAT: COVID19-safe car protest to free women seeking asylum at T. Don Hutto

    WHO: Never Again Central Texas, Austin Jews for Justice, Grassroots Leadership, AZAAD Austin, Democratic Socialists of America Immigrant Rights Committee, and other community members and advocates

    WHEN: 3:45pm Sunday April 19

    WHERE: T. Don Hutto Detention Center, 1001 Welch Street Taylor, TX

    AUSTIN — Taylor, TX – On April 19th human rights defenders in cars will hold a car protest at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center operated by CoreCivic in Taylor, honking and displaying signs urging ICE and local officials to release people from cages before COVID-19 turns prisons into death camps. This comes after news of the first detained immigrants in Texas testing positive for the novel coronavirus on Monday.

    Without decisive action, coronavirus will spread very quickly should the pandemic reach T. Don Hutto, and incarcerated people–including those held based on inability to pay bond and immigrants following asylum procedure–will face death sentences.

    Sunday’s protest in Taylor will take place in coordination with five simultaneous protests in Texas. Never Again Action chapters and dozens of civil rights organizations will also stage car protests at locations in Dallas, Corpus Christi, Houston, and San Antonio.

  • Community advocates asked for $70 million to be directed to the RISE fund, Austin City Council fell $58 million short

    Austin, TX— Earlier this afternoon, the Austin City Council unanimously voted in favor of Items 40 and 49, replenishing the RISE fund to include an additional $12 million for direct financial assistance to disproportionately impacted Austin residents. The move comes after rising pressure from community advocates and members to replenish the RISE fund but fell short of the demands from community organizations asking for at least $70 million for direct financial assistance. The new resolution only allocates $12 million for direct assistance to people facing financial hardship.

    This week, more than 1,400 Austin residents signed a petition to Austin City Council calling for the City Manager to allocate at least $70 million into the RISE fund.

    In March, the Equity Office awarded a total of $2 million to local community-based groups and nonprofits. The $2M came from the RISE Funding and was distributed as direct financial assistance in the form of ACH deposits. This was considered a bold move by many community organizations, and as the $2 million were distributed to 1,000 families in the span of 72 hours, it was seen as the most equitable, efficient, and direct way to help the communities in Austin that have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19.

    Earlier this week, in collaboration with Communities of Color United, Grassroots Leadership coordinated a car action in front of Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk’s residential home. More than 100 cars drove past his home for more than an hour calling for funds to be diverted from the Austin police department to funds like RISE.

    Quotes:

    Maria L, ICE Out of Austin member: “Aun con este dinero no es suficiente. Muchas familias todavía quedarán desprotegidas.Este voto no es un voto para la comunidad.” / “Even with this money it will not be enough. A lot of families will still be left unprotected. This was not a vote for the community.”

    Chantel Pridgon, Texas Advocates for Justice organizer: “We can’t deny this is a win for families affected during this pandemic, but City Council needs to do better. It’s sad we continue to fight for our communities to have funds when City Council continues to overly fund a police department that is racist in its DNA and leadership. City council should stop investing APD as it continues to incite violence and further widen the distrust with our communities and instead invest in communities disproportionally impacted by covid-19 and racist institutions.”

    Paula Rojas, Communities of Color United member: “When we asked for City Council to invest in equity by allocating at least $70 million in direct financial assistance to our communities, their “equitable” response was to give $12 million. Every year, more and more money goes to the Austin Police Department and we have been fighting tooth and nail to get a crumb in comparison. City Council has repeatedly and consistently failed our communities, providing no safety, relief, or health benefit to the people who need help the most right now. It’s a shame they didn’t step up now.”

  • Community advocates say unreported active COVID-19 cases put community at risk and demand local officials to intervene

    Taylor, TX — In a video obtained by Grassroots Leadership, a woman recently released from T. Don Hutto detention center after community and congressional pressure reports there are six active COVID-19 cases at the immigration jail located in Taylor, Texas. Those active cases are not being reported in the statistics provided by ICE on its website where only one active case is confirmed. Although this case was just posted by ICE Wednesday, she reports that there have been active cases inside the detention center since shortly after the pandemic began.

    Despite the active COVID19 cases at T. Don Hutto, ICE is still refusing to release many medically vulnerable people still detained despite an order from a federal judge directing ICE to consider the release of all detained immigrants that have a high risk of complications from COVID-19 infections.

