The vigil organized by JFON and CRC Office of Social Justice featured several speakers offering prayers, both in English and Spanish. As prayers were being read, attendees were encouraged to fill out a sheet of paper with a prayer, and pin it to a long piece of cloth to represent “the path to citizenship.” The cloth will be in Holland for a similar vigil at 6 p.m. Thursday at Centennial Park. Eventually, the cloth will be sent to Michigan legislators to protest a similar law being talked about for the state.

To Read More  & View photos >>

By Eartha Jane Melzer 6/18/10 10:27 AM

Congressional candidate Jason Allen and Secretary of State candidates State Sens. Michelle McManus (R-Lake Leelanau) and Cameron Brown (R-Sturgis) are sponsors of a Senate bill that would enact Arizona-style immigration reforms in Michigan.

The Immigration Law Enforcement Act, SB1388, and its companion House bill 6256 would require all police to enforce federal immigration laws and require them to request immigration papers from anyone they suspect of being in the county illegally.  According to Emily Carney, legislative director for McManus, the law mirrors legislation recently enacted in Arizona.

That law has prompted protests, boycotts and legal challenges by groups who claim it is unfair and will promote racial profiling.  Carney said that the McManus office has received e-mails and phone calls with positive feedback about the bill.  Jeremy Hendges, spokesman for Jason Allen’s congressional campaign, described the candidate’s take on immigration policy this way:

“From the national security angle, we need to make sure we are not letting in drug dealers, human traffickers, and terrorists. People who are coming here and not working legally — they are not paying in to tax system they should not be expecting to be using all these benefits without paying in the system that you and I pay into.”

Hendges acknowledged that Michigan does not have a serious problem with illegal immigration.   “Look at the southern border,” he said. “We’ve been fortunate in Michigan that we haven’t had a lot of trouble.”  Hendges said that while people do sometimes mention immigration on the campaign trail, “the number one issue hands down is jobs and the economy.”

Critics say that the immigration legislation backed by the term-limited state senator will actually harm the state’s damaged economy by creating a social climate that is hostile to all immigrants.

To read more:

http://michiganmessenger.com/38884/republicans-campaign-on-arizona-style-immigration-reform

Favorite quote from the article:

Asked how Allen’s immigrant position would affect his chances in the congressional election Lessenberry said, “It may well help him, because the vast majority of the population is woefully ignorant.”

SB 1070 and CRIME

Q: Didn’t the state legislature need to do something about the crime caused by illegal immigration in Arizona?

A: Despite the claims that SB 1070 was needed to fight crime in the state, Arizona’s crime rate has been falling for years.

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, the rates for both property crime and violent crime (including murder, assault, and rape) have been falling in Arizona in recent years.3

The violent crime rate fell from 512 per 100,000 people in 2005 to 447 per 100,000 people in 2008, the last year for which data is available.

The property crime rate fell from 5,850 per 100,000 people in 2005 to 4,291 per 100,000 people in 2008.

�Rates for murder, aggravated assault, and rape in particular have clearly fallen in recent years.

Q: Don’t illegal immigrants cause crime?

A: Unauthorized immigration is not associated with higher crime rates.

Although the unauthorized immigrant population doubled to about 12 million from 1994 to 2004, data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates that the violent crime rate in the United States declined by 35.1 percent during this time and the property crime rate fell by 25.0 percent.4

The decline in crime rates was not just national, but also occurred in border cities and other cities with large immigrant populations such as San Diego, El Paso, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Miami.5

Q: But surely there is a rise in border crime related to illegal immigration?

A: Border cities are not necessarily prone to higher crime due simply to their location. As a story in Reason Magazine describes, El Paso, Texas—which is a relatively poor and heavily Latino city that is home to many unauthorized immigrants—is among the safest big cities in the United States, even though it is next door to the violence‐ridden Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez.6

Q: What about the kidnappings in Phoenix that have received so much media attention?

A: There are serious issues relating to human trafficking that need to be addressed, but SB 1070 won’t stop the kind of kidnappings going on today. Most of these kidnappings are occurring among members of criminal gangs that smuggle drugs, guns, and unauthorized immigrants—or are targeting unauthorized immigrants who are in the process of being smuggled.

A May 2010 report by the Rocky Mountain Information Network notes that “Phoenix ranks only behind Mexico City in the number of kidnappings, most if not all of which are tied to drug cartels in Mexico.” Moreover, “undocumented aliens are held against their will by human smugglers and traffickers at ‘drop house’ locations throughout Phoenix and surrounding cities.”7

In explaining the large number of kidnappings which have occurred in the Phoenix area, police Sgt. Tommy Thompson told The Arizona Republic in July 2009: “We’re talking about drop houses where people who have used coyotes to get into the country may be held for ransom. And we’re talking about the kidnapping of smugglers and associates. I have no fear that my kids or grandkids will be victims.”8

For more, visit IPC site at:  http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/SB1070_Guide_060210.pdf

One of the problems with debates on serious issues being played out in the media is that all sides, by necessity, make their arguments with shorthand and sound bites. The same is true, in spades, of the public discussion on Arizona’s SB1070 immigration law.

Much of the debate centers around the law’s requirement that law enforcement personnel demand immigration documents when they have “reasonable suspicion” that someone they have stopped might be undocumented. Proponents of the law often give the example of an Arizona driver who has been stopped for speeding and is unable to produce a valid driver’s license as an example of reasonable suspicion.

