{"id":370360,"date":"2018-07-21T20:51:05","date_gmt":"2018-07-21T19:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/we-point-to-the-need-to-decriminalize-migration\/"},"modified":"2018-07-21T20:51:05","modified_gmt":"2018-07-21T19:51:05","slug":"we-point-to-the-need-to-decriminalize-migration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/we-point-to-the-need-to-decriminalize-migration\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We Point to the Need to Decriminalize Migration\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Janine Jackson interviewed Jacinta Gonzalez about immigration rights for the <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/jacinta-gonzalez-on-immigration-rights-jocelyn-mccalla-on-haiti-uprising\/\">July 13, 2018, episode<\/a> of <strong>CounterSpin<\/strong>. This is a lightly edited transcript.<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"wrapperMI_3\" class=\"wrap-mjp  \" style=\"padding:5px 0px 40px 0px;margin:0px;width:100%\">\n<div class=\"Eabove-mjp\" id=\"Eabove-mjp_3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"subwrap-MI\">\n<div class=\"jp-innerwrap\">\n<div class=\"innerx\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerleft\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerright\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innertab\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"interface-mjp verdana-mjp\" style=\"height:71px\" id=\"interfaceMI_3\">\n<div class=\"MI-image Himg right-mjp\" id=\"MI_image_3\" style=\"width:auto;height:71px;overflow:hidden\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"T_mp3j_3\" class=\"player-track-title left-mjp norm-mjp plain-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"bars_holder\">\n<div class=\"loadMI_mp3j\" id=\"load_mp3j_3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"poscolMI_mp3j\" id=\"poscol_mp3j_3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"posbarMI_mp3j\" id=\"posbar_mp3j_3\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"P-Time-MI_3\" class=\"jp-play-time\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"T-Time-MI_3\" class=\"jp-total-time\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"statusMI_3\" class=\"statusMI\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"transport-MI\">\n<div class=\"play-mjp\" id=\"playpause_mp3j_3\">Play<\/div>\n<div class=\"stop-mjp\" id=\"stop_mp3j_3\">Stop<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"buttons-wrap-mjp\" id=\"buttons-wrap-mjp_3\">\n<div class=\"mp3j-popout-MI\" id=\"lpp_mp3j_3\">pop out<\/div>\n<div id=\"download_mp3j_3\" class=\"dloadmp3-MI\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mjp-volwrap\">\n<div class=\"MIsliderVolume\" id=\"vol_mp3j_3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerExt1\" id=\"innerExt1_3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerExt2\" id=\"innerExt2_3\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"Ebetween-mjp\" id=\"Ebetween-mjp_3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"listwrap_mp3j\" id=\"L_mp3j_3\">\n<div class=\"wrapper-mjp\">\n<div class=\"playlist-colour\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wrapper-mjp\">\n<ul class=\"ul-mjp darken1-mjp verdana-mjp med-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp left-mjp\" id=\"UL_mp3j_3\">\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_3\" class=\"mp3j-finfo\">\n<div class=\"mp3j-finfo-sleeve\">\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_gif_3\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-gif\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_txt_3\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-txt\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mp3j-finfo-close\" id=\"mp3j_finfo_close_3\">X<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_dlf_3\" class=\"mp3j-dlframe\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mp3j-nosolution\" id=\"mp3j_nosolution_3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"Ebelow-mjp\" id=\"Ebelow-mjp_3\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_3 = [<br \/>\n\t{ name: &#8220;1. CounterSpin Jacinta Gonzalez Interview &#8220;, formats: [&#8220;mp3&#8221;], mp3: &#8220;aHR0cDovL3d3dy5mYWlyLm9yZy9hdWRpby9jb3VudGVyc3Bpbi9Db3VudGVyU3BpbjE4MDcxM0dvbnphbGV6Lm1wMw==&#8221;, counterpart:&#8221;&#8221;, artist: &#8220;&#8221;, image: &#8220;true&#8221;, imgurl: &#8220;&#8221; }<br \/>\n];<\/p>\n<p>MP3jPLAYERS[3] = { list:MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_3, tr:0, type:&#8217;MI&#8217;, lstate:true, loop:false, play_txt:&#8217;Play&#8217;, pause_txt:&#8217;Pause&#8217;, pp_title:&#8217;FAIR&#8217;, autoplay:false, download:true, vol:80, height:71, cssclass:&#8217; &#8216;, popout_css:{ enabled:true, \t\t\tcolours: [&#8220;#fff&#8221;, &#8220;rgba(201,207,232,0.35)&#8221;, &#8220;rgb(241,241,241)&#8221;, &#8220;rgba(245,5,5,0.7)&#8221;, &#8220;rgba(92,201,255,0.8)&#8221;, &#8220;transparent&#8221;, &#8220;transparent&#8221;, &#8220;#525252&#8221;, &#8220;#525252&#8221;, &#8220;#768D99&#8221;, &#8220;#47ACDE&#8221;, &#8220;&#8221;, 600, 200 ],<br \/>\n\t\t\tcssInterface: { &#8220;color&#8221;: &#8220;#525252&#8221; },<br \/>\n\t\t\tcssTitle: { &#8220;left&#8221;: &#8220;16px&#8221;, &#8220;right&#8221;:&#8221;16px&#8221;, &#8220;top&#8221;:&#8221;8px&#8221; },<br \/>\n\t\t\tcssImage: { &#8220;overflow&#8221;: &#8220;hidden&#8221;, &#8220;width&#8221;:&#8221;auto&#8221;, &#8220;height&#8221;:&#8221;71px&#8221;  },<br \/>\n\t\t\tcssFontSize: { &#8220;title&#8221;: &#8220;16px&#8221;, &#8220;caption&#8221;: &#8220;11.2px&#8221;, &#8220;list&#8221;: &#8220;12px&#8221; },<br \/>\n\t\t\tclasses: { interface:&#8217; verdana-mjp&#8217;, title:&#8217; left-mjp norm-mjp plain-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp&#8217;, image:&#8217; Himg right-mjp&#8217;, poscol:&#8221;, ul:&#8217; darken1-mjp verdana-mjp med-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp left-mjp&#8217; }} };<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fair.org\/audio\/counterspin\/CounterSpin180713Gonzalez.mp3\"><strong>MP3 Link<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Janine Jackson:<\/b> Images of weeping toddlers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/latino\/anguish-southwest-border-more-immigrant-children-are-separated-parents-n874821\">torn<\/a> from their stunned mothers\u2019 arms, of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2018\/06\/ceci-nest-pas-une-cage\/563072\/\">children in cages<\/a>\u2014or what some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/big-journalism\/2018\/06\/17\/associated-press-uses-cages-to-describe-partitions-in-border-patrol-center\/\">insist<\/a> you call \u201cchain link-fenced holding areas\u201d\u2014and of three-year-olds <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/can-a-3-year-old-represent-herself-in-immigration-court-this-judge-thinks-so\/2016\/03\/03\/5be59a32-db25-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html\">representing<\/a> themselves in deportation or asylum proceedings: These have <a href=\"http:\/\/inthesetimes.com\/article\/21224\/chinga-la-migra-border-patrol-family-separation-donald-trump-jeff-sessions\">outraged and galvanized<\/a> many Americans in protest of the Trump administration\u2019s racist, cruel, anti-immigration and anti-immigrant policies.<\/p>\n<p>Outrage is justified, but if we intend to translate it to substantive change, we\u2019re going to need to build out from this immediate, visible crisis, to connect it to all of the other factors and actors that make today\u2019s headlines possible. So what now for those who recognize family separation of immigrants to the US as no outlier, but part of a broader social agenda that goes well beyond the US\/Mexico border?<\/p>\n<p>Our next guest has been organizing against immigration enforcement and the criminalization of Latinx and immigrant communities for years. Jacinta Gonzalez is senior campaign organizer at <a href=\"https:\/\/mijente.net\/\">Mijente<\/a>, the national political hub for Latinx organizing. She joins us now by phone from Phoenix. Welcome to <b>CounterSpin<\/b>, Jacinta Gonzalez.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jacinta Gonzalez: <\/b>Thank you so much for having me.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/familiesbelong.org\/\">Families Belong Together<\/a>\u201d has broad appeal as an idea, broad surface appeal, if I may say. Even media who are trying hard have had trouble finding people giving full-throated endorsement of the idea of pulling children from their parents who are trying to enter the country \u2014that is, beyond, \u201cWell, they brought this on themselves.\u201d But the power of positive messaging aside, is it your sense that \u201cfamilies belong together\u201d is just not a sufficient organizing principle for bringing about the real change that we want to see? How do we need to grow that idea?<\/p>\n<p><b>JG:<\/b> I think what we saw clearly with this newly created crisis by this administration is that when we simply demand things like \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/mijente.net\/2018\/06\/30\/mijente-principles\/\">family unity<\/a>,\u201d what we get is family unity behind bars. And so for us, it was really necessary to be able to raise awareness of not only what was happening with the devastation of young children being separated from their parents, but also with the criminalization of migration and mass prosecutions of folks who are entering this country. Because with this analysis, we\u2019re able to actually make demands that would get to the root of the problem, instead of just treating the most horrific manifestation of the actual policy.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8927207\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-8927207\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Truthout-Child-Separation.png\" alt=\"Truthout: How to Stop Child Separation? Stop Sending Their Parents to Prison.\" width=\"350\" height=\"456\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>TruthOut<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/how-to-stop-child-separation-stop-sending-their-parents-to-prison\/\">6\/17\/18<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>Right. In your very straightforward piece, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/how-to-stop-child-separation-stop-sending-their-parents-to-prison\/\">How to Stop Child Separation? Stop Sending Their Parents to Prison<\/a>,\u201d that you wrote last month for <b>Truthout<\/b>, you talked about, if we really want to go forward from this, and if we want to use our very warranted feelings of upset and anger at what we\u2019re seeing to really end the crisis, there are a number of elements of that work that we could be looking at. What are some of things that you\u2019re pointing to that folks might direct energy to?