    Community advocates are asking local city officials, including Taylor Mayor Rydell and Williamson County Health Official Dr. Lori Palazzo, to intervene and ensure all employees and women detained are immediately tested and released, citing a long history of medical neglect and abuse that plagues the notorious detention center.

    Since the start of the pandemic, multiple health professionals have described jails and detention centers as ‘perfect incubators’ for viruses to spread. Poor nutrition, medical care, lack of social distancing practices, and lack of cleaning supplies are just some of the factors that make detention a deadly place to be during a pandemic. COVID-19 deaths have already been reported in other detention centers and jails across the country; if no measures are taken to ensure the safety of the women inside T. Don Hutto, more immigrants will die locked away before having the chance to appear before their immigration court hearings and be reunited with their loved ones.

    In March, Dr. Allen Keller, Associate Professor of Medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and founder of the Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture, sent a letter to Williamson County Health Authority Lori Palazzo calling for the Williamson County Health District to intervene for the immediate release of hundreds of women seeking asylum who are currently detained at the T. Don Hutto detention center in Taylor, Texas. He has yet to receive a response.

    Last month, a San Antonio news outlet reported at the time that all 10 positive COVID-19 cases in Frio County could be traced back to the South Texas Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas; community advocates suspect that a similar situation may have already been happening for weeks in Taylor, with COVID-19 cases being traced back to T. Don Hutto due to ICE and CoreCivic’s lack of transparency.

    Quotes:

    Bethany Carson, policy researcher and immigration organizer at Grassroots Leadership: “ICE is hiding COVID19 cases from the public, and we want to know why. Their silence is placing communities in Taylor at risk, and we don’t know if there is testing being done of women detained and employees. Detention is deadly, even more so during a pandemic. ICE needs to immediately release all of the people detained to keep them and everyone in the community safe.”

    Woman released from T. Don Hutto (for fear of retaliation from ICE, her name is not shown): “I need you to please help [the women detained at T. Don Hutto]. I strongly ask that you send someone there to investigate very, very thoroughly because there’s something very, very grave happening in there. There are six women infected now, and I am afraid for the women inside.”

  • Agreement’s renewal comes in midst of ongoing fallout over Sheriff Robert Chody’s handling of Javier Ambler case and decision to renew LIVE PD agreement

    AUSTIN — Today, immigration advocates sent a letter to the Williamson County Commissioners Court calling for the termination of County’s 287(g) deportation program with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The current agreement was set to expire at the end of June. Under 287(g), Williamson County Sheriff’s Office delegates officers to be trained and authorized to identify and process detained immigrants for removal on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    The Williamson County 287(g) agreement was originally signed in February 2018 and renewed in June 2019 by Sheriff Robert Chody. Neither the original agreement nor the renewed memorandum of understanding was brought before the Commissioners Court for approval despite guidance from the Texas Supreme Court and analysis from the Texas Attorney General stating that the Commissioners Court is the governing body and has sole authority to enter contracts for the county, absent a specific statute to the contrary. There is no item currently on the Commissioners Court agenda for June 23rd or June 30th regarding the 287(g) agreement despite its imminent expiration.

    “The Williamson County Sheriff’s Department should not be trusted to handle this matter given its record of prioritizing TV ratings over the safety of Black people and immigrant communities,” said Bethany Carson of Grassroots Leadership. “The Williamson County Commissioners Court has an opportunity to stand up for what is right and stop spending its limited public health and safety resources on this failed deportation policy that separates families and terrorizes communities.”

    Williamson is one of 75 counties in the nation, 25 in Texas, with similar 287(g) agreements, all of which are set to expire June 30. All of the Texas agreements have been created during Trump’s presidency.

    The 287(g) program is a contract with ICE that can be terminated at any time, whether or not Sheriff Chody has already added his signature to the renewal agreement. In the letter, advocates call on Commissioners to end the county's participation in the 287(g) program even if the Sheriff has already renewed the memorandum of understanding.

    “The 287g program sows mistrust and fear in the community, wastes county resources, encourages racial profiling, and generally makes our community less safe,” said Emily Timm, Co-Executive Director of the Workers Defense Project. “Williamson County families deserve better and Sheriff Chody’s shameful actions around the PD Live show and excessive use of force have shown he prioritizes his own fame over public safety. It’s up to the Commissioners to do what is right for the people of Williamson County and end this flawed program now.”

    Signatories to the letter include Free Souls Church, Grassroots Leadership, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and Workers Defense Project.

