Arizona’s recent enactment of SB 1070 signals a new and probably difficult era for the civil rights of Hispanics.
The supply of news articles about Arizona’s new anti-immigrant law that could have been appended to this news summary was boundless. Inevitably, each article, whether pro, con or neutral, was followed by reader comments that mostly displayed a strong anti-immigrant and/or anti-Latino bias.
In a Quinnipiac University poll, conducted from May 19-24, 51% of the respondents said they favored Arizona’s anti-immigrant law. Interestingly, the same poll found that 45% of the respondents thought the Arizona law might lead to more discrimination against Hispanics. Go to: http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1460
Not surprisingly, a sampling of Latino voters in Arizona returned very different result:
A new survey released today by Latino Decisions, and commissioned by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) shows Latino registered voters in the state of Arizona are strongly opposed to new immigration law, 1070, which was signed into law on April 23. Overall, 81% of Latinos are opposed to 1070 and 16% in favor. When asked if they thought police would also stop legal immigrants or U.S. born Latinos, 85% of Latino voters said yes, and 72% said they thought police would primarily target people who are Hispanic when deciding who to question.
What’s more, the survey finds opposition and concerns remains strong across immigrant generation. Contrary to some claims that only Latino immigrants would be concerned over the new Arizona law, the data clearly show that second, third and fourth generation U.S. born Latinos firmly oppose the law. Among foreign-born voters, 90% oppose the law, while 82% oppose in the second generation (who have foreign-born parents), 79% oppose in the third generation (who have foreign-born grandparents), and 67% oppose into the fourth generation. When asked about concerns over profiling, the results are even more consistent across generation: 85% of immigrant voters are worried about racial profiling, and 89% are concerned in the second generation, 81% in the third generation, and 80% in the fourth generation. The data clearly show that Latinos as a group are very concerned about the new Arizona immigration law, and even those beyond an immediate connection to immigration have strong concerns.
To see the poll results, go to:
http://latinodecisions.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/latino-voters-strongly-reject-arizona-immigration-law-1070/
For now, we must prepare for what will probably be a very difficult Texas Legislative Session in 2011. The civil rights of many Texas families may rest in the balance.
To read Arizona SB 1070, go to:
http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg/2r/summary/h.sb1070_billengrossedwithhb2162.doc.htm
As always, I hope you find the referenced news articles informative.
Best Wishes.
Prepared by
John Vasquez
Chair
Hispanic Issues Section, State Bar of Texas
johnvasq@gmail.com
PS: The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is holding it’s 2010 Conference in San Antonio July 10 to 13. Conference activities begin on Saturday, July 10, with the National Latino Family Expo. The Expo is free and features different pavilions for Health, Community, Culture and Technology. If you are interested in attending, you can find a link to more information at: http://www.nclr.org/ .
NOTE: This News Summary is a service of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas. If you would like to support HIS, visit
http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Sections and click “MyBarPage” (near the bottom of the page) to join online. For further information, contact the Sections Department at 1-800-204-2222 or (512) 427-1463 ext. 1420.
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Top News
Legislators aim to copy Ariz. immigration law: Politicians in as many as 18 states seek to push similar measures
BOISE, Idaho — Arizona's sweeping new immigration law doesn't take effect until next month, but lawmakers in nearly 20 other states are already clamoring to follow in its footsteps.
Gubernatorial candidates in Florida and Minnesota are singing the law's praises, as are some lawmakers in other states far from the Mexico border such as Idaho and Nebraska. But states also are watching legal challenges to the new law, and whether boycotts over it will harm Arizona's economy.
The law, set to take effect July 29, requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they think is in the country illegally. Violators face up to six months in jail and $2,500 in fines.
Lawmakers or candidates in as many as 18 states say they want to push similar measures when their legislative sessions start up again in 2011. Arizona-style legislation may have the best chance of passing in Oklahoma, which in 2007 gave police more power to check the immigration status of people they arrest.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37930466/ns/us_news-immigration_a_nation_divided
Justice Dept. Will Fight Arizona on Immigration
The Obama administration has decided to file a lawsuit to strike down a new Arizona law aimed at deporting illegal immigrants, thrusting itself into the fierce national debate over how the United States should enforce immigration policies.
The federal government only occasionally intervenes forcefully in a state’s affairs, and it carries significant political risks. With immigration continuing to be a hot issue in political campaigns across the country, the Arizona law, which grants the local police greater authority to check the legal status of people they stop, has become a rallying cry for the Tea Party and other conservative groups.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/us/politics/19arizona.html?ref=americas
Split decision: Council criticizes Arizona law
In a vote that split three North Side council members from their colleagues, the City Council on Thursday approved a resolution that denounces Arizona's controversial immigration law and sends a message to lawmakers that San Antonio won't tolerate attempts to pass a similar bill in Texas next year.
