Monthly Archives: June 2012

Arizona’s SB 1070 2(b) and Not to Be

By Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez

If Gov. Jan Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio are cheering and excited about the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on Arizona’s SB 1070, then you know something is wrong. And when both promise that there will be no racial profiling, that’s akin to the proverbial foxes promising to take real good care of the hens.

So let’s cut to the chase; despite ruling against three of its provisions, this ruling, which compels law-enforcement to cooperate with immigration authorities (Arizona’s SB 1070 2(b),) was not a victory. It represents a green light for law enforcement — based on “reasonable suspicion” — to engage in racial profiling, a license to harass and destroy families, not simply in Arizona, but nationwide. As we all know, in Arizona, brown skin is “reasonable suspicion.”

Despite that, it also affords people nationwide to support organizing efforts in Arizona, because while the battles will continue in the courts, it would be literally in the streets where this decision will be played out. It’ll be the same place where organizing will continue to take place. These organizing efforts include Tucson’s upcoming Freedom Summer.

In regards to the decision that upheld the 2(b) section of SB 1070, the green light, compliments of the Supreme Court, is for the states that can now follow Arizona’s example. Reasonable people would see the striking down of the three provisions as an affirmation of the supremacy of the federal government on immigration matters. However, legislators from Arizona and the copycat states, will instead see that green light and they will not be stopped, unless halted by voters or a future court.

The small comfort is supposed to be that if it can be proven that SB 1070 causes abuse and rampant discrimination, etc., then the court can revisit and later strike it down. The Supreme Court no doubt is leaving it up to Brewer and Arpaio to compile this documentation. This actually with the stress on the work of human rights organizations to do this work.

Before continuing, it’s time for a reality check. That, which everyone fears, has already been our reality in Arizona, precisely because of the likes of Brewer and Arpaio. But even beyond them, with thousands of dead bodies and remains strewn about the desert, with deportations at record levels and the continued militarization of both homeland security operations and the border itself, it is worse than people imagine. This was true even before SB 1070. The overreach of the federal government, especially since 9/11/2001, via homeland security, has enabled racial profiling to take place not simply along the border, but in the entire country via agreements such as 287G and Secure Communities, etc.

Something that most of the country is still unaware of is that several weeks before SB 1070 was enacted, some 800 federal law enforcement officers descended upon Tucson, conducted a mass dragnet raid, and ended up arresting barely a few people involved in a shuttle bus smuggling operation. Again, this was prior to SB 1070.

In the midst of a presidential campaign, people will be choosing between two candidates, hoping that one is a little bit better than the other one. Enter Arizona. Enter the US-Mexico border. Enter Alabama. Enter the Dream Act. Sure, one candidate is a little bit better than the other one. But basic dehumanization characterizes how this and previous administrations deal with the issue of immigration.

As long as this issue is defined as that of too many brown people, too many Mexicans and too many people from Central and South America, there will never be a humane solution.

Within the context of the current makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court, the only surprise about the ruling is that they didn’t simply outright affirm Arizona’s leap back into the 19th century.

CIVILIZATIONAL WAR

In Arizona, the issue is not about “illegal immigration,” as the right-wing loves to proclaim. It is in fact part of the same civilizational war that the “West” has carried on since 1492. It is driven by the same ideology; the idea that God is commanding, that God has granted permission for Europeans/Christians to civilize this continent. In history this has been known as Providence, and Manifest Destiny; both were “legitimated” by the “doctrine of discovery.”

In this philosophy, red-brown peoples are simply in the way, have always been in the way, and not quite human. Only in Arizona do politicians actually verbalize these thoughts. They are brazen here because they don’t see the need to mask their thoughts and attitudes. Of course, this simply means that many politicians nationwide hold the very same views and attitudes, but they are little more subtle and sophisticated, ensuring that they only keep their score against so-called illegal aliens; they have learned the art of obfuscation or skillfully speaking with euphemisms.

To understand that this is beyond “illegal” immigration, one needs to examine Arizona’s other regressive state measures; namely, the anti-ethnic studies HB 2281. This measure has enabled the Tucson Unified School District to ban the district’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) curriculum, to ban its books and more importantly to ban a [Indigenous] worldview. The rationale, according to Tom Horne, the intellectual author of HB 2281, for doing this since 2006 has been that the curriculum is purportedly outside of Western civilization. The measure, in effect, criminalizes not simply teaching and learning Indigenous Knowledge, but thinking itself. Horne’s objective has always been to place Mexican-American [Indigenous] culture under house arrest. It cannot be coincidence or it cannot be a surprise that this measure was birthed in Arizona.

