Immigration and Arizona

Republican lawmakers and candidates are increasingly divided over illegal immigration. They are torn between the need to attract Latino support, especially at te ballot box and rallying party members who support tougher action. Arizona's new measure which requires that the police check the docouments of anyone they stop or detain who they suspect of being in the country illegally. This has forced politicians far and wide to take a stance. Conservative Republican governors: Jim Gibbons of Nevada, Robert F. McDonnnell of Virginia, and Rick Perry of Texas have all criticized the Arizona law. But Moderate Republicans like Tom Cambell, who is running in the party's Senate for California support the law. The decisions to either deny or support the bill causes immediate political consequences. The latest evidence may be Meg Whitman's declining fortunes. Ms. Whitman the former chief of executive of eBay, enjoyed a substantial lead over her principal rival for the Republican nomination for governor of California, Steve Poizner. She has seen her advantage slip tremendously, this is because Mr. Poizner has hammered her on her opposition to the Arizona law. She states she is 100% against amnesty for illegal immigrants. Period. A poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California showed her advantage falling 23 percentage points, down to 38 percent versus 29 for Mr. Poizner. Many people approve are starting to change their stance on the Arizona law. Many people are starting to be for it and agree that it may do some good.
Immigration reform is going to take years and years to be fixed the way that everyone wants it. Even then it will never be perfect. It will be hard to keep illegal immigrants out of the U.S. but securing the border can only happen after immigration is fixed.

Heated Words

After a visit from Mexican President Felipe Calderon, the immigration debate has again spiked in intensity. In addition to having President Calderon attend a state dinner at the White House, President Obama asked that he speak in the House Thursday on issues pertaining to U.S./Mexico relations. During the House meeting, Pres. Calderon discussed multiple topics, including a request to reinstate an expired assault weapons ban in addition to immigration reform for both sides of the border (CBS News). Calling the U.S. immigration policy "unefficient," Calderon was also noted as condemning the recent Arizona law and even going as far as calling it "racial profiling [for] implementation of law enforcement." Democrats in the House gave Calderon a standing ovation, however Republicans remained seated - showing their distaste for the condemnation of American policy within its own House.



The divide amongst the Democrats and Republicans over immigration reform goes farther than their opinion of Calderon's remarks. Despite Obama and House Democrat's efforts to engage Republicans and ask for support on a federal immigration bill, there has yet to be one Republican in the House who has stepped forward to assist in their efforts towards compromise. Prior to Calderon's address to the House, Obama had pleaded yet again to Republicans to step forward and raise the number of votes towards an immigration bill (60 votes are needed). Otherwise, it looks as if any support from the GOP won't occur this year (The Washington Post).

Even further still is the division in the Republican party about this bill (see posting below for further details outlining this issue).

In the future I (Leah) believe that the bill will take at least another year to be finalized and implemented. However, as Obama has shown us of late - it seems like drastic change doesn't take as long as it once has. The reason why is likely due to the strong opposition of the Republican party to yield to Democrat demands as to what should be in the federal bill. Until some sort of compromise can be made between the parties, its likely a long and laborious standoff will ensue. As far as what will be in the bill, i cant really make much of a prediction regarding that.

Immigration and Drug Wars

With immigration reform raging in both the U.S. and in Mexico, President Barack Obama and Mexico's Felipe Calderon will reaffirm their commitment to immigration reform for their countries. While there has always been tension about immigration reform between the U.S. and Mexico, with the passing of the Arizona law, there is more burden on the relationship than ever before. Obama has promised to start work on reform, but has warned everyone that lawmakers may not want to deal with the issue this year because of everything else they are taking on. Calderon has pushed for reform since his visit to Washington. He is also receiving some pressure from Mexican lawmakers about breaking ties with Arizona, and his government has issued a travel warning to the Arizona, warning that migrants face an adverse political environment.