The council's 8-3 vote came after several hours of public input and council debate. Council members John Clamp, Elisa Chan and Reed Williams voted against the resolution.
The vast majority of the 45 people who spoke favored the resolution, and some said they believed it could be stronger.
Castro said there's a “certain ugliness” in Arizona right now that includes a legislative agenda that also produced a ban on ethnic studies and a directive from the state education department that bans teachers with accents from teaching English.
He rebuked the Arizona law and its potential applications in Texas.
“How do you tell if someone is here legally or illegally? By the way they look? By the way they sound? By what they're doing? By where they work?” he asked. “Our statement today is not only a statement about what this type of legislation would mean for folks who may be here who are undocumented. It's principally a statement about what it will mean for people who are here who are citizens, who are legal!”
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/council_approves_resolution_denouncing_arizona_immigration_law_97100349.html
Rental market wired for discrimination
It helps to be white if you are trying to rent in Boston. At least those who advertise apartments on Craigslist clearly prefer to rent to white rather than to African-American or Hispanic households.
According to real estate industry sources and a 2010 survey by the Pew Research Center, more than half of all homeseekers today utilize the Internet in their search for housing with Craigslist being the primary search engine. Between January and May of 2009 we submitted responses to a representative sample of 739 housing providers who advertised rental units on Craigslist in metro Boston. Each provider received similar e-mail responses from three equally qualified “testers” - one with a white sounding name (Matthew O’Brien or Neil Baker); one with an African-American sounding name (Tremayne Robinson or Tyrone Jackson); and one with a Hispanic sounding name (Pedro Gonzales or Jorge Rodriguez). (We also tested 726 housing providers in Dallas with similar results.)
The discrimination was not the overt, explicit, door-slamming type common a few decades ago. But though more subtle, it was clear. Initially most of the testers appeared to be treated similarly. But as we moved deeper into the search process the disparities grew.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1258551&srvc=home&position=emailed
To find the paper “Cybersegregation in Boston and Dallas: Is Neil a More Desirable Tenant than Tyrone or Jorge?” go to:
http://paa2010.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=101314
Latinos face discrimination by skin color
COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 3 (UPI) -- U.S. Latinos may be shifting racial boundaries because they face discrimination, a sociologist says.
Reanne Frank of Ohio State University in Columbus says while some Latino immigrants to the United States may be accepted as white, relatively darker-skinned Latinos earned, on average, $2,500 less per year than their lighter-skinned counterparts.
Frank, Bo Lu of Ohio State, and Ilana Redstone Akresh of the University of Illinois analyzed data -- including skin color -- gathered by interviewers as part of the 2003 New Immigrant Survey that involved 1,539 self-identified Latinos
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2010/06/03/Latinos-face-discrimination-by-skin-color/UPI-75801275540605/
The referenced report appears in the American Sociological Review (June 2010 edition) which is available for download at:
http://www.asanet.org/images/journals/docs/pdf/asr/Jun10ASRFeature.pdf
Most Americans back new Arizona law, Washington Post-ABC News poll finds
Most Americans support the new, controversial Arizona law that gives police there the power to check the residency status of suspected illegal immigrants. But most also still back a program giving those here illegally the right to earn legal documentation, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Immigration has been rising in prominence as an issue and has the potential to roil party unity on both sides as Democrats and Republicans push for the upper hand in the midterm elections. Liberal Democrats are broadly against the Arizona law; moderate and conservative Democrats are more evenly split on the issue. Most staunch Republicans oppose a "path to citizenship," while a majority of other Republicans favor such a plan. At the Texas Republican convention last week, the party splintered over the issue, with moderates proposing a legalization plan through military service, and the party ultimately adding an Arizona-like measure to its plank.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/17/AR2010061700008.html
SB 1070 disputed on new grounds
PHOENIX - Saying domestic-violence victims will be endangered, a national organization that advocates on behalf of women wants a federal judge to block Arizona from enforcing its new law aimed at illegal immigrants.
Legal papers filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court by Legal Momentum say federal law gives special protection to immigrant women to encourage them to report crimes and help prosecute them without fear of being deported. Attorneys also said other federal statutes guarantee access to certain services, including emergency shelter, without regard to immigration status.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_e2e0d36e-5efd-5f8e-9339-a865fd292d09.html
Conference to focus on Arizona law
The National Council of La Raza's 2010 annual conference returns to San Antonio next month after a nearly 30-year absence.
