08/02/12 Yesterday was Day 6 of the Melendres vs. Arpaio civil lawsuit under way in Phoenix probing into whether Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office are guilty of routinely engaging in racial profiling. A post at Fronteras sums up how the trial has been going so far:  So far the federal judge hearing the case has [...]
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08/01/12 The Supreme Court’s ruling that finds most of Arizona’s SB 1070 as unconstitutional is impacting other states that have passed similarly egregious legislation. Indiana, for example: Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller [a Republican!] conceded Tuesday that a key portion of the state’s anti-illegal-immigration law is unconstitutional, and it appears unlikely lawmakers will revise the statute [...]
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07/20/12 This week, notoriously anti-immigrant Sheriff Joe Arpaio heads to court, facing charges of civil rights violations, namely racial profiling.  (For a rundown of the worst things Sheriff Joe Arpaio has done, view this list.) Here’s what the media covered the trial: From Edvard Pettersson and William Hermann of Business Week: Stanley Young, a lawyer for [...]
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07/20/12 Cross-Posted at Mom’s Rising: I’d like to believe that most Americans, perhaps with the exception of the hard-core nativists, like Rep. Steve King and Romney advisor Kris Kobach, knows our nation’s immigration policies need to be fixed.  But behind these failed policies are real human beings:  those who make decisions about how to enforce the [...]
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07/05/12 Major progress in the California State Senate this afternoon. We got the good news via twitter from National Day Labor Organizing Network’s (NDLON) Chris Newman: TRUSTACTpassed out of the California Senate — Chris Newman (@newman_chris) July 5, 2012 This bill is basically the antithesis of Arizona’s SB 1070. It’s designed to ensure that the federal “Secure Communities” [...]
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06/27/12 Immigration reform champion Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) took to the House floor this morning to discuss the Supreme Court ruling on SB 1070, Arizona’s “show me your papers” law. Gutierrez gave a quiz titled, ”Pick Out The Immigrant.” Watch the speech below.  You’ll hear Gutierrez ask how Arizona officials determine which of the following are immigrants [...]
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06/12/12 As we reported yesterday, immigration lawyers, community leaders, and advocates representing a broad spectrum of Latino and immigrant communities declared the Department of Homeland Security’s implementation of prosecutorial discretion a failure and asked the Obama Administration to take immediate action to protect families, DREAM Act eligible youth, and those standing up for their civil and [...]
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06/06/12 Just when you think Sheriff Joe Arpaio can’t sink any lower, he does. Arpaio, as you’ll see in the video below, proudly compares his infamous Tent City to concentration camps: I already have a concentration camp. It’s called Tent City. Concentration camps in the United States? In 2012? The strangest thing is that he’s proud [...]
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05/22/12 Alabama and its anti-immigrant legislative vendetta have been in the news for the past few weeks. And we’re awaiting a Supreme Court decision on Arizona’s SB 1070. But we can’t forget about the other states that have passed these ugly laws — like Georgia. Writing at Huffington Post on the anniversary of the passage of Georgia’s [...]
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05/07/12 Sunday’s New York Times featured a profile on “The Powers of New York,” described as: Influence in New York is now wielded by a larger and more diverse array of people. As part of a special issue of Metropolitan, here’s a look at who is at the top and who may be on the way, as [...]
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05/01/12 One of our most stalwart allies in the fight for immigration reform is the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Yesterday, SEIU stepped up — again — in the battle against Alabama’s egregious anti-immigrant law, HB 56, by filing a complaint using provisions of NAFTA. From SEIU: The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and a Mexican [...]
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04/04/12 Negotiations between the U.S. Department of Justice and Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio have broken down. DOJ, which accused Arpaio of racial discrimination, says the Sheriff is "wasting time and not negotiating in good faith."
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03/20/12 In South Carolina's harsh anti-immigrant law, the legislature carved out a number of exemptions for jobs often filled by undocumented workers. Classic example of hypocrisy. They bash immigrants, but really need them.
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03/20/12 In South Carolina's harsh anti-immigrant law, the legislature carved out a number of exemptions for jobs often filled by undocumented workers. Classic example of hypocrisy. They bash immigrants, but really need them.
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02/16/12 Colorlines has another story about families being ripped apart by the nation's broken immigration system. This is about Felipe Montes, who was deported in 2010. His children were place in foster care. Now, officials in Allegheny County in North Carolina want to strip him of his parental rights.
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01/31/12 Fallout from the federal investigation of the East Haven, Connecticut police force continues. Yesterday, the Police Chief, Leonard Gallo, resigned.
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01/05/12 Yesterday was the deadline for Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio to indicate whether he would cooperate with the United States Department of Justice civil rights investigation of his department. Well, Arpaio did respond -- in fairly typical Sheriff Joe fashion with some bravado and attitude
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12/12/11 Firedoglake's David Dayen reports on the news that Alabama's Governor, Robert Bentley, is making noises about changing the state's harsh anti-immigrant law, which Bentley signed just a couple months ago.
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12/02/11 Nothing should surprise us about Rep. Steve King. The Iowa Republican is proudly one of the leading anti-immigrant legislators in Congress. And, this we learned that King thinks racial profiling is legal.
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12/01/11 Over the past several months, the controversy around DHS' Secure Communities deportation program has grown exponentially as advocates for immigrants and victims of crime, state governors and law enforcement professionals, and even a DHS-appointed task force arrived at a serious conclusion...
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11/16/11 Alabama State Senator Scott Beason (R) has been getting a lot of attention lately. None of it good. He was one of the architects of the state's viciously anti-immigrant law. Yesterday, Beason was in the news again. He was booted as Chair of the Senate Rules Committee.
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11/02/11 We know that deportations can have a destructive impact on immigrant families. A new report from the Applied Research Center, Shattered Families: The Perilous Intersection of Immigration Enforcement and the Child Welfare System, found that over 5,000 children of deported parents are now stuck in the foster care system.
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11/02/11 Yesterday, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez wrote to Alabama school districts reminding them, "that denying innocent children the benefit of schooling provided to other students within the district was unconstitutional."
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11/01/11 The United States Department of Justice is seeking to block South Carolina's anti-immigrant law. This marks the third challenge to a state immigration law by DOJ. The others are Arizona and Alabama.
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10/27/11 Writing at CNN, former NY Times Editor Howell Raines, a native Alabaman, has harsh words for the state's current Governor, Robert Bentley, and HB 56, the anti-immigrant legislation that the Governor signed into law earlier this year.
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10/19/11 Jose Antonio Vargas is in Alabama reporting on the state's viciiously anti-immigrant law. Over the weekend, he spoke to former Federal District Court Judge U.W. Clemon at the 16th Street Church in Birmingham. Clemon, who is a legal legend in the state, spoke out strongly against HB 56.
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10/11/11 The devastating impact of Alabama's new immigration law continues to generate heartbreaking stories, including more articles from the state over the weekend that caught our attention.
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