Immigrants and Politics Blog

[Commentary and link to news story from Rodolfo Espino, professor at Arizona State University].

Napolitano has just vetoed a bill mandating local police to check immigration status:

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/236453.php

Her explanation: this is an unfunded mandate that the state of Arizona cannot afford during tough economic times. Keep in mind this is the same governor that, a couple years ago, declared a state of emergency on Arizona’s border counties (just on the heels of Gov. Richardson doing the same in NM) in order to release federal monies to pay for the overtime of local sheriff’s offices to deal with the influx of immigrants in those counties. Nothing inconsistent here: her veto message today stated that this issue is a federal issue and the federal government has not provided enough funds to support this bill.

Tough issue for the governor to face in Arizona. And tough issue for the voters, too.

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[Concerns about Canada’s multicultural policies and the creation of a global electorate for dual citizens.]

Globalized electorates create multiple voting opportunities
Canadians can belong to – and vote in – more than one national group at the same time
Mark Hayward
The Toronto Star
April 18, 2008

The Italian elections this past week saw Silvio Berlusconi elected prime minister for the third time. For the most part, the results will be treated as a minor footnote to the way that other countries carry out the business of democracy. But the Italian elections deserve a second look because they ask some important questions for us here at home.

At the heart of the issue is the fact that Canadian residents who hold Italian passports (some of whom are Canadian citizens as well) were allowed to vote in the election. They gained this right in 2001 and exercised it for the first time in 2006.

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[KR: Tom Tancredo made a somewhat flippant remark with respect to the Pope’s lobbying on the immigration issue, but it brings up a fair point — to what extent is the Catholic church publicly active on this issue because of their membership? And on the issue of membership, is it about giving voice to their concerns, or preserving market share in the face of conversions to evangelical churches and scandals with the church?]

Pope Speaks Up for Immigrants, Touching a Nerve
April 20, 2008
DANIEL J. WAKIN and JULIA PRESTON, New York Times

Even as he was flying to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of protecting immigrant families, not dividing them.

He raised the issue again in a meeting on Wednesday with President Bush, and later that day spoke in Spanish to the church’s “many immigrant children.” And when he ends his visit to New York on Sunday, he will be sent off by a throng of the faithful, showing off the ethnic diversity of American Catholicism.

The choreography underscores the importance to the church here of its growing diversity — especially its increasing Hispanic membership.

Of the nation’s 65 million Roman Catholics, 18 million are Latino, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, and they account for more than two-thirds of the new Catholics in the country since 1960.

Millions of other recent arrivals come from Asia and Africa. More and more parishes depend on priests brought from abroad to serve the flock.

Benedict has calibrated his immigration stance with care, stating the need to protect family unity and immigrants’ human rights, but pointedly avoiding any specifics of the American immigration debate, like the issue of whether to grant legal status to illegal immigrants. Yet last week his visit quickly stirred the crosscurrents of the debate.

His comments drew a rebuke from Representative Tom Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado who has been a leading opponent of illegal immigration.

Accusing the pope of “faith-based marketing,” Mr. Tancredo said Benedict’s comments welcoming immigrants “may have less to do with spreading the Gospel than they do about recruiting new members of the Church.” Mr. Tancredo, a former Catholic who now attends an evangelical Christian church, said it was not in the pope’s “job description to engage in American politics.”

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[KR: Large cities like Los Angeles have, for a long time, implemented policies that would forbid police from getting involved in deportations, designed to engender trust of police in immigrant communities. On the other hand, police departments see deportation of gang members as an important tool. With the latest proposal by a councilmember in Los Angeles, some fear that allowing officers to routinely check the legal status of suspected gang members will lead to the demise of such “sanctuary” provisions.]

Zine wants to amend LAPD policy on immigrants
By Richard Winton,, Andrew Blankstein and David Zahniser
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
April 11, 2008

LAPD officers would be required to report gang members found to be illegal immigrants to federal authorities under a proposal to be introduced in the Los Angeles City Council today. The proposal, by Councilman Dennis Zine, a former LAPD officer, would result in a closer relationship between the department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and is likely to generate controversy.

The plan comes amid a new debate over Special Order 40, a Los Angeles Police Department rule that defines when officers can inquire about the immigration status of suspects. The 29-year-old rule is a cornerstone of the department’s policy toward immigrants and is designed to encourage illegal residents who are victims of crimes or witnesses to cooperate with police without fear of deportation.

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[KR: Apparently the “torpedoes” in the familiar saying refers to Admiral Farragut’s exhortation to ignore naval mines in the Civil War battle of Mobile Bay. According to this article, environmental laws and religious protections don’t seem to be much of a hurdle in the way of building a border fence. Given the now-standard stance of “enforcement first” among all the presidential candidates, it is unclear whether these policies will be reversed next year.]

April 8, 2008
Power to Build Border Fence Is Above U.S. Law
By ADAM LIPTAK, New York Times

Securing the nation’s borders is so important, Congress says, that Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, must have the power to ignore any laws that stand in the way of building a border fence. Any laws at all.

Last week, Mr. Chertoff issued waivers suspending more than 30 laws he said could interfere with “the expeditious construction of barriers” in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. The list included laws protecting the environment, endangered species, migratory birds, the bald eagle, antiquities, farms, deserts, forests, Native American graves and religious freedom.

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[KR: The Movement Vision Lab, a project at the Center for Community Change, sponsored an online video contest on the immigration issue and received many submissions. Recently they awarded two top prizes, one for a video on compassion at the US-Mexico border in Arizona, and the other for a spoof on the outdated system of naturalization at the CIS]

Submissions
http://www.youtube.com/video_response_view_all?v=wweD5J2-R0k

Winners
http://www.movementvisionlab.org/blog/announcing-the-results/view