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tv   [untitled]    December 1, 2011 6:30pm-7:00pm PST

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>> even though i am not with that abusive person anymore, it worries me about the threats he used to make about calling i.c.e. if i did not do what he said. >> [speaking spanish] >> today, i fear for my children because they are undocumented, and with scom, they could be deported if my x calls the police and accuses them falsely of anything -- if my ex calls the police and accuses them falsely of anything. >> [speaking spanish] >> please protect our families and us, survivors of violence in
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the lgbt community. please do not allow san francisco to respond to the i.c.e. holds. thank you. >> it is great to see you all again and said the i am seeing you all here because of scom -- sad that i am seeing you all here because of scom. other partners have threatened to call i.c.e., and unfortunately because of the collaboration between police and i.c.e., it makes it easier. an ins officer may not show up to the door, but a police officer will. it is very scary.
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other violence survivors are here with us as well. they are club members and showing support to the board of supervisors basically passing this resolution. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you very much. >> good afternoon, supervisors. san francisco domestic violence consortium. we appreciate your leadership and the leadership of supervisor mar and sheriff hennessey on the issue. i brought a letter that the domestic violence consortium joined in the senate judiciary committee this week on the -- holding a meeting this week on the federal issues surrounding secure communities. we hope secure communities will be dismantled at the federal level, but until then, san francisco and many other progressive communities have to take the lead.
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you have heard from our friends and members and sisters and brothers about the impact on the communities of scom and survivors of violence. we have seen a very high detention rate of survivors who have called the police who were indeed the victim, but the perpetrator may be gone on arrival or may be able to top police into believing that the victim should be arrested -- may be able to talk police into believing that the victim should be arrested. this is a strategy that is used all the time in abusive relationships, particularly when the victim is an immigrant. scom keeps all that in place. it keeps silence in the community. i am afraid it has a chilling effect in all our communities. our homicide rates are down 80% regarding domestic violence, and i am so concerned this policy
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will stop that trend. are brought paper work for you. thank you very much. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you very much. next speaker please. >> [speaking spanish] >> good afternoon. i am representing the san francisco bay labor program. we are also here supporting this
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resolution. we need your support at this moment. please remember that san francisco is a sanctuary city. -- representing the san francisco day labor program. >> hi. good afternoon. my name is cesar garcia. [speaking spanish] >> good afternoon. i am here representing sfop. i want to thank you for this resolution. please remember that san francisco is a sanctuary city. please do not support these
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atrocious laws that harm immigrants. i want to end by saying my name is renee, and i am also with the day labor program and on behalf of my organization, i want to thank you for considering this resolution. i hope this resolution, when it becomes politically feasible, becomes an ordinance, becomes a binding -- becomes a policy that is binding. particularly, it would be nice if our future share of -- sheriff would make it into policy as soon as he gets into that office. perhaps make it department policy when this resolution passes and soon thereafter, once it becomes politically feasible, if the new sheriff and board of supervisors could make the policy binding beyond a resolution so that in future years, we do not have to worry
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about depending on who the board of supervisors is or who the sheriff is to continue to have to advocate for this. thank you very much. supervisor mirkarimi: next speaker please. >> ♪ no more i.c.e., i.c.e. safety make it turned out right make sure the immigration don't bike i.c.e., i.c.e. safety make it turn out right, right, safety i.c.e., i.c.e. safety make it nice, nice for the babies i.c.e., i.c.e. safety
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no more i.c.e. it feels like i'm frozen in time and you are the only city i can see i have waited all my life for better now that you are here and i have waited all my life for better now you are near i never thought i would see that money, legal tender i never thought it would come my way won't you make it happen today hey ♪ thanks. supervisor mirkarimi: ok, thank you. next speaker please. >> i am from chinese affirmative
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action, and we serve mainly modeling will chinese american community members -- mainly monolingual chinese-american community members. i really hope that you will continue, you know, to bring back the lost trust we have had since scom has been started and pass this resolution. thank you. >> we are here to support the passage of the resolution on to the board and, hopefully, in the future, the policy gets accepted at the sheriff's department and law enforcement as a city. today, we not only want to support it, but we want to speak to how this will impact very positively the people we work with. we see mostly tenants, most of them who are mentally ill or who live in sro hotels in really bad living conditions. we see the need that arose for
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the organization we had was based on how little folks were able to assert their rights when dealing with bad landlords or living conditions that were not habitable. we are seeing that more and more people are afraid to take the simple steps of requesting repairs, calling the department of building inspection, collaborating with any city agency, even one that is not law enforcement, to get their rights asserted and to live in a dignified way. we have also seen more and we of also say in the issues with management, management threatening to call ice. we want to encourage you to move this forward, passed a resolution, and lastly i wanted to share this story from this week of a u.s. citizen wrongly picked up by s-com.
