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Immigration

Arizona Legalizes Racial Profiling With SB 1070, Says Advocates

by Julianne Hing on April 23 2010, 4:12PM

Gov. Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law in Phoenix, Arizona moments ago. The state law, which immigration restrictionists boast is the toughest immigration bill in the country, criminalizes the presence of people who are undocumented in the state….

Topics: Immigration

All Eyes On Arizona, Brewer Expected to Sign SB 1070 At Noon [Audio]

by Julianne Hing on April 23 2010, 12:51PM

MP3 Thousands of people are crowding into the blocks surrounding the state Capitol building in Phoenix awaiting Governor Jan Brewer’s next move. KTAR.com is reporting that Brewer will sign the bill, one day before her Saturday deadline. A national…

Topics: Immigration

Breaking: Immigration Advocates Call on President to Act, Not Talk

by Jamilah King on April 23 2010, 12:29PM

Updated @ 12:50 ET The national fallout from Arizona’s fight over SB 1070 continues. While thousands rallied yesterday in Phoenix in opposition to the bill and Governor Jan Brewer seemed to remain firm, President Obama asked his staff to…

Topics: Immigration

BREAKING: Obama Asks Staff to “Closely Monitor” Arizona Law

by Kai Wright on April 23 2010, 11:43AM

President Obama chimed in this morning on Arizona’s pending new law requiring cops to check immigration status of people suspected to be undocumented. In a Rose Garden ceremony for to naturalize 24 service members, he said Congress’ failure to act…

Topics: Immigration

Zack De La Rocha Sez ‘To Be Brown is to Be a Suspect’ [Video]

by Jorge Rivas on April 23 2010, 11:09AM

Along with Alto Arizona, Rage Against The Machine’s Zack De La Rocha has made a PSA in response to Arizona Senate Bill 1070, a bill that would dramatically expand police powers to stop, question and detain individuals for not…

Topics: Immigration

Lessons from Cochabamba on Borders, Labels and Justice

by Michelle Chen on April 22 2010, 5:50PM

It’s fitting that migration has been a major focus at the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, which brought thousands from all around the world to gather and discuss the racial, socioeconomic and…

Topics: Environment, Global Affairs, Immigration

Thousands Flood Phoenix to Protest Arizona’s SB 1070

by Julianne Hing on April 22 2010, 4:36PM

RaceWire is hearing reports from folks on the ground that thousands of protesters, including waves of students, from all over the state of Arizona have descended upon the state capitol to tell Governor Jan Brewer to veto SB 1070, the…

Topics: Immigration

Reid, Pelosi Choose Immigration Over Climate

by Jamilah King on April 22 2010, 1:36PM

It may not be the most promising news for some to hear on Earth Day, but certainly a good sign to many frustrated advocates of immigration reform: Democratic party leaders have vowed this week to move on immigration reform in…

Topics: Immigration

Arizona Activists Step Up the Fight, Urge Gov. Brewer to Stop SB 1070

by Julianne Hing on April 21 2010, 2:48PM

In the six days since the Arizona legislature passed SB 1070, the bill that would empower police officers to detain anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” to believe is undocumented, activists have fought to stop the bill’s passage. The bill is…

Topics: Immigration

Washington’s War of Words Over Immigration Heats Up

by Kai Wright on April 21 2010, 10:09AM

After days of blistering criticism from Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez, both the White House and Congressional Hispanic Caucus leadership pushed back yesterday on immigration reform, insisting the process is moving along. White House spokesperson Bill Burton told Roll Call that…

Topics: Immigration

McCain And Kyl’s Border Plan: Send 3,000 Troops Now

by Julianne Hing on April 20 2010, 4:35PM

Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl, both from Arizona, unveiled a 10-point enforcement-only immigration bill yesterday. The bill is their answer to several incidents of violence along the border, including the shooting death of an Arizona rancher, that have ignited…

Topics: Immigration

Gutierrez Rattles Election Saber at Obama Over Immigration

by Kai Wright on April 20 2010, 10:49AM

Rep. Luis Gutierrez is pissed. The Chicago Democrat and Congressional Hispanic Caucus immigration task force chair was once one of President Obama’s loudest Latino advocates. No longer. Here’s what he had to say about the November elections in today’s The…

Topics: Immigration, Politics

Michelle: Congress, not Prez to Blame for Slow Immigration Reform

by Kai Wright on April 19 2010, 9:54AM

First Lady Michelle Obama told Univision in Mexico yesterday that the administration hasn’t moved immigration reform to the front burner, as promised, because Congress is too divided. As The Hill reports, Obama argued, “[W]hat we all have to understand…

Topics: Immigration

ICE Leads Border Raids That Obama Admin Promised to Stop

by Julianne Hing on April 16 2010, 10:38AM

Yesterday, more than 800 law enforcement officials conducted the largest raid on border crossers on both sides of the American and Mexican border. The NY Times called it the largest immigrant smuggling raid in U.S. history intended to take…

Topics: Immigration

Arizona Legislature Passes Racist Immigration Bill, Advocates Urge Governor’s Veto

by Seth Freed Wessler on April 14 2010, 10:00AM

Advocates in the state of Arizona are streaming into Phoenix today to urge Republican Gov. Jan Brewer to veto what might be the most draconian state immigration law ever passed. The Arizona legislature yesterday voted 21-to-35 along party lines to…

Topics: Immigration

Reid Plays Political Football with Latinos, Makes U-Turn on Immigration Reform Promise

by Seth Freed Wessler on April 13 2010, 5:55PM

Just three days after promising immediate action on an immigration bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters today that it will have to wait. The about-face exposes what was already pretty clear: Reid’s promise last weekend in front of…

Topics: Immigration

Senate Majority Leader Promises Immigration Reform Now

by Seth Freed Wessler on April 12 2010, 10:00AM

At a rally for immigration reform in Las Vegas, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised that Congress would start work on an overhaul when it returns from break today. The announcement came as a surprise, especially after other Democratic leaders…

Topics: Immigration

287g Local Immigration Enforcement Under Fire

by Seth Freed Wessler on April 9 2010, 11:02AM

In Obama’s first 15 months in Office, the US continued to deport record numbers of people. The trends result from the Administration’s continued investment in immigration enforcement programs and quotas that advocates, law enforcement officials and others have long protested….

Topics: Immigration

Are Haitians Forgoing Temporary Protected Status?

by Michelle Chen on April 3 2010, 7:20AM

Homeland Security recently reported that only a small fraction of Haitian immigrants potentially eligible for special immigration relief through Temporary Protected Status (TPS) have actually sought that benefit. Immigrant advocates and humanitarian groups lauded the granting of TPS in the…

Topics: Immigration

ICE Caught In A Lie, And Immigration Advocates Demand Accountability

by Julianne Hing on April 1 2010, 4:34PM

In the fallout after this weekend’s WaPo article revealed that ICE enforcement policies included deportation quotas, a practice that ICE had previously denied, groups have rallied together to call for ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton’s firing. The Fair Immigration Reform…

Topics: Immigration