THE SANCTUARY ISSUE SHELTER, SAFETY, AND THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS: THE OLDEST OF IDEAS WHAT JAPANESE INTERNMENT TAUGHT US ABOUT STANDING UP FOR OUR NEIGHBORS
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ys a W
+
CHUCK COLLINS
THE URGENCY OF BOTTOM-UP ECONOMICS PRISON IN TWELVE LANDSCAPES
WHAT MASS INCARCERATION DOES TO ALL OF US
COMPASSIONATE DEFIANCE
DAKOTA 38 TO STANDING ROCK
HOW PHOTOGRAPHY SHAPES OUR VIEW OF NATIVE AMERICANS
SANCTUARY IS NOT A CITY. IT’S PEOPLE DEMANDING
US $6.50 Canada $6.50
JUSTICE FOR EACH OTHER. YesMagazine.org
MORAL AND POLITICAL MUSCLES OF RESISTANCE
Protesters at Los Angeles International Airport oppose the immigration ban.
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PHOTOS BY KAREN H. BLACK / ISTOCK (TOP) AND KEN SHIN (BOTTOM)
U Mary Turck
nder the Trump administration’s new executive orders, these are the scenes repeated in many cities: Immigration agents swoop in and take away a domestic abuse victim leaving a court building. They roust a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status from his bed. They arrest people showing up at immigration offices
for routine appointments. In this atmosphere of anger, fear, and confusion, local governments, as well as churches, schools, and hospitals, are declaring themselves “sanctuaries” for undocumented immigrants. But what does that really mean? States, cities, school districts, and universities are all defying federal orders with sanctuary declarations. And in response to threats from the Trump administration, Seattle is now one of at least six local governments to sue the federal government, alleging state’s rights violations among other constitutional issues. These sanctuary policies are varied, as each local government defines its own sanctuary work. And there’s another kind of sanctuary too, declared by a church, synagogue, or mosque. The bottom line is that no local policy can actually prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from conducting raids, making arrests, or deporting undocumented immigrants. But the sanctuary movement is not without power. Importantly, it serves as a public statement, and this public commitment has powerful political and moral impact. Jeanette Vizguerra has lived in the United States for about 20 years and has lived with a deportation order hanging over her head for years. She was required to check in with ICE each year to ask for a stay of deportation. But this year, instead of going to ICE for her check-in, Vizguerra asked for sanctuary in the First Unitarian church in Denver. First Unitarian is among the growing number of religious congregations pledging sanctuary, a number that more than doubled in the months immediately following the 2016 presidential election. Many more have
pledged material support and volunteer help to the 800-plus congregations offering physical shelter. Along with Christian and Jewish congregations, a Cincinnati mosque became the first mosque to declare itself a sanctuary in January. When a religious congregation offers sanctuary, it often provides a place to live and a hope of protection from arrest. So far, that works. But the law does allow police or ICE officials to go into a place of worship (or a school or a hospital) and arrest undocumented immigrants. Though it would be legal, it wouldn’t look pretty. Under the Obama administration, ICE was directed not to enter “sensitive locations.” While it’s tough to tell rumors and leaks from memos and orders, Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is clearly playing by the new president’s tough-guy rulebook on immigration. According to leaked memos, Kelly plans to rescind all Obama-era guidelines, including the one on sensitive locations. Would ICE officials actually invade churches, schools, and hospitals to drag people out and deport them? We don’t know yet.
A city separation ordinance directs city employees, including police, not to inquire about the immigration status of anyone who has not been convicted of a crime. St. Paul, Minnesota, passed a separation ordinance in 2004, and after the election of Trump, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman issued a strong statement explaining the city’s stance: “The City of Saint Paul wants all its residents to feel comfortable seeking out City services—including law enforcement—when they are in need. We want everyone to call the police when they are the victim of or witness to a crime without fear they will be asked about their immigration status. We want everyone to call the paramedics in a medical emergency, enroll their children in after-school programs or use our library services. Our staff— including our police officers—will not ask for proof of immigration status. Period.” Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek is one of about 60 high-ranking law enforcement officials who sent a letter to U.S. senators explaining that this practice makes law enforcement work better. But, Stanek told a local newspaper, “there is no sanctuary once you go to jail.” Going to jail means fingerprints, which go to the FBI and into a database that ICE regularly checks. A city’s non-collaboration also might include refusing to hold people on ICE detainers, an instruction from ICE to hold a prisoner past a legal release date until ICE decides whether to pick them up for deportation proceedings. Several courts have held that these detainers are unconstitutional, but ICE continues to use them. As a practical matter, even in jurisdictions that refuse to hold people on ICE detainers, ICE agents can still wait at the door of the jail when someone is released.