There are plenty of other regressive measures, too many to name. Suffice to say that this is the state where birthright citizenship also continues to be attacked by ways of attempts to effectively repeal the 14th amendment. In reality, these same politicos attack the very presence of red brown peoples in this state and country; mind body and spirit. SB 1070 attacks the body, thus, racial profiling; HB 2281 by banning a worldview, attacks both the mind and the spirit.

This is not news for those who have not been asleep or MIA the past several years. The real news is the amazing organizing that has taken root in Arizona, in spite of these regressive measures. The author of SB 1070, Russell Pearce, president of the State Senate, was successfully recalled. The Justice Department is all over Arpaio for civil rights violations. And Horne is also under investigation.

ORGANIZING EFFORTS

What the Supreme Court ruling does is simply point to the need to support the organizing efforts of people on the ground. It does make a difference. The outrage is there locally, statewide and nationwide; what is needed is material support for those who work tirelessly to ensure human rights for all human beings, regardless of their legal status. And as a reminder, those of us in Arizona will never accept any immoral and inhumane measure as a law, regardless of what the Supreme Court says.

Living in Tucson, I will recommend supporting five different organizations or causes from there:

Derechos Humanos
Raza Defense Fund
Save Ethnic Studies
U.N.I.D.O.S
Indigenous Alliance Without Borders

All do incredible work.

To be blunt, most or all need support, resources, volunteers or money to support their work. The ACLU recently announced that they have amassed nearly $9 million to fight SB 1070 and related state measures in court. That’s a very good thing. What organizers on the ground need is a similar kind of support and commitment from supporters nationwide. Communities in Arizona have already been tapped dry from the constant and intense organizing efforts of the past few years.

Derechos Humanos has for years documented abuses and deaths along the border. In the Tucson sector, they along with several other organizations will take the lead in documenting the abuses that will stream forth as a result of the flawed SB 1070 Supreme Court ruling. They’ve documenting and organizing for years. www.derechoshumanosaz.net – kat@derechoshumanosaz.net

Raza Defense Fund: This fund has been established in support of Sean Arce and Jose Gonzalez from a frivolous $1 million lawsuit, meant to attack the leadership of the now dismantled Mexican American Studies: http://threesonorans.com/front-page/raza-defense-fund/

Save Ethnic Studies is the group that has filed a lawsuit against the state in support of Mexican-American studies. Formerly the group was representing the 11 teachers when they were litigants in the same lawsuit. This group continues to challenge HB 2281 in the courts, with several students as litigants. http://saveethnicstudies.org/

U.N.I.D.O.S: These youth organizers have led the organizational resistance the past 2 years against the efforts to dismantle MAS. Beyond taking over the school board, they along with student organizers from Social Justice Education Project and MEChA, have organized not simply protests but also educational and organizational workshops and conferences. UNIDOS is currently competing a video project titled “BANNED!” about the MAS struggle in Tucson: Contact info: unidos.tucson@gmail.com, Twitter.com @UNIDOSPORVIDA or find them on Facebook.

Indigenous Alliance Without Borders: For more than a decade, the Alianza has defended the rights of indigenous peoples to cross the border safely, free of abuse and discrimination. For decades, the increased militarization of the border has desecrated sacred lands and has prevented elders from Indigenous nations that straddle both Mexico and the United States from attending ceremonies. Contact Jose Matus jrmatus@aol.com

I should also add two organizations out of Phoenix that do critical work:
Tonatierra-Nahuacall (from their own mission statement): To create and sustain a Cultural Embassy of the Indigenous People that will support local-global and holistic indigenous community development initiatives in education, culture, and economic development in accord with the principles of Community Ecology and Self Determination. They have carried out this work for decades, which is included creating consciousness of migrants migrating into the United States are not immigrants, but rather, indigenous to this continent: http://tonatierra.org/

Puente Arizona (from their own mission statement) is part of the global movement for migrant justice and human rights. As a grassroots community-based group Puente promotes justice, non-violence, interdependence and human dignity. Puente Arizona works to empower the community and build bridges by working collaboratively with various organizations and individuals.

Both organizations have done incredible work, both at state, national and international levels, and of course, in Phoenix, organizing against Arpaio and the state’s powerbrokers.

