Public and native lands advocates say McCain’s proposed legislation gives Border Patrol unrestricted access that is unnecessary and detrimental
By María Inés Taracena, Tucson Weekly
August 27, 2015
Nellie David is concerned for the Native American youth growing up in what she sees as an increasingly militarized Tohono O'odham Nation.
These days, a walk or drive around her hometown of Ajo almost always leads to being questioned by U.S. Border Patrol agents roaming the tribal land. David remembers the time she and two friends were surrounded by a handful of Border Patrol trucks in a remote area of the reservation merely over their presence there. Another example is a recent evening when she took her dog on a walk in the desert, and "all of the sudden a helicopter comes up and gets really close to me, checking us out," she says.
"The rez (reservation) is surrounded by checkpoints," says David, who currently lives in Tucson, while finishing law school at the UA. "We are indigenous people, and for them to ask, 'Where are you from? Where are you going?' It's like, 'who are you?'"
When she heard about a border security bill that U.S. Sen. John McCain recently introduced—which would waive laws on all federal public land within 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, and essentially grant law enforcement immediate access to every corner of the borderlands—she says she thought the bill is going to make things worse. Most law enforcement, already, has no respect for things such as burial grounds and other places on the reservation that are considered sacred, she says. How much more freedom can they get, she wonders.[...]
Read the full article:
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/unnecessary-measures/Content?oid=5905178
To write to your senators to oppose the bill, go to:
http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/7315/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=21390
Showing posts with label Arizona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arizona. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Arranging Housing for Child Migrants in Phoenix
[This is a message from Neighborhood Ministries looking for people in Phoenix who can help house and care for child migrants. Please forward this to anyone you think would be interested. If you need more information, please contact: Michele Rudy, micheledianerudy@gmail.com ]
Greetings,
As you may well be aware, there has been a recent surge of unaccompanied children from Central America crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. For a 2-minute introduction to the crisis, follow this link: http://vox.com/e/5648118 . You can also find a more detailed overview of the situation attached. As the crisis unfolds, community organizations from around Phoenix are stepping up to provide safe temporary housing and education for children as they are being processed.
A coalition headed by Neighborhood Ministries called REFUGIO PHOENIX is preparing to receive children on August 15. Before then, we need to find 25-40 beds and staff up a holistic care team (positions listed below) for these children to be well looked after.
This is where you come in. If you are (or know of anyone who is) interested in HOUSING a child/children, OR WORKING with these children on a full -time basis, WE NEED YOU.
HOUSING
Please look through the attached Housing Information [see "Refugio Phoenix Housing Information" below]. Consider some of the questions posed.
STAFFING
No. 1 Requirement: Bilingual - English/Spanish.
There will be competitive remuneration.
Staff Positions:
Host Program Director – primarily recruiting and training families
Host Program Coordinator – Manages actual placements
Case Workers (number is dictated by the number of placements) – all follow-up, correspondence, court dealings, etc with host families and children. Hopefully with background in social work.
Medical/Nursing professional
Mental Health professional
Teacher
Administrative staff
We hope to have more detailed job descriptions soon.
Other miscellaneous staffers may also be required - we'll keep you posted.
Action: Email refugiophoenix@gmail.com with a cover letter and resume.
FINANCIAL
If you are not able to participate in the housing/staffing efforts, any donations that you can offer to Refugio Phoenix will be greatly appreciated and well used.
Action: Funds can be donated to Neighborhood Ministries and designated to Refugio Phoenix. More information to come.
Please note that this effort is a work in progress. For those interested, information will continue to come from Refugio Phoenix as they know it. If you do have questions, please let me know and I will do my best to find out an answer.
Refugio Phoenix Housing Information
Basic Information:
1. Children will be 12 or under OR older sibling of young child OR young (under 18) mother with baby
2. Child will stay 30-45 days, replaced by next child (hopefully with respite for families between)
3. Many children will come in sibling groups – need to indicate how many beds are available in the home
4. Stipend per child will be available
5. Children will begin arriving August 15
Preliminary Questions:
1. Is at least one adult in your household bilingual in English and Spanish?
2. Can you attend two trainings this month? One four hour training with Urban Strategies staff and one four hour webinar training
3. Are you willing to transport child daily to Neighborhood Ministries in downtown Phoenix? – M-F (should be a school day schedule)
4. Does at least one adult in your household have legal status?
5. Can you make a 1 year commitment? (we hope that families will have respite between children)
6. Do you have a background in foster care or having non-family members live in your house?
7. Do you have a personal story that connects you to the story of these children?
8. How close are you to the ground in terms of understanding the situation these kids came from?
9. Do you have past trauma history? Where are you in the process of working through this?
Greetings,
As you may well be aware, there has been a recent surge of unaccompanied children from Central America crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. For a 2-minute introduction to the crisis, follow this link: http://vox.com/e/5648118 . You can also find a more detailed overview of the situation attached. As the crisis unfolds, community organizations from around Phoenix are stepping up to provide safe temporary housing and education for children as they are being processed.
