Editor’s note to the Kopits and other good families who stood outside Hutto prison during the three vigils of the past six weeks. You did it. You made history!–gm
The Kopit family of Taylor, TX say no at Vigil III, Jan. 25, 2007. In the background, A.J. Montrose and musicians. (Photo by Jay J. Johnson-Castro)
Email from John Wheat Gibson, Esq.
“Amazing Grace”
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 16:06:13 -0600
Muchachos y muchachas,
The Board of Immigration Appeals today granted my motion to reopen the Ibrahim family’s asylum case, and send it back for the immigration judge to consider their asylum claims again. Now there is no excuse for the Gestapo to keep the children in prison any longer.
I don’t know how much effect the hard work of Jay Johnson, Greg Moses, Brett Shipp and others may have had on the BIA decision, but I am mighty grateful for it.
John Wheat Gibson
************
Email from Johsua E. Bardavid, Esq.</em
[Fri, 02 Feb 2007 21:03:54 -0500]
Hi Greg:
Incredible news. The Board of Immigration Appeals by miracle decided to reopen the claim for asylum by the Ibrahim family.
Mr. John Wheat Gibson, the attorney who had represented the Ibrahim’s in the claim for political asylum had filed a motion to reopen to the Board of Immigration Appeals back in November. This motion asserted that the conditions in the Occupied Territories had changed such that it warranted the granting of asylum to the Ibrahims, notwithstanding the prior ruling of the immigration judge. It had been pending since then, and one now the Board decided to grant the motion.
I have never heard of the Board granting such a motion for Palestinian asylum seekers before,
even though many people have tried.
I believe that the pressure put on the government by the actions filed in the federal courts, the media attention (including your work in documenting this case), and good work and thorough preparation of Mr. Gibson in his motion on behalf of the Ibrahims resulted in this outcome.
In short, we believe the Ibrahims will be released from detention within a few weeks, and hopefully, their
asylum application will be resolved by an immigration judge in the next few months. The Board’s decision means that, right now, *the Ibrahims are no longer subject to an order of removal*. This is the best news that we could have hoped for.
Take care and thanks for your help.
Josh
A month and a half after receiving its first tip on the Palestinian families jailed at the T. Don Hutto prison in Taylor, Texas, the Austin American-Statesman today followed the Dallas Morning News example by publishing news of the Ibrahim family’s abduction. And at long last, a headline about the story appears in Harvey Kronberg’s Quorum Report under “news clips you need to see.”
What made the story impossible to ignore any longer was the filing of a Habeas Corpus motion in an Austin federal court. New York attorney Joshua Bardavid flew in and out of Austin Thursday to file the motion in behalf of pregnant mother Hanan Ibrahim and her four children, who have been jailed at Hutto since their arrest November 2.
And what made the involvement of attorney Bardavid possible was the support of Rita Zawaideh of the Arab American Community Coalition of Washington State and Dallas real-estate developer Ralph Isenberg.
There are two other families of Palestinian heritage at Hutto, along with an unknown number of children from other families detained by immigration authorities.
Activist attention to the prison is expected to continue with a fourth vigil on Feb. 12. Meanwhile, there is reason to be optimistic that the unlawful jailing of the Ibrahim family may soon come to an end.–gm
We received via email from the Office of General Counsel at the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board the results of a statewide survey of proposed admissions
policies. We’re not sure what it means yet, but you can help us decide.
Go to
Downloads to get the documents for yourself.
Following is the text of an advertisement placed in the Texas A&M student newspaper in early
December, 2003, following press reports that affirmative action would not be used in admissions. Text
sent via email by Professor Marco Portales of Texas A&M University. He notes that the media did not
publish any reports about this ad: Faculty Committed to an Inclusive Campus
<br?
To
publicly respond to recent incidents and messages of discrimination prepared and widely promulgated by
various campus groups, we, the undersigned faculty, confirm and publicly reaffirm the University's
Mission Statement and its commitment to an inclusive campus environment.
Texas A&M
University is dedicated to the discovery, development, communication, and application of
knowledge
in a wide range of academic and professional fields. Its mission of providing the highest quality
undergraduate and graduate programs is inseparable from its mission of developing
new
understandings through research and creativity. It prepares students to assume roles of
leadership,
responsibility, and service to society. Texas A&M assumes as its historic trust the
maintenance of freedom of inquiry and an intellectual environment nurturing the human mind and
spirit.
It welcomes and seeks to serve persons of all racial, ethnic, and geographic
groups, women and men
alike, as it addresses the needs of an increasingly diverse population and a
global economy. In the twenty-first century, Texas A&M University seeks to assume a place of
preeminence among public
universities while respecting its history and traditions.