TUCSON FREEDOM SUMMER

Finally a word about whether people should be boycotting or not boycotting Arizona. To my knowledge, most organizations do not feel comfortable with anyone coming to or spending their money in Arizona, especially tourism dollars. However, organizers, willing to work with local organizations, have always been welcome. In fact, in Tucson we are but a few days away from Tucson’s Freedom Summer: July 1-Aug 7. There’s a national callout for people nationwide to descend upon Tucson in support of Mexican American Studies. For a schedule and for further information: Contact:?Ernesto Mireles – 517-­?881-­?6505 ph; Sean Arce – 520-­?975-­?4780; Curtis Acosta – 520-­?891-­?7327; tucsonfreedomsummer@gmail.com and http://www.facebook.com/TucsonFreedomSummer2012

Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com – http://drcintli.blogspot.com/

In a Shift, Biggest Wave of Migrants Is Now Asian

By Kirk Semple
New York Times (June 18, 2012)

Asians have surpassed Hispanics as the largest wave of new immigrants to the United States, pushing the population of Asian descent to a record 18.2 million and helping to make Asians the fastest-growing racial group in the country, according to a study released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.

While Asian immigration has increased slightly in recent years, the shift in ranking is largely attributable to the sharp decline in Hispanic immigration, the study said.

About 430,000 Asians – or 36 percent of all new immigrants, legal and illegal – moved to the United States in 2010, compared with 370,000 Hispanics, or 31 percent of all new arrivals, the study said. Just three years earlier, the ratio was reversed: about 390,000 Asians immigrated in 2007, compared with 540,000 Hispanics.

“Asians have become the largest stream of new immigrants to the U.S. – and, thus, the latest leading actors in this great American drama” of immigration, Paul Taylor, executive vice president of the Pew Research Center, wrote in the report.

Immigration scholars have attributed the decrease in Hispanic immigration to a mix of factors, including the economic downturn in the United States, increased deportation and border enforcement by the American authorities, and declining birthrates in Mexico.

Tougher enforcement measures have made a greater impact on the Hispanic immigrant population than on the Asian immigrant population because a much higher percentage of Hispanics are in the United States without immigration papers, experts said. About 45 percent of Hispanic immigrants in the United States are here illegally compared with about 13 percent to 15 percent of Asian immigrants, Pew demographers found.

Under this pressure, Hispanic immigration dropped 31 percent from 2007 to 2010, while Asian immigration increased about 10 percent.

Pew researchers estimated that Asian immigration surpassed Hispanic immigration by 2009. Mr. Taylor said in an interview on Monday that the delay in identifying this shift was due in part to the fact that the analysis relied on later demographic data, including the 2010 American Community Survey.

The findings are part of a study called “The Rise of Asian-Americans,” a comprehensive analysis of the Asian population in the United States. The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan organization in Washington that has provided some of the most reliable estimates for illegal immigration.

Drawing on Census Bureau and other government data as well as telephone surveys from Jan. 3 to March 27 of more than 3,500 people of Asian descent, the 214-page study found that Asians are the highest-earning and best-educated racial group in the country.

Among Asians 25 or older, 49 percent hold a college degree, compared with 28 percent of all people in that age range in the United States. Median annual household income among Asians is $66,000 versus $49,800 among the general population.

In the survey, Asians are also distinguished by their emphasis on traditional family mores. About 54 percent of the respondents, compared with 34 percent of all adults in the country, said having a successful marriage was one of the most important goals in life; another was being a good parent, according to 67 percent of Asian adults, compared with about half of all adults in the general population.

Asians also place greater importance on career and material success, the study reported, values reflected in child-rearing styles. About 62 percent of Asians in the United States believe that most American parents do not put enough pressure on their children to do well in school.

The growth of the Asian population has been noteworthy for its speed. In 1965, after a century of exclusionary, race-based policies, the Asian share of the American population was less than 1 percent. But immigration reform legislation that year opened the door to broader immigration from around the world. The Asian share of the total population is now about 5.8 percent, the Pew study said.

“A century ago, most Asian-Americans were low-skilled, low-wage laborers crowded into ethnic enclaves and targets of official discrimination,” the study said. “Today they are the most likely of any major racial or ethnic group in America to live in mixed neighborhoods and to marry across racial lines.”

A closer look at the numbers can reveal sharp differences between subgroups.

At least 83 percent of the total Asian population in the United States traces its ancestry to China, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, the Korean Peninsula or Japan – and demographic characteristics can vary widely from group to group.

