Even in its current scaled-back version, Arizona's SB 1070 and the Obama administration's response to it has already given us an indication of the schizophrenic and flawed approach the federal government will likely take once it finally moves forward on Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Although US District Court Judge Sandra Bolton placed a temporary injunction on some parts of the legislation before it took effect late last week, her decision has proven to be a distraction from the true problem at hand in Arizona. Bolton's ruling, meanwhile, has done nothing to stop Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's unique brand of enforcement against immigrant communities. Only dedicated civil disobedience has thus far been successful in interrupting Arpaio's infamous "sweeps," which target brown people for deportation.
Some immigrant advocates lauded Judge Bolton's decision that law enforcement officers cannot be mandated to inquire about immigration status in the course of a traffic stop or detention. Bolton also temporarily blocked the portion of the bill that would have required all immigrants carry proof of their status at all times. Additionally, Bolton's ruling allows anyone, regardless of their status, to solicit work in public.
But it's important to remember that Bolton's decision has rendered the entire state of Arizona a trap against not only undocumented immigrants but against their advocates as well: The fractured ruling still makes it unlawful to simply give a ride to any undocumented immigrant -- and the law allows for impounding the car anyone doing so. Local lawmakers are now barred from creating "Sanctuary Cities," prohibiting measures that protect the nation's most vulnerable immigrants from being separated from their families and communities. Under the new legislation, private citizens will now be able to sue cities they believe are not enforcing federal immigration law. It also instructs the state to cooperate with the fed on undocumented immigration.
The now splintered SB 1070 will further criminalize people with long ties to their local communities and mirrors an already broken federal immigration system. Legally, immigration is a civil matter administered through paperwork at the federal level. Increasingly, it is becoming a criminal matter handled by rough-and-tumble local law enforcement.
Local police officers and deputies already inquire about immigration status throughout Arizona's largest county, Maricopa, where Sheriff Joe Arpaio has made immigration his top priority -- even over serious crimes like rape and murder. Arpaio, who operates from his Phoenix headquarters, has been aided in his peculiar obsession against brown people by a contract with the federal government called 287(g), which invites local officers to enforce federal immigration law. Drivers in Phoenix have long been deemed "reasonably suspicious" of being undocumented simply for looking Latino. These drivers are subsequently questioned about their immigration status, and those who cannot produce paperwork proving they are in the country legally are turned over to federal immigration authorities -- but not before being dragged through the pits of Arpaio's notorious jails. Regardless of Bolton's ruling, Arpaio's brand of enforcement, which targets brown people regardless of their status, will continue with the federal government's blessing.
President Obama has failed to end Arpaio's discriminatory practice with the swift ink of an Executive Order -- rather, his administration choose to renew its 287(g) contract with the Sheriff just last year. Federal lawmakers have consistently failed to bring immigration to the floor, and Judge Bolton has failed to issue a complete injunction against SB 1070.
In lieu of executive, legislative and judicial fairness, hundreds of people have traveled to Arizona to join countless others in civil disobedience against Arpaio's tactics, which they say sows seeds to terror and splits families apart. Last Thursday, a group of activists managed to stall one of Arpaio's planned immigrant hunts for several hours. Referred to as "crime suppression sweeps," the Sheriff's operations do little to stop actual crime -- instead, the increased traffic stops serve as a way to instill fear in the local immigrant community. Because the three branches of government have utterly failed to address the issue of immigration in a just way, 12 people put their freedom and their bodies on the line on Thursday, blocking the entrance to Arpaio's jail. Deputies had to put their sweep on hold to subsequently arrest the dozen people who stood up for humanity, at a time when the federal government seems unable -- or unwilling -- to do so.
Without a mass pro-immigrant movement that takes a stand for basic civil and human rights, what's taking place in Arizona is only a preview of the final version of Comprehensive Immigration Reform that will soon come to a city near you: increased enforcement against suspected immigrants and criminalization of the undocumented and those who advocate for them. In Phoenix, people have blocked roads and chained themselves to jail entrances to block dubious immigration enforcement. Advocates in cities around the nation have marched and created their actions to denounce Arizona's SB 1070. Perhaps federal lawmakers will stand on the side of justice, and heed and honor what everyday people are doing to stop Arizona's harmful practices.
Follow Aura Bogado on Twitter: www.twitter.com/zapallita
Philip Wolgin: The (Un)Sexy Side of Immigration Reform
I am amazed at how much of the current immigration debate still centers around only two things: border security, and earned legalization. We are missing one of the most important facet of reform: fixing the visa system.
Supporting law breakers is standing on the side of justice? By what logic? The DOJ appears clueless on the matter and on the US Constitution. Hopefully the lawmakers do stand on the side of justice and abide by the US Constitution and the law.
youtube.com/watch?v=7Lxx1FZNCu0&feature=related
www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/economic-and-political-power-immigrants-latinos-and-asians-all-50-states
www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/new-fbi-data-confirms-falling-crime-rates-arizona
www.elpasotimes.com/juarez/ci_15425614
www.azfamily.com/video/localn...ml?nvid=369691
That's from Hot Air....Michelle Malkin's other cesspool...er..."news" sites
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/07/30/report-romney-nudging-graham-to-strike-immigration-deal-before-election/
btw reading the comments are FUNNY, the Tea-Klanners heads are exploding as they vote Mitt ff the island.
