tv Fault Lines Al Jazeera March 17, 2015 6:30pm-7:01pm EDT
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right. >> a lot of people were saying from the outside its all about the israeli conflict, a internally, like every other country, it's the economy it's the rising price of living. actually when you look at the results, when you go to the ballot box most israelis thought about what they see as security and relations and rather than more traditional issues like the economy? >> i think that's absolutely right. in the last week and what these exit polls are show something that nationalism trumped economics. security concerns trumped really grave concerns about the economy. there was a joke in israel that there was a contest between bb and everyone that is not bb.
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there are widening gaps between rich and poor. what is seen as bb and his wife's high living, draining of public funds. corruption, support for their mates. 20 families thought to run the entire israeli economy. >> we don't have a lot of time left but this union of arab arab-israeli parties they've joined together with 12 and 13 seats, depending on who exit polls you follow, but certainly the third biggest bloc. will that create a different message? >> it's the most interesting outcome of this election. the fact of the raising of the thresholds that with a brought in to eliminate these parties has a different in terms of
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differences and developments in the coming months. >> thank you so much for having helped us through today when we got these election results for the moment. that is it. let me just stake take you to pictures of tel aviv, i believe to be the likud party headquarters. benjamin netanyahu said they have the election. you can get the latest details on this at www.aljazeera.com. >> nogales, arizona.
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a bus has arrived filled with people being deported from the united states. >> right now we're headed to san juan bosco, a shelter here in nogales where the mexican immigration authorities have picked the people who were just deported, they take them there so they have a place to stay on their first night back in mexico. >> many thought 2013 would be the year when congress finally passed comprehensive immigration reform. but it was not to be. over several months, fault lines investigated how the failure to pass that reform played out in the lives of some of the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants in the us. people like jose - who preferred we use only his first name.
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>> so when were you deported? >> when was i deported? today. >> so today is your first day in mexico in 31 years since you left last? >> yeah, >> a lawyer? >> no license. 21 years ago. >> yeah >> jose is one of a thousand people who are deported each day, and one of nearly 400 thousand deported last year.
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president obama has presided over almost two million deportations -- more than any other president in history. >> where's your family? pheonix? >> your family doesn't even know you're here? >> with reform stalled in congress, deportations have become the defining aspect of obama's immigration policy -- and a flashpoint for immigrant communities. >> fault lines traveled to new orleans to examine the impact of deportations on the city's
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immigrant community. obama has assured critics that immigration customs and enforcement, ice, is using discretion in its deportation efforts. >> "we're focusing our limited resources and people on violent offenders and people convicted of crimes. and as a result, we've increased the removal of criminals by 70 percent." >> we heard that ice has been operating a new program in new orleans called cari. it stands for criminal alien removal initiative. cari, ice says, is focused on immigrants who, quote, "pose a serious threat to the community."
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>> it's a small terrifying effect. they'll go into a grocery store and take 3 people >> jacinta gonzalez has been piecing together the impact of cari on immigrant families. >> is there a suspicion of what these poeole are doing? this isn't associated with any other crime? >> what we've heard from the testimonies we've been gathering is that literally people, the ice agents will go into apartment complexes, bible studies, stop anyone who looks latino. sometimes they ask questions sometimes they handcuff people fingerprint them, and if they have any sort of minor criminal record or any previous immigration history, they immediately take them into custody. >> this type of enforcement represents a shift for new orleans. >> after hurricane katrina a lot of day laborers and reconstruction workers came to help rebuild the city, to help do roofing work, to do demolition work, basically to clean up the streets and help people get back into their home.
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>> at the workers' center for racial justice, immigrants fighting deportation gathered to share stories. >> the center is collaborating with a national anti-deportation movement called "not1more" - to help plan a response to the cari program. >> what we're starting today from new orleans, is a real live resistance to president obama's deportation program. this is how it's playing out in new orleans." >> "what we've been seeing, and what people have been living with in the past six months in new orleans is a different kind of enforcement, it's really a new wave of enforcement that's rooted in communities.
