America's Voice Blog

Posted 11/18/11 at 11:12am By Mahwish Khan

As Economic Fallout From HB 56 Mounts, Calls Grow to Repeal Alabama’s Anti-immigrant Law

The American Dream Is OverEarlier this week, Mooncat (Sherry) at Left in Alabama reported on the Economic Fallout from Beason-Hammon Immigration Law:

Now the economic fallout from Beason-Hammon is hitting the fan.

Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, which announced earlier this year its plans to build a $100 million plant in Thomasville, "is having second thoughts" about Alabama in light of the controversial law, according to David Bronner, chairman and chief executive of the Retirement Systems of Alabama. 

"They’re not happy," said Bronner, citing conversations with Golden Dragon executives. "They have expressed their concerns to me on numerous occasions."

...  Bronner, who oversees the state’s $29 billion public pension fund, first voiced his concernsabout the immigration law in an interview with the Birmingham News, saying it had caused the Spanish owners of BBVA Compass to cancel plans for an $80 million bank tower in Birmingham.               

That's some serious fallout, especially in these harsh economic times. This is just one of the many consequences from HB 56. Remember, this law is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing according to State Senator Scott Beason, Congressman Mo Brooks, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions and anti-immigrant leader Mark Krikorian.

No wonder there are growing calls, even from some GOP Senators, to change HB 56.  The Anniston Star says that Alabama should just get rid of it altogether:

While politicians talk jobs, jobs, jobs, the state’s economy will contract by nearly $40 million if only 10,000 undocumented workers leave because of the bill. How will changes now help Alabama recover that revenue? (Don’t say unemployed Alabamians will take these jobs, because they won’t, as the latest edition of Bloomberg Businessweek makes clear.)

How will these changes help farmers whose crops were not harvested because there was no labor, or help the family that has to pay more at the grocery?

And will these changes assure China’s Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group that Alabama is not a hostile environment and that it should go ahead with the $100 million plant for south Alabama? Rival states that hope to lure the industry are using this illegal-immigration law to their advantage. Will these changes undermine that strategy?

Unfortunately, what Dial supports will not be enough. Making the law less of a burden on Alabamians can’t make up for the damage done to the state’s economy and reputation. The best thing the GOP can do is admit it was a bad idea, apologize for problems the law caused and repeal it. Anything less will do little to undo the real damage.

Posted 10/07/11 at 03:52pm By Pili Tobar

AP: Alabama’s Anti-Immigrant Law “May Be Backfiring.” Supporters of Mass Deportation Cheer

alabama pinNews reports continue to highlight the devastating effects of Alabama's new immigration law on children, families, and entire industries. Meanwhile, supporters of the law, including anti-immigrant members of Congress and nativist organizations, seem quite comfortable with its destructive impact. 

The Associated Press reported:

Alabama's strict new immigration law may be backfiring. Intended to force illegal workers out of jobs, it is also driving away many construction workers, roofers and field hands in the country legally who do backbreaking jobs that Americans generally won't.  The vacancies have created a void that will surely deal a blow to the state's economy and could slow the rebuilding of Tuscaloosa and other tornado-damaged cities.

And farmers have been complaining to bill sponsors that the new law is causing their crops to rot in the fields:

A sponsor of Alabama's tough new immigration law told desperate tomato farmers Monday that he won't change the law, even though they told him that their crops are rotting in the field and they are at risk of losing their farms. 

Republican state Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale met with about 50 growers, workers, brokers and business people Monday at a tomato packing shed on Chandler Mountain in northeast Alabama. They complained that the new law, which went into effect Thursday, scared off many of their migrant workers at harvest time. 

"The tomatoes are rotting on the vine, and there is very little we can do," said Chad Smith, who farms tomatoes with his uncle, father and brother.

