Margaret Kwoka (202) 588-7733
Denise Gilman (512) 232-7796
Federal Agencies Have Stymied Access To Records Showing Impact of Texas-Mexico Border Wall
Public Citizen Argues That Delays and Denials Violate Freedom of Information Act
By Public Citizen
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Federal officials are illegally withholding documents that would allow the public to determine the full impact of the 700 miles of fence being built along the Texas-Mexico border, Public Citizen argued in a suit filed in U.S. district court today on behalf of a member of the University of Texas (UT) Working Group on Human Rights and the Border Wall.
Denise Gilman, a clinical law professor at UT, submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in April for records that would show where the fence would be built, including maps, surveys and appraisals of affected properties. She also requested information about the criteria for deciding where segments of the wall would be built and agency assessments of the impact of the wall on surrounding communities.
Almost a year later, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have not complied with Gilman’s request. Despite initial indications that the agencies possessed volumes of records responsive to Gilman’s request, the corps of engineers denied part of her request outright and released only a few documents with substantial redactions. DHS referred her entire request to CBP, which released a mere two redacted documents in December. On Jan. 30, CBP told Gilman that it was still processing her request despite a federal requirement that it respond to her April request within 20 days.
UT’s Working Group on Human Rights and the Border Wall was formed to study and investigate the impact of the wall on property owners, indigenous communities and the environment. A full analysis is difficult without the documents showing where the wall will be built and the criteria on which those decisions were made.
With what little information is available, researchers have found significant differences in the income and race of property owners whose land will be affected and those who will not. For example, news outlets have reported that the wall will skip a wealthy country club on the border while having a devastating impact on some poorer neighborhoods and Native American communities.
“The Working Group at UT believes that the information we are seeking is necessary to allow a serious look at this massive border wall project moving forward at great expense to taxpayers, likely in the billions of dollars,” Gilman said. “We sincerely hope that the Obama administration, which has pledged greater transparency and accountability in government, will release the requested documents so that informed debate and consultation regarding the border wall can take place before there is any further construction.”
The Working Group at UT is launching a Web site to make the limited information available about the wall more publicly accessible. The site provides information gathered and prepared in the process of analyzing the human rights impacts of the border wall, including the limited FOIA responses received, other primary and secondary source materials, and the Working Group’s own analyses. The Web site is at http://www.utexas.edu/law/academics/centers/humanrights/borderwall/
“The refusal to respond to Professor Gilman’s requests in a timely manner and each agency’s referral to another agency for a response constitute blatant disregards for the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act,” said Margaret Kwoka, the Public Citizen attorney representing Gilman. “These agencies should not be allowed to move forward with a project of such a scale and impact without being accountable to the public.”
In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Public Citizen asks the court to order the agencies to make the requested records available to Gilman. The suit also challenges the redactions taken in some key documents, including information about property ownership in affected areas.
Public Citizen is representing Gilman as part of its Public Interest FOIA Clinic (http://www.foiaclinic.org) which was launched last year and is designed to give comprehensive assistance to other nonprofit organizations seeking government-held information. Through the clinic, Public Citizen provides direct FOIA litigation assistance to public interest organizations. Public Citizen also collects and analyzes information about recent FOIA litigation conducted by public interest organizations to identify and address common FOIA problems.
To read the lawsuit, go to http://www.citizen.org/documents/GilmanvDHSComplaint.pdf
Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org
March 11, 2009
Mohawk Nation News: Confused Haudenosaunee to issue illegal ID cards
CANADA-U.S. BORDER: CONFUSED HAUDENOSAUNEE TO ISSUE ILLEGAL ID CARDS!!!
MOHAWK NATION NEWS
http://www.mohawknationnews.com
March 10, 2009. As usual the immigrants to Onowaregeh, Turtle Island, want to dictate to us. The Indigenous collaborators continue to get pocket change to sell us out to their “swamis”. Who’s law does this colonial ID card come under to give us permission to pass over the “imaginary line” known as the Canada-U.S. border? They want to take away our birth right and give us a privilege.
