Below is a summary of the latest NYT article, "Arizona Law Reveals Split in the GOP," followed by some HII predictions for the future of immigration reform! Enjoy!
The Arizona immigration bill has split the GOP: it appears that politicians who have a primary in the near future support the bill (even if they disdained it just days ago), while those who are running unchallenged express hesitation about adopting such stringent measures. We see this repeatedly, whether through Gov. Jan Brewer's passage of the bill (she is up for re-election primaries soon, and had been heavily criticized for raising taxes) or California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's declining poll numbers after she expressed opposition to the bill. Republicans in states like Nevada and Colorado with growing Hispanic constituencies are reluctant to support the bill, fearing isolating a key demographic.
It appears that states will act upon immigration reform before the federal government does: between January and March, Congressmen in 45 states introduced 1,180 bills and resolutions pertaining to immigration. Polls consistently show that a majority of Americans (even up to 59%) support the Arizona bill. With elections looming, politicians from all states will face pressure to enact strict immigration legislation in order to earn points with voters. Even Karl Rove, ex-adviser to former President George W. Bush, cautions: "I think we need to be very careful about immigration...the rhetoric on all sides ought to be lowered." In the past, pigs would fly before a neo-con recommended restraint on illegal immigration crackdowns—maybe everyone should slow down a bit.
As for what’s going to happen in the future, only time can tell but opinions all over the world have been forming, especially about the contradictory Arizona law. A lot of people believe it to be un-constitutional and racial profiling while a lot of other people think the complete opposite: “it isn’t racism, you’re in our country illegally”. Some people believe that it isn’t a big deal, that the government should just tighten up on immigration laws as well as work on making sure everybody who enters the country MUST have the legal right to live here. Most people believe that as well but they also believe that the new Arizona law is completely wrong and that the state is working on the wrong directions. One opinion is that the states should work on welcoming immigrants and helping them get the right paperwork, visas and such instead of scaring them all off. Also, a lot of people aren’t mad about the law itself, it’s also about the reason the law came into consideration in the first place, about how when a white person dies by the boarder, somebody automatically blames an illegal immigrant. “When people die by the Canadian boarder, do we blame an illegal Canadian immigrant? No.” The question is, was there even evidentiary support that the person was murdered by an illegal immigrant?
The new law in Arizona has angered a lot of people in the US as well as all over the world. It’s also scaring a lot of immigrants with the legal rights to live here and even the Americans who were born here but are of a different race, especially Latinos. The law grants Arizona State to challenge the constitution, side step it and do something that may or may not be constitutional. As for the law staying in effect, who’s to say that it will? With all the controversy surrounding it, people are bound to begin fighting it and it might be revoked. What about the news in Florida? The republican governors who had criticized Arizona’s new law have turned around and mentioned possibly passing one in their state as well. Who’s to say the entire south won’t follow along and then most states will have this possibly unconstitutional law in effect? All this reporter can see is absolute chaos and revolt in the United States. Now all America can do is wait and see.
UPDATES!
**Sarah Palin rallies conservatives in Denver: "We can build the Alaskan pipeline… but we can't build a fence to secure our border? Americans are saying 'Mr. President do your job and secure our border,'" Palin told the crowd. Immigration reform was just one of many platforms she utilized to bash on President Obama on Saturday.
**Wednesday, first lady Michelle Obama visited an elementary school in Maryland to promote healthy eating; during the televised event, a second grader asked why President Obama was “taking everybody away that doesn’t have papers.” The Mexican first lady was also present. When Michelle tried to explain that people need the right papers, the girl went on to blurt “But my mom doesn’t have any papers.” All this when the president happened to be with the Mexican president, discussing immigration reform. (See the clip here: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/05/little_girl_wonders_what_the_h.html)
**Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Chicago expressed interest in adding a provision to the immigration bill to give foreign-born domestic partners of U.S. citizens access to the same path to naturalization as heterosexual spouses. This provision was deemed "politically risky" six months ago, but now the importance to the issue of family unity is pressing the matter. Democrats now feel there is a distinct possibility they could make the bill "truly inclusive."