A coalition headed by Neighborhood Ministries called REFUGIO PHOENIX is preparing to receive children on August 15. Before then, we need to find 25-40 beds and staff up a holistic care team (positions listed below) for these children to be well looked after.
This is where you come in. If you are (or know of anyone who is) interested in HOUSING a child/children, OR WORKING with these children on a full -time basis, WE NEED YOU.
HOUSING
Please look through the attached Housing Information [see "Refugio Phoenix Housing Information" below]. Consider some of the questions posed.
STAFFING
No. 1 Requirement: Bilingual - English/Spanish.
There will be competitive remuneration.
Staff Positions:
Host Program Director – primarily recruiting and training families
Host Program Coordinator – Manages actual placements
Case Workers (number is dictated by the number of placements) – all follow-up, correspondence, court dealings, etc with host families and children. Hopefully with background in social work.
Medical/Nursing professional
Mental Health professional
Teacher
Administrative staff
We hope to have more detailed job descriptions soon.
Other miscellaneous staffers may also be required - we'll keep you posted.
Action: Email refugiophoenix@gmail.com with a cover letter and resume.
FINANCIAL
If you are not able to participate in the housing/staffing efforts, any donations that you can offer to Refugio Phoenix will be greatly appreciated and well used.
Action: Funds can be donated to Neighborhood Ministries and designated to Refugio Phoenix. More information to come.
Please note that this effort is a work in progress. For those interested, information will continue to come from Refugio Phoenix as they know it. If you do have questions, please let me know and I will do my best to find out an answer.
Refugio Phoenix Housing Information
Basic Information:
1. Children will be 12 or under OR older sibling of young child OR young (under 18) mother with baby
2. Child will stay 30-45 days, replaced by next child (hopefully with respite for families between)
3. Many children will come in sibling groups – need to indicate how many beds are available in the home
4. Stipend per child will be available
5. Children will begin arriving August 15
Preliminary Questions:
1. Is at least one adult in your household bilingual in English and Spanish?
2. Can you attend two trainings this month? One four hour training with Urban Strategies staff and one four hour webinar training
3. Are you willing to transport child daily to Neighborhood Ministries in downtown Phoenix? – M-F (should be a school day schedule)
4. Does at least one adult in your household have legal status?
5. Can you make a 1 year commitment? (we hope that families will have respite between children)
6. Do you have a background in foster care or having non-family members live in your house?
7. Do you have a personal story that connects you to the story of these children?
8. How close are you to the ground in terms of understanding the situation these kids came from?
9. Do you have past trauma history? Where are you in the process of working through this?
Friday, August 30, 2013
NYC 'Washeros' Stand With Arizona Workers; Urge Obama to Act
By Joe Maniscalco, NY Labor Press
August 22, 2013
Queens, NY - Workers and supporters at the Jomar Car Wash in Flushing called on President Obama and the U.S. Congress to move on meaningful immigration reform following a weekend sweep in Phoenix, Arizona, in which federal agents rounded up some 300 people. (Watch Video)
“We need immigration reform passed this year,” said Antonio Alarcon, a youth organizer with Make the Road New York. “We’re tired of seeing people being deported for no reason. They’re innocent people. They’re just workers looking for a better future for their children.”
One of those workers looking for a better future is Jomar Car Wash worker Patricio Santiago. The Mexican emigre and father said that while an immigration reform package is bandied about in Congress, families like his continue to suffer daily in multiple ways.
“We saw our brothers in Arizona suffered a raid, but that’s just one of the problems to which we are exposed,” the 13-year resident said. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.laborpress.org/sectors/political-action/2727-nyc-washeros-stand-with-arizona-workers-urge-obama-to-act
August 22, 2013
Queens, NY - Workers and supporters at the Jomar Car Wash in Flushing called on President Obama and the U.S. Congress to move on meaningful immigration reform following a weekend sweep in Phoenix, Arizona, in which federal agents rounded up some 300 people. (Watch Video)
“We need immigration reform passed this year,” said Antonio Alarcon, a youth organizer with Make the Road New York. “We’re tired of seeing people being deported for no reason. They’re innocent people. They’re just workers looking for a better future for their children.”