But according to the law’s supporters, these are exactly the sorts of consequences they expected and intended:

Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks (R) told Politico, “So these aren’t unintended consequences,” Brooks said. “We want illegal aliens out of the state of Alabama and I want illegal aliens out of the United States of America”

As Think Progress reported, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions (R) also agreed with radio host Laura Ingraham that “enforcement works.”  In response to her question about whether it is a bad thing that Latino kids have disappeared from schools, Sessions said: "All I would just say to you is that it’s a sad thing that we’ve allowed a situation to occur for decades that large numbers of people are in the country illegal and it’s going to have unpleasant, unfortunate consequences."

Mark Krikorian, who heads the anti-immigration organization Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), wrote at the National Review, "The New York Times reports on an Alabama town where illegal aliens are getting the hint from the state’s new immigration law and leaving.  It’s obviously presented as a terrible thing, but this is exactly the point of such measures — attrition through enforcement."

As America’s Voice Education Fund explains in this report, “attrition through enforcement” is just another way of saying mass deportation.  It’s playing out in Alabama today, and that's what Sessions, Brooks, and Krikorian are applauding.

Posted 03/24/11 at 01:09pm By Mahwish Khan

New Census Data Shows Surge in Latino Political Power, Leading to Decisive Role in 2012

census 2010New data from the U.S. Census Bureau highlights the dramatic increase of the Latino population over the past decade, in both traditional “gateway” states and throughout the nation, with Latinos now comprising more than 1 in 6 Americans.  According to Associated Press analysis of the new data, minority population growth makes up 90 percent of the total U.S. population growth since 2000.  As William Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer, concluded:

The 2010 census shows vividly how these new minorities are both leading growth in the nation’s most dynamic regions and stemming decline in others.

From a political perspective, the new numbers should be a wake-up call for anti-immigrant politicians heading into the 2012 elections, with key Senate races and the Presidency at stake.  Every available poll—and every election to date—has shown that Latino voters are turned off by candidates who espouse anti-immigrant views.   Republican pollster Bob Moore explained his party's dilemma to The Hill:

If this becomes an election all about the economy, there's a major opening for a Republican candidate to appeal to Latino voters. But if it becomes about immigration, then it could be problematic for the Republican nominee.

Republicans in Congress are making immigration the issue. Anti-immigrant Republicans like Representatives Lamar Smith, Steve King, Elton Gallegly, and Senator Jeff Sessions are at the helm on immigration policy for the GOP on Capitol Hill. Combine that with the likelihood that the immigration issue will loom large in a number of Republican primaries, the GOP will be hard pressed to change the subject when talking to Latino voters. 

The Census findings are the exact reason why Republicans should be very, very concerned that the "Three Amigos" of Smith, Gallegly and King are the ones defining the GOP agenda on immigration.  With Spanish-language media covering their antics in real time, and with no Congressional Republican voices charting a different course for the Party on immigration, the GOP is becoming branded as anti-immigrant and anti-Latino by the fastest-growing group of voters in the nation.

Click here to read more.
Posted 11/24/10 at 07:48pm By Jackie Mahendra

More on Senator Sessions’ Spurious DREAM Act Memo

Today, Media Matters has more on Sessions' spurious DREAM Act memo:

Sen. Sessions' DREAM Act Memo Misleads On Multiple Claims

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has begun circulating a memo to member of Congress that is billed as a "CRITICAL IMMIGRATION ALERT" featuring an overwhelming abundance of misleading information about the DREAM Act. Sessions' document claims, among other things, that this "Obama-Reid Amnesty Plan" would give admission preference to non-citizens, grant amnesty to immigrants with criminal records, and has no definite requirements of military service or higher education. In fact, the DREAM Act is narrowly tailored so that students with "good moral character" who have completed 2 years of military service or higher education and have not committed any serious crimes can be put on a path to citizenship.

