Local elected officials say around 100 immigrants, some en route to work, were detained early Sunday morning.

According to a press release from state Rep. Aftyn Behn, a Nashville Democrat, “Witnesses reported multiple drivers pulled over and detained, including mothers driving to work, allegedly leaving children in vehicles by themselves. Videos, photos, and firsthand accounts point to ICE working in tandem with the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) to carry out what can only be described as a dragnet.”

A Tennessee Lookout photojournalist on Sunday documented buses leaving a U.S. Department of Homeland Security facility in Nashville. Family members of the alleged detainees were also present, protesting the alleged detentions.

Sad.

Tonight on the eve of the Fourth of July, Rev. William J. Barber II will preach a sermon to the nation about political violence against immigrants and people of color.

Watch live online at 7pm ET:

http://breachrepairers.org/livestream

Like many of you, I’m terribly disturbed by what’s happening to Latin American refugees at our southern border. In doing a little research, I was shocked to find out that there are numerous companies that have sprung up, and which are each making many tens of millions of dollars a year based on a business model that literally requires immigrant family breakups. These companies are being given massive incentives by the Trump administration to delay and deny immigrant parents’ reunification with their children. I have a new blog post up about what I found HERE.

Also, FYI, I’m back on Twitter after a prolonged absence and would love to connect there with any and all other KnoxViews-ers. You’ll find me @thekatieallison

Knox County Public Library invites the public to join Claudia Caballero, Executive Director of Centro Hispano de East Tennessee, for a discussion of The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life by Lauren Markham

Bring your lunch or pick up something downtown. Drinks are available for fifty cents. Reading the book is optional.

“I thought I knew the immigration story from the inside, because I hear so much at work," Caballero said. "This book took me to a different, more compassionate place.”

A study by the Joe Foss Institute tested 25,000 United States citizens across the country with a shortened version of the naturalization test.

Tennessee ranked last in the country and was the only state where average scores were lower then the minimum percent to pass.

South Dakota received the highest average score.

The youngest group, 18 to 24-year olds scored an average of 6.66. The oldest age group scored an average of 7.38.

Why does this not surprise me? However, I am a little surprised about the score gap between the ages. I thought if you were young you would remember more what you learned in school than the elders.

Take the 10 question test yourself.

Federal immigration agents raided 98 7-Eleven stores across the country looking for undocumented workers. The 98 raids resulted in twenty-one arrests. Hmmmm.... Could it be that the raids are a waste of time or that they should focus on a different industry? Maybe they should go to Trump's hotels and resorts. How much time and money was wasted on this attack on 7-Eleven and these 21 individuals?

DTV's Alex Roberts moderates a discussion with leaders of the Allies of Knoxville's Immigrant Neighbors (AKIN) on Democratic TV on Friday, July 28th at 7:30 PM on the Community TV channel.

Dr. Meghan Conley, Karen Latus, and the vice chair of AKIN, discuss the 287(g) contract with the Knox County Sheriff's department, the legislative effort to provide in state tuition to children of immigrants in Tennessee and the issues around Deferred Action on Parents of Americans (DAPA) and Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in Tennessee on Friday night on DTV.

Tune in for an informative discussion on these most important issues in Knox County!

DTV streams live at 7:30 PM on Friday July 28th (here).
or can be seen on these cable channels:
Comcast Channel 12
Charter Channel 193
Wow! Channel 6
ATT U-verse Channel 99

At Trump's 2020 campaign rally yesterday in Melbourne, FL, he attacked refugee policies in Europe.

“You look at what’s happening,” he told his supporters. “We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this?”
...
“Sweden,” he said. “They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible.

Swedes cannot figure out what he was talking about. More fake news?

It’s amazing to watch the team of immigrant masons clad the 27-foot-high concrete retaining wall at the new entrance to Fort Dickerson park. The stone is sourced in Dayton, Tennessee.

For those trying to get a handle on this issue see this report plus links.
Weblink here
English pdf file here
Espanol pdf file here

Lost Boys and Girls of Central America
Most of the children who have been apprehended as part of this influx are from three countries in Central America: Guatemala (35%), El Salvador (27%) and Honduras (25%). The majority of the children the WRC interviewed said that their flight northward had been necessitated by the dramatic and recent increases in violence and poverty in their home countries. The WRC’s independent research on the conditions in these countries corroborated the children’s reports. These increasingly desperate conditions reflect the culmination of several longstanding trends in Central America, including rising crime, systemic state corruption and entrenched economic inequality.

The protest against Sheriff JJ's outrageous comments is attached. It was a large crowd.

Here's the link

(link...)

Here's the ruling...

Here's the translation...

And the liberal media spin...

Summary: Federal law regulates immigration, state immigration laws are preempted by federal law and not allowed, arrests without warrants not allowed. Mandatory police check of immigration status for all arrests still in limbo.

President Obama announced today that the U.S. would no longer deport illegal immigrants who came here as children. "It makes no sense to expel talented young people who for all intents and purposes are Americans."

During his remarks, the President was heckled by a "reporter" from the Daily Caller.

In addition to denying aid to needy American kids, the new Alabama immigration law is creating one of those regulatory burdens the GOP is always going on about. They in effect want small business owners to be immigration enforcement agents for the federal government.

A reader sent these documents illustrating what is now required to do business with a school board or any other government agency in Alabama.

I can see setting up and requiring use of an "e-verify" system but the rest of it is a little much. Looks like a lot of liability for the small business and not much for the Alabama state government.

American kids denied food stamps in Alabama under immigration law

The law makes it a felony for a government employee to engage in "business transactions" with illegal immigrants, which some government employees have interpreted very broadly. Illegal immigrants have been told they can't pay their utility bills or even their taxes because it would count as a "transaction" with the government...

Illegal immigrants are prohibited from accessing most welfare benefits, including food stamps, non-emergency Medicaid and cash welfare programs. Their children, if born in America, can access welfare programs as citizens.

Michael Silence with the awful case of fifteen immigrant farm workers who are suing a Cocke Co. tomato farm over abusive working conditions.

One interesting part is that the workers were here legally on H-2A work visas as part of the agricultural guest worker program. American companies can apply to bring in foreign workers on H-2A visas if they meet certain wage and working condition requirements and if there aren't enough local workers to fill the jobs.

According to the lawsuit, the U.S. Dept. of Labor approved the H-2A visas after determining there weren't enough local workers. State records show that unemployment in Cocke Co. at the time was about 12.7%.

These be some of those "jobs Americans won't do" that Bush told us about. So not only do we look the other way on allegations of undocumented worker abuse, we have a formal system that makes it perfectly legal to exploit immigrant labor as long as workers don't complain. And everybody's happy as long as the work gets done as cheaply as possible.

P.S. If you're a programmer, engineer, or other tech type, check out H-1B visas for a clue if you are having trouble finding a job.

Deported
video of last broadcast

Mike Byrd at Enclave has a good question: What kind of precedent exists for this?

It seems the organizers of Nashville's English Only referendum decided to accept essentially non-existent penalties for refusing to file campaign finance reports in a timely manner. The records have now been turned over after the election, and Nashville Metro still refuses to release them. Enclave believes the organizers are trying to cover up dubious financing of the referendum.

Previously at Enclave:

• When it Comes to His Confederates, Eric Crafton Always Has Someone to Hide

• English Only's racist financial connections

• Eric Crafton's latest excuse for not abiding the law

• Not Even a Slap on the Wrist for Crafton's Lack of Transparency

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