An Inside Look into Immigration Court Proceedings

by Vadim Gerhsteyn
JCUA intern

JCUA’s Vadim Gershteyn sat as an observer in Immigration Detention Court as part of the “Court Watch” program. In this article he tells the stories he observed, including fathers separated from their children, trials conducted through computer screens, and detainees with no guaranteed legal representation.

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The immigrant experience in the United States is at the foundation of shared history and a place of special importance for the Jewish community. On Monday, November 26, 2012 I attended a Court Watch training that allowed him to be an non-partial observer in Detained Immigrant Courts. The program was set up by the “Sisters of Mercy” and “Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants” in order to allow people to bear witness to the trials and stand in solidarity with detained immigrants. Each year, more than 400,000 immigrants are detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), many of whom have no criminal histories and are being detained on civil charges.

Self-Deportation

In one trial, a legal permanent resident (LPR) named Jose was applying for voluntary self-deportation after being arrested with fifteen grams of cocaine, a felony that includes intention to distribute. His wife’s moving testimony told the story of a good husband, caring father of four, and gainfully employed member of the community struggling with drug addiction. Now in drug treatment classes, and despite living in Illinois for over a decade, Jose was facing deportation. The judge gave Jose leniency for self-deportation, which allows him to leave on his own accord and reapply to enter the United States. However, reentry is not guaranteed, and the court may have separated Jose from his family (four of whom are U.S. citizens) due to the disease of addiction.

Reporting on Recommendations for the Chicago Housing Authority

by Lauren Goldstein
JCUA intern

The Chicago public housing residents’ Central Advisory Council (CAC) recently published their recommendations to the Chicago Housing Authority. These recommendations shed light on systemic problems, and the need soar need for resident voices in the discussion about the future of public housing. JCUA’s Lauren Goldstein gives some background and explains the five main recommendations.
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Demolition at Cabrini Green

On November 30, 2012, a vast, diverse, and energetic crowd came together at the University of Illinois at Chicago Student Center to bear witness to an incredibly powerful presentation of a hopeful plan created by the Chicago public housing residents’ Central Advisory Council (CAC).

The CAC is a tenant organization recognized by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development that serves to represent public housing residents and provide resident input into the CHA’s policies via the participation of fourteen Local Advisory Council offices and seven mixed income communities.

The CAC presented their “Strategies and Recommendations Report,” which is a thorough set of recommendations for the Chicago Housing Authority to consider when moving forward with the Plan for Transformation 2.0.

This innovative report (which can be accessed here) was prepared by Lucas Greene Associates, LLC in partnership with Chicago Jobs Council, Heather D. Parish, Prim Lawrence Group, UIC Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement, and We The People Media, but it was really made possible by the strong, persistent, enduring, and hardworking residents of the CHA who tirelessly work to have their voices heard, their needs represented and met, and their families, friends, and neighbors given the rights they deserve as human beings and fellow residents of Chicago.

What Happens to Displaced Public Housing Residents?

by Lauren Goldstein
Advocacy and Community Organizing Intern

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As part of JCUA’s work with the Chicago Housing Initiative’s “Lease Up!” campaign, we have been engaged in research on public housing in Chicago. Specifically, we are gathering data on where residents move when they are displaced from their homes due to demolition or redevelopment, and what those towns look like.

Given that part of the goal of the Plan for Transformation involves creating a less isolating environment for residents both racially and economically, we wanted to find out if these goals are being met. The question is: Where are Chicago’s public housing residents moving, and what kinds of opportunities exist once they arrive there.

The Facts

A study done at UIC shows that between 2000 and 2007, 55% of moves within Illinois of public housing residents occurred between the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) and the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC).  We looked into what towns in Cook County do have public housing developments in them, so that we could then paint a better picture of what life looks like in these new communities.

Chicago’s public housing residents moved to many different towns in Cook County, and we learned that many of them, over time, have in fact become racially segregated. Many of these towns…

Reminding Our Reps that Fiscal Health Requires a More Sensible Tax Approach

by Vadim Gershteyn
Advocacy and Community Organizing Intern

With Illinois deficit the worst in the nation, at an astounding $43.8 billion in the red, policymakers have to make difficult decisions about our nation’s fiscal responsibilities. Until recently, however, the responsibility has been shifted mostly onto the most poor and most vulnerable. On Friday, Nov. 9th, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) intern Vadim Y. Gershteyn joined Roots of Justice, IIRON, and others outside of Dick Durbin’s office in protesting proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare as part of the budget reduction strategy put forward by Congress. Medicare is a popular, highly-efficient program that remains solvent and fully-funded for at least twenty to eighty years. Medicaid is many people’s only safeguard against serious illness or even death. The efforts to privatize either of these programs (especially Medicare) would mean less medical coverage for our seniors and at-risk populations.

