Rights Working Group wants immigration enforcement moratorium and much more (ACLU, NCLR, 248 others)

The Asian American Justice Center runs the Rights Working Group, a coalition of over 250 leftwing groups, and they have a petition calling on Barack Obama to in effect not do immigration enforcement. They want a "moratorium" while the subject of raids and the like is "studied", but everyone knows what that means. Since there are so many groups, the full roster is here. The main groups are listed below, and part of the petition follows. Note that they also want to block the new DHS-based TV show "Homeland Security USA".

From their suggested letter template for complaining about the TV show (stateofprotest.com/blog/government/boycott-homeland-security-usa):

..."Homeland Security USA" has not, and based on what I've seen, will not air scenes from immigration raids where (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) ICE agents descend with helicopters and guns drawn and throw unresisting people to the ground...

And from their anti-enforcement petition (rightsworkinggroup.org/?q=DHSPetition):

DHS policies which prioritize the appearance of enforcement over this nation's founding principles of liberty and justice for all do not serve the national interest. I am asking your administration to set clear, enforceable legal standards for DHS operations - standards that uphold the dignity and Constitutional rights of all people in the U.S. - and hold DHS accountable to these standards. I join the Rights Working Group in urging you to place a moratorium on current immigration enforcement practices in order to conduct a full review of DHS policies and programs to ensure that they are compliant with Constitutional protections and internationally recognized human right standards.

Major groups:
American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, American Civil Liberties Union, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Amnesty International USA, Appleseed, Arab American Institute, Center for Community Change, Center for National Security Studies, Human Rights Watch, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Education Fund, MALDEF, Muslim Public Affairs Council, National Council of La Raza, National Immigration Forum, National Immigration Law Center, National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, Open Society Policy Center, Southern Poverty Law Center, Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Mexicanos Sin Fronteras, Center for New Community, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, New York Immigration Coalition, Border Network for Human Rights, and Voces de la Frontera.

Fri, 01/09/2009 - 12:11 · · Importance: 4