07/31/09 Featured content by TMC MediaWire Blogger Nezua: "Today's paranoiac can tune into the strange campaign spearheaded by CNN's Lou Dobbs known as "Birtherism," which is the belief held by a very fringe element of the Right that President Obama was not born in the U.S. and is ineligible to hold office. Dobbs has been obsessively documenting the fact-resistant Birther debate, supposedly because the group needs representation and a voice in the media."
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07/30/09 Today, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced two bills which seek to improve deplorable conditions in immigration detention and prevent U.S. citizens from being locked up by mistake.S. 1550, the "Prevent Detainee Deaths and Abuse Act" and S. 1549, the "Protect Citizens from Unlawful Detention Act," would drastically improve the plight of detained immigrants and even U.S. citizens. These bills would require that immigration jails meet minimum standards like ensuring that U.S. citizens aren't mistakenly detained, children are considered for humanitarian release, and detainees have access to adequate medical care and legal counseling. These are pretty basic standards, but ones that our Bush-era enforcement regime have consistently failed to meet, and the Obama Administration hasn't acted on either.
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07/30/09 What's that line about things getting worse before they get better? We can only hope (oh, wait, someone already owns that one...) or should I say, make the case loudly, that this is the case over at DHS. Nina Bernstein of the New York Times reports this week that the Department of Homeland Security, led by Janet Napolitano, has declined to make the growing detention industry in the United States legally accountable. The good news today: "Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-MA), and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) took action today to reform the Department of Homeland Security's ever-growing immigration detention system."
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07/30/09 Today, we released a new video calling on DHS secretary Napolitano to investigate Bush-era home raids and focus on real, comprehensive immigration reform instead of half-baked enforcement measures that are only making communities less secure.
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07/29/09 A series of events over the past several days and weeks show that the Republican Party still has not learned the lessons of the 2006 and 2008 elections. As Senator Tom Coburn might say -- they have some "splaining to do." In a remarkable and mostly unconscious display of white identity politics, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee spouted condescending questions at the president's distinguished nominee for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor. Failing to trip her up, all but one of the Republicans on the committee voted against her nomination.
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07/28/09 America's Voice is pleased to send eight talented people to the fourth annual Netroots Nation conference scheduled to happen this year in Pittsburgh from August 13 - 16, awarding them with the opportunity to participate in four days of insightful panels, training sessions and networking opportunities, and the opportunity to share their unique perspectives on immigration with the larger progressive community.
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07/28/09 As Greg Sargent reported today, over at The Plum Line: "The National Council of La Raza, a top Latino civil rights group, is taking a shot at RNC chair Michael Steele and several prominent GOP figures for skipping its ongoing annual conference, saying it raises questions about the GOP's interest in wooing Latinos." Paging the GOP Hispanic Outreach Team...
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07/28/09 It wasn't at first obvious to an outsider what these police chiefs had in common, but after an hour's worth of discussion it became clear: they've all been caught at the center of an immigration fire storm, without ever choosing to be there. What do these chiefs want instead? Consensus on this one -- they just want to do their jobs: ensuring the safety of the communities they serve. Police chiefs and many of the associations that represent them, the Major Cities Chiefs, the Police Foundation, and now the Police Executive Research Forum, have increasingly been standing up to say just that.
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07/27/09 Over the weekend, Senator Jon Kyl stated: "To try to do immigration reform this year would be an impossibility." He listed all the items on Congress' "already crammed" agenda to prove his point. But one item he mentioned on that agenda is the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor as Supreme Court Justice. In all probability, we'll be calling Sonia "Justice Sotomayor" before our good Senators settle in for August recess.
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07/24/09 Lou Dobbs is proving to be a huge embarrassment for CNN. This time, he may have finally gone too far. Over the past couple weeks, Dobbs has taken up the cause of the extremist "birthers." Those are the far right-wingers who claim Barack Obama wasn't born in America, and, thus, isn't constitutionally qualified to be president. Most of the birther talk has been limited to FOX and right-wing radio. But, Dobbs has jumped in with both feet.
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07/24/09 It's official, Heath Shuler is back trying to insert himself into the immigration debate. The only problem? He didn't get it in 2008 and he still doesn't get it today. It's almost as if he has a cheat sheet of ineffective policies that are becoming a revolving door for his legislation. Keep increasing border enforcement - check. Disregard police chiefs' suggestions and increase local crackdowns - check. Place more responsibilities in the hands of ICE; which a report found plagued by a cowboy mentality - check. Expand the ineffective and burdensome E-Verify program - check.
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07/24/09 Mario Solis-Marich writes: "The Most Trusted Name in News" has looked the other way as Dobbs made them cash by selling outright lies about the immigration debate. Will CNN officials continue to hide in their accounting suites as Dobbs makes believe that the President of the United States is "undocumented"?
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07/23/09 In the 1970s and 1980s, it was common to hear the phrase "melting pot." Many people said our nation's greatest strength could be found in its multitude of cultures, languages and histories. This sentiment has been lost, as right-wing pundits and politicians increasingly espouse a dread of anything different and a fear of the Other.