At a townhall meeting attended by Roots of Justice, IIRON, and other groups, our federal representatives Jan Schakowsky, Mike Quigley, and Danny Davis declared their commitment to blocking austerity measures in balancing the budget.  Senator Dick Durbin has not signed on to the measure, backed by Majority Leader Harry Reid, which bars cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. In balancing the budget, there has been far less support for raising taxes on the very wealthy, who now pay only a 15%-20% effective tax rate, lower than the rate for many middle-income Americans. There has also been little Congressional support for a “Robin Hood” tax, which levies a tax on financial transactions that can regulate high-risk transactions and brings much-needed revenue to the federal government.

On the state level, we can help bridge the fiscal gap by supporting a Fair Tax initiative in Illinois that will shift the burden from the poor and middle-class to the very wealthy (read more about JCUA’s position on the fair tax initiative).

The responsibility for the economic collapse caused by the banking and financial industry cannot be levied on the very poor and the powerless. We cannot stand idly by as the people most hurt by the 2008 financial meltdown make sacrifices to balance the budget while corporations and the very wealthy do not pay their fair share. It is a commitment that dates back to our prophets, to take care of the poor and make sure the burden of social responsibility does not fall on the most vulnerable. Sen. Dick Durbin should join our representatives in saying no to cuts to our social safety net and no to austerity.

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Want to intern with the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs? Click here for more information.

JCUA Endorses Campaign for Graduated Income Tax in Illinois

On October 3, 2012, JCUA’s policy committee met with Citizen Action Illinois to discuss the need for a graduated income tax in Illinois. After learning about the state of the tax system in Illinois today, the JCUA has chosen to join Citizen Action Illinois and many other community groups in endorsing the Fair Tax Campaign.

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Some Numbers

Currently, Illinois has a flat income tax rate, which given Illinois’ budget deficits and funding needs, is inadequate also unfair. Consider the following numbers:

• It has been reported that in 2011, the bottom 20% of households in Illinois bore quite a larger tax burden than the top 20% of Illinois households, as they paid twice as much of their income in state and local taxes than the top 20%.
• The total tax burden felt by those with an average income of less than $18,000 is 13.7%; however, the tax burden felt by those earning $500,000+ per year is only 6.5%…yes, the group with an average income of $2,084,700 per year bears only a 6.5% tax burden [1].

To put it plainly, those with the lowest incomes end up paying far beyond their means, while the wealthiest households in our state pay what amounts to being a drop in the bucket of their income. Illinois is simply asking too much from those families who are struggling the most in today’s economy.

What Are Other States Doing?

What we’re asking for is nothing new – our neighboring states currently function with more progressive tax systems, and it is not coincidental that these states’ budgets put our state budget to shame. Some facts:

• 34 of the 41 states that currently employ an income tax system have graduated rates already.
• Analyses show that if Illinois’s tax base paid Iowa’s income tax rates, Illinois would raise $6 billion more a year, and over half of the taxpayers in Illinois would experience a tax cut of 24% on average. Imagine what this state could do with so much more revenue
• To make matters even more pressing, the flat income tax increase currently in place will expire in 2015, and taxes will drop from 5% to 3.75%, taking with it about $4 billion in revenue for the state. If you think things look bad now for social services in our state, imagine what they could look like with $4 billion less.
• By pressuring the state to amend the constitution and incorporate a more fair tax, Illinois would not only build revenue, but according to the non-partisan Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, this would also cut taxes for up to 94% of Illinois residents! (Learn More Here)

How Do We Get This Done?

This certainly is a huge battle to fight, but we feel it is also hugely important, and have therefore chosen to join hands with the Fair Tax Campaign to promote a more fair tax system. To do this requires a constitutional amendment. To get a constitutional amendment on the ballot requires 60% of the General Assembly’s approval, and the ballot proposition must be approved by 60% of voters. This means that the next step in this process is to win legislative and then voter approval. We are ready to stand by and do what we can to bring about a more just tax system in our state, and we feel we are on our way to a more fair future for Illinois. Stay tuned for the next steps in this campaign!

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References:

[1] Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of Tax Systems in All 50 States, p. 42, Third Edition, November 2009. Note: this table shows 2007 data updated to reflect permanent changes in Illinois tax law enacted through January, 2012.

JCUA Joins Campaign Demanding the City Lease Up of Vacant Housing Units

by Lauren Goldstein, Community and Policy Intern
(2nd year student at the University of Chicago, Social Service Administration MA program)

As winter nears, it is evermore concerning that there are currently over 68,000 low-income families and senior citizens waiting for the Chicago Housing Authority to afford them a place to call home. What’s more, CHA has failed to lease over 2000 vacant units of public housing across Chicago. These units could, and should, be providing homes to the people who desperately need them. This is why the JCUA is a member of the Chicago Housing Initiative’s “Lease-Up!” campaign.

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Lauren Goldstein

It’s that time of year again here in Chicago – the leaves are falling, the temperatures are dropping, and darkness is falling earlier and earlier. Before winter sets in, it is of grave importance that the 68,000+ low-income families and senior citizens who have been waiting for housing from the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) are afforded a place to call home. Given the CHA’s failure to properly and efficiently address the thousands of vacant units currently shuttered across the city and allow some of the 60,000 families who remain on the wait-list (as of March 2012) to lease these units, the JCUA has decided to join the Chicago Housing Initiative’s (CHI) “Lease-Up!” campaign. We firmly believe that housing is a human right, and have chosen to take a stand.