  • The demand comes after years of public pressure for the city to defund the Austin Police Department, in the wake of police violence toward protesters and Black and Latinx communities, and a global pandemic

    WHAT: Press conference and public demonstration

    WHO: Grassroots Leadership, Texas Advocates for Justice, ICE Out of Austin, Communities of Color United

    WHEN: Thursday, July 8, 2020; 9AM

    WHERE: City Manager Spencer Cronk’s house, 606 S. 3rd St Austin, TX 78704

    VISUALS: 30 yard signs (15 in English and 15 in Spanish) placed in front of Spencer Cronk’s front yard with messages from community. 100 yard markers each representing one million dollars of the proposed Austin city budget.

    AUSTIN, Tex. — Thursday morning, community advocates and people directly impacted by police violence and systemic inequity will deliver 30 yard signs to Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk’s house asking he prioritize community health, resources, and low-income housing over the Austin Police Department’s funding in the city’s budget for FY2021.

    The main demands stem from Communities of Color United’s R.E.A.L solutions proposal, which ask the city to defund the Austin Police Department by 50%, or $225 million and invest those funds in the RISE Fund, Equity Office, Austin Public Health, and low-income housing.

    This demonstration happens days before the city manager plans to present his first budget proposal for FY2021 to the Austin City Council this Monday.

  • Report finds that as more tech companies move to Austin, city government increasingly caters to the industry’s well-paid workers, does little to prevent displacement, and caters to the supposed lack of safety facing newcomers.

    WHAT: Virtual press conference

    WHO: Grassroots Leadership, Just Futures Law, Mijente

    WHEN: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 @ 4PM CT

    WHERE: Zoom; Click here to register

    AUSTIN, Tex. — A new report by Grassroots Leadership, Mijente, and Just Futures Law, Austin’s Big Secret: How Big Tech and Surveillance are Increasing Policing, analyzes the relationship between tech companies and the city government and the links that increase policing and surveillance of Austin residents, specifically Black and Latinx Austinites. The report also notes the collaboration between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), how tech companies strengthen this relationship, and how this leads to more deportations of immigrant residents.

    As companies like Apple, Google, and—most recently—Tesla receive tax incentives to move to the city, historically Black neighborhoods like East Austin have lost thousands of Black and Latinx residents to rising gentrification and over-policing. For instance, the Riverside Togetherness Project, a “crime reduction” program led by the Austin Police Department (APD) to “position the neighborhood for revitalization”, is explicitly tied to policing of its existing residents.

    APD runs the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC), a DHS-recognized Fusion Center composed of more than 20 local law enforcement agencies in central Texas that serves as an information-sharing hub between local, state and federal agencies, including ICE. The report finds that APD, particularly ARIC, has built a large surveillance network to track the personal data and location of Austin residents. This surveillance data is now being used by ICE to locate immigrants in order to conduct raids and deportations.

    More troubling, the report finds that APD (through ARIC) shared at least 141 utility-reports of Austin residents from Austin Energy or Water, at least 83 vehicle registration reports, and 39 license plate reader reports to ICE since 2019. Sharing such information with ICE would provide them with residents’ home addresses as well as time and location history for vehicles. APD also shared the phone subscriber information of five individuals and at least one school incident report from the Austin Independent School District with ICE since 2019.

    Of the approximately $440 million apportioned to APD) in fiscal year 2020, approximately $58 million are dedicated for contracts with private companies in technology, surveillance, and biometric analysis. Some of the surveillance technologies contracted by APD and ARIC include:

    A $1.2 million contract with HItachi for “HALO” cameras used for predictive policing and has been shown to be ineffective and potentially discriminatory in cities like Los Angeles.

    A $42 million contract (through 2022) with Axon Enterprise for body cameras and related software; the report also states that while body cameras are supposed to protect the public from police abuses, APD can also use Axon software to build cases against the public.

    A $655,583 contract (through 2023) for Forensic Logic’s Coplink software, the most widely used data sharing and crime analytics platform in the country and contracted by over 5,100 agencies; Coplink allows for data sharing en masse between local and federal law enforcement, invading people’s privacy and granting for federal agents from the FBI and ICE access to personal information from local sources.

    A $176,272 contract through third-party GTS Technology Solutions, Inc., an Austin company, for use of the license plate reader database developed by Vigilant Solutions, owned by Motorola Solutions; the data is voluntarily shared with 817 other law enforcement agencies, including ARIC and the National Vehicle Location Service, a pool of data shared with hundreds of agencies and accessible to ICE.

