EJS, Others File Brief on Prelim. Injunction Against Ariz. Anti-Immigrant Statute
The Equal Justice Society, the Asian American Institute and thirty-six other public interest organizations, represented pro bono by the law firm Covington & Burling LLP, have filed an amicus brief in Friendly House v. Whiting, supporting the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction against SB 1070, Arizona’s disturbing new immigration statute.
The lawsuit, a class action filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, challenges the constitutionality of this recently passed law on the grounds that it invites the racial profiling of people of color, violates the First Amendment and interferes with federal law.
The amicus brief argues that an injunction is justified on three principal grounds.
First, SB 1070 will result in discrimination against communities of color. Although the statute was written seemingly to exclude the possibility of racial profiling, in practice, there is no question but that this law will lead to heightened and disproportionate police scrutiny of minorities. Because Mexico is the nearest border, Latinos especially will be targeted under SB 1070.
Second, this bill threatens public safety in Arizona. If enforced, it will breed resentment and distrust of the police in communities of color. Fearing immigration inquiries, communities of color are very likely to report crime less, making their neighborhoods increasingly unsafe. Moreover, the under-reporting of crime in minority communities will render them even more vulnerable to hate crimes.
Finally, the bill, ostensibly designed to reduce crime, simply does not justify the means. American history is sadly littered with numerous statutes aimed at excluding certain minority groups from the benefits, rights, and liberties granted to the majority. The courts have struck down those laws for over 150 years. SB 1070 is in keeping with this sordid past and must also be struck down.
National Immigration Law Center, MALDEF, ACLU, ACLU of Arizona to Mount Legal Challenge Against Arizona Racial Profiling Law
The National Immigration Law Center, MALDEF, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Arizona today held a news conference in front of the Arizona State Capitol Building in Phoenix to announce their future legal challenge to Governor Jan Brewer’s recently signed SB1070.
The organizations also sought to address misinformation and fears that have been spreading throughout the Latino community across Arizona.
MALDEF, ACLU, ACLU of Arizona and NILC leaders were joined by civil rights leaders Dolores Huerta, Richard Chavez and multi-Grammy winning artist and human rights advocate, Linda Ronstadt.
“Today, the three most experienced immigrants’ and civil rights legal organizations nationwide – MALDEF, ACLU and NILC – announce their partnership, together with local Arizona-based counsel, to challenge SB1070 in court,” said MALDEF President and General Counsel Thomas A. Saenz.
“The Arizona community can be assured that a vigorous and sophisticated legal challenge will be mounted, in advance of SB1070′s implementation, seeking to prevent this unconstitutional and discriminatory law from ever taking effect.”
“This law will only make the rampant racial profiling of Latinos that is already going on in Arizona much worse,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona. “If this law were implemented, citizens would effectively have to carry ‘their papers’ at all times to avoid arrest. It is a low point in modern America when a state law requires police to demand documents from people on the street.”
Linton Joaquin, General Counsel of NILC, added, “This unconstitutional law sends a strong message to all immigrants to have no contact with any law enforcement officer. The inevitable result is not only to make immigrants more vulnerable to crime and exploitation, but also to make the entire community less safe, by aggressively discouraging witnesses and victims from reporting crimes.”
There are a number of serious constitutional problems with the law, the groups say. It violates the supremacy clause by interfering with federal immigration power and authority. The law also unlawfully invites racial profiling against Latinos and other people of color.
“What we are witnessing today is the blatant targeting of an entire American population, Latinos,” stated civil rights leader Dolores Huerta. “We must not give in one inch to Arizona’s effort to blame our community for all the ills of the state or their efforts to run us out. We have worked this land, built and maintained these buildings and sacrificed as much as any other. We must put an end to SB1070.”
“My family, of both German and Mexican heritage, has a long history in Arizona. It has been our diverse and shared history in this state that unites us and makes us stronger,” stated Linda Ronstadt. “What Governor Brewer signed into law last week is a piece of legislation that threatens the very heart of this great state. We must come together and stop SB1070 from pitting neighbor against neighbor to the detriment of us all.”
