Undemocratic Appointment Process
According to the Los Angeles Times, UC Regents voted on Napolitanos’ appointment only one week after the announcement of her recommendation. In the official announcement, the Regents stated the following: “Note to reporters: Out of respect for the appointment process, neither Napolitano nor the University of California will comment further until after the regents have acted on her recommended appointment.” A small committee comprised of less than half the regents, selected in a top-down process, recommended and appointed the UC president. It is clear that from this statement that student input was effectively barred. Student participation is limited to one Student Regent, who is also undemocratically appointed. This process does not include a stipulation to consider campus-wide debate or commentary from students, faculty, or campus workers. More alarmingly, “[h]alf of the regents [had not] even had a chance to talk to her about how she would approach the job”.[1] The closed process was defended by The Regents as a means to not ‘scare off’ prime candidates. This claim is absurd given that most universities have open presidential processes.[2]
Regent Richard Blum, the main driving force behind the privatization and corporate reorganization of the UC system, was central in proposing Napolitano. Richard Blum’s history includes firing Robert Dynes, leading the search for Mark Yudof, and encouraging Yudof's resignation before overseeing the "search" for Napolitano. Though the Regents state this was done through a headhunting agency, Blum was instrumental in the final decision. Blum also headed the committee which sought out and eventually hired Nicholas Dirks, the current Chancellor at UC Berkeley. Dirks and Blum’s acquaintanceship began as members of the Council on Foreign Relations, a group largely consisting of bankers and developers. This all seems to indicate that central decisions for filling the highest-ranking positions in the UC system continue to be implemented by those who stand to profit from privatization.[3]
Militarization and Privatization Record
As the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Janet Napolitano increased militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border and expanded the privatization of detention centers made to confine undocumented people. These decisions led to an increase in human rights abuses such as years-long detentions without legal representation - with some cases resulting in death.
This is indicative Napolitano’s long history of neglecting individual’s rights for the benefit of private firms. During her tenure as head of the DHS in 2011, a record number of 429,000 people were detained by ICE when border migration was at a record low. During this time, investors with stakes in detention centers generated $2 billion dollars of taxpayer money. Investors continue to gain from new security measures, such as biometric technology, supported by Napolitano. The new immigration legislation she has been pushing through Congress will increase the amount of “immigration offenders” to be placed in federal prison by 14,000 annually and will double border guards to 40,000.[4] Essentially, Napolitano criminalized immigrants to further police their movement not just at the border as a preventative measure, but to imprison them in order to use their labor. She further militarized the U.S.-Mexico border by incrementally increasing the deployment of border guards. “The number of Border Patrol agents deployed nationwide has seen a five-fold increase over the two past decades. In FY 1993, there were 4,208 Border Patrol agents, a number that increased to 10,045 by FY 2002, and to 17,499 by FY 2008. At the end of FY 2012, the number of Border Patrol agents stood at 21,394”. [5] Recent quota and incentive systems for Border Patrol agencies operating within the country have seen the distribution of cash bonuses, vacation awards and gift cards up to $100. Some sectors of upstate New York have even spent up to $200,000 dollars on their awards program.
Obama administration officials have implied that Congress required them to set the 400,000-per-year deportation goal. However, the only plausible Congressional "mandate" was from then-Democratic Senator Robert Byrd’s revision to the 2009 DHS appropriations bill. It requires that ICE agents fill prison beds for a minimum of 34,000 potential deportees — at an average daily cost of about $5 million.[6] This legislation greatly benefits the powerful and influential for-profit prison industry, which invests millions on DC lobbyists.
The industry is essentially controlled by a monopoly consisting of three companies: Corrections Corporation of America, The GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp. These companies have jointly spent up to $45 million on campaign donations at the state and federal level within the last decade. There is a strong likelihood that these funds are supporting Napolitano’s policies, which directly promote their interests. As a consequence of increased detentions, the amount a US taxpayer pays nightly for the detention of undocumented peoples has risen from $80 in 2004 to $166. At least half of this money goes to the detention centers listed above. As a legal resident detained in CCA jails for 19 months for missing an asylum application hearing noted, “It’s a millionaires’ business, and they are living off profits from each one of the people who go through there each and every night...It’s our money we earn as taxpayers every day that goes to finance this.”[7]
At the local level, Napolitano has strengthened ICE and local police collaboration through programs such as Secure Communities, whose function is to terrorize, incarcerate, and deport individuals likely to end up in GEO or CCA jails. Less than one-third of those deported had criminal records as this program essentially criminalizes undocumented folks for the profits of private companies. Federal prosecutors increasingly charge immigrants with felonies for repeatedly entering the country without papers. This reflects that the actual purpose of criminalizing migrants is not to deter illegal border crossings, but to funnel people into detention centers for profit. This increase in convicting thousands of people for unlawful re-entry and other federal offenses works in tandem with private prisons specifically constructed for their detainment and immobilization. When US policy incentivizes the incarceration of those seeking economic opportunities and refuge, the growth of an already-established, profit-driven, private-public partnership takes priority over human well-being and safety from violence.[8] Janet Napolitano has advanced her career by amplifying the expansion of this process, simultaneously citing her technocratic role in the system to avoid accountability.