We’ve been on Onowaregeh since time immemorial. We never gave these invading squatters any right to dictate how we shall relate to each other or traverse our territories. It violates the Kaianerehkowa, Great Law of Peace, our law, the Two Row Wampum, the U.S. Constitution and international law. Who’s going to enforce this illegal pass system? A combined force of Canadian, U.S. and Mexican “death squads”!! The law of the gun does not make their schemes legitimate.
The Two Row Wampum between us and the U.S. and Canada does not allow their selected flunkies to act on our behalf.
Wampum #58 provides that those who knowingly violating the People and the Great Law may be charged with “conspiracy” and “espionage”. They are working with a foreign entity to dissolve and destroy the title and birthright of the Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy. These colonists of “Indian” descent follow foreign laws, including the U.S. Federal Indian Law and Canada’s Indian Act. They cannot enter into any agreements or contracts for any of our rights with any private corporations or foreign entities of these transients who roved onto our land.
These persons must leave the council, the nation and the league and forfeit their birthright. They are no longer in but out of the League. They are called “they have alienated themselves” [Tehonnatonkoton].
On January 1, 2009 U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP got new instructions on how to force their will on us. These newcomers made up this new “informed compliance” policy all by themselves. They know they need a surrender of our sovereignty by our nations to impose it. They have to consult us, the owners of the land they are divvying up. Even our Red ID Card issued by our nations for decades is being hijacked. Without our permission the CBP decreed that our cards will be accepted until at least June 1, 2009. They have no right to dictate anything to us. If we have a problem, we’re supposed to call Cherri Morris of CBP in Washington DC at 202-344-3325.
In late 2008 the CBP handed out templates of ‘their’ ID cards to the “tribe” and “Nation” councils of their “Indians”. They have colonial incestuous “government-to-government” relations with each other. This whole “con” does not apply to the true Ongwehonwe.
Our agreements with the U.S. and Canada are “nation-to-nation”, a relationship of equals. We can only deal directly with the U.S. President and the Governor General of Canada as the colonial representatives of the two colonies. They have no authority over us or our land because we never surrendered anything to anybody. Their jurisdiction is limited to their subjects and their “Indians” who are U.S. or Canadian citizens. The rest of us never gave up our sovereignty and remain free and independent. We and our children cannot carry these cards.
The Onondaga Nation of New York State Inc. that Washington is dealing with is a federal and state incorporated entity headed by “faithkeeper”, Oren Lyons. They had secret discussions on the draft template with their colonial big cheese, the CBP in Washington. These cards are going to be used by those tribal or band council marionettes who dance to the tune of their colonial maestros. They stuck a feather on the card and called it “Indian”. Don’t be fooled. It’s still a fraud, deceptive and illegal.
The U.S. needs a major commitment from each of our nations to go ahead. The illegal cards will be tested for 4 to 6 months to design a tactic to ram it down our throats. These Haudenosaunee colluders made a deal with the German company, Siemens, to produce the cards. A building with an application office and staff is being installed to herd us into the “ovens” where they will tattoo or nuke us!
There is fear mongering of our people to shove their wallpaper on us. The border goons are being trained to say our Red Card is obsolete and that we have to submit to them “reeal sooon”. It ain’t gonna fly ‘cause it ain’t legal! Ever wonder why these border flunkies have been intimidating, harassing, beating us up and trying to rape and kill us at the border, especially at the Cornwall-Massena checkpoint? A lot of laws are being broken. We can’t get any answers from anyone. No meetings or information are being given out. We and our supporters better start filing objections to the President of the U.S., the Governor General of Canada, the Queen who runs both corporations [U.S. and Canada], the CBP, and whoever else. Who’s making these illegal deals to sell out our sovereignty? What have they agreed to?
No one shall separate us or weaken us. These quislings knowingly work against us and our future generations. Hey, colonial vagrants and your agents, no one has any authority to function on behalf of the Rotinno’shonni:onwe. We are going to resist this latest desperate genocidal corralment plan.
