07/12/12 Cross-Posted at California Progress Report Years ago, California tried to take the punitive and xenophobic approach to immigration with Prop 187 — a 1994 ballot initiative whose stated goal was to keep undocumented immigrants from receiving public benefits, but would have essentially turned California into a police state for immigrants. Fortunately, Proposition 187 was invalidated [...]
Read More »

07/09/12 The TRUST Act is a bill currently moving through California state legislature that is the “anti-Arizona.” According to the San Jose Mercury News, it’s the “first-in-the-nation measure that would limit local law enforcers’ compliance with federal immigration rules requiring them to report to immigration authorities all arrested people suspected as illegal immigrants.” Last week, it [...]
Read More »

07/06/12 Yesterday, California took a key step in positioning itself as the “anti-Arizona” on immigration enforcement, with the state Senate passing a bill that would restore common sense to states’ approach on immigration. Ironically, California was the first state to embrace an extremist approach to immigration with the passage of Proposition 187 in 1994. Fortunately, the [...]
Read More »

07/05/12 On Wednesday, July 4, President Obama held a naturalization ceremony at the White House, welcoming 25 members of the military originally from 17 different countries as new American citizens. Obama’s thoughts via Byron York at Washington Examiner: We’re still perfecting our union, still extending the promise of America. That’s why, as another step forward, we’re [...]
Read More »

07/05/12 When President Obama announced his relief plan for DREAM Act-eligible youth last month, the move was applauded as a highly necessary development in the fight to give relief to undocumented youth in the only country they call home. One important thing Obama’s DREAM relief could not include, however, was any mechanism to help DREAMers pay [...]
Read More »

06/27/12 In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on SB 1070, many have been left wondering what does this mean, what happens now and where do voters stand on this decision?  A fact sheet and polling round-up from America’s Voice Education Fund helps sift through the legal implications and next steps after the decision as [...]
Read More »

06/26/12 The Department of Justice has set up an email address and hotline in response to the Supreme Court ruling on Arizona SB 1070′s “show me your papers” provision, a law which would allow law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of detained individuals based on “reasonable suspicion.” This provision, Section 2(B), will lead to [...]
Read More »

06/26/12 With a 5-3 majority vote, yesterday, the Supreme Court sent a strong signal to the nation that Arizona’s anti-immigrant law is NOT a model for our country.  The ruling was a warning to other states not to follow in Arizona’s footsteps. While the Justices ruled that most provisions of the law were unconstitutional, they let [...]
Read More »

06/25/12 Similar to the way he ducked the key immigration questions at his speech at last week’s NALEO conference, Mitt Romney today avoided a substantive response to today’s Supreme Court ruling on Arizona’s immigration law – despite being in Arizona.  Additionally, while Romney’s statement attempted to call out President Obama for a lack of leadership on [...]
Read More »

06/14/12 In addition to their amazing cover story and video on the DREAM Act and the plight of immigrant youth, TIME Magazine today has a great story on the “fiscal fallout of state immigration laws,” or what happens to states that try to “deport their way to prosperity.” As the article begins: State-level immigration laws don’t [...]
Read More »

05/31/12 Even Republican admit the obvious: it is a good idea to protect young undocumented immigrants who have grown up in America.  But while talk of a legislative breakthrough this year sounds nice, what Latino voters really want to see is action. A New York Times piece reports today, DREAM Act students have launched a campaign a campaign calling [...]
Read More »

05/29/12 Immigration reform activists and supporters from all over Alabama converged on the state Capitol in Montgomery to protest the passage of HB 658 over the weekend, rallying together in a mega-march led by the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice. HB 658 became law last week when Alabama Governor Robert Bentley caved into anti-immigrant legislators and [...]
Read More »

05/22/12 Alabama Governor Robert Bentley pulled a complete reversal on HB 658 last weekend, caving in and signing a bill that makes the state’s already harsh anti-immigrant policies even worse–after he had initially expressed reservations and a wish to see the bill revised.  Since then, leading editorial writers in Alabama and across the nation have been [...]
Read More »