The UC system’s most powerful leader and representative has substantial stake not in education and social inclusion, but in military and exclusionary political practices.
NSA/Surveillance
Janet Napolitano was the head of one of the largest known intelligence collection agencies: The Department of Homeland Security. DHS facilitated data exchange amongst U.S. major security and intelligence services including the CIA, FBI and the NSA. It has created the most sophisticated means of collecting information on people living in the U.S., citizens and non-citizens alike, to date.
One example is the Nationwide SAR (Suspicious Activity Reporting) initiative which has substantially expanded the scope of surveillance in the U.S. This initiative operates through “fusion centers” that enable the sharing of information at all levels of government, making “terrorism-related” information available to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The type of data that can be collected on individuals has extended from criminal records to public and private sector data. There could be SAR information on you, but you would never know. This is because SAR-related records are designated by the DHS as “exempt from the access and correction provisions of the Privacy Act.”[9] This surveillance program lacks clear regulatory standards, meaning there is greater likelihood for civil rights abuses and the targeting of pre-criminalized groups and communities. For example, recent revelations indicate that the NYPD used these legal frameworks to target Mosques and Muslim organizations by deeming them ‘terrorist enterprises,’ thereby allowing them to infiltrate and surveil without criminal charges.[10] This program also includes the If You See Something, Say Something Campaign, meant to encourage ordinary people to report any “suspicious” activity as pre-operational terrorist planning.
PBS reports: “ACLU policy counsel Michael German argue[s] that the imperative to gather as much information as possible, with relatively vague guidance, can lead to abuses. He cites a Maryland case, where 53 activists primarily affiliated with anti-death penalty, environmental, racial justice and anti-war groups were the subjects of an elaborate 14-month covert surveillance program by the Maryland State Police.[11] People organizing social justice campaigns were surveilled and characterized as terrorists by police. Janet Napolitano’s agency took part in activity that targeted individuals for their political, religious and ethnic identities and affiliations. Furthermore, she has strongly advocated for the punishment of individuals such as Edward Snowden, who has exposed institutional attacks on civil liberties. This indicates her complicity in the gross expansion of the security state.[12]
Hierarchy of the Department of Homeland Security
Human Rights Record
Less people are crossing the border, yet more people are either dying or being locked up in the process of crossing the border. A dramatic increase in prosecution comes at a time when border crossings are at an all-time low.[13] Bloomberg reported a 72 percent increase in daily detentions from 2005 to 2013--partly under Napolitano’s leadership. Quotas were imposed by a bed mandate requiring ICE to keep at least 33,400 undocumented folks in detention at all times.[14] The mandate formally criminalizes and subsequently deports undocumented folks.
The East Bay Express reports that “immigrants were arrested and put into deportation proceedings for minor crimes such as driving with a broken taillight, driving without a license, or loitering… 60 percent of Secure Communities deportees were people who had committed no crime or very minor crimes.”. Secure Communities is a deportation program spearheaded by Napolitano which encourages racial profiling and lacks due process, meeting criticism from civil rights organizations across the U.S. Conviction of minor crimes can lead to imprisonment in facilities such as the infamous Sheriff Arpaio’s tent city jails (capacity: ~2,000). (Napolitano’s and Arpaio’s political relationship is worthy of a more in-depth review, though it is beyond the scope of this particular report.) The following quote from the Express is indicative of the program’s impact and organizing objective of detainment and profiling: “A study released by the UC Berkeley School of Law in 2011 found that only 52 percent of Secure Communities arrestees were scheduled to have a hearing before a judge; that about 88,000 families that included US citizens had a family member arrested under the Secure Communities program; and that ICE wrongly arrested roughly 3,600 US citizens through the program.” [15]