MNN Staff Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com katenies20@yahoo.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN “BORDER” category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now! Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePressStore http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews; Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates http://.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php; Sign Women Title Holders petition! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois
Contact the following contagions: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace, London, SQ1A UK; President Barack Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ Comments: 202-456-1111, Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461; The Governor General of Canada, M. Michaelle Jean, 1 Rideau Drive, Ottawa info@gg.ca; Alain Jolicoeur, President, CBSA, Ottawa, ON K1A 0L8, 613-952-3200, 613-957-0612; General inquiries CBSA-ASFC@canada.gc.ca; Lance Markell, District Director,
Northern Office – Customs, St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa Ont. K1G 4K3, CBSA 613-930-3234, 613-991-1214, General inquiries CBSA-ASFC@canada.gc.ca; Secretary Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528, Operator Number: 202-282-8000, Comment Line: 202-282-8495, Jayson P. Ahern,
A/Commissioner, U.S. Customs, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20229
Chief Counsel (202) 344-2990; Marco A. Lopez, Jr., Chief of Staff, U.S. Customs, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20229; Prime Minister Stephen Harper; House of Commons, Ottawa, harper.s@parl.gc.ca; Hon. Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, House of Commons, Ottawa; Hon. Robert Douglas Nicholson, Minister of Justice and
Attorney General of Canada, 284 Wellington St., Ottawa, ON K1A 0H8; Attorney General of Ontario, 720 Bay St., 4th Floor, Toronto, ON M5G 2K1; Hon. Yvon Marcoux, Minister of Justice and A.G.O., Louis-Phillipe-Pigeon Bldg., 1200 Rue d l'Eglise, 9th Floor, St. Foy G1V 4M1; Hon. Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs, 10 Wellington St., Hull, Que. K1A 0H4
Strahl.c@parl.gc.ca; Premier Dalton McGuinty, Province of Ontario, Queens Park, Toronto ON;
Premier Charest, Province of Quebec, Legislature, Quebec City; British High Commission, 80 Elgin St., Ottawa, ON K1P 5K7; Canadian Human Rights Commission, 344 Slater St., 8th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 1E1; United Nations, 405 E 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017; The Hague, Anna Paulownastraat, 103, 251 BBC, The Netherlands; Coalition for the International Criminal Court, c/o WFM, 708 3rd Ave., 24th Floor, New York, NY 10017
MOHAWK NATION NEWS
http://www.mohawknationnews.com
March 10, 2009. As usual the immigrants to Onowaregeh, Turtle Island, want to dictate to us. The Indigenous collaborators continue to get pocket change to sell us out to their “swamis”. Who’s law does this colonial ID card come under to give us permission to pass over the “imaginary line” known as the Canada-U.S. border? They want to take away our birth right and give us a privilege.
We’ve been on Onowaregeh since time immemorial. We never gave these invading squatters any right to dictate how we shall relate to each other or traverse our territories. It violates the Kaianerehkowa, Great Law of Peace, our law, the Two Row Wampum, the U.S. Constitution and international law. Who’s going to enforce this illegal pass system? A combined force of Canadian, U.S. and Mexican “death squads”!! The law of the gun does not make their schemes legitimate.
The Two Row Wampum between us and the U.S. and Canada does not allow their selected flunkies to act on our behalf.
Wampum #58 provides that those who knowingly violating the People and the Great Law may be charged with “conspiracy” and “espionage”. They are working with a foreign entity to dissolve and destroy the title and birthright of the Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy. These colonists of “Indian” descent follow foreign laws, including the U.S. Federal Indian Law and Canada’s Indian Act. They cannot enter into any agreements or contracts for any of our rights with any private corporations or foreign entities of these transients who roved onto our land.
These persons must leave the council, the nation and the league and forfeit their birthright. They are no longer in but out of the League. They are called “they have alienated themselves” [Tehonnatonkoton].
On January 1, 2009 U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP got new instructions on how to force their will on us. These newcomers made up this new “informed compliance” policy all by themselves. They know they need a surrender of our sovereignty by our nations to impose it. They have to consult us, the owners of the land they are divvying up. Even our Red ID Card issued by our nations for decades is being hijacked. Without our permission the CBP decreed that our cards will be accepted until at least June 1, 2009. They have no right to dictate anything to us. If we have a problem, we’re supposed to call Cherri Morris of CBP in Washington DC at 202-344-3325.
