Immigrants Will Emerge on Winning Side of History Following Supreme Court Ruling on Arizona’s S.B. 1070

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Arizona’s controversial state immigration law, S.B. 1070, Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, issued the following statement:

“The court’s ruling in part confirms what we have said since the beginning: Arizona’s war of attrition against immigrants is not only inhumane, it’s also unconstitutional. However, allowing the racial profiling section to go forward poses a great risk to the constitution the court is charged to defend and to the Arizona families who will be targeted if it goes into effect. 

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California’s TRUST Act: Countering Arizona

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 New York Times Editorial: June 21, 2012.

A bill moving through the California Legislature, aptly named the Trust Act, seeks to counter the damage done to community policing and public safety by the Obama administration’s Se Communities program. The program conducts mandatory immigration checks of everyone booked into local jails and has led to the deportations of many thousands of people with no criminal records, while impeding law enforcement.

Once the program identifies immigration violators, federal officials can issue “detainers,” or requests that people be held so they can be picked up for deportation. Local departments usually comply, even though police officials complain that doing so clogs their cells with traffic violators and other very minor offenders, including — because of database foul-ups — wrongfully detained citizens and legal residents.

Community members rally against 287(g) – The Tennessean

More than 100 people marched up Seventh Avenue Thursday, their voices booming, as they chanted in English and Spanish, “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.” They walked from the Downtown Presbyterian Church to the Tennessee Supreme Court building to demonstrate their outrage against Metro’s participation in the 287(g) program – the federal immigration enforcement program that allows law enforcement to determine the immigration status of jail inmates and turn them over for federal deportation proceedings. The march occurred just hours before the Tennessee Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case challenging the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office’s authority to participate in the federal program. Protesters argue the Metro charter gives policing authority to the Metro Police Department, not the sheriff’s department. Speakers at the rally included leaders of state and national immigrant advocacy groups and legal representatives. They condemned 287(g) for the fear…

Groups Seek TN Supreme Court Block Of 287(g) Program

Several groups have issued a challenge to the Tennessee Supreme Court, asking them to block the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office ability to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), and the Law Offices of Elliott Ozment, joined by local attorneys from the firm of Sherrard & Roe issued the request Thursday. The 287-G program allows Davidson County sheriff’s deputies to identify, process and detain illegal immigrants who have been arrested for other offenses. But immigration attorney Elliott Ozment argues the sheriff’s office can’t enter into that agreement, because the agency gave up law enforcement powers in 1963. Ozment filed a lawsuit in January 2011 saying the 287(g) in Nashville violates state and local laws. “This agreement is illegal and enforcing it simply adds insult to injury for the Nashville community,” said Tom Fritzsche, staff attorney for the SPLC.