Border crossing deaths were a record high at 477 in 2012. The National Foundation for American Policy reports that “an immigrant attempting to cross illegally into the United States today [in 2012] is 8 times more likely to die in the attempt than approximately a decade ago.”[16] It is not possible for us to put faces to these deaths, but we can provide some of the names and causes of death available, so to recognize the humanity of those who have died. The following names belong to some of the approximated 40 who died in detention during 2012: Hector Mosley, born 1947 in Panama, Samou Fankeu, born 1966 in Cameroon, and 4 others died of AIDS in detention. We can only imagine the lack of medical attention received in detention centers. Sebastian Mejia Vicentes, born 1977 in Mexico, along with 17 others, died of Asphyxia--a vaguely stated cause of death. This information was recorded in an ICE report listing detainee deaths from 2003 to 2013.[17]
A civil suit filed against Janet Napolitano by the immigrant rights network Families For Freedom reports that her agency detained a Nigerian national named Rafiu Abimbola for more than six years. The FFF also reports that Napolitano’s agency detained a permanent resident named Camal Marchabeyoglu multiple times for up to six years. According to the 2013 report “uncovering USBP [United States Border Control]” by Families Freedom, “USBP’s policies result in the wrongful arrest, detention, and harassment of hundreds of lawfully present individuals”. This one example of the thousands of legal and permanent residents detained annually. Although these individual migrants’ cases occurred before Napolitano’s appointment, she did nothing to change the policies that enabled these human rights violations during her term. Rather, she expanded the detention of immigrants in facilities controlled by different entities. This has led to the mistreatment and abuse of many detainees. The FFF civil suit report comments that “[i]mmigrant detainees have been subjected to verbal and physical abuse and denied adequate medical care.”[18] United States Border Patrol agents are also given cash bonus incentives at the discretion of their station managers. These discretionary cash bonuses are not required to meet any set of criteria in order to be awarded, nor is the amount awarded specified.[19]
Sources
Anderson, Stuart. "How Many More Deaths? The Moral Case for a Temporary Worker Program." National Foundation for American Policy. NFAP Policy Brief, Mar. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.nfap.com/pdf/NFAP%
Bates, Ashley. "The Napolitano Files." East Bay Express. N.p., 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://www.eastbayexpress.
Board, The Times Editorial. "Why the Rush on Napolitano?" Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://www.latimes.com/news/
Chen, Michelle. "‘Bargain’ on Immigration Would Feed Prison Profits." In These Times. N.p., 26 July 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://inthesetimes.com/
"Deportations by Fiscal Year." Immigration Reform Americas Voice. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://americasvoice.org/
"Families for Freedom Et Al., Plaintiffs, v. Janet Napolitano." The Civil Rights Litigation Clearing House. University of Michigan Law School, 25 June 2009. Web. <http://www.clearinghouse.net/
Goldman, Adam, and Matt Apuzo. "NYPD Designates Mosques As Terrorism Organizations." The Big Story. N.p., 28 Aug. 2013. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. <http://bigstory.ap.org/
"List of Deaths in ICE Custody." US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. N.p., 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <https://www.ice.gov/doclib/
Meranze, Michael. "The Napolitano Appointment and the Regents' Rejection of the University ~ Remaking the University." Remaking The University. N.p., 21 July 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://utotherescue.blogspot.
Pengelly, Martin. "Napolitano: NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Should Not Be given Clemency." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 05 Jan. 2014.
"Regents Policy 7101: Policy on Appointment of the President of the University." Board of Regents. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://regents.
Selway, William, and Margaret Newkirk. "Congress's Illegal-Immigration Detention Quota Costs $2 Billion a Year." Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://www.businessweek.com/
Schoenfelder, Anna, and Natasha Rivera Silber. "Uncovering USBP: Bonus Programs for United States Border Patrol Agents and the Arrest of Lawfully Present Individuals." Families for Freedom. FFF & NYU Law, Jan. 2013. Web. <http://familiesforfreedom.