(Texas A&M Home Page,
http://www.tamu.edu/00/data/about.html, emphasis added.)
Robin
Fran Abrams
Jeff Ackerman
Marcelo Aguiar
Patricia L. Alford
Colin
Allen
Paul Almeida
Michael Alvard
Nancy Amato
Victor Arizpe
Mike
Ash
Sheela Athreya
Riad Attar
Scott W. Austin
Judith A.
Baer
Terrence M. Barnhart
Tammy D. Barry
Maura A. Belliveau
Ludy T.
Benjamin, Jr.
Harris M. Berger
Mindy Bergman
Dennis Berthold
Brenda L.
Bethman
Angela Bies
Carlos Kevin Blanton
Jon Bond
Eduardo Bonilla-
Silva
Heather Bortfeld
Douglas Brooks
Kimberly N. Brown
Vaughn M.
Bryant
Mary Bryk
Walter Buenger
James Burk
Karen L. Butler-
Purry
Gaile S. Cannella
David L. Carlson
Rollyn B. Carlson
Linda
Castillo
Filipe Castro
Antonio Cepeda-Benito
Feinian Chen
Federica
Ciccolella
Lauren Cifuentes
Adrienne Colella
Michael Collins
Jonathan
Coopersmith
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Kevin J. Crisman
Ben M. Crouch
Jeff
Cunningham
Vesna Danilovic
Sumana Datta
Donna S. Davenport
Emily S.
Davidson
Stephen E. Davis
Darryl de Ruiter
Giovanna P . Del Negro
Angelo
DeNisi
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Katherine M. Dietrich
Donnalee Dox
Lorraine
Eden
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Findlay
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Mark Fossett
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Fran
Gelwick
Heather Gert
Lisa Gilman
Kay Goldman
Carlos F. Gonzalez
Tom
Green
Gale Hannigan
Elizabeth A. Hastings
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Kathryn
Henderson
Alan Houtchens
Mary Hovsepian
Becky Hubley
Patricia A.
Hurley
William Hyman
Marian Hyman
Brian Imhoff
Andrea Imhoff
Tazim
Jamal
Ute Jamrozy
Hank C. Jenkins-Smith
Joseph O. Jewell
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Joshi
Gregor Kalas
Hilaire Kallendorf
Diane S. Kaplan
Howard B.
Kaplan
Eileen Kearney
Wendy L. Keeney
Kennicutt
Michelle Hall
Kells
Katherine Kelly
Bill Kibler
Jimmie Killingsworth
Laura
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Daniel Koetting
Gerald Kulm
Antonio C. La Pastina
Rafael Lara-
Alecio
Ruth Larson
Shang H. Lee
Jan Leighley
Peter Lieuwen
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Longstreet
Roel R. Lopez
Marty Loudder
Laurence E. Lynn, Jr.
Arvind
Mahajan
Joan E. Manley
Howard Marchitello
Laurine Elkins Marlow
Manuel
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Pamela R. Matthews
Marlynn May
John J. McDermott
David
McWhirter
Mary W. Meagher
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Miller
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Neill
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Donna E. Norton
Mary Ann O’Farrell
Joseph T.
O’Leary
Larry Oliver
Alexander Pacek
Richard Parker
Paul A.
Parrish
Linda Parrish
Kevin Patton
Stephanie C. Payne
David
Peterson
Scott Poole
Marco Portales
Dudley S. Poston
Larson
Powell
Harland Prechel
Cemal Pulak
Christopher M. Quick
Linda
Radzik
Lawrence Rauchwerger
Steve Rholes
Mitchell F. Rice
George
Rogers
Werner Rose
James Rosenheim
Victoria Rosner
Rogelio
Saenz
Stephen Safe
James E. Samuel
Charles D. Samuelson
Roger
Sansom
J. Martin Scholtz
Roger Schultz
Susan G. Scott
David
Scott
John M. Scroggs
Jane Sell
Barbara F. Sharf
Carol L.
Silva
Nancy Simpson
Jeff Simpson
Ercan Sirakaya
N. Sivakumar
R.
Douglas Slack
R.C. Slocum
Jane A. Smith
Laura M. Stough
Richard
Street
John K. Thomas
Patricia E. Tolciu
Gary Varner
Cynthia
Werner
Virginia West
Guy D. Whitten
Patricia P. Wiese
Charles W.
Wiggins
David Wilborn
Teresa Wilcox
Joe Williams
Kirk O.
Winemiller
Peter A. Witt
Jennifer Wollock
B. Dan Wood
Wendy
Wood
Richard Woodward
Lori E. Wright
Takashi Yamauchi
Danny L.
Yeager
To learn more about Faculty Committed to an Inclusive Campus, contact Harris M. Berger at
.
Texas Civil Rights Review 