Barack Obama has called the Arizona law "misguided" and has asked the Justice Department to review the law again. A Senior Administration official has stated Obama will discuss border security with Calderon, and expects the two sides to build on work already done this year to open new border crossings and to invest in the modernization of existing crossings. Calderon will be the second world leader to be welcomed to the Obama White House with a state dinner. The two leaders will have a meeting in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday afternoon to discuss this issue, then dinner that night with 200 guests. Obama and Calderon have met at least a dozen times since Obama took office, and Michelle Obama has formed a friendship with the Mexican first lady, Margarita Zavala. The two leaders are also going to discuss the drug violence that is affecting both sides of the border. More than 22,700 people have died since Calderon deployed tens of thousands of troops and federal police across the country in December of 2006, due to drug traffickers. Washington has been a strong supporter of the offensive, providing training and equipment under the $1.3 billion Merida Initiative. The administration has said that after the Wednesday meeting, both leaders will walk away with positive announcements in which they will work together to enhance economic competitiveness.

In other news, as of Monday the 17th, the largest of five lawsuits was filed against the state of Arizona due to the recently passed immigration bill. According to the Associated Press, the ACLU, NAACP, and a handfull of other civil rights groups have collectively filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court as a challange to the bill's Constitutionality. The four previous lawsuits had been filed by either individuals or small groups, but none so large as the suit filed Monday. There is a potential for all five lawsuits to be consolodated into one large claim, but the overall goal of the suits, to either abolish or stall the bill going into affect at the end of July, is now more likely.

Proponents of the bill state that it merely reflects the current federal immigration bill (which in their opinion isn't being enforced), while opponents state that the Arizona bill oversteps the boundries set by the federal bill and that it will lead to inevitable descrimination. Gov. Jan Brewer states that she believes the bill will hold up in court as Constitutional, although to-date no formal hearing has been scheduled.

Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, there is still a bleak outlook for any federal immigration reform this year as Congress and the President are currently neck deep in issues like climate change, Wall Street reform, and the job crisis (Reuters). Democratic Senators are still looking for any kind of Republican support - even if only for negotiations, but none has yet to be found.

Truth about Immigration

Miami detractors and defenders of Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigration aired their views in a lively town-hall style meeting broadcast nationally Friday night by the Spanish-language network Univision. Ever since the Arizona immigration law passed critics fear that it will lead to racial profiling. The measure requires police to ask his or her immigration status if there’s “reasonable suspicion” that the person is in the country illegally. If they were illegal it would be a state crime under the law. A Maricopa Sheriff of Arizona, Joseph Arpaio asks that people give the bill time before judging it. The measure is set to go in effect July 29, 2010. "This is just another law. I am not concerned about the hype, the threats, the racial profiling" accusations, Arpaio said. "We are talking about illegal immigration, that when you cross that border, you have broken the law." Experts on immigration law and public policy, representatives of national Hispanic organizations and advocates of enforcement against illegal immigrants, and one representative from The White House attended the event. Arizona sheriff Antonio Estrada of Santa Cruz county criticized the new law saying that it requires local law enforcement to watch for illegal immigrants when this used to be the job of the federal authorities. "In Santa Cruz, we don't have the budget to add another level of authority," he said. "The Border Patrol doesn't do the work for local officers. They don't investigate robberies, assaults, homicides." Although he doesn’t agree he still promised to enforce the law. Arpaio, meanwhile, took to task U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez for his opposition to Arizona's law. The Illinois Democrat was among 35 people arrested about a week ago during a protest at the White House. "You were locked up in front of the White House. You were safer here in Phoenix," Arpaio said. "We do not racial profile; we do not go on street corners and round up people because they look like different people." A group of students wore white T-shirts reading "30644”, a number people can text to show support for the DREAM Act, long-sought federal legislation that would provide relief to some illegal immigrants who arrived before age 16. A recent poll was taken about illegal immigrants. Most Hispanics believe illegal immigrants are a boon to this country and the ones who aren’t Hispanic believe they are a drain on society. It also found out that most Hispanics condemn Arizona’s new law, while only 20% of non-Hispanics oppose it. Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona says when she signed the bill in April, that racial profiling would not be tolerated.