Shen, Aviva. "Despite All-Time Low Border Crossings, Obama Administration Will Prosecute A Record Number Of Migrants This Year." ThinkProgress. N.p., 16 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://thinkprogress.org/
"Suspicious Activity" -- Really?" PBS. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
Wides-Munoz, Laura, and Garance Burke. "Immigrants Bring Profits to Prison Companies | The Salt Lake Tribune." The Salt Lake Tribune. The Associated Press, 2 Aug. 2012. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://archive.sltrib.com/
----------------------------------
According to the Los Angeles Times, UC Regents voted on Napolitanos’ appointment only one week after the announcement of her recommendation. In the official announcement, the Regents stated the following: “Note to reporters: Out of respect for the appointment process, neither Napolitano nor the University of California will comment further until after the regents have acted on her recommended appointment.” A small committee comprised of less than half the regents, selected in a top-down process, recommended and appointed the UC president. It is clear that from this statement that student input was effectively barred. Student participation is limited to one Student Regent, who is also undemocratically appointed. This process does not include a stipulation to consider campus-wide debate or commentary from students, faculty, or campus workers. More alarmingly, “[h]alf of the regents [had not] even had a chance to talk to her about how she would approach the job”.[1] The closed process was defended by The Regents as a means to not ‘scare off’ prime candidates. This claim is absurd given that most universities have open presidential processes.[2]
Regent Richard Blum, the main driving force behind the privatization and corporate reorganization of the UC system, was central in proposing Napolitano. Richard Blum’s history includes firing Robert Dynes, leading the search for Mark Yudof, and encouraging Yudof's resignation before overseeing the "search" for Napolitano. Though the Regents state this was done through a headhunting agency, Blum was instrumental in the final decision. Blum also headed the committee which sought out and eventually hired Nicholas Dirks, the current Chancellor at UC Berkeley. Dirks and Blum’s acquaintanceship began as members of the Council on Foreign Relations, a group largely consisting of bankers and developers. This all seems to indicate that central decisions for filling the highest-ranking positions in the UC system continue to be implemented by those who stand to profit from privatization.[3]
Militarization and Privatization Record
As the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Janet Napolitano increased militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border and expanded the privatization of detention centers made to confine undocumented people. These decisions led to an increase in human rights abuses such as years-long detentions without legal representation - with some cases resulting in death.
This is indicative Napolitano’s long history of neglecting individual’s rights for the benefit of private firms. During her tenure as head of the DHS in 2011, a record number of 429,000 people were detained by ICE when border migration was at a record low. During this time, investors with stakes in detention centers generated $2 billion dollars of taxpayer money. Investors continue to gain from new security measures, such as biometric technology, supported by Napolitano. The new immigration legislation she has been pushing through Congress will increase the amount of “immigration offenders” to be placed in federal prison by 14,000 annually and will double border guards to 40,000.[4] Essentially, Napolitano criminalized immigrants to further police their movement not just at the border as a preventative measure, but to imprison them in order to use their labor. She further militarized the U.S.-Mexico border by incrementally increasing the deployment of border guards. “The number of Border Patrol agents deployed nationwide has seen a five-fold increase over the two past decades. In FY 1993, there were 4,208 Border Patrol agents, a number that increased to 10,045 by FY 2002, and to 17,499 by FY 2008. At the end of FY 2012, the number of Border Patrol agents stood at 21,394”. [5] Recent quota and incentive systems for Border Patrol agencies operating within the country have seen the distribution of cash bonuses, vacation awards and gift cards up to $100. Some sectors of upstate New York have even spent up to $200,000 dollars on their awards program.
Obama administration officials have implied that Congress required them to set the 400,000-per-year deportation goal. However, the only plausible Congressional "mandate" was from then-Democratic Senator Robert Byrd’s revision to the 2009 DHS appropriations bill. It requires that ICE agents fill prison beds for a minimum of 34,000 potential deportees — at an average daily cost of about $5 million.[6] This legislation greatly benefits the powerful and influential for-profit prison industry, which invests millions on DC lobbyists.
The industry is essentially controlled by a monopoly consisting of three companies: Corrections Corporation of America, The GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp. These companies have jointly spent up to $45 million on campaign donations at the state and federal level within the last decade. There is a strong likelihood that these funds are supporting Napolitano’s policies, which directly promote their interests. As a consequence of increased detentions, the amount a US taxpayer pays nightly for the detention of undocumented peoples has risen from $80 in 2004 to $166. At least half of this money goes to the detention centers listed above. As a legal resident detained in CCA jails for 19 months for missing an asylum application hearing noted, “It’s a millionaires’ business, and they are living off profits from each one of the people who go through there each and every night...It’s our money we earn as taxpayers every day that goes to finance this.”[7]
At the local level, Napolitano has strengthened ICE and local police collaboration through programs such as Secure Communities, whose function is to terrorize, incarcerate, and deport individuals likely to end up in GEO or CCA jails. Less than one-third of those deported had criminal records as this program essentially criminalizes undocumented folks for the profits of private companies. Federal prosecutors increasingly charge immigrants with felonies for repeatedly entering the country without papers. This reflects that the actual purpose of criminalizing migrants is not to deter illegal border crossings, but to funnel people into detention centers for profit. This increase in convicting thousands of people for unlawful re-entry and other federal offenses works in tandem with private prisons specifically constructed for their detainment and immobilization. When US policy incentivizes the incarceration of those seeking economic opportunities and refuge, the growth of an already-established, profit-driven, private-public partnership takes priority over human well-being and safety from violence.[8] Janet Napolitano has advanced her career by amplifying the expansion of this process, simultaneously citing her technocratic role in the system to avoid accountability.
