Rosa B. was raped at work today. Arizona's anti-immigrant law would also send her to jail if she reports it.
Rosa B.'s story is emblematic of the work that I do with Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), a national women's rights advocacy organization based in San Francisco. Her story also hits close to home. My mother was trained as a nurse in Mexico, yet when she first came to this country, she worked as a migrant worker. She was undocumented and her status forced her to endure unspeakable abuses at the hands of her employers. That was over 30 years ago, but I see her story repeated almost every single day in the stories of women across the country who call ERA in search of assistance. Any progress we have made over the last several decades, as evidenced by my own success, is severely imperiled by the single swoop of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's pen.
The debate over SB 1070, the Arizona bill signed into law by Governor Brewer, has centered on the race-based anti-immigrant sentiment it will foster. An equally important, and gender-based dynamic, is that the law will disproportionately impact Latinas in Arizona due to their comparatively vulnerable economic status.
Latinas in Arizona are uniquely vulnerable due to the confluence of their race, class, gender and immigration status. Nearly 10% of Arizona's workforce is undocumented. To take one major city in Arizona as an example, 48% of Latina immigrants in Phoenix work outside the home, yet 29% live below the federal poverty line and another 35% live at the federal income level designated as "near poverty." Despite their high numbers in the workforce, Latinas in Phoenix have twice the poverty rate of Phoenix women overall. It is not a far stretch to conclude that the vulnerable socio-economic status of Latina immigrant women makes them more prone to suffer workplace sexual harassment and violence.
The nationwide economic downturn has correlated with employer abuses, particularly an increase in workplace sexual harassment and violence. The number of workplace discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission jumped 10% from 2007 to 2009. This trend has had a particularly deleterious impact on immigrant Latinas. At ERA, we have seen an overall 62% increase in calls to our nationwide hotline from women complaining of sexual harassment and violence in the workplace from the same time last year, but calls from Latinas complaining of these abuses have increased 100%. SB 1070 ignores this dynamic and will effectively cut the limited safety nets Latina immigrants have to remedy these abuses and allow employers to operate with impunity.
SB 1070 flies in the face of efforts by the federal government to protect this vulnerable population. Up to 10,000 U Visas are granted each year to victims of certain crimes affording them temporary legal status and work eligibility in the United States for up to 4 years. To be granted a U Visa, an immigrant like Rosa B. must have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse due to a criminal activity such as rape. The U Visa is often granted to Latina immigrants who are victims of sexual violence in the workplace. SB 1070 will have a chilling effect on undocumented women working in Arizona who experience harassment and violence on the job because it criminalizes undocumented status and grants law enforcement wide discretion to detain and question people suspected of being in the country illegally. Many Latina immigrants will choose to endure these abusive conditions rather than report them and risk incarceration and deportation.
Undoubtedly, supporters of the law will argue that undocumented Latina immigrants should not be here in the first place or that federal laws are designed to protect United States citizens, not those who are in this country illegally. Those of us opposing the law will argue that this is yet another chapter in the sad saga of racial scapegoating in tough economic times that is a recurring theme in this country's history.
Obscured in this debate will be the fact that women like Rosa B. will continue to endure harassment, assault-and in some cases, even rape -- solely for the sake of making a living to support their families. Perhaps this country should acknowledge its schizophrenic dance with being the land of opportunity for all immigrants and the nightmare that it has become in places like Arizona.
Vitally important is the need to raise awareness regarding the historical and present struggles of women immigrants in Arizona. Even a basic understanding of this history will be impossible given the recent ban on ethnic studies in Arizona public schools. Unless the rest of us speak up, women like Rosa B. will continue to suffer in silence.
Follow Arcelia Hurtado on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ArceliaHurtado
THEN they make us MAD
THEN WE VOTE
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-8/1210139/thenwevote.jpg
and in Spanish
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-8/1210139/thenwevoteSpanish.jpg
1. Rosa was raped because her employer operates with immunity from law enforcement. Therefore if Rosa has someone to thank for helping her in her situation it's Gov. Brewer who is trying to drive the federal government to ENFORCE THE LAW on businesses who employ illegal immigrants.