One of those workers looking for a better future is Jomar Car Wash worker Patricio Santiago. The Mexican emigre and father said that while an immigration reform package is bandied about in Congress, families like his continue to suffer daily in multiple ways.
“We saw our brothers in Arizona suffered a raid, but that’s just one of the problems to which we are exposed,” the 13-year resident said. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.laborpress.org/sectors/political-action/2727-nyc-washeros-stand-with-arizona-workers-urge-obama-to-act
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Latinos Slam ICE Immigration Raid on Arizona Car Wash Company, Compare It to Arpaio's
The Huffington Post
August 20, 2013
Latino groups are condemning ICE’s Saturday raid targeting an Arizona car wash chain for hiring undocumented immigrants, likening the operation to raids conducted by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
A 78-count indictment unsealed Monday morning charges 14 of the company’s managers and supervisors with knowlingly hiring undocumented workers, identity theft, immigration document fraud and false statements. ICE officials say they took aim at the Danny’s Family Car Wash management for criminal acts, rather than the company’s undocumented workers.
But many immigrant rights groups don’t think the distinction makes the federal operation much different from Arpaio’s.
“In Arizona, it’s hard to tell the difference between Arpaio and Obama,” Carlos Garcia, an organizer with the immigrant advocacy group Puente, said in a statement. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/20/latinos-immigration-raid-car-wash_n_3787522.html
August 20, 2013
Latino groups are condemning ICE’s Saturday raid targeting an Arizona car wash chain for hiring undocumented immigrants, likening the operation to raids conducted by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
A 78-count indictment unsealed Monday morning charges 14 of the company’s managers and supervisors with knowlingly hiring undocumented workers, identity theft, immigration document fraud and false statements. ICE officials say they took aim at the Danny’s Family Car Wash management for criminal acts, rather than the company’s undocumented workers.
But many immigrant rights groups don’t think the distinction makes the federal operation much different from Arpaio’s.
“In Arizona, it’s hard to tell the difference between Arpaio and Obama,” Carlos Garcia, an organizer with the immigrant advocacy group Puente, said in a statement. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/20/latinos-immigration-raid-car-wash_n_3787522.html
Monday, August 26, 2013
Arizona mural dramatizes killings by border agents
By Joe Bernick, People's World
August 13, 2013
TUCSON, Ariz. -- "Border Patrol Impunity Must End!" and "Mother Demands Justice" were the themes of a press conference and protest at the unveiling of a large public mural in downtown Tucson commemorating the murder of a Mexican teen.
Guadalupe Guerrero, mother of Carlos LaMadrid, was informed Friday, Aug. 9, that the murderer of her son, border patrol agent Lucas Tidwell, will not face any criminal charges for the broad daylight shooting death of 19-year-old Carlos on March 21, 2011. [...]
Read the full article:
http://peoplesworld.org/arizona-mural-dramatizes-killings-by-border-agents/
August 13, 2013
TUCSON, Ariz. -- "Border Patrol Impunity Must End!" and "Mother Demands Justice" were the themes of a press conference and protest at the unveiling of a large public mural in downtown Tucson commemorating the murder of a Mexican teen.
Guadalupe Guerrero, mother of Carlos LaMadrid, was informed Friday, Aug. 9, that the murderer of her son, border patrol agent Lucas Tidwell, will not face any criminal charges for the broad daylight shooting death of 19-year-old Carlos on March 21, 2011. [...]
Read the full article:
http://peoplesworld.org/arizona-mural-dramatizes-killings-by-border-agents/
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Judge Finds Violations of Rights by Sheriff
By Fernanda Santos, New York Times
May 24, 2013
PHOENIX — A federal judge ruled on Friday that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies had violated the constitutional rights of Latinos by targeting them during raids and traffic stops here and throughout Maricopa County.
With his ruling, Judge G. Murray Snow of United States District Court delivered the most decisive defeat so far to Sheriff Arpaio, who has come to symbolize Arizona’s strict approach to immigration enforcement by making it the leading mission for many of the 800 deputies under his command at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
At 142 pages, the decision is peppered with stinging criticism of the policies and practices espoused by Sheriff Arpaio, who Judge Snow said had turned much of his focus to arresting immigrants who were in the country illegally, in most cases civil violations, at the expense of fighting crimes. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/us/federal-judge-finds-violations-of-rights-by-sheriff-joe-arpaio.html
May 24, 2013
PHOENIX — A federal judge ruled on Friday that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies had violated the constitutional rights of Latinos by targeting them during raids and traffic stops here and throughout Maricopa County.