Leaders of an organization that bills itself as the country's largest civil rights and advocacy organization for Hispanics expect a controversial immigration law from Arizona to draw much of the attention.
“It's very relevant right now,” said Janet Murguía, the council's chief executive officer about an Arizona law that criminalizes unauthorized immigration and requires Arizona police to question anyone they “reasonably suspect” of being undocumented.
Murguía was in San Antonio Tuesday to announce a partial list of speakers for the conference, set for July 10-13 at the convention center.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/national_council_of_la_raza_conference_to_focus_on_arizona_law_96934149.html
CEOs of Disney, Boeing, Hewlett-Packard join NYC mayor to advocate for immigration reform
NEW YORK (AP) — Chief executives of several major corporations, including Hewlett-Packard, Boeing, Disney and News Corp., are joining Mayor Michael Bloomberg to form a coalition advocating for immigration reform — including a path to legal status for all undocumented immigrants now in the United States.
The group includes several other big-city mayors and calls itself the Partnership for a New American Economy. It seeks to reframe immigration reform as the solution to repairing and stimulating the economy.
http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-nyc-mayor-immigration-group%2C0%2C2821930.story
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Texas
Fired For Missing His Own Birthday Party?
MARSHALL, Texas - A longtime employee says the City of Huntington fired him on the pretext that he missed his own birthday party at the office. Theodore Lopez says he "was attending a visitation at a local funeral home with his wife." Lopez claims the city actually fired him because he is Latino.
In his federal complaint, Lopez, a machine operator, claims Huntington needed to reduce its budget and selected him because of his Mexican ancestry, rather than firing a white man with less seniority and experience.
Lopez claims that three white city employees also missed the birthday party, but none were fired or disciplined for it.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/05/20/27439.htm
Education board’s tilt ignores Texas realities
Poll results this week showing how many in this country feel Hispanics are discriminated against were stunning in their depth. The Associated Press-Univision Poll found 61 percent — 81 percent among Hispanics and 59 percent among non-Hispanics — believed Hispanics were subjected to “some” or “a lot” of discrimination.
Along the same lines, 52 percent of all those polled felt blacks suffered “some” or “a lot” of discrimination.
It's one thing to see poll results. It's another thing entirely to watch what looks like discrimination play out in real time as it has over the past five months with the State Board of Education.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/demographic_projections_make_fallacy_of_sboe_direction_clear_94638214.html
DREAM Act coalition in D.C. today to push for passage this year
Momentum is building for passage of the DREAM Act, a piece of immigration-related legislation that would create a path toward citizenship for youths brought to the United States as children. They have known no other country. An estimated 60,000 of them could face deportation to countries they don't know nor understand. Among them are valedictorians from San Antonio whose lives and educations have been interrupted. Too many of them, stopped for minor traffic offenses, for example, are facing deportation or are living in fear of it.
Eric Balderas, valedictorian at Highlands High School and a student at Harvard University is one of them. Yet another is Benita Veliz, valedictorian at Jefferson High School and a graduate of St. Mary's University, whose case remains unresolved.
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/latinlife/2010/06/dream-act-coalition-in-dc-toda.html
UH law clinic victorious in high court over immigration case
Just minutes after University of Houston Immigration Clinic Director Geoffrey Hoffman heard that the U.S. Supreme Court had reached a unanimous decision Monday for a long-time clinic client, he fired off an e-mail to three of his students. "We Won!" he wrote. "Congrats!"
The victory in the case of Jose Carachuri, a legal immigrant from Mexico facing deportation for a second misdemeanor drug charge, could potentially affect thousands of legal immigrants facing deportation, Hoffman said.
Carachuri, who came to the U.S. at age 5, was placed into deportation proceedings in Houston after he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor drug possession charge for having a single tablet of Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication. It was his second conviction, following an arrest for misdemeanor marijuana possession.
The legal question at the center of the case was whether having a second misdemeanor conviction would amount to an "aggravated felony" under immigration law and make him subject to deportation. In the Supreme Court's decision, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the case involved a "maze of statutory cross-references."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7057357.html
Officials: Harvard student will not be deported
BOSTON -- An undocumented Harvard University student is no longer facing deportation to Mexico after being detained nearly two weeks ago by immigration authorities at a Texas airport, officials said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said late Friday that they would not pursue the deportation of Eric Balderas. The 19-year-old was detained June 7 after he tried to use a university ID card to board a plane from San Antonio to Boston.
ICE spokesman Brian P. Hale told The Boston Globe that Balderas had been granted deferred action, which can be used to halt deportation based on the merits of a case.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/19/AR2010061900197.html
Opinion: Top-notch immigrant students deserve better
Benita Veliz immediately identified with Eric Balderas when she heard that the 2009 Highlands High School valedictorian and Harvard University student had been detained and was facing deportation. Balderas is in the country illegally. So is Veliz, a 2002 Jefferson High School valedictorian.
