Cities Across Country to Protest SB1070, Call for Federal and Local Officials to Reject “Arizonification” as Supreme Court Hears SB1070 DOJ Case in Washington

Events in Phoenix, Elsewhere Protest SB1070 and Similar Federal Deportation Programs April 23, 2012. Phoenix, AZ. Groups across the country are preparing for the Supreme Court hearing of the Department of Justice’s suit against SB1070 on Wednesday.  The Arizona bill passed in 2010 made the state synonymous with racial profiling and marred its reputation as…

Sheriff faces pressure to stop holding jailed immigrants for federal agents

In thousands of local jails and prisons across the country, federal agents use computer databases to look for possible undocumented immigrants, then file what’s known as a detainer a document requesting that local authorities notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement before releasing an alleged immigrant and delay his or her release for up to 48 hours so ICE agents can take custody of them. In Travis County, where an average of almost three undocumented immigrants have been deported every day since 2009, making it one of the busiest deportation sites in the country, Sheriff Greg Hamilton has said federal regulations require him to comply with those detainers. But Hamilton has recently come under increasing pressure from critics, including his opponent in the Democratic primary, who contend the detainers aren’t mandatory and urge the sheriff to follow the lead of a growing number of other urban areas that have stopped automatically honoring all of them…