CLAIM: Bill Would Give College Preference To "Illegals" Over Citizens

Sessions Memo:

Bill Would Give College Preference To Illegals Over Citizens [Sessions Memo via Politico, 11/22/10]

FACT: DREAM Act Wouldn't Affect Admission For Natural-Born Citizens

DREAM Act Will Likely Have "Zero Impact" On College Admissions Rates For Native-Born Citizens. According to the National Immigration Law Center: "Most undocumented students are likely to have zero impact on admission rates of native born students: Since 2001, 10 states have made it easier for undocumented state residents to attend college by offering in-state tuition to those that qualify. A significant portion of the students that took advantage of this opportunity have done so in community colleges, which have open enrollment. The small numbers of students who will attend 4-year universities are not significant enough to affect the opportunities of others." [National Immigration Law Center, accessed 11/23/10; underlining original]

CLAIM: The DREAM Act Is Not Limited To Children, And It Will Be Funded On The Backs Of Law-Abiding Americans

Sessions Memo:

Proponents of the DREAM Act frequently claim the bill offers relief only to illegal alien "kids." Incredibly, previous versions of the DREAM Act had no age limit at all, so illegal aliens of any age who satisfied the Act's requirements-not just children-could obtain lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. In response to this criticism, S.3827 includes a requirement that aliens be under the age of 35 on the date of enactment to be eligible for LPR status. Even with this cap, many aliens would be at least 41 years old before obtaining full LPR status under the Act-hardly the "kids" the Act's advocates keep talking about. [Sessions Memo via Politico, 11/22/10]

FACT: There Is An Age Limit For Students Who Can Qualify For The DREAM Act

DREAM Act Places Age Limits On Eligibility. According to the National Immigration Law Center: "There is a limit on how old a student can be to qualify for the DREAM Act: Students must have entered the United States at the age of 15 or younger. In addition, the Senate version of the DREAM Act includes an upper age cap - you have to be under 35 years of age in order to benefit under the bill." [National Immigration Law Center, accessed 11/23/10; underlining original]

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Posted 11/23/10 at 04:37pm By Jackie Mahendra

Sen. Sessions Gives DREAM Act the Sotomayor Treatment, Continues Extreme Attacks

Here we go again. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), whose extremist ties and past attacks on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor have stamped him as a leading anti-Latino lawmaker, is adding to his anti-immigrant legacy by couching his opposition to the DREAM Act with fear-mongering about immigrants and crime and falsehoods about the DREAM Act.

According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:

“Jeff Sessions is blowing the dog whistle of demagoguery to rally opposition to the DREAM Act.  He and his staff are trying to paint young immigrant kids – who grew up in America, did everything asked of them, and want the chance to go to college or serve in the military – as criminals and a drain on society.  This is factually inaccurate and morally reprehensible.  This type of attack didn’t work for Sharron Angle in Nevada in 2010 and it won’t work for the Republican Party in 2012 or long-term.”

The controversy comes after his office circulated a white paper that is currently reverberating throughout the conservative echo chamber, in which Sessions mixes anti-immigrant fear-mongering (see: “criminal aliens”) with factually inaccurate assertions about the legislation and its implications.  

Session's spokesman Stephen Miller told Fox News:

"The scope of this proposal is enormous, extending amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants including a number who have committed serious crimes, incentivizing further illegality.”  

In truth, the DREAM Act is a narrowly-tailored and traditionally bipartisan piece of legislation that ensures that only those with strong moral character qualify. As such, it would strengthen the military, bolster future economic competitiveness, and offer American taxpayers a return on their investment in hard-working immigrant kids who want to give back to the nation they love and call home.

There is a wide gulf between extremists like Sessions and sensible Americans who recognize the importance of DREAM. In fact, 70% of the American people support the DREAM Act.

Click here to read more.
Posted 07/14/09 at 06:20pm By Jackie Mahendra

Sotomayor Watch: 2 Major Strikes for the GOP with Latino Voters Today (VIDEO)

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. Presente.org, a new Latino advocacy group, even ran an ad campaign asking Republican leaders to stop the race-based attacks.

Well, looks like GOP leadership intends to do no such thing.

Politics Daily had a good recap of the day, first highlighting comments made by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) that imply that all Puerto Rican judges vote alike:

Did Sessions actually scold Sotomayor for not agreeing -- about the summary judgment in Ricci -- with her colleague Judge Jose Cabranes, who Sessions pointed out is also Puerto Rican? I'm pretty sure not all Puerto Ricans think alike.