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this program is not doing what it was designed to do, and a lot of questions about the local police being entangled in any of this. he spent four nights locked up after a shoplifting charge which was dismissed. he tried to explain it, but of course he was referred. he had purchased about $600. the small charge was dismissed. it was triggered by s-com because of his citizenship status. when this happened, his job and asked, can this happen because i look like you? it cannot happen to him because he may look like somebody the police want to pull over. we want to encourage this so our community can live with dignity.
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thank you. isupervisor mirkarimi: thank yo. next speaker, please? >> good afternoon. i am here in support of this resolution and i encourage the board of supervisors to pass this resolution. not only for the effect that will have on the community in san francisco, but i would also like to remind you that all over the country, different states look to san francisco and for a long time we have been a model of progressive laws and policies. i would ask you to take a step back and look at the positive example the city would be setting for other counties and areas, thank you. isupervisor mirkarimi: thank yo. ext. speaker, please? -- next speaker, please?
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>> we work with families every day, providing services in the schools, leadership development, legal services for immigrants, and we work with young people trying to come out of the gangs. the stories of my co-workers to work on the front lines every day tell me people are afraid already of the police for various issues in the immigrant community. what we have heard from the sheriff and other police officers is a key aspect of them being able to do their job is to have the trust of the community. the community policing is a time proven way to protect our community, not just the immigrant community, but all of san francisco. i am here in support of the resolution, and i hope that today you will take the right steps forward to continue to go in the right direction that san francisco has been going to make
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san francisco a city for all, not just for the people -- for everybody to in this -- who invests and works in this city. it recently came out that more than 5000 children have been left behind because of deportations, and they are now citizens of this country and they did not have their parents and they are in the foster care system. it is a net that is catching families and throwing them apart and affecting everyone. i encourage you to vote yes on the resolution. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you very much. >> good afternoon, supervisors, i represent young workers united. this program has had a negative impact on our base, particularly. we had one worker who was a
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member of bars who earlier this year's -- who was a member of ours who got picked up because of a domestic violence dispute and was held in ice for a couple of months. since being released through the help of the community, this worker -- it is a huge impact to see this worker is now afraid to participate more in the community, be able to participate fully within our organization, and so we know that this is a huge issue people have been working on for a number of years. i would definitely encourage you all to support the resolution and be able to pass something where as a city that we can definitely provide a dignified and safe atmosphere for a lot of committee members here. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you
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very much. next speaker, please? >> good afternoon, my name is francisco. i am an attorney doing deportation assistance, speaking on behalf of the resolution. i am here as part of the national lawyers guild. i know that the topic of domestic violence has come up. we represent several people who were victims of domestic violence who sought assistance from the police, who then found themselves and removal proceedings. many times in domestic violence situations, people are not only charged with domestic violence, as a matter of fact, represent somebody who is charged with attempted murder. that sounds quite dangerous on its face. however, she was innocent of the charge and no charges were filed. that is a very serious concern.
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probably around 60% of our clients have been placed in removal proceedings as a direct result of local law enforcement were no criminal charges have been filed. i think it behooves us to be a community more like santa clara rather than san francisco and cook county to have a real policy, a safe policy to win here to the sanctuary ordinance that we have. thank you. >> hello, my name is peter. i meant anthropologist from vanderbilt university and a resident of san francisco thank you for having us here today. i have been working with some of the newest migrant populations coming from mexico, mostly 15 years old through 35 years old, and i am studying their undocumented experience and a sanctuary city.
