Arizona Bans Ethnic Studies

The Arizona Republican Party continues its campaign of ethnic-cleansing in the state:

Adding insult to injury, the Arizona legislature passed a bill yesterday outlawing ethnic studies programs:

HB 2281 would make it illegal for a school district to have any courses or classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity “instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.”

It also would ban classes that “promote resentment toward a race or class of people.”

Taking the long-view, which is painfully difficult when one’s cultura is directly targeted and oppressed in the present, these misguided legislators will go the way of the dinosaurs as every young Latino citizen becomes a voter:

Hispanics make up roughly a third of Arizona’s 6.6 million people, according to the Census Bureau.

But while half of the state’s older Hispanics are immigrants that came to the U.S. either legally or illegally, about 90% of those under 18 were born in the U.S., according to analysis of Census data by Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute.

“If immigration ended tomorrow, Hispanic births would continue to fuel rapid growth because the population is young and has higher fertility than other groups,” says Mr. Johnson.

Wall Street Journal

The young people will vote, too. Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer, John Huppenthal and the rest of the AZGOP extremists have radicalized the young generation to demand equality and justice for our people.

 

Arizona May 1st Marches 2010

Here is the flyer for the May 1st 2010 March – La Gran Marcha – in Tucson, to be held tomorrow beginning at 9am.

More information can be found at the Tucson May 1st Coalition website. There are events scheduled all over the country, including in Phoenix and Flagstaff:

Flagstaff, Arizona
May Day Freedom March

Time: May 1, 3:30pm
Location:Flagstaff City Hall 211 W Aspen
Details: Meet at City hall @ 3:30 p.m. We will be at city hall demonstrating our support for immigration reform! We must get our point across to our elected officials and get immigration reform passed this summer. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Bring signs

Phoenix, AZ

Midnight Vigil April 30th: Gather at 10:30pm, service at 12:00am (midnight)
Evening Vigil: May 1, 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Location:1700 W. Washington Street, State Capitol, Phoenix, AZ
Organizer: Raquel Teran

May 1st Marcha – gather at Veteran’s Coliseum at 8:30am
March to State Capitol for rally

To find an event near you, please see the Reform Immigration For America website. There are actions happening all over the country this weekend to fight against extremism like AZ’s SB1070.

Immigration Solidarity provides the following tips for participation:

Wear White T-Shirt, organize local actions to support immigrant worker rights!

1. No to anti-immigrant legislation, and the criminalization of the immigrant communities.
2. No to militarization of the border.
3. No to the immigrant detention and deportation.
4. No to the guest worker program.
5. No to employer sanction and “no match” letters.
6. Yes to a path to legalization without condition for undocumented immigrants NOW.
7. Yes to speedy family reunification.
8. Yes to civil rights and humane immigration law.
9. Yes to labor rights and living wages for all workers.
10. Yes to the education and LGBTQ immigrant legislation

 

The Democrat’s Arbitrary Immigration Framework

This afternoon, Democratic Senators Reid, Schumer and Menendez will stage a press conference in Washington, D.C. to lay out their go-it-alone framework for an overhaul of the country’s immigration system. The 26-page plan (.pdf warning) is heavy on what I would describe as arbitrary enforcement mechanisms to appease…someone. Not sure who, exactly, because no matter what gets laid out on the table it will be met with howling screeches of “AAAAAAAAMNESTY!!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!ELEVEN!!!!!!!!!”

I’ve been blogging this issue for over five years now. I know the drill.

Between now and some future date that will undoubtedly be after the 2010 midterm elections, members of Congress will dream up new ways for undocumented workers and students to perform the Cupid Shuffle while balancing themselves on an exercise ball amidst the “they did it legal crowd” of mostly-white people.

There will be no recourse for undocumented workers who have been exploited as slaves. There will be no mea culpas as to how federal border policy is directly responsible for the crisis situation along la frontera with dead bodies found in increasing numbers every year. And there certainly won’t be any attention given to the economic/trade policies that keep the United States’ boot at the throat of sender nations.

It’s all arbitrary. And creepy:

Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this proposal, the Social Security Administration will begin issuing biometric social security cards. These cards will be fraud-resistant, tamper-resistant, wear resistant, and machine-readable social security cards containing a photograph and an electronically coded micro-processing chip which possesses a unique biometric identifier for the authorized card-bearer.