    A $160,541 contract for a subscription to Appriss JusticeXchange, proprietary software that provides up-to-date booking and incarceration data from thousands of government agencies; Appriss software is also used by ICE agents to track down targeted individuals even when no immigration detainer exists for them.

    A $456,000 contract for a subscription with LexisNexis’ Accurint, a comprehensive database with information such as personal phone records, addresses, and “public records that would ordinarily take days to collect”; APD gets this personal data from commercial sources that individuals do not normally grant their consent to share with law enforcement, at least not with any reasonable degree of transparency.

    The fact that APD can access commercial and private information on any person it chooses through for-profit databases purchased with public funds that form part of the police budget constitutes an unethical and unnecessary surveillance overreach. The fact that surveillance cameras, whether on police uniforms or in public spaces, are integrated into a “predictive policing” network to complement such data collection is concerning, as it opens the door for potentially racist targeting of certain communities based on existing arrest data.

    Based on the findings of the report, the authors call on Austin elected officials to immediately act on the following:

    Defund APD by 50% and disband APD in four years beginning with:

    Defunding APD’s surveillance budget and no longer renewing APD’s surveillance contracts

    Shutting down the Austin Regional Intelligence Center

    Require full reporting of APD’s surveillance tools (including government and commercial data tools) in compliance with the Freedom City Ordinance

    Shut down the Riverside Togetherness Project and other “revitalization” projects that rely on increased policing and data collection and reinvest those funds into the Austin RISE Fund, non-market-based low-income housing, Austin Public Health, and the Austin Equity Office

  • Despite $129 million APD funds earmarked for reimagining, the plan failed to invest significantly in the R.E.A.L. Solutions that communities of color have identified would create a foundation of safety without policing

    AUSTIN, Tex. — The following is a joint statement from Grassroots Leadership and Communities of Color United regarding today’s Austin City Council vote for the 2020-2021 city budget:

    The community uprising led by and in support of Black lives and the call for divestment from the system of violent policing has been powerful to witness.

    We are grateful to everyone who for years have poured their energy into bringing about a more equitable city; and everyone who in the last several months have put their bodies on the line, waited hours on the phone to speak at public testimony, participated in mutual aid, and followed the lead of abolitionist communities of color in demanding that we defund the monster of policing, defend the lives of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Austinites, and invest in the resources and systems of support that truly make us safe.

    But the budget passed today does not meet this moment.

    In the midst of a pandemic that has claimed the lives of 313 people in Travis County and an uprising that has placed a spotlight on police violence, we called for a 50%, or $220 million divestment from policing and reallocation to R.E.A.L. solutions that would address the long-standing inequities and violence faced by BIPOC in our city—namely displacement, underfunding of public health, denial of basic needs, police violence, and anti-immigrant policies. Grassroots Leadership followed CCU’s lead in demanding the full $220 Million be reallocated into R.E.A.L. solutions: $91M for the RISE Fund, $4M for the Equity Office, $10M for Austin Public Health, and $115M for low-income housing, specifically for a “public strike fund” to purchase land and apartment buildings and to support families with homes in flood plains.

    What we got instead was a meer $21.5 million in immediate cuts and reallocations. While there are worthy things that were cut and funded today, there were no significant investments in the priorities that abolitionist BIPOC have identified towards creating a foundation of safety without policing. The remaining $129 Million of the proposal is divided into a "Decouple Fund" and "Reimagine Public Safety Fund”. This is an accounting change that shifts the money into independent accounts outside of APD. However, Council clarified during deliberations that this money can still be accessed by APD while the City Council and City Manager are engaging in the "reimagining" process. So, this $129 Million will not in practice remove money immediately from APD to perform the listed functions.

    We will continue calling not only for funds to be removed from APD, but to defund policing, with its currently associated functions, so that we can transfer money to what actually keeps our community safe. We must divest from the violence policing is enacting on BIPOC community members by removing money and power from all forms of policing and invest in resources and systems of care and support. It’s about investing in what is life-giving. Having civilians currently under the APD community partnerships office be transferred to other city departments to still introduce youth to an antiquated, harmful policing mentality is not what we need. Turning APD park and lake patrol into civilian Rangers is not what we need. Continuing to endlessly pour money into training and oversight in a futile attempt to make our current structure of policing less violent is not what we need.

    “Reimagining public safety” does not mean simply reorganizing departments or taking the same functions that APD currently performs and moving them, complete with their current staff and culture, to a civilian department. It does not mean delaying things we could defund now because our city council has yet to gather the political courage to lay-off sworn officers.