The UC system’s most powerful leader and representative has substantial stake not in education and social inclusion, but in military and exclusionary political practices.
NSA/Surveillance
Janet Napolitano was the head of one of the largest known intelligence collection agencies: The Department of Homeland Security. DHS facilitated data exchange amongst U.S. major security and intelligence services including the CIA, FBI and the NSA. It has created the most sophisticated means of collecting information on people living in the U.S., citizens and non-citizens alike, to date.
One example is the Nationwide SAR (Suspicious Activity Reporting) initiative which has substantially expanded the scope of surveillance in the U.S. This initiative operates through “fusion centers” that enable the sharing of information at all levels of government, making “terrorism-related” information available to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The type of data that can be collected on individuals has extended from criminal records to public and private sector data. There could be SAR information on you, but you would never know. This is because SAR-related records are designated by the DHS as “exempt from the access and correction provisions of the Privacy Act.”[9] This surveillance program lacks clear regulatory standards, meaning there is greater likelihood for civil rights abuses and the targeting of pre-criminalized groups and communities. For example, recent revelations indicate that the NYPD used these legal frameworks to target Mosques and Muslim organizations by deeming them ‘terrorist enterprises,’ thereby allowing them to infiltrate and surveil without criminal charges.[10] This program also includes the If You See Something, Say Something Campaign, meant to encourage ordinary people to report any “suspicious” activity as pre-operational terrorist planning.
PBS reports: “ACLU policy counsel Michael German argue[s] that the imperative to gather as much information as possible, with relatively vague guidance, can lead to abuses. He cites a Maryland case, where 53 activists primarily affiliated with anti-death penalty, environmental, racial justice and anti-war groups were the subjects of an elaborate 14-month covert surveillance program by the Maryland State Police.[11] People organizing social justice campaigns were surveilled and characterized as terrorists by police. Janet Napolitano’s agency took part in activity that targeted individuals for their political, religious and ethnic identities and affiliations. Furthermore, she has strongly advocated for the punishment of individuals such as Edward Snowden, who has exposed institutional attacks on civil liberties. This indicates her complicity in the gross expansion of the security state.[12]
Hierarchy of the Department of Homeland Security
Human Rights Record
Less people are crossing the border, yet more people are either dying or being locked up in the process of crossing the border. A dramatic increase in prosecution comes at a time when border crossings are at an all-time low.[13] Bloomberg reported a 72 percent increase in daily detentions from 2005 to 2013--partly under Napolitano’s leadership. Quotas were imposed by a bed mandate requiring ICE to keep at least 33,400 undocumented folks in detention at all times.[14] The mandate formally criminalizes and subsequently deports undocumented folks.
The East Bay Express reports that “immigrants were arrested and put into deportation proceedings for minor crimes such as driving with a broken taillight, driving without a license, or loitering… 60 percent of Secure Communities deportees were people who had committed no crime or very minor crimes.”. Secure Communities is a deportation program spearheaded by Napolitano which encourages racial profiling and lacks due process, meeting criticism from civil rights organizations across the U.S. Conviction of minor crimes can lead to imprisonment in facilities such as the infamous Sheriff Arpaio’s tent city jails (capacity: ~2,000). (Napolitano’s and Arpaio’s political relationship is worthy of a more in-depth review, though it is beyond the scope of this particular report.) The following quote from the Express is indicative of the program’s impact and organizing objective of detainment and profiling: “A study released by the UC Berkeley School of Law in 2011 found that only 52 percent of Secure Communities arrestees were scheduled to have a hearing before a judge; that about 88,000 families that included US citizens had a family member arrested under the Secure Communities program; and that ICE wrongly arrested roughly 3,600 US citizens through the program.” [15]
Border crossing deaths were a record high at 477 in 2012. The National Foundation for American Policy reports that “an immigrant attempting to cross illegally into the United States today [in 2012] is 8 times more likely to die in the attempt than approximately a decade ago.”[16] It is not possible for us to put faces to these deaths, but we can provide some of the names and causes of death available, so to recognize the humanity of those who have died. The following names belong to some of the approximated 40 who died in detention during 2012: Hector Mosley, born 1947 in Panama, Samou Fankeu, born 1966 in Cameroon, and 4 others died of AIDS in detention. We can only imagine the lack of medical attention received in detention centers. Sebastian Mejia Vicentes, born 1977 in Mexico, along with 17 others, died of Asphyxia--a vaguely stated cause of death. This information was recorded in an ICE report listing detainee deaths from 2003 to 2013.[17]
A civil suit filed against Janet Napolitano by the immigrant rights network Families For Freedom reports that her agency detained a Nigerian national named Rafiu Abimbola for more than six years. The FFF also reports that Napolitano’s agency detained a permanent resident named Camal Marchabeyoglu multiple times for up to six years. According to the 2013 report “uncovering USBP [United States Border Control]” by Families Freedom, “USBP’s policies result in the wrongful arrest, detention, and harassment of hundreds of lawfully present individuals”. This one example of the thousands of legal and permanent residents detained annually. Although these individual migrants’ cases occurred before Napolitano’s appointment, she did nothing to change the policies that enabled these human rights violations during her term. Rather, she expanded the detention of immigrants in facilities controlled by different entities. This has led to the mistreatment and abuse of many detainees. The FFF civil suit report comments that “[i]mmigrant detainees have been subjected to verbal and physical abuse and denied adequate medical care.”[18] United States Border Patrol agents are also given cash bonus incentives at the discretion of their station managers. These discretionary cash bonuses are not required to meet any set of criteria in order to be awarded, nor is the amount awarded specified.[19]
Sources
Anderson, Stuart. "How Many More Deaths? The Moral Case for a Temporary Worker Program." National Foundation for American Policy. NFAP Policy Brief, Mar. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.nfap.com/pdf/NFAP%
Bates, Ashley. "The Napolitano Files." East Bay Express. N.p., 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://www.eastbayexpress.