In late 2008 the CBP handed out templates of ‘their’ ID cards to the “tribe” and “Nation” councils of their “Indians”. They have colonial incestuous “government-to-government” relations with each other. This whole “con” does not apply to the true Ongwehonwe.
Our agreements with the U.S. and Canada are “nation-to-nation”, a relationship of equals. We can only deal directly with the U.S. President and the Governor General of Canada as the colonial representatives of the two colonies. They have no authority over us or our land because we never surrendered anything to anybody. Their jurisdiction is limited to their subjects and their “Indians” who are U.S. or Canadian citizens. The rest of us never gave up our sovereignty and remain free and independent. We and our children cannot carry these cards.
The Onondaga Nation of New York State Inc. that Washington is dealing with is a federal and state incorporated entity headed by “faithkeeper”, Oren Lyons. They had secret discussions on the draft template with their colonial big cheese, the CBP in Washington. These cards are going to be used by those tribal or band council marionettes who dance to the tune of their colonial maestros. They stuck a feather on the card and called it “Indian”. Don’t be fooled. It’s still a fraud, deceptive and illegal.
The U.S. needs a major commitment from each of our nations to go ahead. The illegal cards will be tested for 4 to 6 months to design a tactic to ram it down our throats. These Haudenosaunee colluders made a deal with the German company, Siemens, to produce the cards. A building with an application office and staff is being installed to herd us into the “ovens” where they will tattoo or nuke us!
There is fear mongering of our people to shove their wallpaper on us. The border goons are being trained to say our Red Card is obsolete and that we have to submit to them “reeal sooon”. It ain’t gonna fly ‘cause it ain’t legal! Ever wonder why these border flunkies have been intimidating, harassing, beating us up and trying to rape and kill us at the border, especially at the Cornwall-Massena checkpoint? A lot of laws are being broken. We can’t get any answers from anyone. No meetings or information are being given out. We and our supporters better start filing objections to the President of the U.S., the Governor General of Canada, the Queen who runs both corporations [U.S. and Canada], the CBP, and whoever else. Who’s making these illegal deals to sell out our sovereignty? What have they agreed to?
No one shall separate us or weaken us. These quislings knowingly work against us and our future generations. Hey, colonial vagrants and your agents, no one has any authority to function on behalf of the Rotinno’shonni:onwe. We are going to resist this latest desperate genocidal corralment plan.
MNN Staff Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com katenies20@yahoo.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN “BORDER” category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now! Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePressStore http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews; Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates http://.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php; Sign Women Title Holders petition! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois
Contact the following contagions: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace, London, SQ1A UK; President Barack Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ Comments: 202-456-1111, Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461; The Governor General of Canada, M. Michaelle Jean, 1 Rideau Drive, Ottawa info@gg.ca; Alain Jolicoeur, President, CBSA, Ottawa, ON K1A 0L8, 613-952-3200, 613-957-0612; General inquiries CBSA-ASFC@canada.gc.ca; Lance Markell, District Director,
Northern Office – Customs, St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa Ont. K1G 4K3, CBSA 613-930-3234, 613-991-1214, General inquiries CBSA-ASFC@canada.gc.ca; Secretary Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528, Operator Number: 202-282-8000, Comment Line: 202-282-8495, Jayson P. Ahern,
A/Commissioner, U.S. Customs, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20229
Chief Counsel (202) 344-2990; Marco A. Lopez, Jr., Chief of Staff, U.S. Customs, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20229; Prime Minister Stephen Harper; House of Commons, Ottawa, harper.s@parl.gc.ca; Hon. Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, House of Commons, Ottawa; Hon. Robert Douglas Nicholson, Minister of Justice and
Attorney General of Canada, 284 Wellington St., Ottawa, ON K1A 0H8; Attorney General of Ontario, 720 Bay St., 4th Floor, Toronto, ON M5G 2K1; Hon. Yvon Marcoux, Minister of Justice and A.G.O., Louis-Phillipe-Pigeon Bldg., 1200 Rue d l'Eglise, 9th Floor, St. Foy G1V 4M1; Hon. Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs, 10 Wellington St., Hull, Que. K1A 0H4