    When we say “reimagine public safety”, it’s a step beyond defunding the police. It means imagining a world where we don’t rely on cops, cages, and other punitive approaches to keep us safe; it’s about imagining a world where our basic needs are met, create new ways to care for each other, and collectively unlearn unhealthy ways that we have been socialized to interact with each other and deal with our trauma that leads to further violence.

    We must consciously guard against the infiltration of a policing mentality into mental health, treatment, and crisis response alternatives that are created. These need to come from a place of care and support that respects people's agency and journey instead of punitive interventions such as involuntary commitment or responses where mental health practitioners respond alongside police. Any policies that seek further collaboration between alternative crisis response and police such as the proposal of a combined downtown headquarters for police, fire, and EMS are antithetical to this goal.

    Moving forward, we need an infrastructure for robust input and vision of directly impacted community members—not just nonprofits and “experts”—in the reimagining process that provides sufficient time and space for them to influence and propose alternatives. We remain firm in our demand to phase out the Austin Police Department in the next 4 years.

    To achieve this, we must see more significant cuts to policing come from the “Decouple Fund” and “Reimagine Public Safety Fund”, and that money should still be reallocated, this year, to R.E.A.L. solutions and other resources such as legal defense for communities who have been harmed by policing. Immediately, we can cut particularly harmful and unnecessary programs such as surveillance contracts, the Austin Regional Intelligence Center, the Riverside Togetherness Project, community partnerships, overtime, explorers, mounted patrol, parks and lake patrol, and the k-9 unit from the budget. We must also recognize that much of the daily violence police exercise on BIPOC is not an aberration arising from a few bad officers or programs - but the norm that is carried out through daily policing. To address this, significant additional patrol funding should also be cut.

    Austin City Council and Mayor Adler had the power to use this moment to make bold change that departed from the City of Austin's legacy of using incremental reform to rebuff true transformative solutions that abolitionist BIPOC have long called for. Unfortunately, their efforts fell short. This current proposal is a minuscule step towards that vision, but it’s not bold change, and it does not rectify long-standing inequities experienced by BIPOC.

    As Grassroots Leadership and Communities of Color United, we are committed to continuing this fight to reallocate resources in our life-long fight for equity and dignity – we keep each other safe.

  • This conversation with candidates will focus on issues of policing, gentrification, and funding for R.E.A.L. solutions. Specifically, candidates will be asked to discuss their commitments to the RISE (COVID relief) fund, development of the Austin Equity Office, funding for Austin Public Health, and access to low-income housing.

    WHAT: Candidate forum

    WHO: Grassroots Leadership, Communities of Color United, Undoing White Supremacy Austin, candidates from Districts 2, 4, 6, 7, and 10

    WHEN: 5PM

    WHERE: https://grassrootsleadership.zoom.us/j/96009543832

    AUSTIN, Tex. — Undoing White Supremacy Austin, Grassroots Leadership, and Communities of Color United will host a candidate forum for the November 2020 election. Confirmed candidates include: District 2 candidates David Chincanchan, Vanessa Fuentes, and Alex Strenger; District 4 candidates Greg Casar (incumbent), Ramesses Setepenre II, and Louis C. Herren III; District 6 candidate Jimmy Flannigan (incumbent); District 7 candidates Leslie Pool (incumbent) and Morgan Witt; and District 10 candidates Alison Alter (incumbent), Pooja Sethi and Ben Easton.

    Discussion with candidates for Districts 4 & 10: 5pm

    Discussion with candidates for Districts 2, 6, & 7: 6:30pm

    The forum will convene via Zoom: https://grassrootsleadership.zoom.us/j/96009543832, and via Facebook Live.

Texas Advocates for Justice member Darren Joseph speaking of his experiences at press conference announcing Care Not Cages report in Harris County, January 2020

Community members holding signs outside of the South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall, Texas urging the halt of new ICE contracts in Texas, March 2020.

Mujeres Luchadoras members outside of Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk’s house urging for a 50% decrease of the Austin Police Department budget, July 2020.

ONE BILL IN TEXAS LEGISLATURE WOULD EASE EXTREME HEAT IN TEXAS PRISONS.

ANOTHER MAKES IT WORSE.

The Intercept By Alleen Brown, September 25, 2021

“Placing immigrants in state prisons already creates worse conditions than they would face in county jails, said Alicia Torres, a member of Grassroots Leadership’s ICE Out of Austin group, which aides detained immigrants.