One of the parallels Veliz was drawing was unseen to most. Veliz told me this week that she, too, had a shot at an Ivy League education. She turned it down because she feared her immigration status would be more easily revealed, as it was for Balderas, with all the traveling she was likely to do between her family's adopted hometown of San Antonio and Hanover, N.H., home of Dartmouth College, which had offered Veliz a nearly full scholarship.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/columnists/veronica_flores_paniagua/dream_act_poster_children_have_a_lot_to_offer_us_96533774.html
Viewpoint: Legal immigrants welcome in Texas; illegals are not
By State Sen. Jeff Wentworth - Guest Columnist
Long before the president announced he would send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and the Arizona Legislature adopted a get-tough policy toward illegal immigrants, Texas legislators and Gov. Rick Perry were joining forces to increase security in the border region.
I am aware that immigration bills often trigger both heated debate on the Senate floor and an avalanche of constituent calls. It is an issue so controversial and difficult to solve that the federal government, whose responsibility it is to control the nation's borders, has yet to come up with an immigration bill despite repeated attempts by both this and previous administrations.
Border security and illegal immigration are sure to be two of the top issues we will be addressing when the Texas Legislature convenes in January 2011.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/community/opinion/legal_immigrants_welcome_in_texas_illegals_are_not_96419384.html?showFullArticle=y
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USA
More Than 20,000 Expected at Albuquerque Convention Center for 81st Annual LULAC National Convention
WASHINGTON, DC — Immigration policy will be a hot-button topic when more than 20,000 participants gather for the 81st annual convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens in Albuquerque, N.M., July 12-17th at the convention center. The new immigration law enacted by neighboring Arizona will be a focal point, along with such issues as education, health care and diversity. This year's national conference theme, New Strategies for Community Empowerment: New Leadership through Action, will take on these pressing concerns.
LULAC wants to focus on overcoming immigration measures in Arizona by condemning Governor Jan Brewer's decision to sign the unconstitutional bill. Her disregard for the serious damage it could cause to civil liberties and public safety in the state is troubling. Poll after poll demonstrates that the majority of Americans support Comprehensive Immigration Reform that restores the rule of law by including legalization and enforcement. LULAC will use the convention as a vehicle for change.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37918796
In Historic Defeat, Sandoval Ousts Nevada Gov. Gibbons in GOP Primary
CARSON CITY - It didn't take long for Nevadans to make history by ousting incumbent Gov. Jim Gibbons in the Republican primary Tuesday.
In taking down Gibbons, former federal Judge Brian Sandoval achieved two other firsts: He became the first Hispanic to claim a major-party gubernatorial nomination in Nevada, and he set into motion the longest-ever lame-duck period for a governor, leaving Gibbons in office for seven more months until the next governor takes office.
Sandoval had little, if any, official support from Tea Party affiliations, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Long considered a moderate, he sought to curry conservative support by pledging to be as tough as Gibbons on taxes and by saying he supports a controversial Arizona law aimed at curbing illegal immigration.
Sandoval, who was Nevada's first Hispanic attorney general, said he supports the law because the U.S. government has failed to cope with the issue and because it specifically prohibits racial profiling.
His support for the law cost him an endorsement from the Las Vegas-based group Hispanics in Politics, which endorsed Gibbons in the Republican primary. Rory Reid, a Spanish speaker, is working to cultivate the Hispanic vote.
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?idx=195682&page=1&cat=&more=
Hispanic judge says complaint against him race-based
A state District Court judge in Anchorage who faces an ethics complaint against him denies a mental illness and says any anxiety he exhibited to fellow court personnel was because of discrimination in the workplace, according to his response to the Commission on Judicial Conduct filed this week.
The Judicial Conduct Commission in its complaint said the 44-year-old Postma suffers from a mental illness, which it did not specify. The complaint does not allege misconduct on the bench -- or criminal conduct or substance abuse. It is unclear from the public documents what led the commission to file its complaint.
http://www.adn.com/2010/06/03/1306815/hispanic-judge-says-complaint.html
L.A. City Council to file court brief backing overturning of Arizona immigration law
The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to file a court brief supporting a coalition that is seeking to overturn an Arizona law that cracks down on illegal immigration.