<\/p>\n<p><b>JG: <\/b>We put out a <a href=\"https:\/\/mijente.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Mijente-Immigration-Policy-Platform_0628.pdf\">policy platform<\/a> that describes that there\u2019s both movement demands that we\u2019re making, but there\u2019s also really concrete things that both Congress can do, different government agencies can do, to try to get us a little bit closer to the real solutions to some of these problems. For us, a primary demand or a central tenet is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/its-time-to-abolish-ice\/\">abolishment of ICE<\/a> as an agency. We know that family separation has been happening, not only at the border, but also when deportations are taking place and parents are being separated from their families. But also community members, more broadly, are being separated from their loved ones, and from people that they share their lives with.<\/p>\n<p>And so we think that ICE as an agency should be completely abolished, which means that there should be a moratorium on deportations, there should be a defunding of the agency, we should end all forms of detention, and those are very concrete demands that can be accomplished now.<\/p>\n<p>But we also point to the need to decriminalize migration. You know, the laws that are on the books that are allowing Jeff Sessions to throw the book at people are laws that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2017\/01\/jeff-sessions-1924-immigration\/512591\/\">were written<\/a> in the 1930s by a legislator that was openly advocating for lynching, that was against interracial marriage and that promoted the criminalization of migration. And so it\u2019s time for us to take a strong stand and decriminalize that as well, by taking away <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usam\/criminal-resource-manual-1911-8-usc-1325-unlawful-entry-failure-depart-fleeing-immigration\">Section 1325<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usam\/criminal-resource-manual-1912-8-usc-1326-reentry-after-deportation-removal\">1326<\/a> that allow for these prosecutions to happen.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>I think we did start to see, maybe, an advance over the conversation that we had around DACA and the Dreamers, which was very much about, \u201cLet\u2019s not punish these innocent children for the crimes of their parents,\u201d and it was this very invidious and kind of confused understanding of what \u201ccrime\u201d is, and of what it means to try to isolate\u2014to me it reminded me, frankly, of the welfare reform conversation around 1996, where we had media <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1996\/12\/08\/magazine\/mugged-by-reality.html\">talking<\/a> about, \u201cYes, let\u2019s punish these lazy mothers, but how do we protect their children?\u201d It\u2019s a very artificial conversation.<\/p>\n<p>But I feel as though things have maybe moved on a little from that to where we can see a distinction between \u201ccrime\u201d and criminalization, you know, making things a crime. I don\u2019t know, am I too optimistic there, or do you think people are starting to understand what it really means to criminalize immigration itself?<\/p>\n<p><b>JG:<\/b> I think we see tendencies going both ways. So I actually think there\u2019s a lot of things that are really exciting about seeing people broaden their analysis of criminalization and their understanding of policing, understanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol are policing agencies, and so that a lot of the same critiques can be applied to ICE also apply to the police. And so it broadens the conversation and the possibilities of what we can do and what kinds of alliances we can build, particularly between black and Latinx communities.<\/p>\n<p>But you also have, I think, a tendency in the center to try to say that this is not the time for radical demands that actually give different possibilities. That we should say things like, \u201cWell, we\u2019ll give you the wall, but legalize this many people.\u201d And I think we\u2019ve seen a couple of rounds of that. You know, we had legislators saying that they would negotiate with Trump on some of these policies, knowing full well the far, far right-wing agenda that he\u2019s pushing.<\/p>\n<p>So I think we also have to see the opportunity of being able to have more people understand the criminalization, and I think we also have to be wary of not taking advantage of this moment, because it\u2019s unveiling what the system truly is meant to do. And so these are the moments where we can actually provide other options and alternatives to folks beyond what many mainstream Democrats have been presenting as solutions.