The card will also possess the following characteristics: (1) biometric identifiers, in the form of templates, that definitively tie the individual user to the identity credential; (2) electronic authentication capability; (3) ability to verify the individual locally without requiring every employer to access a biometric database; (4) offline verification capability (eliminating the need for 24-hour, 7-days-per-week online databases); (5) security features that protect the information stored on the card; (6) privacy protections that allow the user to control who is able to access the data on the card; (7) compliance with authentication and biometric standards recognized by domestic and international standards organizations. The new biometric social security card shall enable the following outcomes: (1) permit the individual cardholder to control who can access their information; (2) allow electronic authentication of the credential to determine work authorization; and (3) possession of scalability of authentication capability depending on the requirement of the application.

The libertarians have been largely silent on the government expansion involved with SB1070 in Arizona. I don’t expect them to speak out against this either. After all, we have to sacrifice for the greater good to get them, don’t we?

This latest mierda burger is not something I was willing to accept when the Bush Administration tried to serve it and I’m certainly not going to do so from a Democratic chef. The entire document is akin to getting kicked in the teeth after the AZGOP just finished whipping us for daring to disobey our masters.

No Gracias.

 

SB1070: Racial Politics and the Boycott

If anything is clear, it’s that the language of Arizona’s SB1070 was written so vague that it’s possible for anyone who is capable of thought to have an opinion on how it could be implemented.

Then there’s Sarah Palin.

She is pretending like racial profiling never happens and the brown menace is simply working ourselves into a frenzy in order to race-bait the white folk and score cheap political points through the lamestream media so that Barack Obama can keep palling around with Kenyan terrorists. Or something:

In an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity — who introduced the segment by accusing “pro-illegal immigration” protesters of not actually reading the legislation — Sarah Palin said “there is no ability or opportunity in there for the racial profiling” in the law.

Critics have argued that the broader powers of law enforcement officials to stop and question suspected illegals who would, with this legislation, be considered to be “breaking the law” if they are in the state, will inevitably lead to racial profiling.

Palin, however, denied these claims.

Huffington Post

Closer to Arizona, however, the adjective racist is being used quite commonly to describe Arizona’s Shame: SB1070

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, called on President Barack Obama to fight a new law signed Friday in Arizona that gives police power to request ID from suspected illegal immigrants.

Grijalva, speaking at a rally Sunday at the Arizona state Capitol, asked Obama to not cooperate with the law, according to the Associated Press.

“We’re going to overturn this unjust and racist law, and then we’re going to overturn the power structure that created this unjust, racist law,” Grijalva said.

The Hill

Watching the debate unfold across this country, the reaction I’ve had most commonly is: “Wow. How very white of you.”

Here’s a perfect example from a usual suspect as he reacts to my brown Congressman of Mexican descent:

REP. STEVE KING: Well, it looks like the case is that, that he’s trying to scare the businesses out of Arizona, or he’s trying to get the businesses to change their position and press the legislature to reverse the law that was just signed by the governor the other day. I’m wondering if we look at the map of Congressman Grijalva’s congressional district if we haven’t already ceded that component of Arizona to Mexico judging by the voice that comes out of him, he’s advocating for Mexico rather than the United States and against the rule of law, which is one of the central pillars of American exceptionalism.

Media Matters video & transcript

You know what that sounds like? The same hate speech that comes from white supremacist vigilante groups that terrorize the border region. It’s that same tone of dismissal that people of color hear everyday. “Oh, there he goes again, advocating for his own kind.”

Poof. Dismissed.

Well, here’s a white guy that agrees with Congressman Grijalva:

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik tells KGUN9 News that SB 1070, Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigration, is a “racist law,” and says he has no intention of complying with it. In doing so, Dupnik becomes the first major local law enforcement official to officially rebel against the bill since Governor Jan Brewer signed it into law on Friday.

Dupnik told KGUN9’s Steve Nunez that the law is “disgusting” and “unnecessary.” Dupnik said his deputies plan to keep on doing what they’ve always done. He said when illegal immigrants wind up in his custody, his deputies will detain them for federal agents, but will not take them to the county jail.

Dupnik said he realizes that, under the terms of SB 1070, he could get sued for failing to comply with the law. But he indicated that’s a risk he’s willing to take. Dupnik insisted that federal law supersedes state law.