Refusing to cooperate with ICE
When cities declare sanctuary status, they’re mostly invoking a separation ordinance. Despite heated rhetoric, sanctuary ordinances can only affect the way in which city employees— from police to librarians—carry out their jobs.
States jump in on both sides
Each jurisdiction’s laws come at sanctuary in different ways. Oregon has a strong statewide separation law, which dates back to 1987. In California, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature have wrangled over ways yesmagazine . org
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IN ONE OF THE NATION’S MOST CONSERVATIVE PLACES, A SANCTUARY CITY Photos and text by Josué Rivas Protection, shelter, fear, and displacement: I found them all in Santa Ana, California, a self-proclaimed “sanctuary city.” This was my first home in the U.S. after my mom brought me here as a child. I remember a vibrant Fourth Street, a hub for all Mexican-related things, from homemade tortillas to traditional music. Though much has changed in the 18 years since I lived there, Santa Ana remains the epicenter for social justice activism in Orange County, one of the most conservative places in the country. The people are the spirit of this community, and they have mobilized to protect their undocumented brothers and sisters. In December, the Santa Ana City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting the use of city resources for immigration enforcement. This was a positive step toward becoming an actual sanctuary for undocumented people. But even in a sanctuary city, there’s more work to do. Advocacy groups, such as Resilience Orange County, lead the fight for fair implementation of sanctuary practices and transparency from the city.
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Left: Carlos works with Resilience OC, which organizes grassroots deportation defense and educates youth of color and their families to become outspoken leaders in their community. His demeanor is the spirit of that movement and brings a little bit of gentleness into the crazy world of trying to prevent deportations and mobilizing people to protest. His story is very similar to my story. His mother sacrificed a lot to bring him to this country to pursue higher education. He’s here under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
Undocumented folks live in fear of the day they will be pulled over by the police or have an encounter with any sort of authorities. When ICE chased down this undocumented young man and his father, Resilience OC’s Abraham and Carlos arrived within minutes and immediately got to work: They took photos and livestreamed, contacted their network to get the word out about what happened, called attorneys. Advocacy is basically the community coming together to document and monitor these enforcements. They talk to immigration agents. They talk to police. They become involved. They keep the law enforcement accountable. They are unafraid. yesmagazine . org
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JUST THE FACTS
Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz Clo Copass
1 Undocumented people usually don’t have legal representation.
63%
don’t have legal representation in their deportation cases
86%
don’t have legal representation if they’re already in detention
IN AN UNFAIR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM, ONE FIX IS CATCHING ON 2
263,372 IMMIGRANTS APPLIED FOR RELIEF FROM DEPORTATION (2007–2012)
Immigrants with lawyers fare better.
B
efore deportation, undocumented people have the right to an immigration court hearing. Because it is a civil matter rather than criminal, a lawyer is not provided. Most immigrants, often with English as a second language, are left to face complex proceedings on their own. New York City began a pilot immigration public defender system in 2013. This April, New York state allocated $10 million to create the Liberty Defense Project fund, making it the first in the nation to ensure legal representation for immigrants. Here’s why that’s an easy start to fixing a broken system.
