Now he can spend more time palling around with his National Alliance friends.
In an apparent rebuke to his hard-line politics, Arizona state Senate President Russell Pearce was recalled by voters Tuesday. Senator Pearce was the author of the state’s tough anti-illegal immigration law that has spawned copycat laws in several states from Utah to Alabama.
Senator Pearce’s crusade against illegal immigration made him a national icon but ultimately factored into his historic recall.
His defeat, at the hands of political novice Jerry Lewis, puts a different face on Arizona and signals that voters are ready to take state politics in a new direction, says Bruce Merrill, a political scientist and professor emeritus at Arizona State University in Tempe.
“Most Arizonans are pretty moderate, and I think they just got tired of all of the venom and all of the bitterness,” he says. “It really became more – to some degree – that Russell Pearce was somewhat of an embarrassment.”
Earlier this week, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas announced to the world that he is an undocumented immigrant.
The full article is worth a read as it tells his story in a way that captures the complexity of the brokenness of the immigration system. It’s honest in describing his struggle to understand why identity is so tied to citizenship by mainstream thinking (it shouldn’t be) as well as the help he’s received from mentors to maintain his secret. Vargas then channels all of it to pushing the political debate to a more sane and just conversation.
But I am still an undocumented immigrant. And that means living a different kind of reality. It means going about my day in fear of being found out. It means rarely trusting people, even those closest to me, with who I really am. It means keeping my family photos in a shoebox rather than displaying them on shelves in my home, so friends don’t ask about them. It means reluctantly, even painfully, doing things I know are wrong and unlawful. And it has meant relying on a sort of 21st-century underground railroad of supporters, people who took an interest in my future and took risks for me.
Last year I read about four students who walked from Miami to Washington to lobby for the Dream Act, a nearly decade-old immigration bill that would provide a path to legal permanent residency for young people who have been educated in this country. At the risk of deportation — the Obama administration has deported almost 800,000 people in the last two years — they are speaking out. Their courage has inspired me.
The students mentioned were the walkers involved with the Trail of Dreams project: Felipe Matos, Gaby Pacheco, Carlos Roa and Juan Rodriguez. They, along with countless other DREAMers across the country, have spent the past few years dragging the political establishment kicking and screaming toward justice for migrant youth through passage of the D.R.E.A.M. Act, which stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors.
Watching and supporting the DREAMers in action has been a personal education for me as a migrant/human rights advocate because it has taught me the humbling lesson of privilege that I possess as a U.S.-born citizen.
When I started blogging in early 2005, there was little information (at least at the sites that I visited), with respect to the militarization of the U.S./Mexico border region and the racial profiling of Latinos. I felt an obligation to share my experience as a mestizo who always conveniently got extra attention from law enforcement; plus it also allowed me to celebrate my indigenous culture that was & is under assault by a 21st Century Conquistador Mentality.
Last summer, the DREAMactivists began organizing a series of civil disobedience acts to raise the political stakes on lawmakers who deserved the heat. Senator McCain, who has betrayed his former colleague and friend Senator Kennedy with lunacy, had his office taken over with a sit-in. I attended the vigil outside of the Pima County Jail on the night of the students’ arrest but was able to drive four minutes back to my comfortable home and life after it was over.
The DREAMers don’t have that luxury; nor can they afford to wait for the political establishment to grudgingly toss them crumbs of justice.
National migrant advocacy groups and allied lawmakers have resisted the leadership that the students have provided. Rep. Luis Gutierrez called their tactics a waste of time as recently as last November, yet he is seen as their biggest advocate in the House. On the Senate side, Majority Leader Harry Reid was pressured at Netroots Nation in 2010 by the scariest sight to any lawmaker afraid of a mustard seed-worth of political courage: students in cap and gowns.
In the words of Matias Ramos, one of the silent protestors:
Yahaira, Lizbeth, Prerna and I understand the political gridlock that causes not only the DREAM Act, but most legislative proposals to be stuck in the current Congress. We have seen the obstructionism to all parts of the agenda, and felt the heightened rhetoric against immigrants seep into the national conversation. But regardless of all these things, we wanted our silent presence to let Reid know that we expect more from him at a time when the story of undocumented immigrants is so often distorted.
The DREAM Act failed to pass in the lame duck session of Congress last winter despite the efforts of Senator Reid to push it through. The President called it his “biggest disappointment” of the session; but for the DREAMers and their now most prominent face, Jose Antonio Vargas, a question remains:
Why the delay in relief while deportations increase?