On an 8-2 vote, the council agreed to file paperwork siding with the plaintiffs in Friendly House, et al vs. Whiting, which charges that Senate Bill 1070 interferes with federal power and authority over immigration matters. The law makes it a state crime to lack immigration papers and requires police to determine the citizenship status of people they stop for another lawful reason and suspect are in the country illegally.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/06/la-council-to-file-court-brief-backing-overturn-of-new-arizona-immigration-law.html
Court OKs Calif. city's day laborer crackdown
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld the city of Redondo Beach's ordinance allowing for the arrest of day laborers who approach automobiles soliciting work.
A divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower-court decision.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, known as MALDEF, which sued the city, said it would ask a 15-judge panel of the same court to reconsider the decision.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jppAxGMFJgrMbXSwMDsWw1odONogD9G82U6G2
First Latino Board Member Is Elected in Port Chester
PORT CHESTER, N.Y. — This village in Westchester County has elected a Hispanic member to its board of trustees for the first time, capping a bitter legal battle over giving its large Latino population a stronger voice in local government.
That member, Luis Marino, a Peruvian immigrant who ran as a Democrat, was among the victors Tuesday in the first local election since a federal judge ordered Port Chester to adopt a new voting system to give Latinos a better shot at electing one of their own to the six-member board.
According to the most recent census data, from 2006 to 2008, Latinos make up 49 percent of the village’s roughly 28,000 people, though many are not citizens; about 39 percent are non-Hispanic whites and 7 percent are black. Still, in past elections, the preferred candidates for the village board among Latino voters were usually defeated.
The election of Mr. Marino, one of two Latino candidates on the ballot, could lead to the wider use of cumulative voting as a remedy in voting rights lawsuits, said FairVote’s executive director, Rob Richie.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/nyregion/17chester.html?scp=1&sq=PORT%20CHESTER&st=cse
Vote system that elected NY Hispanic could expand
PORT CHESTER, N.Y. — The court-ordered election that allowed some New Yorkers to flip the lever six times for one candidate — and produced a Hispanic winner — could expand to other towns where minorities complain their voices aren't being heard.
But first, interested parties will want to take a look at the exit surveys.
The unusual election was imposed on Port Chester after a federal judge determined that Hispanics were being treated unfairly.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iuYztkfrDc_f76DaA40jU-IXWS9AD9GDSNTO2
Midwest Town Mandates Immigration Check for Renters
The small town of Fremont, Neb. -- barely 7 miles wide and with a population of 25,000 -- has rarely garnered national attention. But today this Midwestern community sent ripples through the country as voters overwhelmingly voted for a controversial ordinance designed to ferret out illegal immigrants.
The ordinance aims to zero in on illegal aliens in the workplace and at their temporary homes. Under the ordinance, renters would have to apply for a license, which includes a police check of the applicant's legal status. Undocumented aliens would be turned over to the federal government.
What's different about the Nebraska ordinance is that it covers a town that is nowhere near a U.S. border and which has only a small immigrant population, mostly Hispanic. According to the U.S. Census bureau, 93 percent of Fremont's population is white and just 7 percent is Hispanic, although that number has grown steadily in the last decade as the city's white population has shrunk.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/immigration-debate-heats-fremont-nebraska/story?id=10972180
Lawmakers across country taking immigration policy into own hands
With widespread attention focused on Arizona's tough new law against illegal immigration -- and a measure approved this week in the small town of Fremont, Neb. -- similar proposals are under consideration across the country.
Five states -- South Carolina, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Michigan -- are looking at Arizona-style legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. NDN, a Washington think tank and advocacy group, said lawmakers in 17 other states had expressed support for similar measures.
In the first three months of this year, legislators in 45 states introduced 1,180 bills or resolutions dealing with immigrants, an unprecedented number, according to the NCSL. By the end of March, 107 laws and 87 resolutions had been adopted by 34 states, with 38 bills pending. Not all of the proposals were designed to clamp down on illegal immigrants. Ann Morse, director of the Immigrant Policy Project at the NCSL, said they represented "a spectrum" of pro- and anti-immigration measures.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/23/AR2010062305335.html
Shasta County judge denies I-5 racial profiling allegations
A Shasta County Superior Court Judge has shot down defense attorneys’ allegations that local drug agents are racially profiling Hispanic drivers on Interstate 5.
In an 18-page ruling released Tuesday, Shasta County Superior Court Judge James Ruggiero wrote that reasonable proportions of whites and Hispanic drivers were being stopped by Shasta County drug agents on I-5.
Earlier this spring, the Shasta County Public Defender’s Office filed court documents alleging that for years, deputies working for Cal-MMET specifically targeted Hispanic drivers suspected of hauling cash and drugs along I-5.
http://www.redding.com/news/2010/jun/24/shasta-county-judge-denies-i-5-racial-profiling-al/
Government offers $1.3B to settle discrimination case
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The federal government offered a $1.33 billion settlement in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The lawsuit, Garcia v Vilsack, alleges the USDA discriminated against Hispanic and women farmers when it distributed funds from farm credit and non-farm credit benefit programs.