With his ruling, Judge G. Murray Snow of United States District Court delivered the most decisive defeat so far to Sheriff Arpaio, who has come to symbolize Arizona’s strict approach to immigration enforcement by making it the leading mission for many of the 800 deputies under his command at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
At 142 pages, the decision is peppered with stinging criticism of the policies and practices espoused by Sheriff Arpaio, who Judge Snow said had turned much of his focus to arresting immigrants who were in the country illegally, in most cases civil violations, at the expense of fighting crimes. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/us/federal-judge-finds-violations-of-rights-by-sheriff-joe-arpaio.html
Monday, April 1, 2013
Reasonable Suspicion: Being a Latino ballplayer in Arizona
By Bryan Curtis, Grantland
March 25, 2013
This spring, Elian Herrera came to Arizona to work. Herrera is 28 years old. He was born in the Dominican Republic. He has dark skin, and though he speaks English, he does so deliberately, in a way that reveals that his first language is Spanish.
In Los Angeles, Herrera is a backup outfielder with the Dodgers. Here at spring training, he's the type of guy who could arouse "reasonable suspicion." A person who's "reasonably suspicious," according to Arizona's immigration law, is one who looks like he or she might be in the United States illegally. That means Herrera faces the same dilemma as a Latino day laborer in Nogales or a Hispanic attorney from Phoenix. If Herrera is pulled over — if he fails to use his blinker, say — a police officer can ask to see his papers.
"Right now, if they want, they can stop and ask," Herrera says. "If there's no ID, they can take you down." [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9096405/arizona-immigration-law-spring-training
March 25, 2013
This spring, Elian Herrera came to Arizona to work. Herrera is 28 years old. He was born in the Dominican Republic. He has dark skin, and though he speaks English, he does so deliberately, in a way that reveals that his first language is Spanish.
In Los Angeles, Herrera is a backup outfielder with the Dodgers. Here at spring training, he's the type of guy who could arouse "reasonable suspicion." A person who's "reasonably suspicious," according to Arizona's immigration law, is one who looks like he or she might be in the United States illegally. That means Herrera faces the same dilemma as a Latino day laborer in Nogales or a Hispanic attorney from Phoenix. If Herrera is pulled over — if he fails to use his blinker, say — a police officer can ask to see his papers.
"Right now, if they want, they can stop and ask," Herrera says. "If there's no ID, they can take you down." [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9096405/arizona-immigration-law-spring-training
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Day Laborers Defend Their Right to Public Space in Court
By Michelle Chen, Working in These Times
March 6, 2013
Looking to hire someone for a little landscaping work or a construction job? There might be a local agency that can offer free security services to ensure that workers will work as hard as possible for as little as you’re willing to pay: the local police department.
Across the country, the undocumented day laborers who build, paint and pave many communities are locked into a low-wage regime that is de facto enforced by state power, which can threaten to round them up just for trying to work--in the name of protecting "public safety."
Arizona was once a model for this form of anti-worker bullying. But a federal court has just struck down one of the harshest provisions of the infamous anti-immigrant law known as SB 1070, which enabled police to arrest people for soliciting work in public. [...]
Read the full article:
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/14688/arizona_day_laborers_defend_their_right_to_public_space_in_court/
March 6, 2013
Looking to hire someone for a little landscaping work or a construction job? There might be a local agency that can offer free security services to ensure that workers will work as hard as possible for as little as you’re willing to pay: the local police department.
Across the country, the undocumented day laborers who build, paint and pave many communities are locked into a low-wage regime that is de facto enforced by state power, which can threaten to round them up just for trying to work--in the name of protecting "public safety."
Arizona was once a model for this form of anti-worker bullying. But a federal court has just struck down one of the harshest provisions of the infamous anti-immigrant law known as SB 1070, which enabled police to arrest people for soliciting work in public. [...]
Read the full article:
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/14688/arizona_day_laborers_defend_their_right_to_public_space_in_court/
Friday, August 24, 2012
Private Prisons Spend $45 Million On Lobbying, Rake In $5.1 Billion For Immigrant Detention Alone
By Aviva Shen, ThinkProgress
August 3, 2012
Nearly half of all immigrants detained by federal officials are held in facilities run by private prison companies, at an average cost for each detained immigrant is $166 a night. That’s added up to massive profits for Corrections Corporation of America, The GEO Group and other private prison companies:
A decade ago, more than 3,300 criminal immigrants were sent to private prisons under two 10-year contracts the Federal Bureau of Prisons signed with CCA worth $760 million. Now, the agency is paying the private companies $5.1 billion to hold more than 23,000 criminal immigrants through 13 contracts of varying lengths. [...]