Friday, May 21, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Major Civil Rights Groups Sue Arizona
The ACLU, NAACP, and Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a lawsuit challenging the recent AZ immigration bill's constitutionality on Monday. County attorneys and sheriffs from AZ's 15 counties were named as defendants. The suit is the fifth to challenge the bill so far. The first four were hired on behalf of individuals: 3 police officers and 1 on behalf of a group representing Latinos. All 5 cases have similar arguments against the bill. Flagstaff, Tucson, and San Luis have authorized a legal challenge against the bill but not filed suit.
Along with allowing law enforcement to check papers if they have "reasonable suspicion" that someone is in the country illegally, the bill also prohibits searching for day labor on the roadside and criminalizes being in the US illegally. Supporters of the law state that it mirrors federal regulation requiring immigrants to have documents pertaining to their immigration status. The suit alleges that the bill will encourage racial profiling, hamper social services, and discourage people from going to the police to report crimes. Nina Perales, of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, states that the new state crimes and requirement for police questioning violate federal law.
UPDATES!
**Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano admitted that she has not read the controversial Arizona immigration law even though she's gone on national television to critisize it.
**Rumors are circulating that Miss Oklahoma lost the Miss USA Crown due to the new Arizona Immigration Law. Smells like a conspiracy!
**New Arizona law is going to cost thousands, especially to those boycotting all things Arizona. New immigration law in Arizona funded on $250,000.
Along with allowing law enforcement to check papers if they have "reasonable suspicion" that someone is in the country illegally, the bill also prohibits searching for day labor on the roadside and criminalizes being in the US illegally. Supporters of the law state that it mirrors federal regulation requiring immigrants to have documents pertaining to their immigration status. The suit alleges that the bill will encourage racial profiling, hamper social services, and discourage people from going to the police to report crimes. Nina Perales, of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, states that the new state crimes and requirement for police questioning violate federal law.
UPDATES!
**Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano admitted that she has not read the controversial Arizona immigration law even though she's gone on national television to critisize it.
**Rumors are circulating that Miss Oklahoma lost the Miss USA Crown due to the new Arizona Immigration Law. Smells like a conspiracy!
**New Arizona law is going to cost thousands, especially to those boycotting all things Arizona. New immigration law in Arizona funded on $250,000.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Some Practical Implications of Immigration Law (or Lack Thereof), Plus What Everyone Should Know Come Campaign Season AND UPDATES! Hot off the AP Wire
Since the passage of SB 1070, the notably anti-immigrant Arizona law, the need for comprehensive immigration reform can no longer be ignored at the federal level. But before the campaign season reaches full swing, here are a few things every American should be aware of.
1. A deportation-only policy not only doesn’t address the issues with our current immigration system, but would also require transporting 12 million unregistered immigrants out of our country-at an estimated $230 billion expense to the United States. In addition, this would result in damaging families, industry, and don’t forget, a shortage of over 2.5 million workers.
2. Immigrant workers actually lead to an increase in productivity for a low price-which then gets turned into better, not lower, wages for native born workers. This fact is based on the research and agreement of an overwhelming majority of economists, including the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
3. The United States does not spend billions on welfare for undocumented immigrants. In fact, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for welfare benefits-ever. Even children of immigrants-documented or otherwise-suffer from declining rates of eligibility. And legal, permanent residents are no exception-they are required to pay into Medicare and Social Security for around 10 years before becoming eligible for retirement benefits.
4. Undocumented immigrants are not more likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens. According to a 2001 study by Univ. of California, Irvine, among men ages 28-39, the incarceration rate for native-born citizens was 3.5%, or five times higher than that for immigrants in 2000.
5. Finally, there is no research that suggests immigrants are unable to assimilate into U.S. society. In states with a long history of immigration, such as California, immigrants learn English and climb the socio-economic ladder over time, and the gap between immigrants and native-born white Americans closes more with each successive generation.
UPDATES! Hot off the AP wire!
**Sarah Palin appears with Gov. Brewer at campaign fundraiser; supports AZ immigration reform, criticizes President Obama for not prioritizing border security.
**Jewish rights groups are upset over AZ bill/Holocaust comparisons; Rabbi Marvin Hier states it diminishes tragedy of the WWII genocide.
**Univision poll finds that just 20% of non- hispanic Americans actively oppose the AZ bill (30% are neutral) while 67% of Hispanic Americans actively it.
**Gov. Brewer meeting with tourist agency representatives to soliticit their aid in combating bad PR regarding the AZ bill.