Until that’s answered and resolved, migrant communities and their allies are right to call out lawmakers, regardless of party affiliation. This about their lives & livelihood and it’s time for the Beltway to listen to their stories and ponder what it means to be American.
From the department of Be Careful What You Wish For:
After enactment of House Bill 87, a law designed to drive illegal immigrants out of Georgia, state officials appear shocked to discover that HB 87 is, well, driving a lot of illegal immigrants out of Georgia.
It might almost be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
The resulting manpower shortage has forced state farmers to leave millions of dollars’ worth of blueberries, onions and other crops unharvested and rotting in the fields. It has also put state officials into something of a panic at the damage they’ve done to Georgia’s largest industry.
To point out the obvious, racism has played a heavy role in the crackdown as the demographics of the South shift to a more mestizo hue. Just ask U.S. citizen Marie Justeen Mancha.
When the AZGOP dropped SB1070 onto the heads of migrant and Latino communities, there were immediate calls for a boycott. Rep. Raúl Grijalva bravely joined the movement, putting his political future at risk but ultimately won his reelection in November 2010. Unfortunately, that election also saw a huge wave of conservatism sweep a veto-proof GOP supermajority into both the state House & Senate chambers. The agenda is now driven by the author of SB1070 himself, Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance), who was installed as Senate President in January.
When Pearce took the reins, he declared that Arizona would have the country’s first Tea Party Senate.
A blog from Pearce picked up by the Sonoran Alliance website is signed “Russell Pearce…Tea Party Senate President-Elect.” He said in the blog, “I consider this to be the Tea Party Senate and we intend to take back America one state at a time.” – AZCentral.com
That threat – and it is a threat – is becoming reality. Yesterday, the state’s Senate Appropriations Committee became the first in the nation to advance a repeal of birthright citizenship for a full vote.
After a rocky start, the birthright legislation finally received committee approval on Feb. 22, overcoming the initial hurdle before the full Senate can debate and vote on the measure that is stirring so much raw emotion and is solidifying Arizona’s reputation as ground zero in the struggle to confront illegal immigration.
By an 8-to-5 vote that hewed nearly along party lines, the Senate Appropriations Committee gave the green light to a two-bill proposal whose ultimate aim is to get the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit the issue of American citizenship, though critics question whether the judiciary would actually answer this exact issue and not dismiss the legislation on some other grounds. – AZ Capitol Times
Yesterday’s hearing was packed with a passionate audience on both sides. Interestingly enough, the Chamber spoke out against the bill because they fear an even worse backlash than the one from SB1070, proving that the boycott is working. There’s an opportunity to drive a wedge between them if an economic populist message starts entering the conversation as to why voters should reject the AZGOP’s extremist agenda.
“Russell Pearce’s vision for Arizona is killing jobs, etc etc” …because it’s clear that the moral argument falls on deaf ears in this state. Of course, it’s vital that it continues to be made strongly, and it will.
The Tribune/WGN commissioned a poll of the Chicago area that shows that voters understand that immigration is something that must be handled with nuance and compassion
The telephone poll of 800 heads of households across the six-county Chicago region July 8-14 found that 57 percent of the respondents did not want police to seek illegal immigrants for deportation.
Almost half of those polled, 48 percent, said they believed that illegal immigrants snatched jobs and resources, taking away from society and the economy.
Nearly all of those who responded, 87 percent, believed that some sort of legal status should be offered to the nearly 11 million people in the country illegally, provided that the immigrants aren’t dangerous felons, that they learn English and that they pay fines and back taxes.
I’ve been blogging immigration for over five years now. Earned blisters from marches, protests and vigils close to home and across the country. Voted and advocated for promigrant/prohumanity candidates. Networked to help relief find the random email from a scared brother or sister without documents.
To be honest, it feels unsettling to talk about immigration as a political issue, because it has been used a weapon to destroy the lives of migrant workers, youth, and the communities that give our neighborhoods the vibrant sense of home that we love and cherish.
On the national level, both parties have bought into the notion that there is such a thing as having enough border security – the mirage of satiating the bloodlust of nativists who would rather see a fence hundreds of miles along a desert homeland that has experienced the migration of human beings for as long as the species walked the earth.
We have to be willing to change the way we think about immigration.
We must have the courage to look in the mirror for the reasons that the Summer of 2010 will go down as the deadliest in Arizona. 214 as of July 31st.
We should challenge politicians who are trying to save their careers by offering soundbites that are reckless and unconstitutional.
We must – because it will be the only thing that slows down this march to extremism by the United States. We must remember who we are as human beings.
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.
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
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.
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.
“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. …”
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.
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.