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Posted 06/04/10 at 11:21am By Jackie Mahendra

What FOX Won’t Say About Arizona: Brewer’s “Secure the Border” Mantra is Bogus

Cross-Posted at Crooks and Liars:

Last month, Governor Jan Brewer sparked national controversy by signing Arizona's new "papers please" immigration bill into law. Her justification has been that Arizona's border has supposedly been "overrun" with violent crime. Turns out crime in Arizona is down and border security is way up, so the "secure the border" mantra being parroted by Brewer and her friends at FOX has much more to do with empty election-year rhetoric than reality. Even Arizona cops can tell you that.

Well, yesterday Governor Brewer was in Washington, DC to meet with President Obama, and hundreds of picketers took to the streets in front of the White House to say "no" to what is happening in Arizona and "yes" to real, federal immigration reform that actually gets to the heart of solving our immigration crisis -- not exploiting it.

Watch video of one protester -- a woman holding a banner that reads, "We Are All Arizona:"

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Posted 04/19/10 at 02:42pm By Mahwish Khan

Jose Diaz-Balart Talks Immigration, Obama on Meet The Press: “Words matter. We haven’t seen it.”

On Meet the Press yesterday morning, Telemundo’s Jose Diaz-Balart spoke about the mission of his new Sunday morning show Enfoque, and some of the topics he intends to "focus" on – primarily issues that heavily impact the Hispanic community.

As we've been pointing out for some time here, comprehensive immigration reform weighs heavily among those issues.

Interrupting Meet the Press host, David Gregory, Diaz-Balart makes the case for why reform needs to happen:

Can I interrupt you, David, because there's something that's resonating in our community that I don't hear enough about here. And I thank you for the opportunity. Immigration reform. Immigration reform is fundamental for the Hispanic community. And let me tell you something. You don't have to be an undocumented alien or an illegal immigrant, however you want to call 'em, to want immigration reform in this country.

It's something that everybody in the Hispanic community is asking for. And we want to know what the conservatives and what the liberals and what the Tea Party and what the Democrats are thinking and saying. Because you know what? Words do matter. And I've got President Obama 19-- in 2008 saying, "I can guarantee you we will have an immigration reform proposal during my first year." Words matter. We haven't seen it.

And to emphasize the value of immigration reform to the Latino community, Mr. Diaz-Balart decided to make the topic the focus of his first show, which aired yesterday morning.

Jose Diaz-Balart makes a good point. Polling shows that the majority of Americans want immigration reform -- they want a functional, fair immigration system, not the dysfunctional one we have now. What's more, it should come as little surprise that a stunning majority of Latino voters (the fastest-growing demographic in the country) do, too. Or that they're counting on leaders in Washington to lead. Not to mention, keep their promises.

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Posted 01/08/10 at 02:06pm By Jackie Mahendra

TGIF Immigration Tidbits: Dobbs No Longer (Railing) Against Immigration Reform—UPDATED

Here are some of the best immigration tidbits from around the internets today -- oh, and leave us some Friday comment love if you get a second.

• Andrea Nill at the Wonk Room reports on Lou Dobbs' sprint to dump the toxic brand image he's built up for himself on immigration. The question, of course, is whether there's a snowball's chance in it'll work. (And why is he so concerned...)

• Maegan La Mala at Vivir Latino posts video and the new findings that immigration reform would be a 1.5 trillion dollar stimulus to the economy. She also argues, "And how much would it cost to deport the undocumented estimated to be in the United States? $2.6 trillion over ten years. The U.S. can afford that right?"

• Dave Neiwert points out the hypocrisy of Glen Beck's "pre-emptive defense of the coming wave of anti-immigrant bigotry." over at Crooks and Liars (complete with video).

• Mary Giovagnoli at Immigration Impact argues that, given the recent UCLA study and a Cato Institute report from last August ("Two different major reports coming at the issue from different ideological perspectives, both using scientifically respected economic models, pursued independently, reaching the same conclusion"), immigration reform is now more a matter of “how” than when (or if).

• Last but not least, submissions are now be accepted for panels at Netroots Nation 2010, and one of the top featured ideas for panels over at Adam B's diary on Daily Kos is "Comprehensive Immigration Refom". If you have a good idea for a panel on immigration, don't forget that the submission deadline is February 8!

Okay --  a couple more TGIF tidbits to round out your week: (UPDATED)

• Via ICIRR, the New York Times reports, "Iraqi Refugee Denied Green Card for Working with US Soldiers in Iraq." We've got some messed up immigration laws, people.

• Erin Rosa at Campus Progress highlights more disturbing connections between Tea Partiers, Minutemen, and White Supremacy.

• Change.org blogger Prerna Lal points out a brewing contoversy over a new National Geographic television series, citing this post at Latina Lista: "National Geographic Channel's "Border Wars" game creator reaches out to Latino community with an apology.

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