Strahl.c@parl.gc.ca; Premier Dalton McGuinty, Province of Ontario, Queens Park, Toronto ON;
Premier Charest, Province of Quebec, Legislature, Quebec City; British High Commission, 80 Elgin St., Ottawa, ON K1P 5K7; Canadian Human Rights Commission, 344 Slater St., 8th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 1E1; United Nations, 405 E 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017; The Hague, Anna Paulownastraat, 103, 251 BBC, The Netherlands; Coalition for the International Criminal Court, c/o WFM, 708 3rd Ave., 24th Floor, New York, NY 10017
Department of Justice launches investigation of racist Arizona sheriff
DOJ Launches Investigation of Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Advocates Call for Immediate Termination of Contract
Press Conference on Capitol Hill, 1 pm, March 11, 2009
Press Conference on Capitol Hill, 1 pm, March 11, 2009
By Chris Newman
323-717-5310
newman@ndlon.org
PHOENIX -- On March 10, Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King sent a letter to Sheriff Joe Arpaio announcing a Department of Justice investigation of alleged "discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures conducted by the MCSO," among other alleged violations of federal law. A copy of the letter is available here.
The formal investigation follows a request by Congressman Conyers that the DOJ take action to respond to myriad complaints of racial profiling in Maricopa County. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon first requested a DOJ investigation nearly a year ago. And on February 28, over 5,000 people marched four miles through Phoenix to ask the the federal government to immediately terminate its 287g(g) contract with Joe Arpaio.
On March 11, at 1 pm, advocates from across the country and civil rights leaders will join elected officials, including Congressman Conyers and Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, to discuss the investigation in a press conference on Capitol Hill.
"We are very hopeful a Department of Justice investigation will vindicate the rights of people who have been terrorized by Sheriff Arpaio," said Salvador Reza of the PUENTE movement in Phoenix, AZ. "We also hope the Obama administration will immediately terminate the US government's 287(g) contract with Maricopa County while the judicial process takes its course."
"The federal government has the obligation to reform immigration laws and to uphold the Constitution," said Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "Its failure to act has resulted in an emerging civil and human rights crisis."
Video footage from Maricopa County is available at www.ndlon.org
Chris Newman, Esq
Legal Director
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
675 South Park View Street, Suite B
Los Angeles, CA 90057
newman@ndlon.org
(213) 380-2785
(213) 353-1344 [fax]
www.ndlon.org
323-717-5310
newman@ndlon.org
PHOENIX -- On March 10, Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King sent a letter to Sheriff Joe Arpaio announcing a Department of Justice investigation of alleged "discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures conducted by the MCSO," among other alleged violations of federal law. A copy of the letter is available here.
The formal investigation follows a request by Congressman Conyers that the DOJ take action to respond to myriad complaints of racial profiling in Maricopa County. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon first requested a DOJ investigation nearly a year ago. And on February 28, over 5,000 people marched four miles through Phoenix to ask the the federal government to immediately terminate its 287g(g) contract with Joe Arpaio.
On March 11, at 1 pm, advocates from across the country and civil rights leaders will join elected officials, including Congressman Conyers and Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, to discuss the investigation in a press conference on Capitol Hill.
"We are very hopeful a Department of Justice investigation will vindicate the rights of people who have been terrorized by Sheriff Arpaio," said Salvador Reza of the PUENTE movement in Phoenix, AZ. "We also hope the Obama administration will immediately terminate the US government's 287(g) contract with Maricopa County while the judicial process takes its course."
"The federal government has the obligation to reform immigration laws and to uphold the Constitution," said Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "Its failure to act has resulted in an emerging civil and human rights crisis."
Video footage from Maricopa County is available at www.ndlon.org
Chris Newman, Esq
Legal Director
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
675 South Park View Street, Suite B
Los Angeles, CA 90057
newman@ndlon.org
(213) 380-2785
(213) 353-1344 [fax]
www.ndlon.org
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