While that example makes for a nice sound bite, the reality is a little more complicated. If Arizona had meant to limit the circumstances to that, they readily could have written a law that said that if a person required to produce an Arizona driver’s license cannot do so, check for his proof of legal status. That would have been ethnically neutral, and would have avoided getting into the vague territory of “reasonable suspicion.” But they didn’t do that. Instead, they went much further.

To read more:   click here

By The Grand Rapids Press Editorial Board

May 11, 2010, 6:00AM

Illegal immigration remains a serious problem in the United States, but the draconian new law in Arizona is no kind of solution. Just as impractical is a knock-off of the Arizona statute that has been proposed in Michigan.

The only sensible answer remains comprehensive federal immigration reform of the type that has eluded Congress for years. Though the flood of illegal immigrants heading across the border affects individual states, and states such as Arizona more severely than others, the problem is a national one that demands a national answer.

That law should have two major emphases. First, the federal government must do a better job of securing America’s porous southern border. That means stepped up enforcement. Employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants deserve tougher scrutiny, too.

Second, there needs to be a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally. Many of these people have become part of the structures of our society, employed in service industries and agriculture, and interwoven into family relationships with American citizens. Ejecting the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants is a practical impossibility that threatens the country’s economy and would tear apart well-established families.

The route to legal membership in U.S. society should not be simple or easy. Fines should be levied, and those who violated the rules should go to the back of the citizenship line behind people who came to the country through legitimate channels.

The path-to-citizenship proposal has been the sticking point in past reform attempts. The resistance fails to recognize that the majority of the people in this country illegally are here for the same reasons people have sought America since its founding: economic opportunity, a better life for their children, a free society, the chance to contribute.

To read more>>> click here

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Arizona has just passed the toughest anti-illegal immigrant law in the country — but you have to wonder: Why now? Illegal immigration is down nationally from its high in 2000, with border apprehensions lower than they’ve been in 35 years. There are fewer illegal aliens in the U.S. today than there were just two years ago, from 2008 to 2009, 1.2 million illegal immigrants left. In Arizona alone, more than 100,000 illegal aliens have left the state over the last two years, and the number of illegal aliens caught trying to cross into Arizona has been down by almost 40 percent over the last three years. So why did politicians rush to enact a poorly drafted, arguably unconstitutional law at this moment?

The horrific murder of an Arizona rancher in March provided popular momentum for the legislation. A few days before his murder, Robert Krentz found large quantities of illegal drugs on his property and reported it to the police — certainly motive for the vicious cartels that run drugs across the Mexican border to take a hit out on Krentz. Unfortunately, this one murder has led many people to believe that crime in Arizona is rampant and that illegal immigrants are the cause.

The problem with this theory is that actual crime statistics tell a different story. Crime in Arizona has consistently gone down over the last 15 years, even while illegal immigration was increasing. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports show that the violent crime rate statewide in Arizona has been cut by almost 40 percent since 1995, and property crimes have followed the same pattern.

Yesterday Governor Brewer of Arizona signed a bill requiring police to harass or arrest anyone who “appears to be an undocumented immigrant.” This bill will create an America where people are racially profiled, our fragile economy is further damaged, and our neighborhoods are less safe because good people fear the police. This law could spread across the country, if you and I don’t take action to stop it.

Do we want to live in an America where this is acceptable? Or will we live in a country where 12 million people have a path to citizenship, children aren’t torn away from their parents, and police can protect our cities and neighborhoods because they have the trust of those living there.

Sign this petition to the President and Congress saying that you stand for the America that values people and their families, the economy, and our public safety.

Governor Brewer provided a clear illustration for why we need comprehensive immigration reform. Thousands of people have been gathering at the Arizona statehouse for the 24-hour vigil that’s been ongoing since the state legislature passed the bill last Monday. In addition, more than 7.000 Reform Immigration FOR America supporters in Arizona called and faxed the Governor to tell her that if she signs this bill, she’ll do so without the support of her state.

Will you help us fight this bill in Arizona and continue to build the movement for better immigration policy?

Click here to sign this petition

We’ll take these petitions and deliver them to the President and leadership in Congress. President Obama is paying attention – in response to our efforts already, he said, “Our failure to act responsibly at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others.”

He couldn’t be more right – we must stop this in Arizona before it makes its way across the country. Please join me in opposing this bill today.

Gabe Gonzalez
Reform Immigration FOR America

p.s. On May 1, we’re marching in cities across the country to show that we won’t wait any longer – find a march near you!

Washington D.C. - The American Immigration Council applauds today’s Supreme Court decision on the right to counsel for noncitizens charged with committing a crime. The Court held that criminal defense lawyers must advise their noncitizen clients about the risk of deportation if they accept a guilty plea. The Court recognized that current immigration laws impose harsh and mandatory deportation consequences onto criminal convictions, and that Congress eliminated from these laws the Attorney General’s discretionary authority to cancel removal in meritorious cases. The Court said, “These changes to our immigration law have dramatically raised the stakes of a noncitizen’s criminal conviction. The importance of accurate legal advice for noncitizens accused of crimes has never been more important.”

To Read More:

http://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/docs/Padilla-PressRelease.pdf

Link to video: tnjfon.org