Englewood — There is a desire in the Englewood community to understand the rights of immigrants.
So a forum was recently held at the Englewood Public Library intended to promote community awareness of the challenges faced by immigrants in America.
Immigration lawyer and Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes said there has been a "cry in the community for people to get information" about what rights immigrants have when faced with deportation. The May 6 forum was a way of starting the conversation about the complex issue of immigration and how to address the needs of immigrants in the community.
Janis Rosheuvel, one of the panelists and part of Families for Freedom, an organization that works with people fighting deportation, told the audience, "everyone who is a non citizen is at risk of deportation."
She criticized the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials for conducting searches of homes without warrants, racial profiling and harsh interrogations techniques; all part of what she thinks is a disturbing "OKing surveillance of our society."
Joan Pinnock, a lawyer who represents immigrants, said that when faced with the INS, immigrants have the right to demand a warrant signed by a judge. She warned against opening the door to the INS, saying doing so gives consent to a search and once the person is taken into custody they can be taken to any number of detention centers where, she said, deplorable treatment of detainees is commonplace.
Debbie Goodell, an audience member who came from Ridgewood to attend the forum, said, "no matter what you think of the total problem you need to deal with people with more compassion."
The theme of compassion was one another audience member took away as well.
Will Henkel, a pastor in Secaucus, said he came to the forum because he has a growing concern about the immigration situation.
"I didn’t understand how vulnerable these people are and what fear they must live with and that is a terrible way to live," he said. He thinks people should "appreciate all they do in the country that we benefit from," saying immigrants "don’t deserve the treatment they get."
One immigrant who attended the forum and did not want to be identified, has been in the country for 14 years and lives in Palisades Park. He thinks there should be a greater effort, especially on the part of law enforcement, to treat day laborers with respect.
He thinks community meetings such as the Englewood forum are a good way of educating people so they will have better understanding of the complex issue.
"Before you put something bad against immigrants you should study immigration law. People don’t understand how hard it is to get citizenship… how hard it is to start the application process," he said.
If people understand the plight of immigrants and that they are "here looking for work," he said, they may see them as humans and not treat them like animals.
E-mail: wilde@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6706