The new bill would make the conditions even worse — including by allowing state prisons acting on behalf of county governments to forgo the climate control requirement.

According to Grassroots Leadership’s policy and research manager Bethany Carson, the bill “could be used to justify the lack of almost any basic needs that would make establishing these facilities more expensive.”

in the news

  • The Travis County Commissioners Court approved a proposal on Tuesday to create a new community legal division along with a county executive position to oversee certain elements of it.

    Under the plan, the chief public defender would report to a county executive for issues regarding staffing, budget and data collection. The move, which drew criticism from advocacy groups, was part of an ongoing discussion of the reorganization of the county’s Justice and Public Safety Division.

    Advocacy organizations – including Grassroots Leadership and Texas Fair Defense Project – called on the county to install an independent Public Defender’s Office so it can be “efficient and effective.” The groups took issue with the fact that the public defender would ultimately report to a county executive on administrative and staffing matters, arguing that there were discrepancies between the interests of those the Public Defender’s Office serves and the interests of the county.

    Read more here.

  • AUSTIN, Texas ― A bill before the Texas legislature would create a vigilante force to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border, drawing sharp criticism from civil rights groups and raising questions about how far the state’s conservative lawmakers are willing to go to challenge federal control of immigration enforcement.

    The bill, penned by Republican state Rep. Matt Schaefer, would allow any U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident without a felony conviction to join a volunteer police force called the “Border Protection Unit.”

    Read more here.

  • Progressives challenge Democrat incumbents for control of commissioners court

    By Daniel Van Oudenaren -February 23, 2022

    “Libal’s passion for the issue grew out of his experience as a long-time activist for Grassroots Leadership, which had waged numerous campaigns for U.S. immigration reform and changes to state and local criminal justice policies. For example, Libal was active in the Homes Not Handcuffs campaign against Proposition B last year, and his organization participated in the City of Austin’s Reimagining Public Safety Task Force.”

    Read more here

  • Houston advocacy groups urge Mayor Turner to delay vote on police contract, negotiated in secret

    March 22, 2022 By St. John Barned-Smith, Staff writer

    “The process, as usual, was disappointing,” said Ashton P. Woods, founder of Black Lives Matter Houston, one of 11 organizations that signed onto the letter. The other organizations are Grassroots Leadership, Houston Justice, Restoring Justice, Texas Advocates for Justice, Texas Appleseed, the Texas Civil Rights Project, Texas Organizing Project, United We Dream Texas, ACLU of Texas and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.”

    Read more here

  • Travis County: 2022 Primary Elections Results

    March 1, 2022 By Andrew Weber

    Incumbent Precinct 2 Commissioner Brigid Shea also fended off a challenge from progressive activist Bob Libal, who formerly headed up the nonprofit Grassroots Leadership. Shea led Libal comfortably all night after the early voting totals came in, beating him by more than 15,000 votes, according to the county clerk's final count.

    Read more here

  • Detainees under Abbott’s Operation Lone Star in Texas lack proper legal access

    May 12, 2022 By María Ramos Pacheco

    “Alicia Torres, an immigration campaign coordinator with Grassroots Leadership, a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrants in Texas, said many migrants are sitting in jail without access to a lawyer and not knowing what’s next in their process.

    “This is something that we have heard from multiple detainees,” she said.

    Torres said the situation “is very scary because there is really little to no oversight of the quality of legal representation. There’s no guarantee that the judge is asking or anyone asking: ‘Have you talked to this attorney? Have you talked to this person detained? Is this person in agreement?’”

    Read more here

  • Austin residents impacted by overdoses and homelessness will hold a town hall with officials

    May 3, 2022 By Britny Eubank

    Cosponsoring organizations for the town hall are the Alliance for Safety and Justice, Austin EMS Association, Austin Justice Coalition, Communities for Recovery, Grassroots Leadership, Queertopia, Sunrise Navigation Center, The Other Ones Foundation, Texas Fair Defense Project and the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance.

    Read more here

  • Immigrant Mothers Win Appeal To Challenge Detention Center Rule

    June 17, 2022 By Janet Miranda

    “The nonprofit group Grassroots Leadership and several detainee mothers, individually and on behalf of their children, sued the DFPS seeking a permanent injunction to stop the room-sharing rule. The plaintiffs argue that in some of the detention facilities, two or more unrelated families shared a bedroom with a child. They allege that the rule has led to longer detention periods at the center and that one minor was sexually assaulted while sharing her room with an unrelated adult.”