Shift

Despite the constant outrage of civil rights activists and politicians over the immigration reform bill passed recently in Arizona, the current trend throughout the nation shows surprising results. Although the bill is being bombarded left and right with its possible un-Constitutionalism, a majority of Americans support the bill and Arizona's right to make such a law. Approximately 60% of Americans believe that Arizona law enforcement should be doing the kinds of things outlined in the bill, and that Arizona in fact had the right to pass such a bill in the absence of action from the federal government (The Arizona Republic).

However, there is a flip side to this coin. There are still a strong number of protesters and politicians who oppose this bill and would like to see it repealed if possible. Among those who disagree is Attorney General Eric Holder, who is considering having the federal government sue the state of Arizona to prevent the bill from going into effect. Ironically, some of his claims are a bit controversial based on his admission in a recent House committee hearing that he had not yet read the bill. Protesters and citizen advocates for the repeal of the bill are also using this lull of action from the federal government to raise awareness and prompt action against the bill.

In this time of immigration reform consideration, other states are also beginning to take steps towards tackling this issue. Florida Governor Charlie Crist, running for a Senate seat as an independent, recently proposed a possible remedy for some of the problems that either side of the immigration debate has. Crist, who recently changed his political affiliation from Republican to Independent, stated that he does support immigration reform and even an eventual path to citizenship. However, his idea is one which would require some lenience on either side of the debate. His idea is that there would be an "earned" path to citizenship for the nearly 14 million illegal immigrants estimated to be in this country (The Associated Press) - but that those wanting citizenship would need to get in line behind those already seeking it. In this way, Crist feels that those immigrants who would become citizens could then off-set the worker to retiree ratio of the Social Security System and limit the proposed cuts and restrictions suggested by other politicians.

Standstill

While the political debate at the nation's capital has hit a standstill on immigration reform, it appears as if the local ramifications in the immigration reform hot-spot of Arizona as well as a few other states have drastically increased.

According to the New York Daily News, a few other states are considering adopting similar immigration reform like that recently passed in Arizona. Minnesota, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, Utah and Idaho are all considering more stringent reforms based on the legislature passed in Arizona. Rep. Randy Terrill of Oklahoma said that he'd even like to see his state adopt even stricter laws than those passed in Arizona, especially with regard to illegal immigrants who are caught with firearms. "The state has to act because the federal government has refused to enforce our nation's borders and turned every state into a border state," he told the Washington Times. However, as most state's legislature sessions end June 1st, it is unlikely that any further state legislature will be passed this year.

In the state of Arizona, both the economy of larger businesses, as well as its small Latino businesses have taken a hit from the immigration reform, even though the reform has yet to take effect. According to Reuters, small-town Latino focused businesses are suddenly facing a lack of income due to the scarcity of their customers. Pinata stores, cafes, and especially those businesses focused on migrant clientele are seeing steep declines in business because so many of their customers are either leaving town (to go to Mexico or other states), or because they're laying low to avoid being profiled and caught by police. On a larger scale, according to another New York Daily News article, the city of Phoenix alone could lose up to $90 million because of boycotts to Arizona forged by protesters and because of cancellations of conferences and events by organizations fearing lack of attendance by Latino individuals.