(via VivirLatino)

Sheriff Dupnik and Congressman Grijalva share a wide swath of the same jurisdiction in Southern Arizona. We are a region that respects our indigenous roots and culture. In fact, we pride ourselves in celebrating all of the representative traditions among our people at every opportunity. It drives conquistadors like Steve King and Russell Pearce nuts.

Let’s stop pretending that SB1070 will be enforced the same for a white snowbird in Scottsdale who decided not to the leave the state during the summer versus a Xicano family that’s celebrating a child’s birthday at Peter Piper Pizza. The whole concept of “attrition through enforcement” is nothing more than a fancy term for ethnic cleansing.

When outsiders get up on their platforms and sneer down their noses at the living mestizaje found here, especially those who insist on passing laws to disrupt our way of life, you can bet a truckload of apple pie that there will be resistance; because we have been targeted for a long time by federal immigration enforcement on land that has been home to our ancestors for centuries. Our skin color, our accents, our language are all suspect to an oppressive federal system that SB1070 expands unjustly.

For several years I’ve been told that I should keep my mouth shut and accept that I’ll be profiled since so many brown people migrate to the U.S. to steal jobs provide for their families. “Sacrifice for the greater good”, I’m told. Well, I have come to a place where I can agree to do that.

I stand with Congressman Grijalva on a boycott of Arizona.

It will be painful for our economy that is barely starting to recover from the Bush Recession, but in order to force the conservatives in power to take racial justice and equality serious, we’ll need to translate the message into their mother tongue: money.

So be it. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

 

SB1070: Flagstaff City Council Explores Challenge

The Arizona Daily Sun reports from Northern Arizona:

The Flagstaff City Council came out Tuesday against the state’s controversial new illegal immigration law, unwilling to enforce a law that one councilmember called “horrible” and “racist.”

They echoed sentiments held by a crowd of about 100 who turned out for the meeting at City Hall.

“I am here to speak on the behalf on the kids, los ninos,” said Ada Luz Mendoza — she knows of small children who spend nights worrying that their parents are going to be taken away at any time under the new law.

But the council, with Scott Overton absent, did not decide specifically how to oppose the immigration law, known as SB1070, during their Tuesday night meeting. The city attorney said she was unwilling to lay out legal options for the city council publicly without doing some research.

The council is expected to review its legal options against the measure next Tuesday.

Opposition to Arizona’s march to extremism will not be fading anytime soon. There is a renewed sense of activism growing each day. November will be referendum on the nativists who crossed the line with SB1070. Voter engagement campaigns are already revving up to make it so.

We will not forget.

 

Tucson Breaks Mariachi Guinness World Record

The haters have received way too much attention lately.

Here’s a video from last week, where participants at the Tucson International Mariachi Conference broke the Guinness World Record for most mariachi playing on one stage.

Mexican culture is indigenous to Arizona, Russell Pearce. Despite your efforts, we aren’t going anywhere.

 

Quote of the Day

“Would you support deportation of natural-born American citizens that are the children of illegal aliens,” Hunter was asked. “I would have to, yes,” Hunter said. “… We simply cannot afford what we’re doing right now,” he said. “… It takes more than just walking across the border to become an American citizen. It’s what’s in our souls. …”

–Rep. Duncan Hunter, Republican from California

At least he’s honest.

 

Kris Kobach: The Nativist Behind SB1070

Rachel Maddow did an exposé on her show last night, explaining the various white supremacist ties that exist in the anti-immigrant lobby.

Kris Kobach is the advisor that claims to have threaded the needle perfectly for State Senator Russell Pearce while writing SB1070:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Of course, if you were reading Latino Político in January of 2007, you already knew of Kobach’s ties to FAIR. But I digress.

My question is: how many strikes will it take for Kris Kobach to lose all credibility? He already lost the Hazelton, Pennsylvania case that was another source of outcry due to extremism:

Kobach has attempted to pass severe anti-immigration laws in towns across Pennsylvania, California, Missouri, and Texas. What do these communities have in common besides Kris Kobach? They reap no benefits from the anti-immigrant laws and ordinances he is trying to implement and are often left with a costly legal mess.

In Hazelton, PA, after an ordinance crafted by Kobach and fellow IRLI attorney Michael Hethmon was struck down by a federal judge, the city was forced to pay for all legal fees.

Imagine 2050

Now SB1070 is facing a growing chorus of opposition, including from national Republican leaders & candidates such as Jeb Bush, Karl Rove, Meg Whitman, Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsay Graham.