"This fight is far from over," said Stephen Hill, the attorney for the Hispanic farmers. "While we applaud the government's beginning settlement discussions, there is much more to be considered before this can be presented to those who have suffered this discrimination."
http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=799&ArticleID=38275
Arizona ethnic studies ban reignites discrimination battle
TUCSON - The ethnic-studies program targeted for elimination under a new state law was itself created to help resolve a race-discrimination lawsuit against Tucson public schools.
The program has long drawn fire from critics, most significantly state Superintendent Tom Horne, who says it provokes racism and wants it shut down. Backers of House Bill 2281, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last week, say it is intended to do that.
But when the Mexican-American studies program began in 1997, it was meant to appease families who had sued the district, alleging segregation and racial inequity across the school system.
The origins of the courses further complicate an issue that has divided the school system and thrust Arizona, yet again, into the national spotlight on issues of race and immigration.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/05/19/20100519arizona-ethnic-studies-lawsuit.html
Black students added to discrimination probe at L.A. Unified
Under pressure from local community leaders, the federal Office for Civil Rights will look at whether low academic achievement of African American students results from discrimination -- intentional or not -- by the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The probe, disclosed in a recent letter to community groups, expands an ongoing investigation into services provided to students who are learning English.
Officials with the federal agency said in March that they would focus on English learners at L.A. Unified because the district has about 220,000 -- more than any other school system in the country. English learners, most of them Latino, make up a third of students in the nation’s second-largest school system. Black students make up 10.8% of enrollment.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/06/lausd-black-students-discrimination-investigation.html
VISTA: School district to consider changing how trustees are elected
California - The Vista school board is set to decide Thursday on a proposal to create voting districts in the Vista Unified School District that could help ensure Latino residents have a voice on the panel.
The plan is in response to legal challenges in northern and central California by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, a San Francisco-based legal group that takes cases related to race, immigration and poverty. The group's members have argued that districtwide elections can violate voting rights by making it more difficult for minority groups to elect representatives.
More than half of the students in the district are Latino, but a Latino candidate has never been elected to the school board.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_01d9b0b7-1d41-5816-ba6a-1b4a1a3aaa15.html
Laughs, backing for AZ plan to end birthright citizenship
PHOENIX - Emboldened by passage of the nation's toughest law against illegal immigration, the Arizona politician who sponsored the measure now wants to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in this country to undocumented parents.
Legal scholars laugh out loud at Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce's proposal and warn that it would be blatantly unconstitutional, because the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the United States.
But Pearce brushes aside such concerns. And given the charged political atmosphere in Arizona and public anger over what many regard as a failure by the federal government to secure the border, some politicians think the idea has a chance of passage.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/article_f73242d5-6959-5299-be62-e3aabb49ea64.html
Groups file challenge to Arizona-type immigration initiative
Two groups concerned with the local tourism industry filed a joint legal challenge Monday against an initiative to create an Arizona-type law cracking down on illegal immigrants, saying it could hurt an already stressed economy.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and the Nevada Open for Business Coalition each filed separate legal challenges to the initiative on Friday.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/groups-file-challenge-to-arizona-type-immigration-initiative-96847439.html
Miranda rights may complicate SB 1070 enforcement in Arizona
As the effective date of Arizona's new immigration law nears, new concerns are being raised by municipal officials about how to effectively enforce it without creating a legal and financial quagmire.
At a public forum Tuesday, two southeast Valley mayors said the law could boomerang on its authors by actually reducing immigration enforcement because of its rigid legal requirements.
Meanwhile, Phoenix's Police Chief Jack Harris estimated enforcement could cost Phoenix as much as $10 million annually in jail bookings forced by the law.
Senate Bill 1070, signed into law this spring by Gov. Jan Brewer, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It says an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest shall, when practicable, ask about a person's legal status when reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/06/23/20100623arizona-immigration-law-miranda-rights.html#ixzz0rh7tOqHH
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General Interest
EDITORIAL: Another Bad Idea From Arizona
Not satisfied with a shameful new law that invites, indeed demands, racial profiling, some Arizona politicians are now pushing for a law that would deny citizenship to babies born in Arizona whose parents cannot prove they are legal immigrants.
The 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” It could not be clearer.