Read the full article:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/03/627471/private-prisons-spend-45-million-on-lobbying-rake-in-51-billion-for-immigrant-detention-alone/
August 3, 2012
Nearly half of all immigrants detained by federal officials are held in facilities run by private prison companies, at an average cost for each detained immigrant is $166 a night. That’s added up to massive profits for Corrections Corporation of America, The GEO Group and other private prison companies:
A decade ago, more than 3,300 criminal immigrants were sent to private prisons under two 10-year contracts the Federal Bureau of Prisons signed with CCA worth $760 million. Now, the agency is paying the private companies $5.1 billion to hold more than 23,000 criminal immigrants through 13 contracts of varying lengths. [...]
Read the full article:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/03/627471/private-prisons-spend-45-million-on-lobbying-rake-in-51-billion-for-immigrant-detention-alone/
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Spanish Appears to Be on Trial in Ariz. Case
By Terry Greene Sterling, National Journal
August 2, 2012
Four years ago, a Minnesota retiree who had resettled in the Phoenix area was upset when she visited a McDonald’s and observed workers speaking Spanish to each other.
Known only as “Gail” in court records, the retiree penned a letter to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who’d become popular among the county’s aging majority white population for his crackdowns on illegal immigration in heavily Latino neighborhoods and workplaces.
“I am a fan of yours and what you are doing to rid the area of illegal immigrants,” Gail wrote Arpaio. Her letter is frequently mentioned in an ongoing trial in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, where Arpaio has denied allegations that he and his department engaged in widespread racial profiling of Hispanics during traffic stops, detentions, and arrests in the nation’s fourth-most populous county. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/immigration/spanish-appears-to-be-on-trial-in-ariz-case-20120802
August 2, 2012
Four years ago, a Minnesota retiree who had resettled in the Phoenix area was upset when she visited a McDonald’s and observed workers speaking Spanish to each other.
Known only as “Gail” in court records, the retiree penned a letter to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who’d become popular among the county’s aging majority white population for his crackdowns on illegal immigration in heavily Latino neighborhoods and workplaces.
“I am a fan of yours and what you are doing to rid the area of illegal immigrants,” Gail wrote Arpaio. Her letter is frequently mentioned in an ongoing trial in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, where Arpaio has denied allegations that he and his department engaged in widespread racial profiling of Hispanics during traffic stops, detentions, and arrests in the nation’s fourth-most populous county. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/immigration/spanish-appears-to-be-on-trial-in-ariz-case-20120802
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Tucson Freedom Summer, Or 5 Ways to Fight Back Against An Unjust Law
By Julianne Hing, ColorLines
July 11 2012
Arizona’s ethnic studies ban may have shut down Tucson’s Mexican American Studies classes. But this summer in the southern Arizona city, class is in session. Educators are holding weekend community forums to educate the city about the now-banned ethnic studies courses.
It’s just one component of what’s being called the Tucson Freedom Summer, a month of events geared toward engaging Tucson to fight back against the law and revive the program it targeted. The idea for a month of civic engagement and community awareness activities was borne out of the need to keep the fight alive. Tucson Unified shut down the Mexican American Studies program in January, and since then, the resistance has been multi-pronged and endlessly creative. But as educators remain embroiled in a legal fight to challenge HB 2281, the community needed to come together to find other ways to resist. [...]
Read the full article:
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/07/tucson_freedom_summer.html
July 11 2012
Arizona’s ethnic studies ban may have shut down Tucson’s Mexican American Studies classes. But this summer in the southern Arizona city, class is in session. Educators are holding weekend community forums to educate the city about the now-banned ethnic studies courses.
It’s just one component of what’s being called the Tucson Freedom Summer, a month of events geared toward engaging Tucson to fight back against the law and revive the program it targeted. The idea for a month of civic engagement and community awareness activities was borne out of the need to keep the fight alive. Tucson Unified shut down the Mexican American Studies program in January, and since then, the resistance has been multi-pronged and endlessly creative. But as educators remain embroiled in a legal fight to challenge HB 2281, the community needed to come together to find other ways to resist. [...]
Read the full article:
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/07/tucson_freedom_summer.html
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Arizona needs a movement to repeal SB 1070
Just this week, Raul Castro, a 95-year-old former Arizona governor and once the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, was stopped, harassed and made to sit out in the 105 degree heat for an entire hour while he was being "checked" by Border Patrol. He was just a passenger in a car, but he is brown.
By Joe Bernick, People's World
June 29 2012
TUCSON, Ariz. - Was Monday's Supreme Court decision on Arizona's racist, anti-immigrant SB 1070 a victory for working people?
The decision has engendered lots of commentary in the media and among elected officials. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.peoplesworld.org/arizona-needs-a-movement-to-repeal-sb-107/
By Joe Bernick, People's World
June 29 2012
TUCSON, Ariz. - Was Monday's Supreme Court decision on Arizona's racist, anti-immigrant SB 1070 a victory for working people?