2%
Of the 52% who won relief from deportation:
had no counsel
4
50%
Lawyers are costly, and there aren’t enough volunteers.
had counsel
IMMIGRANTS IN DETENTION
4x
more likely to be released in custody hearings if they had lawyers: 44% with lawyers vs. 11% with none
3
92%
But there is uneven access to representation. MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS
SOURCE: AMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL REPORT, EAGLY AND SHAFER , 2016. PEW RESEARCH CENTER , 2016. ILLUSTRATIONS: ERHUI1979 / ISTOCK INFOGRAPHIC: YES! MAGAZINE, 2017
Lowest representation rate and highest detention rate
2%
78%
of immigrants receive pro bono counsel
CHINESE IMMIGRANTS Highest representation rate and lowest detention rate
21% 4% yesmagazine . org
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NEW MEXICO’S HISTORY OF WELCOMING IS BIGGER THAN ANY
BORDER WALL
A
Michael Dax fter two hours of public testimony, Ralph Nava was the last of 60 speakers to testify in favor of the Santa Fe City Council’s resolution to reaffirm and strengthen its welcoming policies toward immigrants. As a native of northern New Mexico whose family’s presence in the region dates back generations, he implored the audience and council
members to consider the history. “All of this area was Mexico just a few generations back,” said Nava. “All of a sudden, we’re trying to make all of these artificial barriers and walls that don’t make sense.” YES! ILLUSTRATION BY JENNIFER LUXTON
Many residents view the border with Mexico as a foreign concept, which has allowed the state’s unique relationship with its southern neighbor to overshadow new federal policies. yesmagazine . org
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What has the Japanese internment taught us about standing up for our neighbors? First, to demand justice for ourselves. Second, for those who have privilege and power to intervene for those with none.
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YES! PHOTO BY PAUL DUNN
NO TEARFUL GOODBYES THIS TIME — THE FIGHT IS ON Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz
I
’ve been feeling particularly Japanese these days. That’s not entirely unusual. Being mixed race means I experience my races in sometimes unexpected flareups. And now, as more of white America seems to be trying to rid itself of more of brown America, the murmuring about racism from my Japanese community has intensified. They have something to say about this, and it occurs to me that I do, too. To be sure, some of it is seasonal emotion. Where I live on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, every March brings spring’s first sunshine, early strawberry blossoms, and an anniversary that has marked this community for decades. Seventy-five years ago, on March 30, American citizens and their Japanese-born parents—227 in all—were taken from their homes by soldiers and put on trains and buses to concentration camps. The president’s Executive Order 9066 gave these families six days’ notice. They were the first in the nation to be rounded up; eventually 120,000 people were sent to the camps. In the decades that I’ve been a part of the Japanese American community here, I’ve been steeped in survivors’ stories of loss and grief—but also their gratitude to non-Japanese neighbors. The community was so supportive that Bainbridge had more Japanese return home after years of incarceration than any other community. Survivors and descendants gather each March at a memorial on the site where they were ferried away. They do that for the same reason they repeat their stories to school children, to visitors, to each other. Because nidoto nai yoni: “Let it not happen again.” You hear that uttered a lot around here. It’s a motto with a call to action that shifts. It can be an appeal to justice and compassion: “Let it not happen again … please?” It can be a demand to stand up: “Let it not happen again … dammit!” It’s the latter that is resonating with me now, a reaction to this new government’s racism. So, OK, nidoto nai yoni! But how exactly do we “let it not happen again” when federal agents come for our neighbors? What can a community really do to guard civil liberties and lives? In 1942, even this exceptional multiethnic community—home to the only West Coast newspaper that spoke out against the incarceration order—did not gather in the streets and shout, “No! You will yesmagazine . org
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SOLUTIONS WE LOVE
A SOLUTION TOO BIG TO FAIL: ELECTRIFY THE TRAINS
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ILLUSTRATION BY J. CRAIG THORPE FROM SOLUTIONARY RAIL
Stephen Miller