The Constitution apparently does not matter to these politicians. They also do not seem to care that Arizona is earning a national reputation for intolerance and racism — and if it continues this way will pay an economic price in boycotts of its lucrative tourism industry.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/opinion/20sun2.html?th&emc=th
Interracial marriages at an all-time high, study says
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
About one in seven marriages are interracial or interethnic, according to a new Pew study
Pew Center: Asians and Hispanics are most likely to marry outside of their race
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/06/04/pew.interracial.marriage/?hpt=Mid
Immigrant families leave Arizona and tough new law
There is no official data tracking how many are leaving because of the new law. "It's something that's really tough to get a handle on numerically," said Bill Schooling, Arizona's state demographer. "It's not just the immigration bill. It's also employer sanctions and the economy. How do you separate out the motivating factors?"
But anecdotal evidence provided by schools and businesses in heavily Hispanic neighborhoods and by healthcare clinics suggest that sizable numbers are departing. Ignacio Rodriguez, associate director for the Phoenix Roman Catholic diocese's Office of Hispanic Ministries, said churches in the area are also seeing families leave.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYbCOkV5eImkjJ4-isjZGiR9iKmgD9GGOE205
A Novel Twist for Prosecution of Hate Crimes
In the public’s imagination, the classic hate crime is an assault born of animus against a particular ethnicity or sexual orientation, like the case of the Long Island man convicted in April of killing an Ecuadorean immigrant after hunting for Hispanics to beat up.
But in Queens since 2005, at least five people have been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, committing a very different kind of hate crime — singling out elderly victims for nonviolent crimes like mortgage fraud because they believed older people would be easy to deceive and might have substantial savings or home equity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/nyregion/23hate.html
Opinion: Racism common in jury selection
(CNN) -- Some subjects are just plain hard to talk about. Religion, politics and money -- maybe sex, too. But try talking about race and then add the emotional context of a death penalty trial, and no one will talk at all.
If you try to broach the subject during jury selection, asking all the racists to please raise their hands is not an option. We, as a nation, have to find a way to face the dirty secret of criminal justice -- that prejudice often carries the day.
The issue of racial disparity in the administration of the death penalty has been a part of modern law. Starting with Furman v. Georgia and continuing on to McCleskey v. Zant, courts have struggled to come to grips with this issue as have those of us defending the most despised amongst us.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/06/23/lyon.racial.jury.selection/
Opinion: Arizona violating treaty ratified by U.S.
The ACLU and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a lawsuit this week challenging the unconstitutional law. There is little doubt among experts that the new Arizona law will lead to increased racial profiling.
Civil libertarians have criticized the law as a violation of basic constitutional rights because it transforms Arizona's Latino community and other people of color -- who may be presumed by law enforcement officers to be in the country "unlawfully" -- into potential criminal suspects.
But what has been largely absent from the public debate about the legality and morality of SB 1070 is Arizona's blatant violation of international human rights law, as underscored by several U.N. experts.
The law flies in the face of Arizona's human rights obligations, particularly the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which the United States ratified in 1994 and which is binding on all levels of federal, state and local governments, including Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the bill.
The report, which was submitted to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), highlighted profiling in 22 states. In Arizona, it showed that African-American and Latino drivers were 2.5 times more likely than white drivers to be searched after being stopped by the highway patrol. Native American drivers were 3.25 times more likely to be searched, even though they were less likely to be found with contraband.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/05/19/bhatnagar.arizona.violation/?hpt=Mid
Editorial: State must find way to bridge its ethnic divide
The currents of illegal immigration collided powerfully in Arizona after the signing of SB 1070, the state's new immigration law.
But today, the architects of that law are enjoying the glow of favorable opinion polls. National surveys show broad public support for the law and broad public opposition to the boycotts against Arizona.
Latinos living legally in this state feel unwanted. Latino citizens outside the state believe they are unwelcome here. We have created an ethnic divide that could last for years.
Pay attention to the other polls that reveal a huge opinion gap between Latinos and non-Latinos. These surveys of Latino perceptions indicate strong opposition to Arizona's new law.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2010/06/07/20100607mon1-07editorial.html
GUEST OPINION: Why we should boycott Arizona
The effort to overturn Arizona's recently passed law targeting illegal immigration is an important civil rights battle that we should all support. If it takes effect, the law could make a significant segment of our population — many of them U.S. citizens — vulnerable to arbitrary detention and questioning, based solely on their accent or the color of their skin.
It is an insidious law that takes a big step back in the evolution of our laws toward equal rights for all, and it should be repealed.
SB 1070 requires state and local officials to demand people's immigration status if there is a “reasonable suspicion” that they are undocumented. The law does not specify how law enforcement is to determine “reasonable suspicion,” and it is hard to see any other way except by racially profiling. It's naive to think that Latinos, legally and illegally here, will not be the primary targets of such police conduct.