Rather than focusing on the economy, some citizens are focused on making sure the fear of racial profiling is kept in check. Margarito Blanco films an S-10 truck that was parked at Circle K gas station in Phoenix , Arizona on Tuesday night around 8pm (April 29th). Margarito Blanco and Andrew Sanchez are not cops they just watch for police that are racial profilers. Sanchez had explained that with the new law in effect, it gives the police department any reason to investigate someone if they believe they are illegal or a threat. When the bill takes affect in August, aliens must carry all documents that they are legal and any illegal immigrant who tries to live in or travel through Arizona to get to another area will be committing a crime. Since 2008, Maricopa County Sheriff's Department has staged 15 street patrol operations targeting areas suspected to have high concentrations of crime related to illegal immigration. A man named Joe Arapio announces each operation with a press release and a news conference just a few hours before the police hit the streets to do the job. Arapio is very well-liked because of his idea of "cop watchers," now that the law has been passed his ideas can be in the spotlight because it is not illegal activity anymore. "We will not be deterred, and we will be extra vigilant with an eye toward officer safety. Lots of people are angry right now which translates to more danger for cops" Arapio said after a press release. After the press release, 93 arrests were made, and 63 of those arrests were thought to be illegal immigrants. Going back to the night that Sanchez and Blanco were watching people being racially profiled by policemen, after the cop had left, they would go over and ask them questions like why they were pulled over, what they said, etc. The man had looked nervous because he had a felony warrant, but since the warrant was not an extraditable offense, the officer had decided to let him go. Lt. Lee, the officer who had pulled the man over had said that racial profiling is taken very seriously and that the driver did not call in the stop. "We don't back off because we don't feel we're doing anything wrong. We act professionally, we follow the law," he said. "It would be silly for us to engage in this type of activity when we've invited the media and let the public know what we're doing." Racial profiling affects a lot of people and the new law passed makes it easier for aliens to be harassed even if they are not doing any harm. This law affects many families and according to Sanchez needs to be put under control.

Clearly, it continues to be a battle over who will come out ahead in this reform, but for now, all we can hope for is that the interim between total reform and the present day can transition without many fireworks.

The Full Story

As time wears on, it appears more and more that the push for immigration reform by the end of this year is in vain. Despite persistent efforts of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) to have a bill passed by the end of this year, waining public and Republican support as well as a more or less overwhelmed president seem to ensure that nothing more than a start to reform will be accomplished this year. According to Reuters, president Obama recently made a statement that, "I want to begin work this year, and I want Democrats and Republicans to work with me - because we've got to stay true to who we are, a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants."

In other news related to the bill passed in Arizona, a recent poll by Fox News shows the majority of Americans who have an opinion on the bill are for it (34-21), with Republicans strongly supporting the bill (51-9) as is the case with Independents (37-18), and Democrats strongly against it (35-18). The vast majority of people are in fact, for the bill, which is somewhat suprising based on the reaction from the Democratic majority in the House and the executive branch's disdain for the allegedly "racist" judgements that must take place under the new law.

I think one thing that most all of us can agree on is that SOMETHING must be done to reform the way our boarders are secured and illegal immigrants are dealt with. Whether or not Arizona's method is the right way is a matter of personal opinon. However, the one thing I think is a little unsettling about the way controversy is being handled over Arizona's bill is that most people have no idea what it actually said. At best, the conversation is based upon snippits of hear-say and contextual quotations from news reports. It is at this point I'll give you the freedom to decide for yourself how you feel about the bill, based on the real facts available. The following link is to an article from the Los Angeles Times, which contains the full bill passed by the governor of Arizona. Read this for yourself, and then maybe some real discussion can occur based on facts, and not on emotion and drama of what people have said. And maybe, just maybe, when it comes time to really grapple with national immigration reform, people will be able to look at how this bill has affected Arizona and see if it is really the right way to go.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/05/full-text-arizona-illegal-immigration-law-jan-brewer.html

The Waiting Game

Unfortunately for Democrats and immigration reform activists, it looks as if the wait for reform is going to be a lot longer than hoped for. Fueled y the recent talks prompted by Arizona state passing a toothy illegal immigration bill, protesters and advocates of illegal immigration reform are outraged by the lack of response from the federal government to place reform as the top priority on the national to-do list. What makes their plight even worse is that Arizona's bill has begun to prompt other states to pursue their own immigration reform bills. The video linked here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw4Thm6RpS4 talks about the recent reform in Arizona, and how Utah is now considering passing a similar immigration law. But why is the federal government waiting to press forward on this issue if its so pertinent to millions of Americans and illegals alike?

According to a recent article in Reuters, it seems the reason why is because there is so much more going on right now that immigration reform has to take the back burner. Much of the aggression of protesters and advocates alike have is focused on the president, who made campaign promises to try to pass a reform bill sometime in his first year of office. However, between the financial crisis overhaul of Wall St., the nomination of two new Supreme Court Judges by the end of this year, dealing with a climate change bill coupled with a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the economic failure and jobless rate increase, as well as an impending arms treaty between Russia and the U.S., it seems as if the president doesn't quite have the time to deal with the reform bill at the present time.

