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More Detention Abuse Highlights Need for Federal Oversight
Last week, the Associated Press reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is investigating allegations of sexual assault by a guard in one of their facilities on female detainees. The detainees, on their way to be deported, were groped while being patted down and at least one was propositioned for sex, according to ICE officials. […]
Read MoreDo We Really Have to Explore Dora’s Immigration Status?
Absurdity takes many forms in the immigration debate. For example, restrictionists have blamed immigrants for everything from global warming and our mortgage crisis to the swine flu epidemic and leprosy. (Where did my other sock go? Immigrants!) But this week, we reach a new level of absurdity—the exploitation of a bi-lingual cartoon character. In a […]
Read More1,200 National Guard Troops to the Border: A Bargaining Chip or More Political Pandering?
Yesterday, President Obama met with Senate Republicans to discuss, among other things, moving forward with comprehensive immigration reform. But what came out of the meeting was a letter to Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, requesting 1,200 troops to be sent to the U.S.-Mexican border and a $500 million request for additional […]
Read MoreArizona is Not the First State to Take Immigration Matters into their Own Hands
UPDATED 05/26/10 – Arizona’s controversial new immigration law (SB 1070) is the latest in a long line of efforts to regulate immigration at the state level. While the Grand Canyon State’s foray into immigration law is one of the most extreme and punitive, other states have also attempted to enforce federal law through state-specific measures and sanctions. Oklahoma and Georgia have passed measures, with mixed constitutional results, aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration through state enforcement. Legislators in 45 states introduced 1,180 bills and resolutions[i] in the first quarter of 2010 alone, compared to 570 in all of 2006. Not all state legislation relating to immigration is punitive—much of it falls within traditional state jurisdiction, such as legislation that attempts to improve high school graduation rates among immigrants or funds. The leap into federal enforcement, however, represents a disturbing trend fueled by the lack of comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level.
Read More2010 Congressional Primaries, Immigration and an Appetite for Change
As the dust is settling from yesterday’s primary elections, many politicians and pundits will try to interpret what the American public is thinking. The reactions and responses are likely to span the ideological and political scales. Whether Democrats aren’t Democratic enough, or Republicans aren’t Republican enough, or seats held by one party should be replaced […]
Read MoreClass Action Challenging Arizona Law Reveals Depth of Constitutional Rights at Stake
Yesterday, a diverse group of individuals and organizations filed a class action challenging Arizona’s harsh immigration enforcement law SB 1070, scheduled to go into effect on July 28, 2010. This law, among other things requires state and local law enforcement to check the immigration status of individuals it encounters, and makes it a state crime […]
Read MoreAnti-Immigrant Group Recommends Economic Self-Destruction for Arizona
Washington D.C. – In data released “exclusively to FoxNews.com,” the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) – architects of the new Arizona law SB1070 – claim that unauthorized immigrants in Arizona are costing the state’s taxpayers $2.7 billion per year for education, medical care, and incarceration. The release of this “fiscal analysis” takes advantage of […]
Read MoreDoes Sarah Palin Support Arizona’s Law? You Betcha She Does!
In her latest right-wing cheerleading routine, former Alaska Governor/Tea Party Squad Captain, Sarah Palin, shook her political pompoms for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer at a press conferences defending Arizona’s controversial immigration law (SB 1070). Palin, who appeared shoulder to shoulder with Gov. Brewer on Saturday, used the opportunity to take a few pot shots at […]
Read More‘Fox & Friends’ Trumpets Farcical Claim About Murders by Unauthorized Immigrants
The infotainment show Fox & Friends recently trumpeted the absurd and baseless claim that unauthorized immigrants kill 2,158 people in the United States each year. However, as Media Matters describes in detail, this random number is based on a 2005 article in the right-wing journal Human Events that uses a methodology no serious researcher could […]
Read MoreRepairing Immigration
Yesterday’s release of the framework for an immigration bill—Real Enforcement and Practical Answers for Immigration Reform (REPAIR) has been praised as a positive step forward in the immigration debate by the President and dismissed as a cynical play for votes by Senators Graham and Kyl. They are aghast that immigration is moving because promoting it […]
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