America's Voice Blog

Posted 07/23/10 at 09:42am

‘Qué Pasa’ in Immigration: Awaiting a Ruling on SB 1070

The initial hearing in the federal lawsuit against Arizona law SB 1070, held yesterday in Phoenix, continues to dominate the headlines in the Spanish-language press.

Awaiting a ruling on SB 1070. Reuters, Once Noticias and Yahoo!, among others, lead by noting that Judge Susan Bolton hasn’t yet issued a ruling to stop the law from going into effect on July 29th—although she could do so at any time.

The Department of Justice, one of the plaintiffs, argued during yesterday’s hearing that the federal government is responsible for making and enforcing immigration law; a coalition of civil-rights and immigrants’ rights groups argues additionally that the law is discriminatory. SB 1070 says that police can ask someone for immigration documents in the course of an interaction at any time, as long as there is reasonable suspicion that the person is undocumented. AFP reports that Judge Bolton expressed some doubts over the constitutionality of SB 1070 during the hearing.

The legal arguments made inside the courtroom were reflected in protests outside, where demonstrators on both sides carried banners and chanted slogans. Some protesters engaged in civil disobedience, El Financiero reports, resulting in several arrests.

Télam quotes Thomas Saenz, president of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)—one of the plaintiffs—saying that if SB 1070 goes into effect, “many people will be very seriously harmed.” Saenz also discussed the political motives behind passing the law--Governor Jan Brewer “needs an issue” to stay in office:

“She thinks that this issue will energize voters—but the energy comes at the expense of exploiting racial and ethnic fears in a very negative way.”

DREAM Act and AgJOBS. La Opinión (Los Angeles) covers a hunger strike started by 4 students in front of the L.A. offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for the DREAM Act. Another group of students and farmworkers visited the Orlando office of Senator George Lemieux (R-FL) asking him to support the DREAM Act and AgJOBS, a bill to legalize agricultural workers, reports La Voz (Phoenix).

In other news... La Opinión covers a plan unveiled yesterday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to crack down on human trafficking; the band Rage Against the Machine is headlining a concert in Los Angeles today to benefit organizations fighting SB 1070, La Jornada (Mexico) reports.

America's Voice has started a new series, “‘Qué Pasa’ in Immigration,” to bring Spanish-language coverage of immigration and politics to a wider audience. Look for daily roundups (in English) of some of the best Spanish-language news.   

The latest Spanish-language reporting and analysis on immigration can now be found at AmericasVoiceEspanol.com. Check it out!

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