The decision has engendered lots of commentary in the media and among elected officials. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.peoplesworld.org/arizona-needs-a-movement-to-repeal-sb-107/
Friday, July 13, 2012
Arizona Immigration Law Ruling May Mean Boon For Private Prison Business
By Chris Kirkham, Huffington Post
June 25, 2012
As the Supreme Court upheld a central provision of Arizona's controversial immigration law on Monday -– a requirement for law enforcement to check the legal status of suspected undocumented immigrants -- a powerful corporate lobby may stand to benefit: the private prison industry.
For-profit prison companies including Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group Inc. have capitalized on the immigration crackdown over the past decade, now controlling nearly half of the nation's vast immigrant detention system. Both companies have more than doubled revenues from the business of detaining immigrants since 2005, collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/25/arizona-immigration-law-ruling-private-prisons-_n_1625998.html
June 25, 2012
As the Supreme Court upheld a central provision of Arizona's controversial immigration law on Monday -– a requirement for law enforcement to check the legal status of suspected undocumented immigrants -- a powerful corporate lobby may stand to benefit: the private prison industry.
For-profit prison companies including Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group Inc. have capitalized on the immigration crackdown over the past decade, now controlling nearly half of the nation's vast immigrant detention system. Both companies have more than doubled revenues from the business of detaining immigrants since 2005, collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/25/arizona-immigration-law-ruling-private-prisons-_n_1625998.html
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Arizona's "Barrio Defense" Rises for SCOTUS Decision on SB 1070
"For migrants in Arizona, our work has turned towards building power for and amongst ourselves.... It's time we realize we have only each other and instead of appealing to the powers-that-be, start organizing deeper in our community so that our goals are unshakable demands instead of requests." Carlos Garcia, Puente
By Jeff Biggers, Huffington Post
June 18, 2012
With defiant Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer growing more emboldened as the Supreme Court readies to unveil its ruling on the state's SB 1070 "papers, please" immigration law, Arizona human rights group Puente and their national allies are bolstering their "Barrio Defense Committees," as "neighbors link with neighbors to learn their rights and make collective plans to defend themselves."
They are also asking their fellow Arizona neighbors and politicians to take a stand. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/arizonas-barrio-defense-r_b_1605348.html
By Jeff Biggers, Huffington Post
June 18, 2012
With defiant Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer growing more emboldened as the Supreme Court readies to unveil its ruling on the state's SB 1070 "papers, please" immigration law, Arizona human rights group Puente and their national allies are bolstering their "Barrio Defense Committees," as "neighbors link with neighbors to learn their rights and make collective plans to defend themselves."
They are also asking their fellow Arizona neighbors and politicians to take a stand. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/arizonas-barrio-defense-r_b_1605348.html
Statement of Familia Latina Unida on the Supreme Court Arizona decision
Statement of Familia Latina Unida
June 26, 2012
The Supreme Court Decision strikes down most of the hated Arizona law. It stated strongly that immigration policy was in the hands of the federal government-not the states.
It left in place – and undecided – the part of the law that allows local police to ask people for papers if people are stopped for some other reason. The court said that local law enforcement would do this because they were invited to do this by the federal government, referencing the Obama administration 287g and secure communities program. The court said it would have to see how the “show your papers” worked in practice – if it showed racial profiling, if it resulted in incarceration or harassment that exceeded federal actions.
What do we think: The court puts the issue of enforcement squarely in the hands of the federal government. As we have said before, the atrocities in Arizona were brought about by the Obama administration’s 287g policy. We lost that challenge to the law because the Obama administration had provided federal cover for what they were doing - as we said all along. The court clearly said that future challenges to the show your papers part of the law could be made once the law was put into effect.
We call again for an end to the 287g program and the secure communities program which enable racial profiling, especially in states like Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina.
We call on the Obama Administation, at a minimum, to immediately establish a commission to monitor and receive complaints of racial profiling and civil rights violations which, after all, emanate from federal policies. We will continue to challenge racial profiling in immigration enforcement everywhere we find it – in the courts and in the streets.
June 26, 2012
The Supreme Court Decision strikes down most of the hated Arizona law. It stated strongly that immigration policy was in the hands of the federal government-not the states.
It left in place – and undecided – the part of the law that allows local police to ask people for papers if people are stopped for some other reason. The court said that local law enforcement would do this because they were invited to do this by the federal government, referencing the Obama administration 287g and secure communities program. The court said it would have to see how the “show your papers” worked in practice – if it showed racial profiling, if it resulted in incarceration or harassment that exceeded federal actions.