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8927206\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8927206\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/New-Walled-Order.png\" alt=\"IRC: New Walled Order\" width=\"350\" height=\"495\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>International Red Cross\/Red Crescent (<a href=\"http:\/\/media.ifrc.org\/ifrc\/document\/new-walled-order-barriers-basic-services-turn-migration-humanitarian-crisis\/\">5\/7\/18<\/a>)<br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>Absolutely. Well, I want to talk about that vision. The International Red Cross <a href=\"http:\/\/media.ifrc.org\/ifrc\/2018\/07\/11\/restrictive-immigration-policies-creating-new-walled-order-says-ifrc-report\/\">just released<\/a> a report talking about the \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/media.ifrc.org\/ifrc\/document\/new-walled-order-barriers-basic-services-turn-migration-humanitarian-crisis\/\">New Walled Order<\/a>,\u201d as they put it, saying that criminalizing aid and public services for immigrants and migrants is setting back advances by a century. And what they\u2019re calling for is just a simple separation from immigration policy, and from those policies with regarding access to food and healthcare and legal advice. So they\u2019re also applying it to the French mayor who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/mar\/02\/calais-mayor-bans-distribution-of-food-to-migrants\">said<\/a> that distributing food at a migrant camp was illegal. And the Italian government that\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/matteo-salvini-migration-italy-ports-closed-to-migrant-vessels\/\">saying<\/a> NGOs can\u2019t go out into Libyan waters with search and rescue missions, and all of that.<\/p>\n<p>I feel that that international vision is necessary to broaden the context of what\u2019s happening at just the US\/Mexico border, which you\u2019ve just indicated is not only about the US\/Mexico border. But I think an international vision, and a bigger picture of migration worldwide, would help here.<\/p>\n<p><b>JG:<\/b> Yeah, definitely. We have to have a broader vision of migration, because migration has been happening for centuries, and given the increases in wealth disparities and the added crisis of climate change, we\u2019re going to be seeing more and more of it. And, unfortunately, for a lot of countries, the response has been a militarized criminalization of migration that is creating a worse human rights crisis, but also creating economic incentives for people to try to continue to promote an agenda dealing with it that increases countries\u2019 abilities to incarcate, to surveil, to police.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8927205\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-8927205\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Jacinta-Gonzalez-Portrait.jpg\" alt=\"Jacinta Gonzalez (image: Democracy Now!)\" width=\"350\" height=\"438\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Jacinta Gonzalez: &#8220;If we continue to have a system that responds to everything with punishment and criminalization, we\u2019re going to continue to confront this failure over and over, and not just in migration.&#8221; (image: <strong>Democracy Now!<\/strong>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>And so I do think we have to understand this within a broader context, and also understand it, again, within this framework of, if we continue to have a system that responds to everything with punishment and criminalization, we\u2019re going to continue to confront this failure over and over, and not just in migration. We\u2019re seeing it with reproductive issues, we\u2019re seeing it with climate justice, we\u2019re seeing it with the legal justice system that this country also uses, and so I think we have to have a broader analysis that connects all of those dots.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Let me just bring you back, finally, if I could, to the idea of abolishing ICE, which I think is fascinating. I\u2019ve heard it said, it\u2019s one of those things that\u2019s presented as, \u201cWell, you can\u2019t get rid of a government agency,\u201d even if it\u2019s an agency that only recently came into existence. And part of what I hate, frankly, about corporate media is the way that they try to limit our political possibilities. So abolishing ICE is the kind of idea that the corporate media will tell us is laughable and impossible\u2014until we do it, and then they\u2019ll act like they invented it. And I just wonder, how do you encourage people to think <i>around<\/i> the ideas and the limitations that they\u2019re getting from news media, for example, and do the work outside of that? I feel like work that occurs outside the media lens in some ways is free from some of the limitations that media try to present to people about what is possible and what can happen.<\/p>\n<p><b>JG: <\/b>Yeah, I mean, you know your idea is being taken seriously when a former Department of Homeland Security chief is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/ice-needs-reform-not-abolition\/2018\/07\/06\/5d2cec0e-8133-11e8-b658-4f4d2a1aeef1_story.html?utm_term=.de11d961dd83\">saying<\/a> that it shouldn\u2019t be promoted as a policy demand.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>Right.