RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Local governments cannot opt out of a federal program that checks the fingerprints of people who are arrested against a database to determine if they are illegal immigrants, the head of the immigration enforcement agency said Friday. Read more
Is your state considering an Arizona copycat law?
By Liz Goodwin liz Goodwin Fri Jan 21, 11:32 am ET
More than a dozen states are considering following in the footsteps of Arizona and requiring local police officers to check the immigration status of people they suspect may be in the country illegally. Mississippi could soon become the first to do so. Read more
Private Prison Profits behind Arizona’s SB1070
October 28, 2010
Last year, two men showed up in Benson, Ariz., a small desert town 60 miles from the Mexico border, offering a deal.
Glenn Nichols, the Benson city manager, remembers the pitch.
“The gentleman that’s the main thrust of this thing has a huge turquoise ring on his finger,” Nichols said. “He’s a great big huge guy and I equated him to a car salesman.”
What he was selling was a prison for women and children who were illegal immigrants. Read more
Feds say fingerprint and check immigration database or else!
Localities Warned on Fingerprinting
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Obama signs Border Bill to Increase Surveillance
By JULIA PRESTON, New York Times August 14, 2010
President Obama signed into law a $600 million bill on Friday to pay for 1,500 new border agents, additional unmanned surveillance drones and new Border Patrol stations along the southwest border.
The measure sailed through Congress in little more than a week with broad bipartisan support, demonstrating Read more
ANOTHER IMMIGRATION POLICY IS POSSIBLE!
By David Bacon
Truthout Report
http://www.truth-out.org/another-immigration-policy-is-possible60995
Truthout Report
http://www.truth-out.org/another-immigration-policy-is-possible60995
Thousands of leftwing activists just spent a week at the US Social Forum in Detroit, gathered again under the banner “Another World is Possible!” Among them hundreds added a new subtext: “Another Immigration Policy is Possible!” Read more
Citizenship Law Fans Women’s Fears in Arizona
By Sharon Johnson
WeNews correspondent
Arizona’s new law on checking immigration papers rings special alarms
for women whose new names after marriage or divorce might not match
electronic records. Others in mixed-status relationships fear their
families could get torn apart.
http://www.womensenews.org/story/the-nation/100504/citizenship-law-fans-womens-fears-in-arizona
Full article below:
New immig. reform proposal based on human rights & a comparison chart
(from David Bacon – April 26, 2010) see comparison chart following letter
Dear friends,
A year ago many organizations and individuals in northern California came
together to affirm the need for an immigration policy based on human rights.
At that meeting, we resolved to work on a strategy for meaningful
immigration reform, centered around an alternative to the kind of proposals
made in Congress over the last few years, and which we are hearing again
this year. Read more
Let’s Make It Real! Planning meeting-Apr. 12
At the April 3rd meeting of Stop The Checkpoints it was decided to hold a Planning Meeting on Monday, April 12th at 4:00 pm at the Port Angeles Library (their week-long furlough days are over now).
Planning will take place for actions on May 1st to promote real immigration reform based on human rights and workers’ rights instead of corporate profits. Read more
Next Meeting April 3, 2pm in Port Angeles
Stop The Checkpoints will meet in Port Angeles on Saturday, April 3rd, at 2:00 pm. Due to Library furlough of workers for a week due to budget cuts, the meeting will be held in a home near the Library. Please email info@stopthecheckpoints.com or call 360-452-7534 for the meeting location.
Topic will be: What real immigration reform should look like and how we can achieve it! Articles previously posted below provide some views on this topic. Bring ideas for action plans.
Immigrant rights groups slam Obama, Democrats for slow action with legalization bil
By N.C. Aizenman and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 9, 2010; A02
Leaders of nearly a dozen grass-roots immigrant rights groups excoriated President Obama and congressional Democrats on Monday, accusing them of moving too slowly Read more