Interior Enforcement
Tens of Thousands March in Protest of Arizona’s SB 1070
Tens of thousands of protesters from across the country gathered in Phoenix over the weekend to protest Arizona’s SB 1070. According to some reports, as many as 20,000 protesters carried flags, banners and signs reading “Do I Look Illegal?” and "Where's the change? Mr. President, how can we trust you for re-election?" across a five mile stretch to the state Capitol to demand that the “federal government refuse to cooperate with Arizona authorities trying to enforce the law.” Meanwhile, supporters of the law gathered in a nearby stadium to defend their position and deny claims of profiling and racism. Both sides, ironically enough, acknowledged the need for a federal overhaul of our immigration system—albeit with different messages. Read More
Straight from the Horse’s Mouth: Police Chiefs Blast Arizona Law (SB 1070)
Yesterday, a delegation of police chiefs from across the country (Arizona included) met with Attorney General Eric Holder to deliver the message that enforcing Arizona’s law (SB 1070) will divert precious law enforcement resources away from fighting crimes and break down the trust that police have spent years cultivating with local communities. Attorney General Holder is considering filing a legal challenge against Arizona’s controversial law, which makes it a misdemeanor to fail to carry proper immigration documents and encourages police to determine a person’s immigration status. According to reports, Holder gave no indication when or if he would challenge the law, but said “there would be a decision coming soon on some of the federal issues associated with this [law].” Read More
Is Opting Out of the Secure Communities Program an Option?
The Department of Homeland Security has continued its effort to have the Secure Communities program up and running in all jails across the country. Secure Communities is a program designed to identify immigrants in U.S. jails who are deportable under immigration law. Under Secure Communities, participating jails submit arrestees’ fingerprints not only to criminal databases, but to immigration databases as well; allowing ICE access to information on individuals held in jails. Some jurisdictions, however, are seeking to opt out of the program—citing that Secure Communities conflicts with existing policies. Read More
Second Grader Speaks to First Lady on behalf of 5.5 Million Children in the U.S.
Washington D.C. – In the midst of a loud, long and contentious battle over immigration, a soft voice emerged yesterday which spoke volumes about our nation’s broken immigration system – and the fear and havoc it creates in the lives of million of young people in America. “My mom… she… Read More
Does Sarah Palin Support Arizona’s Law? You Betcha She Does!
In her latest right-wing cheerleading routine, former Alaska Governor/Tea Party Squad Captain, Sarah Palin, shook her political pompoms for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer at a press conferences defending Arizona’s controversial immigration law (SB 1070). Palin, who appeared shoulder to shoulder with Gov. Brewer on Saturday, used the opportunity to take a few pot shots at President Obama, repeat the words “illegal immigration” and “borders,” and wag her finger around. The event was dedicated to the launch of Brewer’s new website, “Secure the Border,” which features “East Coast media” gotcha tactics, Sarah Palin’s face, drug and kidnapping statistics and a bevy of ridiculous headlines designed to equate the words “immigrants” and “criminal.” For all its mavericky-ness, however, Gov. Brewer and her new website still fail to explain how Arizona’s law will help solve our immigration problems, target drug-smugglers or end violent crime along the border. Read More
‘Fox & Friends’ Trumpets Farcical Claim About Murders by Unauthorized Immigrants
The infotainment show Fox & Friends recently trumpeted the absurd and baseless claim that unauthorized immigrants kill 2,158 people in the United States each year. However, as Media Matters describes in detail, this random number is based on a 2005 article in the right-wing journal Human Events that uses a methodology no serious researcher could possibly endorse. The author of that article derived his “estimate” by assuming that unauthorized immigrants in the United States commit murders at exactly the same rates as the murder rates in their respective home countries. So unauthorized Mexicans are assumed to mimic the Mexican murder rate once they get here, unauthorized Salvadorans are assumed to mimic the Salvadoran murder rate, etc. As if this weren’t ludicrous enough, the author throws in an inflammatory and irrelevant comparison with the U.S. death toll in Iraq. In fact, empirical research over the past century has demonstrated repeatedly that immigrants to the United States, including the unauthorized, are far less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than the native-born. And no amount of grandstanding by Fox and Friends will change that simple fact. Read More
Arizona’s Punishing New Immigration Law Doesn’t Fight Crime
Supporters of Arizona’s harsh new immigration law claim that it is, among other things, a potent tool in the crime-fighting arsenal. For instance, the bill’s author, Republican State Senator Russell Pearce of Mesa, confidently predicts that the law—which requires police to investigate the immigration status of anyone who appears to be unauthorized—will result in “less crime” and “safer neighborhoods.” However, Sen. Pearce overlooks two crucial points: crime rates have already been falling in Arizona for years despite the presence of unauthorized immigrants, and a century’s worth of research has demonstrated that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes or be behind bars than the native-born. Moreover, the law is likely to distract the police from investigating non-immigration related crimes and dissuade immigrants from cooperating with the police, making neighborhoods less safe. Read More
New Arizona Enforcement Law Sparks Calls for Economic Boycott
Arizona’s new controversial enforcement law, signed into law last week by Gov. Jan Brewer, has the potential to shake down more than just undocumented immigrants and suntanned citizens. Arizona’s businesses and tourism industry are also likely to take a hit as more and more people call for an economic boycott. The law, which requires state and local law enforcement to check the documents of people they “reasonable suspect” of being here illegally, is causing many potential investors, visitors and tourists to avoid Arizona altogether. With a state budget deficit of more than $4.5 billion and an economy heavily dependent on tourism, Gov. Jan Brewer (who’s up for reelection this November) and the Arizona legislature will need to consider not only how they plan on paying for implementation of this new law, but also how to pay the larger price of doing business in a restrictionist state. Read More
Can Arizona Afford to Implement S.B. 1070?
As the deadline for signing/vetoing Arizona’s immigration enforcement law (S.B. 1070) draws near, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has more than just the moral and ethical implications of the law to consider. The proposed “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” a bill that makes it a misdemeanor to fail to carry proper immigration documents and requires police to determine a person’s immigration status, could come with heftier price tag than people may realize. While the Arizona legislature has not yet determined the costs associated with S.B. 1070 (the state legislature failed to attribute a cost in their attached fiscal note), several economic indicators reveal the potential cost of implementation to Arizona taxpayers and the residual consequences of driving unauthorized immigrations out of Arizona. Read More
Turning Up the Heat on Immigration: New Arizona Law Spurs Need for Immigration Reform
The passage of Arizona’s proposed anti-immigration enforcement law (SB 1070) last week has spurred an outcry of critical voices—including the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, religious leaders, immigration advocacy groups and a slew of political leaders—disavowing the bill as a license to racially profile and as “open season on the Latino community.” The proposed law, which Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is expected to sign Saturday, encourages Arizona police officers to investigate immigration status based on a “reasonable suspicion” that a person is in the country illegally. Yet, as the proposed law continues to garner media attention for its harsh and draconian spirit, it has also unintentionally shifted public and congressional attention toward reforming our entire federal immigration system—an overhaul that would likely discourage states like Arizona from taking federal immigration enforcement into their own hands. Read More
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