Mexico Asks US to Halt Parts of Arizona’s SB1070 Immigration Law

Fox News Latino, 12/27/2012

Opponents of Arizona’s controversial SB1070 law have a new ally: Mexico. The Mexican government is urging a U.S. court to block a part of the law that prohibits the harboring of undocumented immigrants. Lawyers representing Mexico asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing Wednesday to uphold a lower-court ruling that blocked police from enforcing the ban. Mexico argued the ban harms diplomatic relations between the United States, undermines the U.S.’s ability to speak to a foreign country with one voice and encourages the marginalization of Mexicans and people who appear to be from Latin America.

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Arizona Immigration Law Survives Ruling

The New York Times, 9/6/12

A decision by a federal judge on Wednesday paved the way for the most controversial section of Arizona’s sweeping immigration legislation, requiring the authorities to verify the status of people who they suspect are in the country illegally, to finally take effect.

In denying a request by a coalition of civil rights groups to bar the provision, commonly referred to as “show me your papers,” Judge Susan Bolton of United States District Court in Phoenix adopted the same wait-and-see approach suggested by the Supreme Court in June, saying that the measure could be challenged “as interpreted and applied after it goes into effect.”

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Police face legal minefield when they implement most contentious part of Ariz. immigration law

The Washington Post, 9/5/12

Gov. Brewer

More than two years after it was signed into law, the most contentious part of Arizona’s landmark immigration legislation is expected to finally go into effect following a federal court ruling issue late Wednesday.But the U.S. Supreme Court has laid a legal minefield that Arizona now must navigate when the critical provision takes effect. The clause, one of the few significant ones that the high court left standing in a June ruling, requires all Arizona police officers to check the immigration status of people they stop while enforcing other laws and suspect are in the country illegally…

Arizona police were formally trained on how to implement the law shortly after Gov. Jan Brewer signed it in 2010. The heads of some of the state’s biggest law enforcement agencies — the Phoenix and Tucson police departments and the Pima County sheriff’s office — were critical of it but ultimately said they would obey whatever parts the courts found to be constitutional.

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Sheriff Joe Arpaio Ethnic Discrimination Case Goes to Court

Fox News Latino, 7/19/12

Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio is scheduled to face trail Thursday over  allegations that he systematically discriminated against Latinos and illegally  usurped federal authority during years of sweeps aimed at rounding up  undocumented immigrants.

The lawsuit, Melendres v. Arpaio, alleges that Arpaio’s office and his  volunteer posses target people who look Latino to check their immigration  status, and stop Latinos more frequently and for longer durations than  non-Latinos…

Arpaio, the country’s self-proclaimed toughest sheriff, denies his office  discriminates against Latinos.

“This office aggressively enforces all local, state and federal laws in order  to combat the growing illegal immigration epidemic in Maricopa County,” Arpaio’s  office says in a statement on its website. “Deputy sheriffs are specifically  trained to identify indicators that a person or persons might be in this country  illegally without violating their constitutional rights.”

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Poll: Arizona-style immigration in Virginia?

Politico, 7/18/12

Virginians overwhelmingly want their state to adopt a tough Arizona-style immigration law, according to a new poll Wednesday.

Close to two-thirds of voters want the Old Dominion to follow Arizona’s lead and adopt a policy requiring police officers to check the immigration status of people they suspect may be in the country illegally, with 34 percent opposing such a move, the Quinnipiac survey found…

Meanwhile, 53 percent of registered voters support the Obama administration’s decision to allow illegal immigrants who came to the country as children to obtain work permits, according to Quinnipiac. Forty percent oppose it. But only 14 percent said it would make them more likely to vote for the president, half the number who said it would make them less likely to support him. Over half said it wouldn’t impact their vote.

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Vidalia farmers turn to prison system for harvest help after immigration crackdown

CNN, 7/9/12

For the past few months, the issue of farm labor has been front and center in Georgia. That’s because last year, the state passed HB 87 – a tough immigration law modeled after Arizona’s HB 1070. As a result, many farmers complained they had issues finding the farm labor they needed after HB 87 passed. It seemed that migrant workers didn’t even bother looking for jobs in the Peach State, and farmers were already having a difficult time filling positions with laborers on guest worker visas because of their cost and paperwork.

The farmers commissioned a study from the University of Georgia’s Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development to determine the extent of damage the shortage had done. The study examined seven staple Georgia crops, Vidalia onions included. The findings were shocking: 18 Vidalia-producing farms lost an estimated $16,312,345 and 835 jobs. In total, the seven crops studied lost almost $75 million and more than 5,200 jobs because of the labor shortage.

The state stepped in, with the suggestion of using probationers to do the work. The plan has helped…This season, one onion farmer has turned to the state again – only this time, current prisoners are being allowed to help with the harvest.

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Ruling on Arizona’s immigration law leaves many questions unanswered

The Los Angeles Times, 06/27/2012

Across the state, the law’s “show me your papers” provision upheld by the Supreme Court has created confusion and anxiety, and moved Latinos — both legal and illegal residents — to ask an overriding question: How can you promise we won’t be singled out because of how we look?

If I’m traveling with other Latinos in a carpool will I be stopped?

Will you accept my Mexican-issued ID?

If I witness a crime, should I call the police?

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Arizona Ruling Only a Narrow Opening for Other States

The New York Times, 06/25/2012

While the Supreme Court’s mixed decision on Monday on Arizona’s immigration enforcement law gave a big political boost to officials there who supported it, the ruling does not seem likely to unleash a new wave of legislation by other states to crack down on illegal immigration.

On the basis of the ruling, five other states that have already passed similar laws — Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah — should be able to defeat some of the many challenges they faced from civil rights organizations, which have held up those laws in the courts.

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Supreme Court to hear arguments over Ariz. immigration law

USA Today, 4/25/12

Crowds began arriving early at the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday morning as justices prepared to consider the fate of what many consider the toughest state immigration law in the country.

Arizona Senate Bill 1070 has become a flashpoint for the debate over how to enforce immigration in the U.S. and has served as a blueprint for five other states that adopted similar laws the following year. The Arizona Legislature passed the bill in 2010, and it was signed into law by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer on April 23, 2010.

Sponsors said the law was necessary because the federal government has failed to control the influx of illegal immigrants into the country, forcing states such as Arizona to grapple with the security concerns and high costs of educating and caring for illegal immigrants. They said the law simply empowered police and state officials to help enforce federal immigration laws.

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Immigration controversy killing Arizona’s economic relations with Mexico

Hugh Holub, The Tucson Border Examiner, 9/24/2010

One of the things I do is give media types tours of the border so they can see first hand what is going on here. Recently I set up a meeting between a documentary film outfit and some business leaders of Nogales. It was stunning to hear their take on this whole SB 1070 immigration fuss.

People forget that there is several billion dollars in retail business generated in border cities all the way up to Tucson and Phoenix from Mexicans who legally cross the border to shop. The Tucson metro area, with a population of about 1 million, would normally rate only one major shopping mall. It has 3…due to the impact of Mexicans who come up to Tucson to shop. Maybe 80% of the retail sales activity in Nogales comes from Mexican shoppers.

But due to SB 1070 and the fear by Mexicans that they might be stopped by the police in Arizona and even arrested is having a massive impact on the willingness of Mexican shoppers to cross into Arizona. Nogales store owners estimate there has been at least a 30% decline in retail sales since the SB 1070 flap started.

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