    Read more here

  • Texas Supreme Court sides with asylum-seeking mothers in detention lawsuit

    Jun 19, 2022 By Ali Linan CNHI

    “Grassroots Leadership, a nonprofit that works to abolish for-profit private prisons and detention centers, is the plaintiff in the case along with four asylum-seeking mothers and a day care center. The plaintiffs allege that the rule is resulting in safety risks and privacy violations of the detainees and their children because the children are housed in rooms with adults they are not related to.”

    Read more here

  • Kids write Father's Day cards to detainees at Taylor immigration center

    June 18, 2022, By Hannah Rucker

    "I think a lot of us know the pain of being separated from our fathers and our mothers. We have all felt the pain of that," said Reza. "No matter who is inside, we want them to know we haven't forgotten them, we know that if we're loud enough they can hear us sometimes."

    Everyone inside the detention center is awaiting their immigration hearing, which can sometimes take many months or even up to a year.”

    Read more here

  • US Immigration Policy Is to Blame for the Horrific Mass Death in San Antonio

    June 29, 2022, By Claudia E. Muñoz-Castellano ,

    “I know what the world has done to my brother and how narrowly he has survived it. And I know, which is much worse, and this is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen, and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and are destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it … it is not permissible that the authors of devastation should also be innocent. It is the innocence which constitutes the crime.”

    Read more here

  • Travis County Declares an Opioid Crisis

    June 3, 2022 By Lina Fisher

    “How the $350,000 will be divided up is yet to be delineated. Alongside prioritizing urgent Narcan distribution, advocates asked for funding to increase staff at The Other Ones Foundation and Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center, who have existing relationships with directly affected populations. Many speakers addressed the court drove home the same message: Harm reduction is about providing against drug users and building trust — mandates that THRA and other organizations on the ground have been following for years. As David Johnson of Grassroots Leadership put it, “Leave it to the people who are doing the work.”

    Read more here

  • APD pushes for return of license plate readers, nixed during 2020 police budget cuts

    By Emma Freer, June 2, 2022

    “Grassroots Leadership pushed Council to cut funding for APD’s license plate reader contracts back in 2020. Bethany Carson, research and policy manager for the group, worries that if APD resumes using ALPR technology, it would share the resulting data with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

    Read more here

  • Abbott tests feds by urging Texas troopers to return migrants to border

    July 7, 2022 By Arelis R. Hernandez

    Read more here

  • Proposal to reinstate license plate readers for APD sparks privacy concerns

    July 28, 2022, By Kali Bramble

    “Council Member Vanessa Fuentes voiced corresponding skepticism, with particular concern for Vigilant’s capability to share license plate data with other municipal, state and federal agencies using the system. Historically APD has participated in this feature, with a report from Grassroots Leadership showing 39 incidents of sharing license plate readings with Immigration and Customs Enforcement from 2019 to 2020.”

    Read more here

  • San Antonio Organizer: U.S. Immigration Policy Is to Blame for Deaths of 53 in Smuggling Tragedy

    June 1, 2022 Democracy Now

    “What they are using is that they are using an emergency order to create an enhanced trespassing charge. Up to date, they have charged over 3,000 people. And some of herethem have been in a state prison, that was cleared out to detain these migrants, for up to a year. I mean, there are so many constitutional violations in terms of conditions, access to counsel, bail. I can’t even begin to fully cover it. But what’s happening is that the federal government has completely let Texas get away with this, which has emboldened —”

    Watch full interview here

  • Immigrant Moms Get Rare Win In Long-Fought Family Detention Case

    JULY 1, 2022 By Micelle Pitcher

    “​​The state Supreme Court decision] sets a good precedent, that the detained or formerly detained people have standing to bring claims about harm that these kinds of regulations cause,” said Bob Libal, former executive director of Grassroots Leadership, a nonprofit dedicated to prison and detention center abolition. The case will now return to the lower appeals court, which will review the underlying question of whether the state can license prison-like ICE facilities as daycares.”

    Read more here

  • Harris County Commissioners Court approves $25.75M to relocate inmates due to overcrowding

    July 22, 2022, By Rachel Carlton

    "Members of Grassroots Leadership, an Austin-based organization working to abolish for-profit prisons, spoke in opposition of the agreement, including Mhereo Cortez, a policy campaign organizer for the group.

    “The trauma of family separation—it lasts a lifetime,” said Cortez, whose own father died in a Huntsville prison. “It puts an undue stress on people who are already struggling in life, struggling with finances and every other thing. When we can’t rescue these people, we jail them, so I’m asking you for care and not cages.””