Board, The Times Editorial. "Why the Rush on Napolitano?" Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://www.latimes.com/news/
Chen, Michelle. "‘Bargain’ on Immigration Would Feed Prison Profits." In These Times. N.p., 26 July 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://inthesetimes.com/
"Deportations by Fiscal Year." Immigration Reform Americas Voice. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://americasvoice.org/
"Families for Freedom Et Al., Plaintiffs, v. Janet Napolitano." The Civil Rights Litigation Clearing House. University of Michigan Law School, 25 June 2009. Web. <http://www.clearinghouse.net/
Goldman, Adam, and Matt Apuzo. "NYPD Designates Mosques As Terrorism Organizations." The Big Story. N.p., 28 Aug. 2013. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. <http://bigstory.ap.org/
"List of Deaths in ICE Custody." US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. N.p., 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <https://www.ice.gov/doclib/
Meranze, Michael. "The Napolitano Appointment and the Regents' Rejection of the University ~ Remaking the University." Remaking The University. N.p., 21 July 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://utotherescue.blogspot.
Pengelly, Martin. "Napolitano: NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Should Not Be given Clemency." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 05 Jan. 2014.
"Regents Policy 7101: Policy on Appointment of the President of the University." Board of Regents. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://regents.
Selway, William, and Margaret Newkirk. "Congress's Illegal-Immigration Detention Quota Costs $2 Billion a Year." Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://www.businessweek.com/
Schoenfelder, Anna, and Natasha Rivera Silber. "Uncovering USBP: Bonus Programs for United States Border Patrol Agents and the Arrest of Lawfully Present Individuals." Families for Freedom. FFF & NYU Law, Jan. 2013. Web. <http://familiesforfreedom.
Shen, Aviva. "Despite All-Time Low Border Crossings, Obama Administration Will Prosecute A Record Number Of Migrants This Year." ThinkProgress. N.p., 16 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://thinkprogress.org/
"Suspicious Activity" -- Really?" PBS. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
Wides-Munoz, Laura, and Garance Burke. "Immigrants Bring Profits to Prison Companies | The Salt Lake Tribune." The Salt Lake Tribune. The Associated Press, 2 Aug. 2012. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://archive.sltrib.com/
----------------------------------
Undocumented Groups, Student Coalitions, Faculty and Community Organizations Demand the Resignation of Janet Napolitano as President of the UC System
We, the Student of Color Solidarity Coalition, fervently oppose Napolitano’s election. We recognize her to be a violator of human rights, and a threat to democratic public education. As head of the Department of Homeland Security - and its major division, the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) - from 2009-2013, Napolitano terrorized, incarcerated and deported nearly 2,000,000 undocumented immigrants. Napolitano claims that she was simply enforcing the “nation’s immigration laws.” However, she played a major role in creating, expanding and implementing unethical programs such as Secure Communities and 287 (g) agreements, which tear families apart, rely on rampant racial profiling and rake in billions for private prisons and security firms.