**Senator McCain reneges on previous adversity to US/Mexico fence: "Complete the danged fence!" he demands in a recent commercial, while back in 2007 he called the fence the "least effective" method of border security available.
Concerning the myths about the Immigration Reform debate, it appears that the American society has gone merely by word and feelings rather than true facts, as is something that has always been about American culture: gossip. It also seems as if people are going against what they thought before, the obvious example being Senator McCain saying that a fence dividing Mexico and America was the "least effective" method of border security. There are only two sides to this debate, those for it and those against it, each having their variety of reasons. Although these myths about immigrants have been scientifically proven, it's a widely known fact (not having to be proved) that people will still argue that they're right, especially if they truly believe that those myths are true.
Speaking of going back on their word, the two Republican senators that had once criticized the supports of the new law have turned around and announce their support. Now that Arizona has established a new law, Florida Republicans have opted to join in, planning to adopt the Arizona law and use it as their own as well. The only problem is that this idea seems to be a bad move on tourist part. Florida prides itself on the massive amount of tourists it brings in, especially to Miami and this new law, or potential new law, has a load amount of people boycotting touring Florida.
This new Arizona law has created a giant debate among the country, resulting in switching of sides and a lot of disturbed peace echoing across the nation. Just flip on the television, switch to the news and discover how the country feels about this new, harsh law that might soon be passed throughout several states-especially boarder states. But new questions have arisen, especially about the immigrants that had yet to flood to America, having chosen this country for a specific reason. What's going to happen if every single immigrant is afraid to even think about escaping to America?
1. A deportation-only policy not only doesn’t address the issues with our current immigration system, but would also require transporting 12 million unregistered immigrants out of our country-at an estimated $230 billion expense to the United States. In addition, this would result in damaging families, industry, and don’t forget, a shortage of over 2.5 million workers.
2. Immigrant workers actually lead to an increase in productivity for a low price-which then gets turned into better, not lower, wages for native born workers. This fact is based on the research and agreement of an overwhelming majority of economists, including the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
3. The United States does not spend billions on welfare for undocumented immigrants. In fact, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for welfare benefits-ever. Even children of immigrants-documented or otherwise-suffer from declining rates of eligibility. And legal, permanent residents are no exception-they are required to pay into Medicare and Social Security for around 10 years before becoming eligible for retirement benefits.
4. Undocumented immigrants are not more likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens. According to a 2001 study by Univ. of California, Irvine, among men ages 28-39, the incarceration rate for native-born citizens was 3.5%, or five times higher than that for immigrants in 2000.
5. Finally, there is no research that suggests immigrants are unable to assimilate into U.S. society. In states with a long history of immigration, such as California, immigrants learn English and climb the socio-economic ladder over time, and the gap between immigrants and native-born white Americans closes more with each successive generation.
UPDATES! Hot off the AP wire!
**Sarah Palin appears with Gov. Brewer at campaign fundraiser; supports AZ immigration reform, criticizes President Obama for not prioritizing border security.
**Jewish rights groups are upset over AZ bill/Holocaust comparisons; Rabbi Marvin Hier states it diminishes tragedy of the WWII genocide.
**Univision poll finds that just 20% of non- hispanic Americans actively oppose the AZ bill (30% are neutral) while 67% of Hispanic Americans actively it.
**Gov. Brewer meeting with tourist agency representatives to soliticit their aid in combating bad PR regarding the AZ bill.
**Senator McCain reneges on previous adversity to US/Mexico fence: "Complete the danged fence!" he demands in a recent commercial, while back in 2007 he called the fence the "least effective" method of border security available.
Concerning the myths about the Immigration Reform debate, it appears that the American society has gone merely by word and feelings rather than true facts, as is something that has always been about American culture: gossip. It also seems as if people are going against what they thought before, the obvious example being Senator McCain saying that a fence dividing Mexico and America was the "least effective" method of border security. There are only two sides to this debate, those for it and those against it, each having their variety of reasons. Although these myths about immigrants have been scientifically proven, it's a widely known fact (not having to be proved) that people will still argue that they're right, especially if they truly believe that those myths are true.
Speaking of going back on their word, the two Republican senators that had once criticized the supports of the new law have turned around and announce their support. Now that Arizona has established a new law, Florida Republicans have opted to join in, planning to adopt the Arizona law and use it as their own as well. The only problem is that this idea seems to be a bad move on tourist part. Florida prides itself on the massive amount of tourists it brings in, especially to Miami and this new law, or potential new law, has a load amount of people boycotting touring Florida.
