The Missing Racial Profiling Argument in the Arizona Case

It was nearly a month ago when the US Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of Arizona vs. United States. In the decision, seek the Court ruled that most of Arizona’s SB1070 was unconstitutional because the enforcement of immigration law is a federal power, not a state power. In the wake of the SB1070 decision, most of the discussion in the immigrant rights community has revolved around Section (2)b of the law, which the media often refers to as the “show me your papers” provision. Section (2)b, the only section in question that the court let stand, requires Arizona police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they stop, detain, or arrest in their normal course of duty.

Another legal attack on SB1070

Opponents of SB1070 have launched another legal attack on the controversial bill. Last month, the Supreme Court struck down most of the law, but left the so-called “show me your papers” provision in place. It is the part of the law that requires law enforcement to ask for citizenship documentation if there is a suspicion that the person is in the c

TRUST Act: California Could Set National Model for Correcting the Damage Done by S-Comm

Juana Reyes is a food vendor and mother of two who was arrested, look and detained in immigration jail for two weeks (while her children were taken away and placed in foster care) – all because she was selling tamales in front of a Sacramento Walmart. In fact, cheap she had been a food vendor for years, with no incidents. The trouble only came when a new security guard tried to remove her from the premises, and local police filed trespassing and “interfering with business” charges at her. Just like that, Juana was locked away, even though the state criminal charges were minor and eventually dropped by the local prosecutor. Juana’s story is just one of many stories that point to the civil rights and civil liberties problems created by the Department of Homeland Security’s Se Communities program, also known as S-Comm. Last week, ACLU members joined other community members in Sacramento to support Juana and to urge the passage of California’s TRUST Act (AB 1081).