This summary about local views on the Stand Your Ground Law was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office continues to weigh the evidence in the murder case against Jose Alba, a New York City bodega worker accused of killing a man that attacked him behind the counter. Alba was arrested on July 2, and the case will soon go to trial.
New York City is home to thousands of bodegas, many of them run by Yemenis and undocumented immigrants.
After just a few days since Alba’s case became public, groups have seized the situation to push for legislation known as “Stand Your Ground.”
Proponents of the Stand Your Ground law argue that: Jose Alba’s defense against the attacker was valid; ‘standing his ground’ was necessary; and he should not be prosecuted for what was simply an act of self-defense.
The position of United Bodegas of America (UBA), an organization which has been rallying in support of Jose Alba, stands out.
On the back of the fatal incident, the organization is reviving a push for New York City to adopt a Stand Your Ground law. “Bottom line, in Florida, this is what you would consider ‘stand your ground’,” said Fernando Mateo, a Republican and former mayoral candidate who co-runs United Bodegas of America, a for-profit corporation that fights for their political and business interests in New York. “That is what New York City needs.”
The Florida law Mateo references states a person “who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be … has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force,” if they believe it will keep them safe. Nine other states also have Stand Your Ground laws.
If Stand Your Ground is implemented, it would remove the responsibility of civilians to retreat in self-defense scenarios: Section 2 of NY Penal Law 35.15 allows civilians to use deadly physical force in self defense only if the attacker is in the person’s home and the person is not the initial aggressor.
A criminal defense attorney in New York told me it appears Stand Your Ground backers want an exception added to the law that states ‘if someone attacks you in your bodega, then you also don’t have a duty to retreat.’
She said it is interesting that groups are sounding the alarm for a Stand Your Ground law at this stage because there’s still a trial for Alba ahead, where he can try to prove his retaliation was justified.
Another criminal defense lawyer, Scott Greenfield, also said on Twitter that Jose Alba “can still argue self-defense at trial.” However, “he won’t get the benefit of the statutory justification defense.”
“This is not an argument about whether Alba could have been killed, but that [the alleged attacker] was unarmed and there was no reasonable belief that he possessed a deadly weapon,” said Greenfield.
It won’t be the first time Mateo is pushing to let bodega owners carry arms: Ten years ago, he was in the news for urging bodega owners to apply for handgun licenses for protection. Studies have shown that where there are more guns, there are more gun deaths at both the state and national level.
The Yemeni American Merchants Association, which joined UBA in a meeting with the DA to speak up about Alba’s case, has said it does not support UBA’s view that workers should carry firearms, and it “does not believe placing more guns in the community is a solution to keep bodegas safe.”
It raises questions about the organization’s motives and priorities regarding public safety and workers’ protection, especially given Mateo himself has a questionable reputation when it comes to workers’ rights.
STORIES WE ARE FOLLOWING
New York
Feds say Bloods gang took over fire clean-up company that worked in building where loot went missing:
A Brooklyn gang first gained control of First Response Cleaning in 2019, and then used the company to extort competitors and muscle the industry with violence and threats, according to a federal indictment. — Documented
Director of CUNY’s Citizenship Now! project answers naturalization questions:
Allen Wernick clarifies that an inability to read or write English isn’t a bar to U.S. citizenship, among other questions. — NY Daily News
Around the U.S.
ICE says immigrant women in custody still entitled to abortion services: An undated memo shows detention centers will soon be notified that women should be transferred to receive an abortion if they are being detained in a state where abortion is now illegal. — Wall Street Journal
DHS extends TPS for Venezuela, but does not redesignate it: Over 150,000 Venezuelans who entered the U.S. after March 8 2021, when Temporary Protected Status was first granted to those in the U.S., will not qualify. — Al Jazeera
North Carolina governor vetoes legislation to let sheriffs help ICE pick up immigrants: Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a similar Republican measure that would facilitate cooperation between law enforcement and ICE in 2019. — AP News
USCIS restores pathway many TPS recipients have used to obtain a green card: Beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status are also now able to travel outside the U.S. and return under a new policy. — Immigration Impact
Four CBP employees referred for disciplinary review over treatment of Haitians last September: They could face discipline over their treatment of Haitian migrants, whom they sought to push back across the Rio Grande using horses last fall. — Reuters
Data shows children of immigrants excel at moving up the economic ladder: Using the data set from a new book on immigration, this interactive visual shows income trajectories of immigrants’ children versus American-born children. — The New York Times (Opinion)
Washington D.C.
Biden to meet with Mexican President López Obrador after he boycotted Americas summit: The U.S. and Mexico plan to launch a bilateral working group on labor pathways and worker protections as a way to stem the flow of irregular migration. — CNN
Biden wants to stay court order blocking immigration officers from prioritizing arrests: The Biden administration wants immigrant enforcement to prioritize arresting undocumented immigrants it considers security risks. — CNN