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>> investigators for the workers center told us they have documented hundreds of stories of these raids. >> what this program called cari appears to do is to create teams or task forces with local law enforcement which are approaching people who look latino they're handcuffing them and then they're subjecting them to fingerprints. >> jj rosenbaum uncovered the cari program in some case file documents. >> it's not normally given to people, so we think it was an accidental release... >> what she found, she says, appeared to be a blueprint for collaboration between local law enforcement and ice officials that launched nationwide in 2012. >> when we see ice vehicles driving around predominantly latino areas of town, arresting people, and continuing to drive
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the vans around until they fill them up, that's not targeted enforcement, that's racial profiling. >> in november, the immigrant community took their anger to streets in cities across the country. >> this protest culminated in a blockade of rush hour traffic in one of new orleans' busiest intersections - for three hours. >> i got a job! get one! >> just behind us another truck is trying to make it through the intersection and the protestors have put themselves in front of it. the protesters believe that obama turned on what they call an immigration dragnet -- and he can turn it off.
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>> police are circling around. they just started their first arrest. the crowd's chanting for obama to listen. >> they say the immigration system is broken and there should be a moratorium on deportations until it's fixed. for an undocumented immigrant, being arrested, even for a misdemeanor, is a dangerous act - especially considering obama's focus on deporting criminals. ice refused an on-camera interview with fault lines. >> ok this is him. 'hi, this is josh rushing.' >> but the day after the protest, they agreed to talk to us on the phone. the ice official asked for his name not to be used. >> if someone with no other criminal record gets arrested for civil disobedience and protesting ice policies, does that move them into a priority
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category now that they've been arrested for something? >> in an email, ice officials stated that they target specific violent criminals. >> but we wanted to ask them about allegations that latino communities are being profiled in the process. >> ...to check on a machine. what tells them that an individual is who we're going to check out?
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>> so we roll up on the scene.... >> just to be clear - by "scan" he means handcuff and fingerprint. >> so people have been out in the parking lot of this grocery store and as they're walking out of the grocery store, handcuffed and fingerprinted. there's a laundromat across the corner... >> the problem with that is that ice law enforcement officers are not permitted constitutionally to create a latino person dragnet and arrest everyone, fingerprint them and then decide who they want to remove. that's exactly what the constitution prohibits. >> watch more "faultlines" on demand or visit aljazeera.com/faultlines.
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and a powerful new voting block is losing patience with the process. >> we're trying to get our congress people, our representatives, and our senators, to pass the comprehensive immigration reform. >> in june, 2013, the senate passed an enforcement-heavy bill with bipartisan support that would have provided a path to citizenship. >> but house republicans didn't follow suit. >> "speaker boehner, immigration reform is alive in the hearts of all of us gathered here today. >> "and frankly, i'll make clear, we have no intention of ever going to conference on the senate bill." >> activists besieged the halls of congress demanding action. >> who are you fighting for? who are you fighting for? >> maria, my mother. >> and you, who are you fighting for? >> my friends. >> your friends. who are you fighting for? >> my mom and my father. >> these protestors told us that under obama, immigration reform has so far meant more miles of border fence, more border patrol agents, and more deportations:
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nearly 400,000 a year. >> and that number, 400,000 isn't completely arbitrary. in 2009, congress mandated that ice fill 34,000 beds in detention centers every day. and that's the quota driving record deportations. >> arizona democratic congressman raul grijalva says the pace of deportations is a political strategy. >> i think there was a belief once that if we were really hard on the issue of enforcement that that would bring the more conservative members republicans, of congress around because they would see that you're being strong on security therefore we can do family unification, path to legalization. unfortunately, that strategy of being tough, hasn't really swayed a significant amount of votes. >> congressman david valadao is one of just three house
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republicans who support comprehensive immigration reform -- including a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. >> you're one of a handful of who support hr-15, right? why do you think your party doesn't support that? >> some people are concerned with the comprehensive approach because it's one bill that covers all bases and when they think comprehensive it always brings thoughts of comprehensive health care reform, obamacare. and so i think that bring a lot into it and they want to take a step by step approach. and i don't have a problem with either. i just want to make sure that if we do take a step by step approach that we do take all the steps and we don't jump over any. >> would you say that obama is tough on immigration? >> i would say, yes, he has been tough on immigration. i think we're up to 1100 per day being deported. it's a pretty strong number, and it's adding pressure to the situation. >> how does that create pressure? >> it's affecting a lot of different industries. and it's bringing a lot of business owners and employers to
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washington, dc, and starting to call members of congress telling them, 'hey, let's start to move this. we're starting to feel a lot of pressure from ice at our businesses. we need to do something so that we're not here where we are today.' >> so if that's the case, why is this such a difficult issue to move through congress? >> anything that allows the 11 million that are here undocumented to stay is going to be considered amnesty, and that's where it starts to get to a tough lift and it starts to put pressure on members because that term does make a lot of people nervous. and i think if we're not at the table and not part of the solution, what are we here for? >> in december, thirty house democrats signed a letter demanding that obama halt deportations until legislation gets passed. >> well mr. president, stop deporting the very people who could gain relief from the senate bill that you would sign into law and which you have praised. >> and at an event in san francisco, obama was interrupted by pleas from his supporters to do just that.