This new Arizona law has created a giant debate among the country, resulting in switching of sides and a lot of disturbed peace echoing across the nation. Just flip on the television, switch to the news and discover how the country feels about this new, harsh law that might soon be passed throughout several states-especially boarder states. But new questions have arisen, especially about the immigrants that had yet to flood to America, having chosen this country for a specific reason. What's going to happen if every single immigrant is afraid to even think about escaping to America?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Conservative Evangelicals Hop on the Immigration Bandwagon! and A Series of Interviews on Immigration with People Like You!
Hi everyone,
Today we have an article summary from CNN (here's the URL: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/10/immigration.evangelicals/), another summary from Newsweek (http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2010/05/11/evangelical-campaign-for-immigration-reform-faces-key-obstacle-grassroots.aspx), and a series of opinion interviews conducted by the H.I.I. staff! Enjoy!
Many Republicans have rallied in support of the Arizona immigration bill, including conservative fanatics who attended the “Tea Party” at which Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker. However, a growing segment of the Republican base—conservative Christian evangelicals—are voicing their disapproval of the bill and hoping that it will spur federal immigration reform which incorporates a “path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.”
The “path to citizenship” is not without strings: immigrants must take civics courses, pay fines, undergo background checks, and learn English before being granted citizenship. They stress the importance of strengthening border security as an additional component to any immigration reform bill. However, this reform package is far less stringent than their extremist counterparts’ plan which demands that Latinos be sent to their home countries and forced to start the citizenship process over from square one.
This groups stresses that immigration reform is in line with Biblical texts, which admonish adherents to care for the foreigners within their land, and the poor and needy. They cite Jesus’ treatment of the Samaritan as evidence.
4 key conservative Christian players are attempting to write a position paper which represents the group’s views. They are Richard Land (head of Southern Baptist Convention’s policy wing), Mathew Staver (Dean of the law school at Liberty University, which Jerry Falwell founded), Reverend Samuel Rodriguez (an influential evangelical Hispanic minister), and Rick Tyler (former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s spokesman and head of his organization).
These four are attempting to win over both the Christian community (Focus on the Family, Family Research Council) and the hard right (Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio). From there, they will move on to attempting to persuade President Obama to make immigration reform a priority on his agenda.
Today (May 11th), the National Association of Evangelicals launched a new official campaign for comprehensive immigration reform. This development is important because the lack of support by the NAE back in 2007 (when congress last discussed immigration) was a major detriment to the reform. However, not all evangelicals share such noble views toward immigration. According to a poll in 2006, approximately 63% of Evangelicals are convinced that immigrants threaten "traditional American customs and values," and 64% expressed that immigrants "are a burden because they take our jobs, housing and health care."
So, in summary, the Evangelical community has jumped on the bandwagon-but surely not without causing great unrest.
AND! Interviews with Everett citizens regarding immigration reform!
There’s no surprise that this new law divided the country into three separate groups: those for it, those against it, and those who just don’t care. All over the internet and in person, people aren’t afraid to share their opinions on the new law. “It’s obviously an unjust law but where is the surprise? A lot of laws take a person’s rights away. This isn’t anything different,” says one observer, Garrett Gebhart of Everett, WA. However, there are also people who can’t seem to choose a side. “I think the Arizona bill sends a message to illegals that they need to get their paperwork to be here legally, or go home,” states Kaylena Fromong on the subject. “But, at the same time, I think some people's only option is to come here illegally first, then file later.”
Some people are completely outraged by this law. Especially those related to immigrants. “It’s a racist law and complete bulls**t,” says Felipe Romo of Mexican descent. “The last government that required citizens to carry documentation around, with the consequence of going to jail, was the Nazi party of Germany.” People also seem to have a hard time remembering that Arizona used to be part of Mexico, meaning there is bound to be a considerable part of population being of Mexican descent, which makes this law even more disturbing.