    Read more here

  • Grumet: His past 'followed him everywhere.' But Lewis Conway Jr. kept pushing for change.

    By Bridget Grumet - August 24, 2022

    “He showed that people impacted by the criminal justice system also have value and worth and should be in positions of leadership, particularly on the issues that impact them and their communities,” said Libal, the former director of Grassroots Leadership.

    Read more here

  • Travis County’s program to provide lawyers at its downtown jail is (still) on hold

    August 24, 2022 By Andrew Weber

    “The process, as usual, was disappointing,” said Ashton P. Woods, founder of Black Lives Matter Houston, one of 11 organizations that signed onto the letter. The other organizations are Grassroots Leadership, Houston Justice, Restoring Justice, Texas Advocates for Justice, Texas Appleseed, the Texas Civil Rights Project, Texas Organizing Project, United We Dream Texas, ACLU of Texas and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.”

    Read more here

  • Council Recap: Chacon Still Can’t Seal the Deal for License Plate Readers

    September 3, 2022 By Austin Sanders

    Even that limited access to the data is concerning for advocates, as Alicia Torres with Grassroots Leadership explained. When Grassroots learned that ARIC was sharing data with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, it asked APD what information ICE provided to show the “terrorism or criminal nexus” that’s required to justify the request. “The biggest issue for us is that there’s so little oversight of ICE and APD has willingly handed over information to them,” Torres said. “If ICE knows someone they’re looking for is in Austin, they can just say they’re pursuing re-entry charges and under Senate BIll 4 [which requires local law enforcement cooperate with ICE investigations], APD would have to comply.”

    Read more here

  • Why should funders give to abolitionist BIPOC-led orgs?

    September 21, 2022 By Annette Price

    Understanding these issues can be a breakthrough for individual donors and philanthropists looking to expand their understanding of abolition. It’s a chance to understand the implications of our work entirely and why there should be several pipelines of funding needed for abolitionist organizations like ours.

    Read more here

  • Texas prison officials stall release of migrants despite judge's order

    October 1, 2022 By Suzanne Gamboa

    “They should have been released immediately,” said Alicia Torres, an advocate with Grassroots Leadership, which opposes mass incarceration and had been contacted by families of the men and other migrants.

    But the men were not released when Torres went to retrieve them Thursday or immediately after attorneys sent the state prison warden a letter demanding their freedom and threatening to sue the state if they held the men longer.

    Read more here

  • Letter from Human Rights Groups to US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas Responding to the Expansion of the Title 42 Expulsions for Venezuelans

    October 14, 2022

    “Instead of coupling the parole program to Title 42, DHS can and should take all legally permissible steps to restore access to asylum at ports of entry, regardless of the asylum seeker's nationality or other factors, and to cease–not expand–Title 42 expulsions. The Biden administration should also redouble efforts to rebuild and strengthen the pace and capacity of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program to process more refugees from Venezuela and other countries.

    We welcome steps to create more safe pathways for individuals to access the U.S. asylum system and stand ready to work with your department in this important work.”

    Read more here

  • Greg Abbott Is Still Prosecuting Migrants Under a Bogus Disaster Declaration

    November 1, 2022 By Silky Shah

    “In early October, I joined a delegation led by the Texas-based organization Grassroots Leadership to witness Operation Lone Star. As we made our way through Uvalde, Kinney County, Dilley, Eagle Pass and across the U.S.-Mexico border to Piedras Negras, we saw the impact of Operation Lone Star everywhere. Law enforcement was omnipresent, convened on the area from localities hours away: a Galveston County constable vehicle in the parking lot at the Kinney County Courthouse, San Angelo fire trucks at the Val Verde County Detention Center and so on.”

    Read more here

  • Voters to decide on 3 Texas Supreme Court justices in November — why it matters

    October 18, 2022, Jala Washington

    “Another recent case that’s already gone before the court was the Grassroots Leadership Inc. vs. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

    “We [my law firm] represented the mothers of several children who were detained in these immigration facilities. It is very harmful for the children,” Amy Warr, an attorney for Grassroots, said.”

    Read more here

  • Movement for a Community Safety Budget in Harris County

    November 5, 2022 By Sam Oser

    “The very first thing the coalition did was share research to review past budget documents and the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2023. Each member of the coalition adopted a department and reviewed the past and proposed budgets line by line, department by department. After each member did their research, the coalition would meet online to review their findings.”

    Read more here