The election of Napolitano poses a threat to our right to a democratic and public education. The University of California system, championed as one of the country’s outstanding institutions for public higher education, should not be administered by the same actors that implemented militarization and privatization strategies in the Department of Homeland Security. California has one of the largest immigrant populations in the country, as well as a long history of advocacy that has seen this community make strong gains. While just months ago Napolitano was leading an aggressive attack on immigrants, she is now administering one of the largest public education institutions in the nation. In fact, California has already stood against Napolitano and her record of deportations by endorsing the TRUST Act, a bill repudiating Secure Communities. Napolitano endorsed this bill, discrediting the very same programs she expanded—an action which shows that she cannot be relied upon to make ethical decisions, and furthermore reflects her political opportunism.
Napolitano bears an abhorrent human rights record. As the head of DHS she oversaw an unacceptable increase in prolonged, mandatory and unnecessary detentions. This increase was achieved through the use of unlawful “Bed Mandates” and deportation quotas which required an average of 34,000 people be detained everyday and 400,000 people be deported every year, regardless of the fact that the vast majority of them qualified for release based on Homeland Security’s own guidelines. These detentions and deportations lead to unprecedented increases in profits for private prison companies and security firms, such as Corrections Corporation of America and GEO group. These corporations have strongly lobbied for and pushed for legislation that criminalizes immigrants and people of color. The policies she has supported further incentivize the detention of undocumented people and lead to increases in incarceration rates, among other human rights abuses. This damning proof should be enough to have her removed from her position as the head of any educational institution, let alone the UC system. If she continues to serve as UC president, we expect further militarization and privatization of UC campuses.
We have refused to stand idle in response to Napolitano’s election. As opposed to the “warm welcomes” she claims to have received, there has been visible discontent at every UC campus she has visited. This response has grown into a unified opposition to Napolitano’s appointment and the undemocratic process by which she was appointed. We see Napolitano’s appointment as not only an insult to our values, but also as a violent threat to public education. Her background as a human rights violator makes her election detrimental to the values and struggles upon which our communities stand. We will continue to protest and to build student power from the bottom up until Janet Napolitano is removed from her position. Following her removal, we demand the democratization of the process by which UC Regents and UC officials are elected in order to facilitate full student participation in our education system.
As students of the University of California, it is our duty to challenge Napolitano’s election. Seeing to this, the SCSC hereby urges the fulfillment of the following demands:
1. We demand the resignation or impeachment of Janet Napolitano as UC President immediately.
2. We demand that next and all future UC presidents be someone who
· a) is elected by students and faculty
· b) has an extensive and positive background in education
· c) works towards completely eliminating student debt through full subsidization
· d) comes from and has worked with communities in California
· e) supports all programs/resources that serve underrepresented communities;
3. The appointment of Napolitano exposes the undemocratic process by which the UC system makes decisions. In order to address this structural problem we demand a restructuring of this process which includes:
· a) a campus wide election for all future UC regents; this includes having the ability to nominate, endorse, and campaign for candidates
· b) the power to impeach both UC presidents and regents
· c) a general democratization of the regents to include true participation of students, faculty, and UC workers in the central decision making processes of the University.
We invite all UC students, staff, faculty and community members who are concerned by these recent events and agree that these demands best reflect the future changes they would like to see, to sign this letter and join and help shape this fight.
You can email us at notonapolitano@gmail.com
We, the Student of Color Solidarity Coalition, fervently oppose Napolitano’s election. We recognize her to be a violator of human rights, and a threat to democratic public education. As head of the Department of Homeland Security - and its major division, the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) - from 2009-2013, Napolitano terrorized, incarcerated and deported nearly 2,000,000 undocumented immigrants. Napolitano claims that she was simply enforcing the “nation’s immigration laws.” However, she played a major role in creating, expanding and implementing unethical programs such as Secure Communities and 287 (g) agreements, which tear families apart, rely on rampant racial profiling and rake in billions for private prisons and security firms.
The election of Napolitano poses a threat to our right to a democratic and public education. The University of California system, championed as one of the country’s outstanding institutions for public higher education, should not be administered by the same actors that implemented militarization and privatization strategies in the Department of Homeland Security. California has one of the largest immigrant populations in the country, as well as a long history of advocacy that has seen this community make strong gains. While just months ago Napolitano was leading an aggressive attack on immigrants, she is now administering one of the largest public education institutions in the nation. In fact, California has already stood against Napolitano and her record of deportations by endorsing the TRUST Act, a bill repudiating Secure Communities. Napolitano endorsed this bill, discrediting the very same programs she expanded—an action which shows that she cannot be relied upon to make ethical decisions, and furthermore reflects her political opportunism.