Indians, for instance, lead all other Asian subgroups in income and education, the report said. Indians, Japanese and Filipinos have lower poverty rates than the general public, while Koreans, Vietnamese and Chinese have higher poverty rates.

But Mr. Taylor said there was still value in the macroanalysis. “For better or worse, throughout our history, we’ve always used race as a prism to understand who we are,” he said. “Anything that illuminates the latest immigration wave, that illuminates a growing race group, helps us to understand ourselves better.”

U.S. Will Give Immunity to Some Young Illegal Migrants

The Associated Press (June 15, 2012)

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. The election-year initiative addresses a top priority of an influential Latino electorate that has been vocal in its opposition to administration deportation policies.

The policy change, described to The Associated Press by two senior administration officials, will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation. It also bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the so-called DREAM Act, a long-sought but never enacted plan to establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but who have attended college or served in the military.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was to announce the new policy Friday, one week before President Barack Obama plans to address the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials’ annual conference in Orlando, Fla. Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak to the group on Thursday.

Obama planned to discuss the new policy Friday afternoon from the White House Rose Garden.

Under the administration plan, illegal immigrants will be immune from deportation if they were brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have no criminal history, graduated from a U.S. high school or earned a GED, or served in the military. They also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed. The officials who described the plan spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss it in advance of the official announcement.

The policy will not lead toward citizenship but will remove the threat of deportation and grant the ability to work legally, leaving eligible immigrants able to remain in the United States for extended periods. It tracks closely to a proposal offered by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as an alternative to the DREAM Act.

“Many of these young people have already contributed to our country in significant ways,” Napolitano wrote in a memorandum describing the administration’s action. “Prosecutorial discretion, which is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here.”

The extraordinary move comes in an election year in which the Hispanic vote could be critical in swing states like Colorado, Nevada and Florida. While Obama enjoys support from a majority of Hispanic voters, Latino enthusiasm for the president has been tempered by the slow economic recovery, his inability to win congressional support for a broad overhaul of immigration laws and by his administration’s aggressive deportation policy. Activists opposing his deportation policies last week mounted a hunger strike at an Obama campaign office in Denver, and other protests were planned for this weekend.

The change is likely to cause an outcry from congressional Republicans, who are sure to perceive Obama’s actions as an end run around them. Republicans already have complained that previous administration uses of prosecutorial discretion in deportations amount to back-door amnesty. Romney and many Republican lawmakers want tighter border security measures before considering changes in immigration law. Romney opposes offering legal status to illegal immigrants who attend college but has said he would do so for those who serve in the armed forces.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll last month found Obama leading Romney among Hispanic voters 61 percent to 27 percent. But his administration’s deportation policies have come under fire, and Latino leaders have raised the subject in private meetings with the president. In 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a record 396,906 people and is expected to deport about 400,000 this year.

A December poll by the Pew Hispanic Center showed that 59 percent of Latinos disapproved of the president’s handling of deportations.

The changes come a year after the administration announced plans to focus on deporting serious criminals, immigrants who pose threats to public safety and national security, and serious immigration law violators.

One of the officials said the latest policy change is just another step in the administration’s evolving approach to immigration.

Under the plan, immigrants whose deportation cases are pending in immigration court will have to prove their eligibility for a reprieve to ICE, which will begin dealing with such cases in 60 days. Any immigrant who already has a deportation order and those who never have been encountered by immigration authorities will deal with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The exact details of how the program will work, including how much immigrants will have to pay to apply and what proof they will need, still are being worked out.

In making it harder to deport, the Obama administration is in essence employing the same eligibility requirements spelled out in the proposed DREAM Act.

The administration officials stopped short of calling the change an administrative DREAM Act – the name is an acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors – but the qualifications meet those laid out in a 2010 version that failed in the Senate after passing in the House. They said the DREAM Act, in some form, and comprehensive overhaul of the immigration system remained an administration priority.

Illegal immigrant children won’t be eligible to apply for the deportation waiver until they turn 16, but the officials said younger children won’t be deported either.

Last year, Napolitano announced plans to review about 300,000 pending deportation cases and indefinitely suspend those that didn’t meet department priorities. So far, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reviewed more than 232,000 cases and decided to stop working on about 20,000. About 4,000 of those 20,000 have opted to keep fighting in court to stay in the United States legally. For the people who opted to close their cases, work permits are not guaranteed.