I'm smirking like Bill Kristol on ECTASY.
http://immigrationclearinghouse.org/joe-arpaio-loses-some-287g-authority-promises-continues-harassment-of-hispanics/
The crime suppression sweeps still continue, however, and are not related to 287g street enforcement.
I continue to warn slap happy Arizonans who think the Latino vote will sweep the angry white man from power in this state. For that to happen Latinos must first GET to the polls.
Watch for major law enforcement presence here on election day: DUI checkpoints, crime suppression sweeps, heightened police presence.
Remember, in AZ it is NOT about getting rid of ILLEGAL immigrants; white people want THEM to stay for cheap labor. It is about scaring off the LEGAL immigrants who have rights, privelages and equality with whites and who can turn red into blue.
SB1070 is aimed, ultimately at the Legal presence in this country, to scare them enough so they leave.
The Feds accept, for a US born citizen, a passport or birth certificate as proof of citizenship, but NOT a driver's license.
AZ accepts a DL as proof of citizenship.
So, when the gapped toothed crowd asks "how is AZ's law different from the Fed's, now there is an answer.
How many US born citizens can produce a BC or passport, if they had to?
An amendment to the Freedom of Information Act enacted on Sept. 3rd 2008 provides this access to motor vehicle driver's information in an electronic format. Under the Motor Vehicle Operator License Identification Act (MOLIA), all US States are required to adhere to the statute and store and make available an electronic copy of all state valid drivers’ licenses. State issued ID's are also managed by the same functionaries. Thus, even if you are not a resident of the State and you are picked up without an ID, if the State chooses to utilize these databases, and I am not aware of any who do not, they can verify your identity very easily.
Additionally, in the Federal Case Holiday Inn Express MN vs. HEREIU the precedent was set that even an Illegal Immigrant has the right to sue for harassment.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-8/1210139/SUMMER1.jpg
The 21 million Americans who cannot find work while 7.5 million Illegal Immigrants work in jobs they used to do.
Teenagers who cannot find summer jobs and teens not going to college who have a 26% unemployment rate because the jobs are filled by Illegal Immigrants.
Citizen Construction Workers who saw their wages fall 14% before the current recession and are suffering an 18% unemployment rate now thanks to Illegal Immigration.
Citizen meatpacking workers who saw their wages fall from $19/hr. to $13/hr. all the while loosing their jobs to Illegal Immigrants.
Citizens suffering from identity theft perpetrated on them by people trying to illegally work in the USA.
Potential Legal Immigrants who wait up to 14 years to come legally because Illegal Immigrants have taken too many jobs.
The working poor who, before the current recession, experienced a growing percent of their number earning below poverty level wages thanks to Illegal Immigration driving down wages an average of 8% as documented by various Economists.
People who must wait for emergency service in hospital Emergency Rooms thanks to Illegal Immigrants going there for non-emergency treatment.
Unemployed Citizens watching the latest company in their town caught employing Illegal Immigrants, knowing the government is not going to lift a finger to remove the illegal workers from the workforce. And knowing that often these illegal workers are protected by their own local government with sanctuary city laws.
What about the injustice done to them?
Farm Workers have made a challenge to come do undocumented workers JOBS....4 people are ALL that have signed up to try it...ONE is Stephen Colbert.
So all your claims undocumented workers are causing unemployment, is total BULL SH*T if American workers won't do those JOBS.
The problem with this is that legal immigrants are treated like everyone else. The difference unregistered foreigners face is that they may be deported.
Comprehensive immigration reform is not going to work the way Latin America wants it to. There is no basic human right to be in a foreign country without permission. Foreign nations should not encourage their people to stay in the US without permission.
This is not a civil rights issue because it is about foreign citizens, not Americans.
Blacks, women, gays, Native Americans… none had their own embassy or a foreign government backing them. They did not ask for citizenship because they are citizens.
The civil rights being demanded now are the right of foreign nationals to remain here without permission.
If we grant it, we will be flooded with as many foreign citizens as can make it here.
The Sheriff is participating in a federal program Obama endorses.
ICE wants the help from police but on their terms.
SB1070 as it is should end sanctuary cities.
It should make using stolen or fake ID’s to obtain benefits and finding work for illegal foreigners harder.
And if the local sheriff wants to turn foreigners over to ICE they can cooperatively do that .
We still have immigration laws and Obama is enforcing them.
Notice the propaganda employed in the article and the twisting of facts to manipulate the truth. Arpaio is enforcing the laws against illegal immigration and illegal activity. The writer twists this into enforcement AGAINST IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES. How dishonest this is. Oh? And is the Mexican drug cartel reward put out for Arpaio's head in support of IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES? How sad it is to watch a great nation collapse from within.
Guess what: being in the country illegally is already criminal. The fact that you can't even acknowledge that shows the extent to which your extreme ideology has confused your ability to deal with the world in a rational way.
Fight whatever fight you want to fight: if you think we should have boarder-less-non-states be my guest as organizing marches and promoting candidates. But don't pretend the people here illegally aren't knowingly and willfully breaking our laws, i.e. engangind in crimminal activity.
Here I am talking about general principles, and your argument is personal attacks against a character tangentially related to the subject?