It seems that people have no trouble stating their opinions, even those for the bill. The law came into effect after a prominent white rancher male was murdered near the border with Mexico, sending the entire state into a frenzy and blaming a possible illegal immigrant for the death. “I’m disgusted and outraged at the history and current condition of violation of human rights that this country has partaken in. I love being an American and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but the volatile nature of this country is making me physically ill,” Shannon Barbre voices her opinion on Facebook, many people agreeing with her and sharing their own opinions. American’s divided by opinions, but one thing’s for sure, this law is going to stick around or it’s going to be removed due to violation of constitutional rights.
Whatever happens in the end, somebody’s always going to be angry about it.
Today we have an article summary from CNN (here's the URL: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/10/immigration.evangelicals/), another summary from Newsweek (http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2010/05/11/evangelical-campaign-for-immigration-reform-faces-key-obstacle-grassroots.aspx), and a series of opinion interviews conducted by the H.I.I. staff! Enjoy!
Many Republicans have rallied in support of the Arizona immigration bill, including conservative fanatics who attended the “Tea Party” at which Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker. However, a growing segment of the Republican base—conservative Christian evangelicals—are voicing their disapproval of the bill and hoping that it will spur federal immigration reform which incorporates a “path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.”
The “path to citizenship” is not without strings: immigrants must take civics courses, pay fines, undergo background checks, and learn English before being granted citizenship. They stress the importance of strengthening border security as an additional component to any immigration reform bill. However, this reform package is far less stringent than their extremist counterparts’ plan which demands that Latinos be sent to their home countries and forced to start the citizenship process over from square one.
This groups stresses that immigration reform is in line with Biblical texts, which admonish adherents to care for the foreigners within their land, and the poor and needy. They cite Jesus’ treatment of the Samaritan as evidence.
4 key conservative Christian players are attempting to write a position paper which represents the group’s views. They are Richard Land (head of Southern Baptist Convention’s policy wing), Mathew Staver (Dean of the law school at Liberty University, which Jerry Falwell founded), Reverend Samuel Rodriguez (an influential evangelical Hispanic minister), and Rick Tyler (former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s spokesman and head of his organization).
These four are attempting to win over both the Christian community (Focus on the Family, Family Research Council) and the hard right (Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio). From there, they will move on to attempting to persuade President Obama to make immigration reform a priority on his agenda.
Today (May 11th), the National Association of Evangelicals launched a new official campaign for comprehensive immigration reform. This development is important because the lack of support by the NAE back in 2007 (when congress last discussed immigration) was a major detriment to the reform. However, not all evangelicals share such noble views toward immigration. According to a poll in 2006, approximately 63% of Evangelicals are convinced that immigrants threaten "traditional American customs and values," and 64% expressed that immigrants "are a burden because they take our jobs, housing and health care."
So, in summary, the Evangelical community has jumped on the bandwagon-but surely not without causing great unrest.
AND! Interviews with Everett citizens regarding immigration reform!
There’s no surprise that this new law divided the country into three separate groups: those for it, those against it, and those who just don’t care. All over the internet and in person, people aren’t afraid to share their opinions on the new law. “It’s obviously an unjust law but where is the surprise? A lot of laws take a person’s rights away. This isn’t anything different,” says one observer, Garrett Gebhart of Everett, WA. However, there are also people who can’t seem to choose a side. “I think the Arizona bill sends a message to illegals that they need to get their paperwork to be here legally, or go home,” states Kaylena Fromong on the subject. “But, at the same time, I think some people's only option is to come here illegally first, then file later.”
Some people are completely outraged by this law. Especially those related to immigrants. “It’s a racist law and complete bulls**t,” says Felipe Romo of Mexican descent. “The last government that required citizens to carry documentation around, with the consequence of going to jail, was the Nazi party of Germany.” People also seem to have a hard time remembering that Arizona used to be part of Mexico, meaning there is bound to be a considerable part of population being of Mexican descent, which makes this law even more disturbing.
It seems that people have no trouble stating their opinions, even those for the bill. The law came into effect after a prominent white rancher male was murdered near the border with Mexico, sending the entire state into a frenzy and blaming a possible illegal immigrant for the death. “I’m disgusted and outraged at the history and current condition of violation of human rights that this country has partaken in. I love being an American and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but the volatile nature of this country is making me physically ill,” Shannon Barbre voices her opinion on Facebook, many people agreeing with her and sharing their own opinions. American’s divided by opinions, but one thing’s for sure, this law is going to stick around or it’s going to be removed due to violation of constitutional rights.
Whatever happens in the end, somebody’s always going to be angry about it.
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