The answer, to that first question, via Andrea Nill of Think Progress, is you betcha:

 

Nill also notes:

Sessions slammed Sotomayor as being “unsuitable for the bench” due to her past affiliation with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF). Apparently, Sessions didn’t realize that Judge Cabranes also served on PRLDEF’s board.''

Click here to read more.
Posted 07/14/09 at 11:15am By Frank Sharry

Schumer Says Reform By Labor Day, While Cowardly Democrats Vote with Sessions

Note: Cross-posted on Huffington Post

SchumerLots of immigration sideshows last week, but here's the big picture: Senator Schumer (D-NY) announced plans to introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill by Labor Day.

According to the Associated Press:

"I think we'll have a good bill by Labor Day," said Schumer, D-N.Y. "I think the fundamental building blocks are in place to do comprehensive immigration reform."

Senator Schumer's statements may seem like a bombshell to those who've been ignoring how the politics of immigration have come together over the past few months. To those following the issue, however, it's right on track.

In June, President Obama convened a bipartisan subset of Congress to get the conversation rolling, laying the groundwork for real reform. That same week, Senator Schumer outlined his principles for legislation. Schumer's newly-revealed timeline reinforces President Obama's pledge to move immigration legislation in the first year of his presidency and repeated statements by leaders in both the House and Senate that reform would be a top priority this year. It is also in line with the desires of a majority of American voters, including Independents and Republicans, who want the immigration system addressed through real, comprehensive reform, not empty rhetoric.

Momentum is here, but there are only a few nagging questions. For instance, why are Democrats letting Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and others set the agenda with empty, irrelevant, "build the fence bigger" immigration amendments.

Click here to read more.
Posted 07/13/09 at 03:47pm By Jackie Mahendra

Sotomayor Watch: 3 Videos from Today’s Senate Judiciary Hearing and 1 Call to Action

Three videos to watch from today's hearing and a bonus (action) video from our friends at Presente.org.

First, a clip of Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), who speaks during the opening day of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing. Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he challenges the popular Republican theme that a 2001 speech that Sotomayor gave on handling issues of race and gender make her a 'reverse racist'-- Watch it:

 
According to the Chicago Tribune:
Feingold said Monday that opponents who have seized upon that line are taking her comments out of context. He says the hundreds of opinions she has written suggest she takes a "cautious and careful approach" to the law.
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Posted 05/07/09 at 11:07am By Jackie Mahendra

Breaking: Sessions Incendiary On Immigration, Linked To White Nationalist

Huffpo Politics Sam Stein reports, in the top story on Huffington Post Politics today:

Since becoming the top ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jeff Sessions' record has been almost solely analyzed for tealeaves on how he will approach Barack Obama's forthcoming Supreme Court nomination.

The Judiciary Committee, however, has a far broader purview than simply the consideration of judiciary picks, all of which Sessions will hold heavy influence over. On Thursday, the Alabama Republican's resume in regards to one of those other fields -- immigration reform -- was placed under the microscope by the immigration reform group America's Voice.

Read the full report that places Senator Sessions squarely within John Tanton's network of anti-immigrant organizations and individuals with ties to white nationalism. Below's a brief snapshot: 

A history of hate:

The leading GOP Senator on the Judiciary Committee has aligned himself with people and entities that bash immigrants and make hate a priority.

What Sessions has said:

Sessions has used the Senate as a bully pulpit from which to spew anti-immigrant rhetoric.  His voting record is solidly anti-immigrant, but his speeches truly give him away.  In a June 27, 2007 floor statement on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, Sessions played the “terrorist” card. In that same floor statement on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, Sessions also called the bill the “Terrorist Assistance and Facilitation Act of 2007.”

Sessions’ courtship of anti-immigrant extremism:

Last year, NumbersUSA named Sessions its  “2008 Defender of the Rule of Law.”  On May 5, 2009, NumbersUSA issued a press release welcoming Sessions’ ascension to his new role on the Senate Judiciary, claiming the Alabama Senator is the “the No. 1 champion for the American workers on immigration issues.”   NumbersUSA's claim is clearly not consistent with Sessions’ anti-labor voting record.

Click here to read more.