Not only does the president not seem to have time, but Congress also looks to be at a stand-still on this issue. The Washington Post's recent article on the Congressional effort towards this bill speaks of how the only Republican that was working with Democrats to pass a bill by the end of this year, has recently backed off of the issue. Sole Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, has stated that at the present time, pushing an immigration reform bill against the current opposition would stall the process "for years to come." When speaking to the secretary of Homeland Security, Graham stated that "I believe we can do it by 2012, if we're smart and we address the big elephant in the room, and that is that our borders are broken."

For those Democrats relying on the paltry Republican support, Sen. Graham's digression is quite the blow for their movement to pass a reform bill this year. Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the number three Democrat, explained that the federal government (under such a bill as could be passed) would enhance border control and create a new fraud resistant Social Security card for current citizens. If illegal immigrants wanted to stay in the U.S., they would have to admit to breaking the law, pay back taxes and fees, and pass a criminal background check after living in the U.S. for eight years.

In short, it looks like regardless of what side of the fence you're on its going to be a long wait. With staunch opposition to a reform bill by Republicans and crisis after crisis facing the Whitehouse at the present time, any form of a bill won't be seen anytime in the near future.

Heating Up

The debate on immigration reform is heating up all across the country this week, with thousands of people taking to the streets to pass the law in Arizona last week and Congress having serous talks about how to deal with the push for immigration reform.

At the national level, the President has provided two opposing statements within the last two days. On Friday while aboard Air Force One, the President stated that, "Congress might not have the appetite for an immigration overhaul." However, more recently the President has stated that the immigration reform is "an important step" and that a lack of federal action on passion new legislation would leave room for "a patchwork of actions at the state and local level that are inconsistent and, as we have seen recently, often misguided."

The Democratic members of Congress have also showed two sides of their intentions, unveiling a framework for a comprehensive immigration reform bill, but not committing to a specific date for accomplishing reform. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) however, believes that, "Failure to act on immigration reform will mean that our broken system and ineffective laws will continue to weaken our national security and hurt our workers and fall short of the most basic standard of justice" (further underlining the message sent out by the president). The essential gist of the proposed bill would be to secure our boarders first before dealing with the illegal immigrants already here, as well as punishing employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants with jail time or harsh fines. Unfortunately for democrats, not a single republican has opted to support the bill, leading to what House Republican Leader John Boehner states is "not a chance" for an immigration reform bill to pass this year.

Meanwhile out on the streets of major cities all across the USA., thousands of people came out to support immigration reform in a positive light, frequently carrying signs and banners denouncing the bill passed in Arizona which many regard as "racist." Many of the protesters are advocating that Washington D.C. is taking too long and not giving an easy enough way for citizenship for illegal immigrants. Others are simply fed-up with the utter lack of direction from the federal government itself, stating promises that Obama made during his election that he has yet to keep.

Whatever happens in the next few weeks should be interesting. With all of the mixed messages flying around in Congress and from the President, as well as the steady increase in volume from protesters having had enough of waiting, the future is wide open to just about any kind of reform... Or lack thereof.