What do we think: The court puts the issue of enforcement squarely in the hands of the federal government. As we have said before, the atrocities in Arizona were brought about by the Obama administration’s 287g policy. We lost that challenge to the law because the Obama administration had provided federal cover for what they were doing - as we said all along. The court clearly said that future challenges to the show your papers part of the law could be made once the law was put into effect.
We call again for an end to the 287g program and the secure communities program which enable racial profiling, especially in states like Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina.
We call on the Obama Administation, at a minimum, to immediately establish a commission to monitor and receive complaints of racial profiling and civil rights violations which, after all, emanate from federal policies. We will continue to challenge racial profiling in immigration enforcement everywhere we find it – in the courts and in the streets.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Bringing the Battlefield to the Border
The Border Patrol became part of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 and was placed under the wing of Customs and Border Protection, now the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country with 60,000 employees.
By Todd Miller, TomDispatch
June 7, 2012
William “Drew” Dodds, the salesperson for StrongWatch, a Tucson-based company, is at the top of his game when he describes developments on the southern border of the United States in football terms. In his telling, that boundary is the line of scrimmage, and the technology his company is trying to sell -- a mobile surveillance system named Freedom-On-The-Move, a camera set atop a retractable mast outfitted in the bed of a truck and maneuvered with an Xbox controller -- acts like a “roving linebacker.”
As Dodds describes it, unauthorized migrants and drug traffickers often cross the line of scrimmage undetected. At best, they are seldom caught until the “last mile,” far from the boundary line. His surveillance system, he claims, will cover a lot more of that ground in very little time and from multiple angles. It will become the border-enforcement equivalent of New York Giants’ linebacking great, Lawrence Taylor.
To listen to Dodds, an ex-Marine -- Afghanistan and Iraq, 2001-2004 -- with the hulking physique of a linebacker himself, is to experience a new worldview being constructed on the run. [...]
Read the full article:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/9650-bringing-the-battlefield-to-the-border
By Todd Miller, TomDispatch
June 7, 2012
William “Drew” Dodds, the salesperson for StrongWatch, a Tucson-based company, is at the top of his game when he describes developments on the southern border of the United States in football terms. In his telling, that boundary is the line of scrimmage, and the technology his company is trying to sell -- a mobile surveillance system named Freedom-On-The-Move, a camera set atop a retractable mast outfitted in the bed of a truck and maneuvered with an Xbox controller -- acts like a “roving linebacker.”
As Dodds describes it, unauthorized migrants and drug traffickers often cross the line of scrimmage undetected. At best, they are seldom caught until the “last mile,” far from the boundary line. His surveillance system, he claims, will cover a lot more of that ground in very little time and from multiple angles. It will become the border-enforcement equivalent of New York Giants’ linebacking great, Lawrence Taylor.
To listen to Dodds, an ex-Marine -- Afghanistan and Iraq, 2001-2004 -- with the hulking physique of a linebacker himself, is to experience a new worldview being constructed on the run. [...]
Read the full article:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/9650-bringing-the-battlefield-to-the-border
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Private Prisons Profit From Immigration Crackdown, Federal and Local Law Enforcement Partnership
"You build a strong image of fear of these Mexican immigrants, which creates a moral justification for imprisoning them, and at the same time brings in lots of money," [immigration reform advocate Roberto] Reveles says. "The politicians are not motivated to fix the immigration system. On the contrary, they're benefiting from it politically and economically."
By Chris Kirkham, Huffington Post
June 7, 2012
PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. -- On a flat and desolate stretch of Interstate 10 some 50 miles south of Phoenix, a sheriff's deputy pulls over a green Chevy Tahoe speeding westbound and carrying three young Hispanic men.
The man behind the wheel produces no driver's license or registration. The deputy notices $1,000 in cash stuffed in the doorframe -- payment, he presumes, for completed passage from Mexico. He radios the sheriff's immigration enforcement team, summoning agents from the U.S. Border Patrol. Soon, the three men are ushered into the back of a white van with a federal seal.
This routine traffic stop represents the front end of an increasingly lucrative commercial enterprise: the business of incarcerating immigrant detainees, the fastest-growing segment of the American prison population. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/private-prisons-immigration-federal-law-enforcement_n_1569219.html
By Chris Kirkham, Huffington Post
June 7, 2012
PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. -- On a flat and desolate stretch of Interstate 10 some 50 miles south of Phoenix, a sheriff's deputy pulls over a green Chevy Tahoe speeding westbound and carrying three young Hispanic men.