<\/p>\n<p><b>JG: <\/b>There is this process of where, well, we\u2019re in an actual conversation about it, which means that it is possible and could be done. And so I think it\u2019s important to use that energy in the moment that is there.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8927086\" style=\"width: 361px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-8927086\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Abolish-ICE-Now.jpg\" alt=\"Abolish ICE Now! (cc photo: Sasha Patkin)\" width=\"351\" height=\"237\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>(cc photo: Sasha Patkin)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>ICE as an agency was only created with the purpose of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/overview\">detaining and deporting<\/a> people; it was, in fact, designed as an agency to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/blog\/2018\/03\/05\/Video-The-real-story-about-ICE-agents-is-that-theyre-terrorizing-people-across-the-country\/219351\">terrorize<\/a> immigrant communities. And so I think it is very possible and realistic to get rid of it. There are a million other agencies that help in different parts of immigration laws in this country, and you don\u2019t need ICE to be able to do the other functions. So I think it&#8217;s very possible to completely get rid of it, to have a moratorium on deportations, defund ICE as an agency, restructure resources. And there doesn\u2019t have to be a replacement. I think we have to be very concerned with people who are advocating that it be readjusted and housed within the Department of Justice. I think we\u2019re seeing the worries of what can happen with a Department of Justice that is only aimed at incarcerating people. Housing our immigration policies there would only make that worse.<\/p>\n<p>So I actually think we have to be able to reimagine different structures, and I think what we&#8217;re seeing is that, also, the American public has an appetite for it. We saw it with the most recent victory of different congressional representatives that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/election-results\/2018\/new-york\/\">are running<\/a> in New York, but I think we\u2019ve seeing it with over 100 candidates coming out publicly to <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2018\/07\/10\/abolish-ice-movement-democrats\/\">support<\/a> the demands, so I think we\u2019re also seeing that we\u2019re able to do it as a policy, and it\u2019s a platform that people will vote for.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>Let me just ask you, finally, if you have any thoughts in terms of media coverage that you\u2019d like to disappear right now, but also some that you would like to encourage reporters to do more of on this issue as we go forward?<\/p>\n<p><b>JG:<\/b> I do think that it\u2019s important to continue to do reporting on what is happening with the Department of Justice and migration. We <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2017\/12\/05\/us-devastating-impact-trumps-immigration-policy\">saw<\/a> the first impacts of criminalizing people who are crossing the border, but we\u2019re going to see a higher and higher uptick in people being prosecuted for other types of things, like working without documents or coming back to be with your children here. We\u2019re seeing that more and more, the Department of Justice and Jeff Sessions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/justice-department-announces-first-criminal-illegal-entry-prosecutions-suspected-caravan\">are promoting<\/a> an agenda to lock as many people up as possible. Migration is one component of that. The war on drugs is another component of that. The war on dissent is another component of that. These are all agendas that folks are moving from Washington, DC, that have long roots in white supremacy, and they need to be fought back against and they need to be documented, because we can\u2019t realize what\u2019s happening until it\u2019s too late, and communities are serving year-long sentences as a result.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ: <\/b>We\u2019ve been speaking with Jacinta Gonzalez of <a href=\"https:\/\/mijente.net\/\">Mijente<\/a>. They\u2019re online at <a href=\"https:\/\/mijente.net\/\">mijente.net<\/a>. Her article, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/how-to-stop-child-separation-stop-sending-their-parents-to-prison\/\">How to Stop Child Separation? Stop Sending Their Parents to Prison<\/a>,\u201d can still be found at <a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\"><b>TruthOut.org<\/b><\/a>. Jacinta Gonzalez, thank you so much for joining us this week on <b>CounterSpin<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>JG:<\/b> Thank you so much for having me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span><br \/>\nThis piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission from <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/we-point-to-the-need-to-decriminalize-migration\/\">FAIR<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Janine Jackson interviewed Jacinta Gonzalez about immigration rights for the July 13, 2018, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_3 = [ { name: &#8220;1. 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