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these people, because of s-com, i have seen an increase in their being reticent to participate in local politics. as an undocumented people, they have a lot to contribute to this city, as undocumented people in all of history have had a lot oto contribute to this city, and their civic engagement is impinged upon. i would like to offer my voice of support for this resolution and i encourage you to offer your support, too, thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you very much. at any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. the item is before this body. supervisor campos? supervisor campos: i recommend moving this item forward with positive recommendation. supervisor mirkarimi: i agree. i think everybody for
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participating. this meeting is a little out of kilter. this usually happens in the morning, but to accommodate supervisor mar and other schedules, we rescheduled for this afternoon. i am sorry that we are not able to go more into the analysis of it, but i think everybody here today on their work on this issue, and we look forward to the next level of discussion. madam clerk, this item is support it and so moved. any items further? >> no, mr. chairman. supervisor mirkarimi: all right, very good.
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>> and now i have the pleasure to introduce to you the may year of the great city of san francisco, the honorable edwin lee, followed by the executive director of the interfaith council, michael pappas. mayor lee. [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. it is my personal honor and pleasure to join you here today along with the interfaith council and our fantastic orchestra and opera and to celebrate and commemorate this 9/11 event.
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a decade after the terrorist attacks occurred on it 9/11, we continue to struggle to make sense of the terrible events of that day. while san francisco is more than 3,000 miles away from the attacks on twin towers and the pentagon, we felt the devastation and loss keenly in our city, and we will continue to remember and honor those who passed. it is important to me into the people of san francisco that remember and honor the fallen, including hometown american heroes like betty young and mark bingham. betty's call for a flight 11 was the first indication that america was under attack, and she relayed vital information to the ground crew. mark russell for control of united airlines flight 93, rather than allow hi-jackers to
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fulfill their mission. 10 years ago, we also learned about the final moments of san francisco resident melissa hughes who was the victim of terrorism in the twin towers. to read about her final phone calls to her loved ones is just as heartbreaking today as it was 10 years ago. to all the families across the nation who suffered and still suffer today, we offer our profound sympathy saiies. while we remember these and other victims and first responders, we should take time to reflect on what 9/11 means for all of us and to take to heart president barack obama's call to come together in the spirit of service and unity. there are many events in san francisco, from sporting events to festivals and other community events today, that help us do that while we honor the victims and celebrate the service and heroism of our first responders
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and military personnel. one such way to commemorate the day with peaceful and unifying nature of music at today's event. earlier this morning, i enjoyed over 500 volunteers with the interfaith council at the hands of the bay -- hands on the bay area. another weekend remember and honor the tragic events 10 years ago is to make sure that the city, it's families and individuals, we are prepared for emergencies, whether man-made or natural disasters. september marks the national prepared this month, and the city's website 72hours.org stands ready to assist you with your making a family emergency plan, building a disaster could, or need voluntary training. since september 11, 2001, san francisco has greatly improved its ability to prepare for,
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respond to, and recover from emergencies. just this month i announced the creation of the joint powers authority to govern a bay area wide public safety communications system after the bay area was awarded a $50 million grant to build a broadband communications network for public safety agencies. we know that emergencies do not stop at our city borders, and we must be prepared to seamlessly communicate with other public safety personnel throughout the bay area. we have also strengthened our infrastructure, trained our personnel, and are preparing the community so that we can rapidly recover from any emergency. it is now 10 years later, and we're more prepared, stronger, and ready. the 9/11 attacks represent an unimaginable tragedy in the history of our country. but at the same time, the lessons learned from that day
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continue to help us grow and become stronger the events of september 11, 2001 change the world and redefined our nation. not only the scope of these threat -- a tragedy, but also the demonstration of compassion and generosity that occurred in the hours, weeks, and months following. in san francisco and around the country, individuals stepped up to give blood, collect donations, and volunteer their time as a show of support for our nation. let us remember those who perished 10 years ago, her protected us from great danger and kept our country safe. the first responders who risked their lives for us, the police officers who protected us, and the firefighters who had the courage to keep us from harm, and the paramedics who care for us are all in our hearts today. they're important contribution to serving and protecting our
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diverse community should always be remembered and acknowledged. it is now 10 years later, and we're more prepared, stronger, and ready. i want to personally thank our men and women, the first responders, who protected us from great danger to keep our country safe. these first responders risked their lives for us every single day. for the police officers who protect us, the firefighters who courageously keep us from harm, and the paramedics who care for us. our words cannot describe our thankfulness for your heroes and everyday in the sacrifices you have undertaken to keep our community, our city, and country safe. may god bless san francisco. may god bless america. thank you very much. [applause]
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