2. After illegal immigrants come forward and confess they will have the option of GETTING IN LINE to be a legitimate citizen, legally. I'm quite confident Obama will grant Amnesty so Rosa and her family can all jump the fence now and bask in the generosity of Americans.
3. If Rosa was on a legal path to citizenship and the US Federal Governent cracked down on businesses she could be a recognized working American with rights and the law on her side. A legal path DOES exist, but she has to WAIT in line.
Your support of La Raza instead of America characterizes your credibility.
You want change ? Lobby aganist businesses who hire illegal immigrants.
I don't think much of their defenders, either.
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/RobertRobb/88138
Excellent explanation about the failures of sloppily written SB 1070.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/06/27/20100627montini-arizona-immigration-law.html#ixzz0smWtXZJP
Please, don't use fear mongering. If you don't like the law, come up with another method to pay for all the services used by illegal immigrants. Or figure out how to let only the good folks in and keep the bad guys out.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-8/1210139/sanctuary1.jpg
Meg and Carly are seeing their Laitin@ support become non existant, and without 1/3 rd of the Latin@ vote in CA, a candidate can't win.
PINCHE REPUBLICANS...that's the name they'll wear into 2010
(pinche is used by Latin@s similar to how anglos use effing, but it's not a direct translation.)
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-8/1210139/WhitmanPinche.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-8/1210139/CarlyPinche.jpg
Antonio Bustamante, an Arizona-based lawyer, agrees that Latino voters could participate in historic numbers. Many people are furious with [SB1070], which surely will be reflected in the upcoming elections, said Bustamante."
http://newamericamedia.org/2010/06/ariz-law-could-spur-more-latino-voters-in-november.php
and
Heredia says the number of registered Democratic voters has jumped from about 100 a week to 500 a week during May, as party officials actively pursued residents at events protesting the immigration legislation that was signed into law by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer in April.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/08/arizona-democrats-say-immigration-law-energizes-latinos/?fbid=UzDIftmm8SX
in Georgia too
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=230201
Carly Fiorina is especially hard hit, she tried a rally from her Amigos de Carly website...20 people showed up.....OUCH.
The standard liberal counter is to say that humanity trumps law. And in a sense, I agree. But now come back to reality: Who is going to PAY all the expenses of our bleeding heart wonderland? California, and most states, are ALREADY unable to fund the load for EXISTING citizens.
Shall we compassionately invite more onto the sinking ship so as to go down as quickly as possible?
My guess is they ranked high in the nation, (I'll look up their ranking Nationally later, I have gardens to tend now,) But UTAH with similar populations is ranked FIFTH from the top of highest rapes.
Things are looking brighter in Arizona! Last year it made the top five most dangerous states, now it's down a few notches at No. 8.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50 states)
(1 = Worst, 50 = Best)
Assault: 19
Burglary: 14
Murder: 8
Motor Vehicle Theft: 2
Rape: 32
Robbery: 14
http://www.thisis50.com/forum/topics/20-most-dangerous-states-for
so while the FAIR organization is constantly throwing anti Latin@ crime statistics (the ONLY crimes they collect or publish) as the reason they needed SB 1070....rape has DECREASED.
besides gutting all ethnic studies,
besides firing teachers with accents,
besides 31 Senators disrespecting Sonia Sotomayor aping Ricky Ricardo,
besides threats of with holding birth certificates to Latin@ infants born in America,
besides threats of seeding the border with LANDMINES,
besides threats of turning off utilities of undocumented households in 115 degree heat including water and electricity which kills seniors and infants,
besides Grade school kids told they are the WRONG COLOR,
THEN you have Angles in NV calling unemployed lazy and spoiled, and Congressional Republicans cutting off 2 million citizens unemployment benefits, Boehner calling the financial meltdown ANTS, Halley Barbor and Barton apologising to BP, and Michael Steele not knowing Cheney started the Afghan War a decade ago
we'll remember in November!
Following the constitution and obeying the law are the reasons America survived and prospered.
This is what November election will be about. Do not count on anything else.