Napolitano bears an abhorrent human rights record. As the head of DHS she oversaw an unacceptable increase in prolonged, mandatory and unnecessary detentions. This increase was achieved through the use of unlawful “Bed Mandates” and deportation quotas which required an average of 34,000 people be detained everyday and 400,000 people be deported every year, regardless of the fact that the vast majority of them qualified for release based on Homeland Security’s own guidelines. These detentions and deportations lead to unprecedented increases in profits for private prison companies and security firms, such as Corrections Corporation of America and GEO group. These corporations have strongly lobbied for and pushed for legislation that criminalizes immigrants and people of color. The policies she has supported further incentivize the detention of undocumented people and lead to increases in incarceration rates, among other human rights abuses. This damning proof should be enough to have her removed from her position as the head of any educational institution, let alone the UC system. If she continues to serve as UC president, we expect further militarization and privatization of UC campuses.
We have refused to stand idle in response to Napolitano’s election. As opposed to the “warm welcomes” she claims to have received, there has been visible discontent at every UC campus she has visited. This response has grown into a unified opposition to Napolitano’s appointment and the undemocratic process by which she was appointed. We see Napolitano’s appointment as not only an insult to our values, but also as a violent threat to public education. Her background as a human rights violator makes her election detrimental to the values and struggles upon which our communities stand. We will continue to protest and to build student power from the bottom up until Janet Napolitano is removed from her position. Following her removal, we demand the democratization of the process by which UC Regents and UC officials are elected in order to facilitate full student participation in our education system.
As students of the University of California, it is our duty to challenge Napolitano’s election. Seeing to this, the SCSC hereby urges the fulfillment of the following demands:
1. We demand the resignation or impeachment of Janet Napolitano as UC President immediately.
2. We demand that next and all future UC presidents be someone who
· a) is elected by students and faculty
· b) has an extensive and positive background in education
· c) works towards completely eliminating student debt through full subsidization
· d) comes from and has worked with communities in California
· e) supports all programs/resources that serve underrepresented communities;
3. The appointment of Napolitano exposes the undemocratic process by which the UC system makes decisions. In order to address this structural problem we demand a restructuring of this process which includes:
· a) a campus wide election for all future UC regents; this includes having the ability to nominate, endorse, and campaign for candidates
· b) the power to impeach both UC presidents and regents
· c) a general democratization of the regents to include true participation of students, faculty, and UC workers in the central decision making processes of the University.
We invite all UC students, staff, faculty and community members who are concerned by these recent events and agree that these demands best reflect the future changes they would like to see, to sign this letter and join and help shape this fight.
You can email us at notonapolitano@gmail.com
or visit our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/
[1] Board, The Times Editorial. "Why the Rush on Napolitano?" Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2013.
[2] "Regents Policy 7101: Policy on Appointment of the President of the University." Board of Regents.
[3] Meranze, Michael. "The Napolitano Appointment and the Regents' Rejection of the University ~ Remaking the University." Remaking The University, 21 July 2013.
[4] Chen, Michelle. "‘Bargain’ on Immigration Would Feed Prison Profits." In These Times, 26 July 2013.
[5] Anderson, Stuart. "How Many More Deaths? The Moral Case for a Temporary Worker Program." National Foundation for American Policy. NFAP Policy Brief, Mar. 2013.
[6] Bates, Ashley. "The Napolitano Files." East Bay Express, 22 Jan. 2014.
[7] Wides-Munoz, Laura, and Garance Burke. "Immigrants Bring Profits to Prison Companies.” The Salt Lake Tribune. The Associated Press, 2 Aug. 2012.
[8] "Deportations by Fiscal Year." Immigration Reform Americas Voice.
[9] "Suspicious Activity" -- Really?" PBS.
[10] Goldman, Adam, and Matt Apuzo. "NYPD Designates Mosques As Terrorism Organizations." The Big Story, 28 Aug. 2013.
[11] See note 9
[12] Pengelly, Martin. "Napolitano: NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Should Not Be given Clemency." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 05 Jan. 2014.
[13] Shen, Aviva. "Despite All-Time Low Border Crossings, Obama Administration Will Prosecute A Record Number Of Migrants This Year." ThinkProgress, 16 Nov. 2013.
[14] Selway, William, and Margaret Newkirk. "Congress's Illegal-Immigration Detention Quota Costs $2 Billion a Year." Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, 26 Sept. 2013.
[15] See note 5
[16] See note 5
[17] "List of Deaths in ICE Custody." US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
[18] "Families for Freedom Et Al., Plaintiffs, v. Janet Napolitano." The Civil Rights Litigation Clearing House. University of Michigan Law School, 25 June 2009.
[19] Schoenfelder, Anna, and Natasha Rivera Silber. "Uncovering USBP: Bonus Programs for United States Border Patrol Agents and the Arrest of Lawfully Present Individuals." Families for Freedom. FFF & NYU Law, Jan. 2013.
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