What has not been widely discussed is that this provision also applies to non-police civil servants enforcing state and municipal civil codes. For example, even county officials visiting residents' homes for such things as housing inspections, child welfare visits, even complaints about barking dogs would have an obligation to demand proof of legal status if they had a “reasonable suspicion” that the residents they were visiting may be undocumented.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100611/OPINION/100619843?Title=GUEST-OPINION-Why-we-should-boycott-Arizona
In Arizona, just say no to Latino heritage
At least we don't have to pretend anymore. Arizona's passing of that mean-spirited immigration law wasn't about high-minded principle or the need to maintain public order. Apparently, it was all about putting Latinos in their place.
It's hard to reach any other conclusion given the state's latest swipe at Latinos. On Tuesday, Gov. Jan Brewer signed a measure making it illegal for any course in the public schools to "advocate ethnic solidarity." Arizona's top education official, Tom Horne, fought for the new law as a weapon against a program in Tucson that teaches Mexican American students about their history and culture.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/13/AR2010051304373.html
Opinion: The GOP's Latino connection
In the long-running contest to win Latino voters' hearts and minds, the Republican Party jumped out to a stunning lead this month.
And for a party saddled with leaders displaying more than a few retrograde impulses these days — on immigration and even the landmark Civil Rights Act — that's no small accomplishment.
Consider the recent string of Latino Republicans to triumph in GOP primaries in three states over the last few weeks: In California, appointed Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado won his six-way Republican primary with 43% of the vote and the right to fight for a full term this fall. In Nevada, former federal judge Brian Sandoval — a George W. Bush appointee — knocked off incumbent Gov. Jim Gibbons to win the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-garcia-latinos-gop-20100627,0,6498435.story
Editorial: A telling tragedy / Illegal immigrant’s death shows broken system
When 42-year-old Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, an illegal immigrant who lived in Encanto and worked in construction, was separated from his five children by being deported to Mexico, he did what any father would do: He tried to get back to his kids. And he lost his life in the process. Hernandez was shot with a Taser by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer while being apprehended at the border late last month. A day later, he was declared brain-dead in a Chula Vista hospital.
With the immigration debate already raging due in part to an Arizona law that empowers local police to enforce federal immigration law, this tragic death has taken on new significance. Rightly or wrongly, there are people out there who feel that it is open season on illegal immigrants from Mexico. They hear about a tragedy like the death of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas – along with a recent and unrelated incident in El Paso where a 15-year-old was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent after youths on the Mexican side of the border threw rocks at U.S. agents – and they assume that this ugliness has spread to U.S. immigration agents.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/16/a-telling-tragedy/
Arizona schools ignore much Hispanic history
As Arizona's controversial new law banning K-12 ethnic studies programs moves closer to implementation, a critical educational issue is what will come next for the study of Hispanic-American history in the state's public schools.
When HB 2281 was signed into law, Arizona Public School Superintendent Tom Horne defended it on CNN, assuring interviewer Anderson Cooper that Arizona's educational standards "require that all social studies classes teach different cultures. We want all kids to be exposed to a lot of different cultures."
A careful review of Arizona's K-12 generally admirable "Academic Standards for Social Studies" confirms Superintendent Horne's claim, with one glaring exception: The Hispanic-American historical experience from the latter 19th century onward. In this case, the omissions are egregious to the point of appearing pathological.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2010/06/21/20100621rosendorf21.html
EDITORIAL: The Immigration Reform Team
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, making good on an inaugural pledge, has stepped up to help lead the national battle for immigration reform. On Thursday, he announced a partnership of mayors and business leaders to make the economic case for reform, including mayors of Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Phoenix, and top executives of companies like Walt Disney, Hewlett-Packard, Boeing and the New York Mets.
Mr. Bloomberg and his partners recognize that people who are dynamic, hard-working, entrepreneurial, innovative and creative are the kinds of people any city, or country, should want. More green cards mean more start-up companies and jobs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/opinion/25fri4.html?scp=2&sq=immigration&st=cse
Chicago-based Web sites post jobs for diverse candidates
When two Chicago-based minority job sites partnered with Monster.com in March 2008, the company that owns them was large enough that it could have had its pick of partners.
Professional Diversity Network, which runs iHispano.com for Hispanics and AMightyRiver.com for blacks, was in a position to decline financial partnership offers from venture capitalists seeking to align with the growing company.
Monster found that in some cases, job candidates were leaving their last names off a resume because they feared it would identify them as Hispanic, even while the companies continued to tell Monster they were looking for ways to recruit minorities.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0628-ihispano--20100628,0,4434481.story
