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FYI Elizabeth Dickinson West Side ---------- We will soon find a way to celebrate together, but for now, here is this - - - Yesterday, the St. Paul City Council vote strongly (6-1) to adopt the best INS/City Separation Ordinance in the country. When we started into this work two years ago, the goal was to counter Ashcroft�s efforts to federalize local governments into the Bush Agenda and to promote a Hassle-Free Zone for immigrants that covered the Twin Cities, starting first in Minneapolis, then in St. Paul. There continue to be serious challenges to immigrants and the rights of us all. These challenges come from a negative coalescence of anti-immigrant activists, right-wingers, and a polarizing federal government. Scapegoating and racial profiling for political gain take many forms and will call us into struggle again and again. We are stronger for the fight we have waged and won in the Twin Cities, however, and we need to understand and celebrate the accomplishments we have made working together. In particular, we need to realize the major steps forward taken in this last campaign in St. Paul. The differences between the draft Ordinance we faced in January and the Ordinance adopted yesterday are substantial and ALL the changes went our way. Things missing from the January draft that we succeeded in adding were the following: 1) the Ordinance now requires training about the Ordinance for all city employees; 2) the Ordinance now requires an annual report to City Council and the Mayor to be prepared in conjunction with the affected communities regarding the implementation of the Ordinance and recommendations for improvements; 3) the Ordinance now applies to police the same requirement applicable to general City employees, i.e. that several kinds of photo IDs (including the matricula consular) must be accepted as the equivalent of a MN drivers license for purposes of identification; 4) the Ordinance now includes "any MN county-issued ID" in the list of IDs that all city employees are to accept as the equivalent of a MN drivers license for purposes of identification; 5) the Ordinance now prohibits City employees from asking complainants or their witnesses about their immigration status; 6) the Ordinance now safeguards any info about a person�s immigration status per the state�s data privacy act (MN Government Data Practices Act); and 7) the Ordinance now contains an administrative complaint option for persons who feel they have been hurt by a violation of the Ordinance. None of this would have been possible without the significant unity and determination of so many diverse communities (immigrant/labor/faith-based/civil rights/civil liberties - 40 organizations in all!) that was so overwhelmingly apparent and persuasive at the public hearing. The immigrant/labor/faith-based, civil rights/civil liberties working coalition WORKED! Let us look for ways to continue to work together in coming months and years. News articles on the Ordinance victory can be found at: http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/8599092.htm?1chttp://www.start ribune.com/stories/462/4761355.html http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg85975.html http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/8599092.htm http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/8563899.htm http://www.citypages.com/databank/24/1202/article11759.asp Peter Brown, MN Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and member of the Local Impacts of the (so-called) War on Terrorism Work Group _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