Over the phone, it’s clear that Bill Moyer is frustrated. “We’re not talking about some kind of Elon Musk-vacuum-tubeJetsons-freaking-cartoon fantasy,” the Northwest resident says. “We’re talking about something that has a proven history.” Moyer has been begging Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to invest in a renewable energy-powered freight rail line from Seattle to Chicago. But the governor has shown little interest, although he recently asked the state Legislature to approve $1 million to study an ultra-highspeed passenger train from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. “We’d love for him to show some leadership for the entire state on something that’s not so pie-in-the-sky,” Moyer laments. Futuristic commuter trains are one thing, but Moyer has his sights set on an idea that is at once larger in scope and more firmly grounded in existing technology. Moyer is a good-natured musician and progressive activist who has lived on Vashon Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle, since 1989. He has a mop of curly dark hair and speaks in the laid-back tone you’ve heard at your local bike shop. These days, he often sports a black T-shirt that proclaims the name of his progressive advocacy organization, the Backbone Campaign. It was this group that researched and authored the recently released Solutionary Rail, a 126-page book filled with charts, maps, graphs, and tables to support the feasibility of a bold electrified rail proposal. The idea seeks to address two significant problems facing the country. On the one hand, the overwhelming scientific consensus warns of an impending climate catastrophe for which we are woefully unprepared. On the other, the country’s bridges and roads are, in fact, crumbling. The American Society of Engineers awarded the country a D+ in 2016, as it has consistently since 1998. During his first address to Congress in February, President Donald Trump ignored climate change but called for $1 trillion to fill cracks in the nation’s infrastructure, which
largely accommodates fossil fuel-hungry automobiles. Transportation accounts for nearly a third of the country’s carbon emissions, of which 84 percent is attributed to cars and commercial trucks, the EPA reports. So, as Moyer sees it, it’s obvious that climate change and infrastructure should be tackled in tandem. “The biggest climate impact we can have is getting the trucks off the roads, and eventually getting people back to the tracks, as well,” he says. To do this, the Backbone Campaign proposes revitalizing and electrifying America’s rail system, powering it entirely with community-owned renewable energy. The plan would update existing freight railways by adding overhead wires to carry high-voltage electricity generated in towns along the lines and smoothing out turns too tight for high-speed travel. It would swap diesel locomotives for electric engines that are 35 percent cheaper to operate and that haul freight five times more efficiently than trucks. In many places, it would add additional track to free up passenger rail that would otherwise get stuck behind delayed freight. And it would do all of this with a focus
on justice—for the people who live alongside dirty and noisy diesel train lines, for current and future rail workers and the underemployed millions who would benefit from a large-scale infrastructure undertaking, for communities that could find economic security in renewable energy generation, and for those around the world whose lives are already threatened by global warming.
I
t’s a grandiose idea, perhaps even improbable, but Moyer is known in progressive circles for being someone who gets things done. His track record includes the “kayaktivist” blockade that confronted Shell Oil in Puget Sound and the 150-foot replica of the Constitution, signed by thousands, which tumbled down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in protest of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Citizens United. In truth, electric rail is not such a long shot. China and Russia have already invested heavily in electrifying more than 40 percent of their railways. The Trans-Siberian Railway—the world’s longest at 5,772 miles—went fully electric in 2002, and Russia now moves about 70 percent of its freight over electrified lines. France, Italy, and Germany have also electrified as much or more than half of their rails, according to the CIA World Fact Book. As Solutionary Rail recalls, the United States operated more than 3,000 miles of electrified rail up until the 1960s— granted, none of it powered renewably—when the influential auto industry and the subsidized interstate highway system pushed rail to the back burner. “If Eisenhower had signed the highspeed rail bill instead of the interstate bill, the country would be connected by rail,” says former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. A congressman who sat on the House Transportation and
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“Death by Oil,” an ambrotype featuring Ojibwe flutist Darren Thompson, pays tribute to the 38 Dakota men hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, and the complicated relationship tribes have with oil today. PHOTO BY SHANE BALKOWITSCH
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CULTURE SHIFT
IMMORTAL IMPRESSIONS Using an early photographic process, one photographer hopes to draw a line connecting what happened to the Dakota people in Mankato, Minnesota, 155 years ago and what is happening today to the Dakota/Lakota standing up to a $3.7 billion crude oil pipeline.