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07/22/09 The report makes several recommendations, including limiting the use of home raids to a last resort for targets who pose a serious risk to national security or have violent criminal records; the use of judicial rather than administrative warrants, and the videotaping of all home raids. It also calls for the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General to conduct an investigation.
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07/21/09 In another sign that momentum is building towards comprehensive immigration reform, President Obama, in remarks last Friday before Spanish language media outlets reasserted his commitment to immigration reform, saying it is Something we want to move forward on...we're going to have to keep the pressure for this to happen.
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07/21/09 Colbert may have tickled our funny bones last night, but Rachel Maddow set the record straight-- watch it. Huffington post blogger Nicholas Graham reports in 'Maddow Demolishes Buchanan's Surreal Facts About America's Racial Past (VIDEO):' "While Maddow said it would not be fair to re-litigate issues without the guest with whom they were discussed, and that it's "not cool" to talk about guests after their segment is over, she did feel the need to correct several things Buchanan stated as fact that simply were not true. "
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07/21/09 So this isn't the first time that California has unfairly targeted illegal immigrants. In 1994, Barbara Coe and her minions tried to pass Proposition 187, an initiative that sought to pretty much do the same thing in the way of taking away public benefits. She is known to have called Mexican immigrants "savages," and is more recently reported in an LA Times article to have said: "Illegals and their children are costing the state billions of dollars. It's invasion by birth canal."
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07/21/09 Leo: "He referred to Buchanan, who has been appearing on MSNBC all week claiming Sotomayor has "a lifelong resolve to discriminate against white males," as a reverse civil rights leader, and showed a clip of him saying, "White men were 100% of the people who wrote the Constitution, 100% of the people who signed the Declaration of Independence, 100% of the people who died at Gettysburg and Vicksburg." This, of course, prompted Colbert to say, "YEAH, where were the black guys during the Civil War? Come on, I'm not saying they all should have volunteered, just three fifths of them." "
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07/20/09 In July of 2007, Prince William County, Virginia became "ground zero" in America's explosive battle over immigration policy when elected officials adopted a law requiring police officers to question anyone they thought was "probably" undocumented. 9500 Liberty reveals the startling vulnerability of a local government targeted by national anti-immigration networks using the Internet to frighten and intimidate lawmakers and citizens. Watch it.
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07/17/09 This morning we posted Rachel Maddow's takedown of regular MSNBC commentator Pat Buchanan over his outrageous comments about race and Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Media Matters has a roundup of Pat's sordid history on the topic of race. Turns out there is no shortage of outrage in the blogosphere right now over the fact that MSNBC continues to promote Pat's outdated and dangerous racial rhetoric. Check it out.
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07/16/09 "Kos: Republicans appear to be heeding Buchanan's advice, more concerned about placating their shrinking regional white male base than in expanding their tent. Some Republicans are even concerned about that." With Senator Schumer set to drop immigration reform legislation by Labor Day, as he says, the GOP will have the biggest opportunity in the forseeable future to repair -- or further damn-- their brand with Latino voters, who overwhelmingly consider immigration reform to be an issue of both great political and personal importance.
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07/16/09 Last week, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced big changes to the government program that turns local cops into immigration agents (the "287g" program). The changes are a start, but they haven't stopped Sheriff Joe Arpaio's dangerous and racist antics in Maricopa County, Arizona. Last Spring 40,000 Americans like you spoke out against the Sheriff's tactics. The House Judiciary Committee called for strict review, and the Department of Justice announced it would carry out a federal investigation!
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07/16/09 Watch Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) give a a one-minute floor speech today on the urgent need to reform our immigrant detention policies and our nation's currently unjust immigration system. Rep. Polis is quickly becoming a strong and passionate champion for real, humane, and sensible immigration reform. Watch it:
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07/15/09 Duke, a prominent pro-migrant blogger at Migra Matters (click here if you don't know what a pro-migrant blogger is), has a post up about Senator Schumer's tough enforcement talk, whether national advocacy groups will repeat errors of the past, and why the McLarty-Bush Council on Foreign Relations report looks like a pretty decent compromise-- but warns against it being a starting point.
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07/15/09 In a press release, ALIPAC, a vocal anti-immigrant advocacy group, takes a stab at Sotomayor's membership in NCLR (National Council of La Raza), a mainstream Hispanic equivalent to the NAACP. So, apologies to the Center for Immigration Studies, but its head Mark Krikorian no longer wins the award for most absurd line of attack on the President's Supreme Court nominee. Nope, William Gheen clearly distinguishes himself there.
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07/15/09 The segment highlights the impressive report released last week by an indpendent Council on Foreign Relations Task Force, co-chaired by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) and former White House chief of staff (under Clinton) Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty III, which stated the urgent need for a comprehensive overhaul of our nation's immigration laws succinctly: "The stakes are too high to fail."
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07/14/09 Yesterday we wondered aloud about whether certain Republican Senators would cease and desist from their racial attacks on Judge Sotomayor so that, among other things, the GOP might have a chance to stop bleeding Latino voters. Looks like GOP leadership intends to do no such thing. As the Huffington Post's Sam Stein reports: "The confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor have become, in a small but significant way, a referendum on the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee."
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