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>> and most importantly we will live uh, most importantly we will live up... >> some believe he could provide relief for many the same way he did for dreamers - by executive action. >> what i'm proposing is the harder path, which is, to use our democratic processes to achieve the same goal that you want to achieve, but it won't be as easy as shouting. >> atlanta, georgia. impatient with the slow pace of reform, activists are taking matters into their own hands. the "not one more" movement is spreading across the us. >> since 2007, we started feeling the heat of these police enforcement that are chasing us
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all over the place. you see roadblocks all over the place, it doesn't matter the time. >> the deportations are happening now. that's where the bleeding is and that's where we need to be. >> we want to stop their ability to move for as long as we can. >> their primary target is ice who they say is collaborating with local police to expand the deportation dragnet. >> there are communities that i have asked, 'who has been detained by the police?' everybody raises their hands. >> i was very hopeful. i think a lot of people were. part of what this campaign we're tired of being a football in your political game. >> so within the deportation machine of ice it's like the
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british leaders unveiled a statue of mahatma gandhi in parliament square. it stands near other influential leaders, including winston churchill. it reminds us how much has changed in 70 years since india's independence. >> reporter: immortalized in bronze, mahatma gandhi joins 10 other states men honoured on parliament square. heading the unveiling leading politicians, together with mahatma gandhi's grandson and bollywood legend. >> i hope as gandhi takes up residents in this great square at the heart of our politics and democracy that we can all be blessed with the wisdom of mahatma gandhi today, tomorrow and in years to come.
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>> reporter: it's based on an imaging of gandie during a just in 1991, at the height of a fight for independence. >> as he waged the struggle he admired britain . >> reporter: britain dominated india for more than 200 years, indian countries now own iconic british companies, like tetley tea and others. britain wants to change. this is, of course, more than a statue of a great man. in is british charm offensive. >> it's not just about honouring a great agreements. >> it's about his values. when you look at parliament square. you see a statue of nelson
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mandela, many great people. he was a thorn in the side of the empire. the fill os any of nonviolent resistance inspired movements around the globe, a message of tolerance that led to the assassination of an activist. he inspired nelson mandela. mahatma gandhi had powerful critics, especially those. church said: churchill and mahatma gandhi are awkward neighbours. for some he's an unlikely addition next to the seat of the british government. the statue stands as a cautionary reminder that all power fades, and empires reez and fall. the dubai crown prince set a
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world record, launching his eagle off the top of the tallest tower. a mini camera was attached so the journey could be broadcast. at 2,722, it set the record for highest flight from a man made structure, quite a structure. he has a history of flying high and off the isle tower eiffel tower. it was to spread the word about eagle conservation. that will do it for this hour. i'm thomas drayton in new york. stay tuned "freeway - crack in
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separate, and to stand for the principle. to stand on those things that are important to all of us. tore security, on proper economy. and society that we owe it to them. every family, every father and mother and every young couple. and every soldier and every citizen, and israel, jewish and not jewish. all are important. and all of you are important to me.
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