Ariz. governor signs immigration enforcement bill

(Posted by Uriel Rivera)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/23/AR2010042301250.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert

PHOENIX -- Gov. Jan Brewer ignored criticism from President Barack Obama on Friday and signed into law a bill supporters said would take handcuffs off police in dealing with illegal immigration in Arizona, the nation's gateway for human and drug smugglers.

With hundreds of people surrounding the state Capitol, protesting that the bill would lead to civil rights abuses, Brewer said she wouldn't tolerate racial profiling. She said critics were "overreacting."

"We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act," Brewer said after signing the law. "But decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation."

Obama said earlier Friday that he's instructed the Justice Department to examine the Arizona bill to see if it's legal, and said the federal government must enact immigration reform at the national level - or leave the door open to "irresponsibility by others."

Arizona governor signs immigration law; foes promise fight

(Posted by Uriel Rivera)
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/23/20100423arizona-immigration-law-passed.html

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer today signed into law an immigration bill that gives the state toughest law in the nation, making it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requiring local police to enforce federal immigration laws.

Brewer said she signed the bill in response to "the crisis the federal government has refused to fix.''

Hispanic leaders addressing the hundreds of protesters at the Capitol immediately vowed to wage a legal fight, and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said he wants the city to sue.

The new immigration law will require anyone whom police suspect of being in the country illegally to produce "an alien registration document," such as a green card

, or other proof of citizenship such as a passport or Arizona driver's license.

It also makes it illegal to impede the flow of traffic by picking up day laborers for work. A day laborer who gets picked up for work, thus impeding traffic, would also be committing a criminal act.

Gordon criticized Brewer's action.

"The governor clearly knows that her actions not only have split the state, but will now cause severe economic hardship to all our businesses at a time when we can't afford any losses. The executive order isn't worth the paper it's written on."

Gordon said the executive order to AZ POST would be unenforceable; called it "an attempt to solve this problem with smoke and mirrors."

Students protesting against SB 1070 are released.

(posted by Uriel Rivera)

Shortly after one this morning, the nine students arrested for chaining themselves to the doors on the old State Capitol building were released. When they got out, there were nearly 100 people waiting for them. During their time inside the group chanted, beat drums, and called for their release from the 4th Avenue Jail in Downtown Phoenix.

The college students were protesting Senate Bill 1070, an immigration bill that would make being illegal in Arizona a crime, among other things. The students vowed to refuse to leave the old State Capitol building until Governor Jan Brewer vetoed the bill, so police cut the student's chains and arrested them on charges of disorderly conduct.

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2010/04/20/20100420jail-protest-immigration-bill-CR.html

Sanchez: Arizona immigration bill means profiling

Rep. Loretta Sanchez said on MSNBC Wednesday that law the Arizona legislature has passed that would give police the power to stop people on the street and ask them to prove they are in the United States legally “does have the probability for racial profiling.’’

Immigration advocates and congressional lawmakers –particularly Hispanic members – have been up in arms over this bill that now sits on Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk. It’s believed to be the toughest immigration enforcement measure ever passed by a state legislature.

Arizona’s Republican governor – who replaced Janet Napolitano, now homeland security secretary -has not publicly stated her position on the bill. She has until Saturday to make up her mind.

“Certainly we as Americans have always been against an ID card’’ said Sanchez, D-Santa Ana. “All of a sudden you have a class of people who have to carry paperwork around.’’

Sanchez, a Latina born in Orange County, said she doesn’t carry her birth certificate around. Given her ethnicity she could well be stopped under a law like this.

“Does that mean they’ll deport me?” she asked.

Hispanic lawmakers have called on Brewer to veto the bill. And one Arizona Democrat – Rep. Ron Grijalva– wants an economic boycott of his state. He suggested Tuesday that groups refrain from holding conventions in Arizona and other such events if this bill becomes law.

Supporters of the measure say the state had to step in because the federal government is not living up to its responsibilities to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.

The bill also makes day laborers illegal in Arizona.

[Posted by Brenda Diaz]

http://totalbuzz.freedomblogging.com/2010/04/21/sanchez-arizona-immigration-bill-means-profiling/34061/

Card game takes on illegal immigration

Never mind the plethora of textbooks, studies and scholarly articles exploring the cost-benefits dynamic of people who live in the country illegally.

Now there's a new game designed to break this complex issue into digestible fare for millions of Americans who feel lukewarm about the issue.

Peter Gadiel, who became an anti-illegal immigration activist after his son died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, says he created Illegal Immigration – a "Game" as a way to expand the debate and create a new legion of anti-illegal immigration activists.

"We want to reach people. I want people to understand what's going on and what's happening in their country," Gadiel said from his Connecticut home. "I want to get them interested and know enough and go out there and oppose amnesty."

The trivia question-and-answer game launched April 5 and sells for $39.95 on the Internet. Gadiel said he's not sure how many have sold so far but figures it's not many because he has yet to get the word out to mainstream groups, he said.

Still, chatter and e-mails about the game are already circulating among local anti-illegal immigration circles, including e-mail blasts sent by the Huntington Beach-based California Coalition for Immigration Reform.

The game has also been criticized by some local immigration scholars and immigrant rights advocates who questioned what are described as facts in the game.

[Posted by Brenda Diaz]

http://www.ocregister.com/news/immigration-245106-game-illegal.html

Melting ICE

By Osvaldo Castillo
El Observador
President Obama was supposed to make life easier for immigrants. But according to several community leaders, that is just not the case. Some even say that immigrants are worst off under the Obama Administration than the Bush Administration.
On Friday, April 9, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) janitors joined hundreds of workers and activists statewide and nationwide outside of the Homeland Security office in San Jose to protest recent outrageous immigration enforcement actions and to call on the agency to get its house in order.

For full article, click here.

[posted by sosa]

Arizona immigration bill under fire in Washington

(Posted By Uriel Rivera)

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/20/20100420arizona-immigration-bill-criticized-politico.html

Hispanic lawmakers want President Barack Obama to intervene if Arizona's governor doesn't veto a sweeping anti-immigrant bill that would allow local police to arrest anyone they suspect might be an illegal immigrant.

"The governor of Arizona should veto the bill and if she doesn't the president of the United States Barack Obama should assert the federal government's preeminent role in regulating and enforcing our nation's immigration law," Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), said Tuesday.

The White House declined to comment.

Under the proposed Arizona law, which passed the state Senate Monday, police can arrest anyone on "reasonable suspicion" that they are an undocumented immigrant. If they're not carrying a valid driver's license or identity papers, police could make an arrest.

"The lunacy of rounding up people because they look a certain way or are suspected of being in violation of immigration statutes can only lead to one thing violations of people's basic, fundamental civil rights. Profiling," Gutierrez said.

But while Gutierrez criticized Republicans, he's also firing a warning shot at the White House, which has been slow to embrace comprehensive immigration reform.

"In the end it all comes back to the president of the United States and whether he will put his back into comprehensive immigration reform," Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez warned of electoral payback if Democrats ignore the issue.

"The Republicans are so mean spirited and so anti-immigrant that they simply push immigrants and Latinos into the waiting arms of Democrats," Gutierrez said. "There is a third option for those voters. They don't necessarily have to fill the ranks of the Democratic Party. They can simply stay home."