The man behind the wheel produces no driver's license or registration. The deputy notices $1,000 in cash stuffed in the doorframe -- payment, he presumes, for completed passage from Mexico. He radios the sheriff's immigration enforcement team, summoning agents from the U.S. Border Patrol. Soon, the three men are ushered into the back of a white van with a federal seal.
This routine traffic stop represents the front end of an increasingly lucrative commercial enterprise: the business of incarcerating immigrant detainees, the fastest-growing segment of the American prison population. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/private-prisons-immigration-federal-law-enforcement_n_1569219.html
Friday, May 18, 2012
Lawsuit Says Sheriff Discriminated Against Latinos
By Fernanda Santos and Charlie Savage, New York Times
May 10, 2012
PHOENIX — A federal lawsuit asserting a “pattern of unlawful discrimination” by law enforcement officials here claims that Latinos at the county jail were often referred to as “stupid” or addressed with a coarse ethnic slur. It also says that an e-mail circulated among jail officers contained a photograph of a Chihuahua in a swimsuit, over the words, “A rare photo of a Mexican Navy Seal.”
On the streets, Latino drivers were five to nine times more likely than their non-Latino counterparts to be stopped or searched, the suit asserts, for appearing disheveled or dirty or if it was deemed that too many people were in the back seat. Some were detained because they were said to have looked nervous or avoided eye contact. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/us/justice-department-sues-arizona-sheriff-joe-arpaio.html
May 10, 2012
PHOENIX — A federal lawsuit asserting a “pattern of unlawful discrimination” by law enforcement officials here claims that Latinos at the county jail were often referred to as “stupid” or addressed with a coarse ethnic slur. It also says that an e-mail circulated among jail officers contained a photograph of a Chihuahua in a swimsuit, over the words, “A rare photo of a Mexican Navy Seal.”
On the streets, Latino drivers were five to nine times more likely than their non-Latino counterparts to be stopped or searched, the suit asserts, for appearing disheveled or dirty or if it was deemed that too many people were in the back seat. Some were detained because they were said to have looked nervous or avoided eye contact. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/us/justice-department-sues-arizona-sheriff-joe-arpaio.html
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Another Mass Murder by an Anti-Immigrant Vigilante
According to the local authorities, Arizona racist leader J.T. Ready slaughtered four people, including a toddler, before killing himself on May 2, almost exactly four years after another anti-immigrant vigilante, Shawna Forde, murdered a nine-year-old girl and her father. Ready's "U.S. Border Guard" group says it will continue its anti-immigrant activities.Gilbert mass shooting: White supremacist J.T. Ready left tracks in politics
by Gary Nelson, Tucson Citizen
May 02, 2012
J.T. Ready, the avowed White supremacist and militant critic of illegal immigration who authorities believe was the gunman in Wednesday’s multiple murder-suicide in Gilbert, cut a swath through Arizona politics before — and after — it became apparent he represented the far-right fringe of the political spectrum. [...]
Read the full article:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2012/05/02/gilbert-mass-shooting-white-supremacist-j-t-ready-left-tracks-in-politics/
Leader dead, but group says border patrol to go on
By Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press
May 5, 2012
PHOENIX—The death of a former neo-Nazi whose group patrols Arizona's desert near the Mexican border for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers is raising questions about his organization's future.
Friends of Jason Todd "JT" Ready vowed Friday that U.S. Border Guard's armed patrols will continue, but monitoring groups doubted the operations could be sustained. [...]
Read the full article:
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Former Prosecutor in Arizona Is Disbarred
Associated Press, New York Times
April 10, 2012
PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona ethics board disbarred Maricopa County’s former top prosecutor on Tuesday for violating the rules of conduct for lawyers in bringing criminal charges against two county officials and a judge in December 2009 with the purpose of embarrassing them.
All three investigations were dismissed after a judge ruled that Andrew Thomas, the former county attorney, had prosecuted one of the officials for political gain and had a conflict of interest. Other county officials and judges who were at odds with Mr. Thomas and his top ally, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, were also investigated by the two but were not charged. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/us/arizona-ethics-board-disbars-ex-maricopa-county-prosecutor.html
April 10, 2012
PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona ethics board disbarred Maricopa County’s former top prosecutor on Tuesday for violating the rules of conduct for lawyers in bringing criminal charges against two county officials and a judge in December 2009 with the purpose of embarrassing them.
All three investigations were dismissed after a judge ruled that Andrew Thomas, the former county attorney, had prosecuted one of the officials for political gain and had a conflict of interest. Other county officials and judges who were at odds with Mr. Thomas and his top ally, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, were also investigated by the two but were not charged. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/us/arizona-ethics-board-disbars-ex-maricopa-county-prosecutor.html
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