The Higher Stakes of SB1070 Debate – AZ Republic

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When the Supreme Court hears the Department of Justice lawsuit challenging portions of Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 today, what will be debated has much higher stakes than the limited constitutional questions of federal and state powers that will be before the court.

Perhaps those are the narrow arguments that will pass between lawyers, but SB 1070 isn’t about a battle between federal and state power. It isn’t even about immigration policy, nor is it about Arizona.

SB 1070 is about all of us. How we respond to crisis, how we treat each other and whether we will let the bill’s defenders stand in the doorway of history or whether we will refuse to have the hard-fought advances in our rights be turned back.

The ‘Arizonification’ of the US immigration debate – Guardian UK

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no racist police protest signWhile many focused on the US supreme court’s consideration of Arizona’s SB1070 on Wednesday, events on the streets of Phoenix and not in the court, foreshadow the future of the country’s immigration debate. Within the supreme court, a very narrow legal principle was discussed – as to whether Arizona was infringing on the federal government’s right to set immigration policy. In Phoenix, hundreds of demonstrators were clear about what was really at stake in the high court: a negative decision would clearly worsen Arizona’s human rights crisis, but even a positive ruling would not solve it.

DHS Inspector General Report Provides Further Proof ICE Cannot Reform Itself

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OIG Report on Se Communities Deportation Program Heightens Controversy over Failed Program. Advocates Decry report as “window dressing,” and renew calls: “End SCOMM. Don’t Mend it.”   04.06.2012. Washington, DC.  Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General issued two reports on the much-maligned “Se Communities” deportation program. The reports, which come after two…

“A Better Life”

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I watched the film, “A Better Life,” recently at the Mountain View Day Workers’ Center.  The star of the movie, Damien Bichir, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.”  His acting beautifully conveyed the wide variety of emotions he felt as he experienced ongoing rejection and betrayal in his business and personal life.  I was mesmorized.  Even though I do volunteer at…

Out of the Shadows & Into the Streets, to Stop Arpaio!!

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There are so many indescribable words that can portray yesterdays [March 20th2012] act of bravery and resistance by six undocumented students.  These six students stepped up to the plate, without anyone telling them to. Why? Because they believed it was time to take matters into their own hands. Tired of not seeing any progress, and wanting to empower their communities, they did what many of us would not expect six undocumented (not to mention two minor aged) students to do. They mobilized and faced the Phoenix Police Department challenging to have Arpaio to come and get them.

Saúl Linares es uno de los nuevos miembros de la junta directiva de la Red Nacional de Jornaleros.

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http://www.noticiany.com/noticia/18114/13/jornalero-de-hempstead-es-reconocido-a-nivel-nacional Saúl Linares es uno de los nuevos miembros de la junta directiva de la Red Nacional de Jornaleros.   Linares: “En los próximos dos años tenemos por delante una lucha gigante”.   Eliana López En octubre del año pasado, s Saúl Linares, un jornalero salvadoreño miembro de la organización Centro de Derechos Laborales (CDL),…

80+ Organizations Call on FBI to End Facilitation of ICE’S “Se Communities” Deportation Program

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Groups Demand FBI Address Concerns from Governors and Other High Level State and Local Officials that Program Undermines Public Safety

          Today, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and over 80 other civil and immigrant rights organizations sent a letter to the FBI demanding that it end its facilitation of ICE’s Se Communities deportation program (S-Comm).

 

            The letter charges that S-Comm threatens public safety, encourages racial profiling and undermines community policing by turning local police departments into gateways to deportation. Under S-Comm, the FBI takes all fingerprints submitted by local police for criminal background checks and automatically forwards the prints to federal immigration officials, regardless of whether individual has been convicted of a crime or of the severity of the charge.