Wow! Sounds like a wedge issue to me! And don’t let Mitt Romney slither away unnoticed: from Kobach’s campaign page for his current Secretary of State campaign in Kansas:

Policy Adviser to Presidential Candidates Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson, 2007-2008.

The ties explored by Rachel Maddow run deep within the Republican Party. It’s refreshing to see them exposed to a wider audience, especially those of the AZGOP.

 

Urgent: Trail of Dreams Donations Needed

Since January 1st, 2010, four students have been walking from Miami, FL to Washington, DC in an effort to demand action from Congress on the DREAM Act. The Trail of Dreams website has their route and links to blog posts from various stops along the way.

This week, they are hosting several events & rallies as they arrive in DC. They hit a major snag today, though – some loser broke into the accompanying RV and stole several items. You can help the DreamWalkers by donating at this link:

www.trail2010.org/donate

To give you an idea of the strength & determination of these courageous students, here’s a response on Twitter to the theft:

They took all of our computers…they took our trail credit card…but they didn’t take our spirits. #todreams

Please donate and beyond that:

• ask your Congressional representatives to co-sponsor the DREAM Act.
• Follow the Trail of Dreams on Facebook and Twitter

 

SB1070 Backlash Now International and Bipartisan

Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona was in Tucson yesterday for a town hall meeting along with 200+ protestors outside. CNN has video of her remarks where she does a decent impression of a Fiddling Nero:

“I believe it’s not going to have the kind of economic impact that some people think that it might,” Brewer, a Republican, said.

You can almost hear her willing it to be true.

Brewer, and the rest of the Arizona Republican Party, are counting on the backlash to their extremist actions to fade. The opposite is happening, however; the Latino community is not backing down and we are sending a strong message to all of culprits behind SB1070 that we will not be intimidated by our government.

Looking around at the headlines, it’s becoming clearer that we are winning this political fight. The backlash is growing in intensity, crossing international borders:

The Secretary General for the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, spoke earlier about the situation that thousands of Latin American immigrants face in the state of Arizona and spoke about “the concerns of the OAS, of the Secretary General, and of the Latin American community over the passing of a law in the US state of Arizona that we consider to be discriminatory against immigrants, and in particular against the population of Latin American origins living in that country.”

Buenos Aires Herald

Plus, the state of Sonora, just south of Arizona in México, has backed out of a cooperation meeting that is held every year to discuss regional opportunities for commerce and safety. They canceled as a symbolic gesture of protest to the new law.

Also on Monday, President Calderon reiterated his earlier criticism of the Arizona immigration crackdown, saying in comments to the Institute for Mexicans Abroad that the law “opens the doors for unacceptable racial discrimination.”

According to a copy of the speech posted on the presidential Web site, Calderon said that commercial, tourism and cultural ties between Mexico Arizona would be affected by the law. “We are going to act,” he said, without specifying details.

Meanwhile, Mexican media reported Monday that the federal congressional delegation of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Mexico’s third-largest political party, had called upon Sonora Gov. Guillermo Padres Elias to break commercial and tourism ties with Arizona over the new law.

Nogales International

The AZGOP is so extreme that it’s now finding itself under ridicule from members of its own party on the national level. Tomás Tancredo was one shocker to raise questions of SB1070’s scope, Joe Scarborough is another. The former Florida GOP Congressman has a huge platform with Morning Joe on MSNBC and blasted Arizona’s Republican-sponsored initiative:

It does offend me that when one out of every three citizens in the state of Arizona are Hispanics, and you have now put a target on the back of one of three citizens who if they’re walking their dog around a neighborhood, if they’re walking their child to school, and they’re an American citizen or a legal, legal immigrant, can now put a target on their back and make them think every time they walk out of their door, they may have to prove something.

Like a tuning fork, the backlash will continue to build against SB1070.

Due to Arizona’s proximity to México, this law is an act of voter suppression of Latinos – a Juan Crow initiative– by the Arizona Republican Party. Well, we won’t forget and we won’t be intimidated come November. Here’s an appetizer of what’s to come:

…Democratic candidate Terry Goddard leads Brewer 71-25 with Hispanics. That may seem ho hum, but consider this: Barack Obama only won Hispanic voters in the state by a 56-41 margin. So Goddard’s outperforming him by more than 30 points there. And on our September poll Goddard was up just 53-33 with Hispanics so it’s a 26 point improvement on the margin even relative to that.

Public Policy Polling