Immigration Reform Post Wk. 1 made by Tonimae Krasco

According to the 14Th amendment, anyone not born in the U.S. are considered aliens. Therefore, any person who tries to enter the U.S. from another country is an illegal immigrant.
In the most recent news of today. An article from Fox News, Harry Reid states he has an energy bill and not an immigration bill. The climate bill is much farther down the road than the necessary reform of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. January 28Th 2007, was the day that Barack Obama signed saying reform was needed for Health Care and immigration. That was three years ago and he still is not completing what he has promised Americans. People opposing the law that was just passed on Friday the 23rd of April, believe that the law will lead to rampant racial profiling and turn Arizona into a police state. Anyone who is not white will be questioned about their immigrant status. Arizona is home to an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants. Governor Jan Brewer was the one who signed the bill on Friday, is now in charge to make sure no illegal immigrants are doing drug trafficking from Arizona to Mexico. President Barack Obama believes this bill is "misguided" and needs to be examined to make sure it is legal.
What the law does? The law makes it so if an illegal immigrant can't provide legal documents of citizenship, they could be arrested, jailed up to 6 months and fined $2,500. People believe the March 27Th shooting of Rob Krentz on his property in Arizona, was what made illegal immigration and border security more important. It was said he was shot by an illegal border crosser. There is an organization that is based upon immigration reform called FAIR, it focuses on improving border security, stop illegal immigration, and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interest. There are more than 100 million illegal immigrants that come to the U.S. every year. This puts a burden on our economy, health care, education, government budgets, employment, environment, crimes and many other issues in America. Immigration Reform is necessary, it was supposed to take place when President Bush was in office and that didn't happen and it is supposed to take place with President Obama. Hopefully, he doesn't let us down.

Immigration Reform Post Wk. 1 made by Leah Grassl

Ever since our nation's conception, it has been immigration that has been the basis for the diversity of our culture. Many different nations have immigrated to the U.S. at different periods of time, like the Irish after the potato famine, German's after WWII, and now more recently, Mexican immigrants following hard economic times in their native Mexico. For the first time in U.S. history, illegal immigrants have outnumbered legal immigrants (NY Times). As of 2008, there were an estimated 11.9 million illegal Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. (NY Times). It is at this point the nation looks at its options: amnesty, a path to citizenship, arrest and deportation, or some other unmentioned idea? Where do we as a nation decide to draw the line?

In 2004 President Bush suggested a sweeping immigration reform, only rivaled by the 1986 act to permit amnesty for over 3 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.. However, this issue was not pushed by Bush and didn't amount to much of anything in the House. Rather than allow an easier path for amnesty as was intended by the Executive office, the trend in the nation was to impose stricter penalties and harsher legislation on exactly what would happen to illegal immigrants in our country. In 2005, the House passed a bill that would increase boarder security and make it a felony to live in the U.S. as an illegal. Conversely, in 2006, a bill was introduced (unsuccessfully) to make it easier to become a citizen if you were an illegal immigrant. Over the next two years, both state and national legislature passed over 206 bills that were intended to limit the rights of illegal immigrants in this country, ranging from driver's license obtainment to receiving public benefits.

Since 2008's crackdown on illegal immigration, the topic of immigration has been somewhat subdued due to issues like the economy, housing market, the War in Iraq, and other social issues. But as of this last week's unprecedented passing of a law in Arizona, immigration is back at the forefront of the public eye. Despite President Obama's disdain for the proposed legislation, Arizona's Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law a piece of legislation aimed at giving more teeth to the state's law enforcement with regards to the penalties enforced on illegal immigrants (Chicago Tribune). Police are now allowed to question whether an individual is legally in the state and it is now considered a crime if you are. It also makes it a criminal offense to not be able to produce papers showing your legality of being in the U.S. and carries a punishment ranging from jail-time to being confined for six-months and paying $2,500 in fines. (FOXnews.com). Opponents of the law state that it legalizes profiling and discrimination against Latinos. Proponents of the bill however, state that it was necessary legislation in lieu of the lack of concern and action taken by the federal government. NAACP members, clergymen, and other immigrant's rights groups are now looking into legal action on the state of Arizona, while protestors march on the capitol, vying for illegal immigrants rights.

Whatever the case, it is no doubt the beginning of a real debate on what the nation really needs to do with the border, and exactly what we are to do with the nearly 12 million illegal immigrants here in our country.

Citations:

· "Arizona immigration law reshaping the push for reform." Chicago Tribune 27 April 2010: Peter Nicholas. pag. Web. 27 Apr 2010.

· "Holder: U.S. May Challenge Arizona Immigration Law." FOX News 27 April 2010: n. pag. Web. 27 Apr 2010.

· "Immigration and Emigration." New York Times 26 April 2010: n. pag. Web. 27 Apr 2010.

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