05/17/12 BREAKING: Governor Bentley has refused to sign the new legislation, HB 658, saying that he has proposed amendments and that immigration will be addressed in a special legislative session.  More details soon.  ___________________________________ Ignoring the fierce criticism, reminders of the state’s long ugly history of racism and the economic consequences caused by HB 56, the Alabama [...]
Read More »

05/16/12 Today marks the last day of the current Alabama legislative session, where state senators will take one last stab at passing another ill-conceived anti-immigrant bill. As legislators consider another “tweak” bill today, their efforts will be blocked by individuals who plan to fall to their knees, praying, singing, and vowing to stop any unjust anti-immigrant [...]
Read More »

04/24/12 On Wednesday (tomorrow), the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Arizona, a debate that is focused on SB 1070’s constitutionality. In case you need a reminder, SB 1070 was an anti-immigrant law that set the precedent for others, such as Alabama’s notorious HB 56 and Georgia’s HB 87. Jeanne Butterfield, Eliseo [...]
Read More »

04/20/12 Um, what?  Conservatives given a chance to war against women and immigrants—and deciding not to take it? It was last week that we first heard about a bill in Nebraska that extends prenatal care to undocumented women, thereby setting up a great clash between the issues of immigration and abortion.  From Fox News Latino: The [...]
Read More »

04/20/12 While the Supreme Court is preparing to hear oral arguments on Arizona’s arch-anti-immigrant law SB 1070 next week, Alabama is taking another look at HB 56, the local anti-immigrant law that was inspired by SB 1070.  House representatives voted 64-34 yesterday to approve a tweak bill to the original HB 56 law, a half-measure that [...]
Read More »

04/19/12 Next week, the Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments on Arizona’s arch-anti-immigrant law, SB 1070—an all-important, game-changing clash between the federal supremacy clause, the need for federal immigration reform, and the belief that states can and should pursue efforts to make undocumented immigrants self-deport. Activists, officials, lawyers, and lawmakers all over the nation have [...]
Read More »

04/18/12 Under fire for Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law and reeling after the recent loss of support from Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and Kraft Foods, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) announced today that they would begin focusing their efforts solely on economic issues, rather than social and cultural issues.  The news that the group—a shadowy organization known [...]
Read More »

04/10/12 Colorado is one step closer to passing a bill that would discount tuition for undocumented students seeking to attend college in the state, reports the Denver Post. The measure passed the state Senate yesterday by a 20 Democrat – 14 Republican party-line vote, and now moves onto the state House, where Republicans hold a one-seat [...]
Read More »

04/09/12 The Kansas City Star today has an in-depth article on Kris Kobach, the sometimes-Kansas Secretary of State who is so passionately anti-immigrant that he works overtime in service of it. Kobach is Kansas Secretary of the State by day, a job which the Star notes “should be one of the quietest jobs in government.”  But by [...]
Read More »

04/06/12 Yesterday, the backers of Alabama's "show me your papers" anti-immigrant law introduced new legislation to tweak, but not repeal HB56. The following is a reaction to the new bill from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America's Voice.
Read More »

04/05/12 The Mississippi legislature's anti-immigrant bill, HB 488, is dead for the session, after failing to move in the State Senate. That led The Birmingham News' Joey Kennedy to write, "As bad as our Legislature is, I never thought I'd have to say that even Mississippi's Legislature is smarter than ours."
Read More »

03/30/12 We got an update on this year's Walk Against Fear. The marchers, who are following the 1966 path of civil rights pioneer James Meredith, will hold a Rally Against Racism on April 7th in Jackson, Mississippi.
Read More »

03/30/12 We got an update on this year's Walk Against Fear. The marchers, who are following the 1966 path of civil rights pioneer James Meredith, will hold a Rally Against Racism on April 7th in Jackson, Mississippi.
Read More »

03/29/12 "The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)," according to People for the American Way, "is a front group for powerful corporate interests that is behind and actually writes some of the most extreme right-wing bills in state legislatures across the country."
Read More »