Jacqueline Keeler
Photographer Shane Balkowitsch’s warehouse is large and dark, except for a few windows filtering the natural light. His studio, in the industrial building where he also runs a medical supplies business near the Bismarck, North Dakota, airport, is lit by lamps that beckon like a bright jewel box. Workers shift merchandise around his photo lab and racks of period clothing as we enter. In his office, Balkowitsch, 47, shows us the glass plate images he creates through an antique technique called ambrotype photography. Image-makers in the 19th century used the wet plate method to capture a ghostly negative on glass. Balkowitsch uses the same tools today. “I don’t consider myself a photographer,” he says, “I consider myself an image-maker. I never took the classes, I read from historic manuals. I’m completely self-taught.” Balkowitsch used this antique process to document Standing Rock Sioux tribal members and other Native “water protectors” fighting the Dakota Access pipeline. By building on a relationship
of trust, he captured these modern Dakota/Lakota warriors in portraits that echo those taken of their ancestors and honor the historic battle for their homelands in the 19th century that continues to this day. He hopes that by sharing these images, he can inspire understanding and healing between Native Americans and all Americans. He offers to demonstrate the
ambrotype process by taking a photo of my 13-year old son, Joneya Matoska (White Bear Born at Dawn). Taking a photo with an iPhone takes about one-sixtieth of a second, Balkowitsch says. But with ambrotype photography, which requires the subject to hold a pose for as long as 30 seconds, you are taking a short movie of someone’s life. He places my son’s neck in a metal brace to hold his head still. He assures him that even Abraham Lincoln had to sit with a neck brace like this for his portraits. Then Balkowitsch mixes a silver colloidal solution on a counter in a dark corner of his studio. He returns to load the camera with a light-sensitive glass plate coated in the wet silver. Under the black fabric that drapes the viewfinder, he invites me to see my son’s image upside down. “That’s what it looks like on your retina, too. Our brains turn the image back the right way,” he says. As my son holds the pose, I think of the antique photos of our family. One shows Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake) at my great-great-grandparent’s yesmagazine . org
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YES! BUT HOW? DIY WAYS TO LIVE SUSTAINABLY
HOW TO HELP
NATIVE BEES AT HOME
Research and illustrations by Lori Panico
By now we’ve all heard that domesticated honeybee populations continue to decline, endangering our food systems. Although farmers have come to rely on
LOCAL SPECIES Miner Bees ACTIVE SEASON June–July SELECT FOOD PLANT Mariposa Lily STATUS Rare, Uncertain NESTING Underground
imported species of domesticated honeybees, hardier wild bees do some of the work, too. There are 4,000 native bee species in North America. They support natural ecosystems by keeping a healthy diversity among pollinators. But even they are facing threats. Here’s how to be a backyard beekeeper for wild bees.
BECAUSE
30%
90%
of the world’s crops depend on pollination
of wild plants depend on pollination
BUT
23% of the native bee population has been wiped out (2008–2013)
DON’T FORGET TO
REGIONS MOST AT RISK FOR NATIVE BEE LOSS Including native plants in your garden and yard will help provide habitat and sustenance for bees year round. By researching which native plants are most helpful to bees, you can plan a garden that is beneficial to their seasonal needs.
Regions with lowest native bee populations plus highest need for crop pollination.
LOCAL SPECIES Western Bumble Bee ACTIVE SEASON April–September SELECT FOOD PLANT Rubber Rabbit Brush STATUS Rare, In decline NESTING Cavities
LOCAL SPECIES Sonoran Bumble Bee ACTIVE SEASON June, September–October SELECT FOOD PLANT Goldeneye STATUS Uncommon NESTING Cavities
LOCAL SPECIES Eastern Carpenter Bee ACTIVE SEASON April–October SELECT FOOD PLANT Lupine STATUS Secure NESTING Wood
LOCAL SPECIES Bicolored Sweat Bee ACTIVE SEASON April–October SELECT FOOD PLANT Sunflower STATUS Secure NESTING Underground
Create sites for nesting
Avoid pesticides
Seventy percent of native bee species nest in the ground. Clear patches of bare ground or create small sand pits for bees to nest in. Other species of bees nest in the beetle-bored cavities of dead wood. Leave pieces of dry wood in sunny places and drill small holes if there are no existing cavities.
Most insecticides and some fungicides and herbicides are harmful or lethal to bees. Be careful when purchasing seeds and bulbs. Many are grown with systemic pesticides called neonicotinoids, which will remain in the pollen of the plant and harms all bees.
SOURCES: POLLINATOR CONSERVATION RESOURCE CENTER , NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
“YES! Magazine shows me hope is possible.” Native American economist and environmental activist Winona LaDuke
“I look to YES! for stories of people who care about social justice and the environment— and for the partnerships, solutions, and tools to get things done.”
Nonprofit. Independent. Subscriber-supported. YES! PHOTO BY HARLEY SOLTES