JCUA in Letter to Rahm: Keep Lathrop Homes Public

JCUA speaks up in solidarity with Lathrop Homes residents in a letter to city officials, stating: Keep Lathrop Homes 100% public housing, and lease up the hundreds of units at Lathrop that are currently vacant.

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Lathrop Homes

Sefer Hasidim (a 12th-century legal text) teaches that “if a community lacks a place of worship and a shelter for the poor, it is first obligated to build a shelter for the poor.”

Since 2010, JCUA has been working directly with residents at the Lathrop Homes public housing development, to empower the voice of the residents in the debate over the future of Lathrop Homes. The future of Lathrop Homes is critical for the following reasons:

• There are tens of thousands of families in Chicago on the waiting list for public housing.
• There are tens of thousands more who could not get on the waiting list since it was full and closed.
• Even with all this tremendous need for housing in Chicago, under 150 of Lathrop’s 900 units are currently occupied. Over 750 units of housing stand vacant in this development alone.
  

Interfaith Press Conference Opposing the National Defense Authorization Act

Dec. 15, 2011 marked the 220th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. On this day Asaf Bar-Tura represented the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs at an interfaith press conference opposing the provisions allowing indefinite detention in the National Defense Authorization Act. These were his words at the press conference:

“Throughout the ages the Jewish community believed, and still believes, that we ought to guide ourselves in the tradition of our prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and others – who stood steadfast in the gates of the city, said what some did not want to here. The prophets, those who speak truth to power, are often vulnerable, marginalized, isolated.

Throughout the history of this country, the rights to due process, to legal representation, to a fair trial – have all been the last defenses available to those most vulnerable and discriminated among us. The Jewish people remember all too well what can happen when people are stripped of their own rights, in their own land. When the light of justice, of just laws and institutions is dimmed, then civility is abandoned and darkness prevails.

President Obama: in a few days the Jewish community will begin lighting candles in celebration of Hanukkah. We say that we create light to drive away the darkness of our times. In these days we remember the times when we were oppressed, our freedoms taken away, and we rededicate ourselves in this season to the struggle to live freely.

We urge you today to drive away the darkness. Stand up for civil rights. Stand up for human rights. Do not – in the name of the fight against terrorism – bring terror into our communities. Defend all Americans. Veto this bill.”

Other speakers at the press conference included:

Alie Kabba
Executive Director, United African Organization
Board President, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Sufyan Sohel
Deputy Director, CAIR-Chicago

Imam Misbahudeen Ahmed Rufai
Executive Board Member, Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago
Professor of History, Malcolm X College

Maaria Muzaffar
Muslim Bar Association

Rev. Larry Greenfield
Executive Minister, American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago

Razan Abu-Hashish
Activist, Immigrant Youth Justice League

Congratulations Illinois: Death Penalty Abolished!

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn

March 9, 2011– Today Gov. Pat Quinn made the courageous decision that has led to Illinois becoming the 16^th state to abolish the death penalty. Today marks a triumphant victory for abolition advocates across the state, for national allies, and for families who have worked tirelessly over the past decade to see the end of a system that has been deemed “cruel and unusual” and “too flawed to fix.”

For decades JCUA has been working with our allies to end the death penalty system in Illinois.  We want to thank all of you at JCUA that have worked with us over the years on this issue and also those who called the governor over the past six weeks urging him to take this critical step to ensure the fulfillment of the human right of all Illinois residents to life with respect and dignity.

We’d also like to thank all local and statewide advocates, and our national allies who have worked tirelessly over the past decade. In particular we commend the organizers and advocates at Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty for their courage and their clarity to see this legislation through to the very end.

Lastly we commend the state legislature and Gov. Quinn for taking the time to hear the will of the people on this matter and for making the choice that the people support. Our collective hard work on this issue will ensure that Illinois serve as a beacon of hope for advocates and legislators in other states across the country.

Our hard work proves that when we work together in solidarity, justice can and will be achieved.

Principles of Good City Government

These principles were created by the Developing Government Accountability to the People (DGAP) project. Learn more about DGAP at chicagodgap.org.

Good city government includes the following:

• Policies that serve the interests of all people, regardless of race, income, religion or neighborhood
• Adequate, accessible public resources targeted to the most vulnerable members of society, including schools, parks, community centers, infrastructure such as streets and sidewalks, and all programs and services
• Participatory democracy that expands opportunities for residents to engage in decision-making, through such avenues as local school councils, advisory boards and task forces, as well as regularly scheduled, conveniently located hearing and town hall meetings
• Transparent decision-making, open communications and easy access to information
• Fair and equitable hiring and bidding practices that take into account historic and current injustices
• Politicians that advocate on a federal, state and regional level for programs and funds that enrich all residents regardless of their race, class, gender or neighborhood
• Politicians who hold to high ethical standards in campaigning and fundraising

[Read what JCUA's Brian Gladstein has to say about the upcoming Chicago municipal elections]