Take Action: National Geographic Show Fosters Hatred and Violence Towards Immigrants
Formerly neutral world news organization National Geographic, with corporate cosponsor CSX, launched a new cable television show entitled “Border Wars”, detailing daily border agent battles with drug smugglers, human traffickers, and undocumented immigrants.
The promotions for this new show, as well as the show itself, have managed to recklessly imply that the U.S. and Mexico are at war, that the U.S.-Mexico border is a terrorism hot spot, that undocumented immigrants are the terrorists attempting to infiltrate this country, and that U.S. border agents are our soldiers ensuring national security and justice.
These implications are false and dangerous.
What “Border Wars” will not show you are fleeing immigrants being shot, immigrant children being separated from their families, and immigrants being forced to return to lives that include poverty, violence, and despair. That is the reality of the U.S.- Mexico border.
The astounding insensitivity of “Border Wars” is compounded by the show’s website which allows browsers to simulate being a border agent “on the line”, promoting violence toward immigrants and vigilante justice.
This show fosters prejudice, hatred, and violence toward all immigrants, regardless of legal status, that lead to hate crimes like the deaths of Luis Ramirez in Pennsylvania and Raul and Brisenia Flores in Arizona. “Border Wars” should not be allowed to influence its 2.9 million viewers in this manner.
If you would like to contact National Geographic about “Border Wars” to express your disappointment and outrage, you may do so here:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/contact
Or post on the show forum.
LDF: ‘King’s Legacy Serve as a Call to Arms on Crisis in Haiti’
Got this today from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund:
Today provides a moment for reflection on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – born 81 years ago on this day. It is also a moment of intense anguish for the survivors and those continuing to suffer in the wake of the tragic earthquake in Haiti.
Throughout his life, Dr. King was committed to achieving equality, addressing discrimination and resolving poverty. These were goals that he set out to achieve both domestically and abroad. In a December 11, 1964 Nobel Lecture speech, Dr. King observed that:
Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation; no individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for the least of these. In the final analysis, the rich must not ignore the poor, because both rich and poor are tied together in a single garment of destiny-for life is interrelated and all men are interdependent. The agony of the poor diminishes the rich, and the salvation of the poor enlarges the rich.
Given the searing experience of Hurricane Katrina, it’s hauntingly disturbing to now witness the intensifying humanitarian crisis unfolding in Haiti. We have a responsibility and a duty to do all that we can to alleviate the suffering unfolding in this weak and vulnerable nation. Before the earthquake, Haiti remained one of the least-developed countries in the Americas with a literacy rate of just 53 percent and nearly 80 percent of the population living in poverty. These numbers are likely to worsen given the total collapse of the country’s infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and government buildings. A long road of rebuilding and recovery lies ahead.
The speed with which we mobilized an aid package to help bailout corporations in the midst of our national economic crisis should shape and inform the relief we now provide to Haiti. Our neighbors in Haiti, just 600 miles from the shore of southern Florida desperately need immediate relief and meaningful intervention. Our own recent experience from Hurricane Katrina should serve as a call to arms and propel us to deploy every resource necessary to bring immediate relief and aid to those suffering in Haiti. Dr. King would have certainly compelled as much.
For more information on how you can provide assistance: The Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) has links to various lists of organizations that are responding to the earthquake or Global Giving has specific disaster-recovery projects listed that can be supported.
EJS Screens Stirring Films on Incarceration and Family Detention
On Wednesday, October 14, more than 100 EJS members and friends from around the Bay Area joined us at the Sundance Kabuki Theater for the screening of two films about contemporary criminal justice issues. The screenings were spearheaded by EJS staffers Sara Jackson and Miguel Gavaldón.
The Trust (http://www.trustcommunity.org), currently in post-production, takes a personal look at incarceration and re-entry through the eyes of men struggling for transformation within the corrections system. The Least of These (http://theleastofthese-film.com) addresses the issue of family detention, looking in particular at the Don T. Hutto Residential Center and legal and community efforts to soften its harsh treatment of children and families.
After the screening, the films’ producers and some of the individuals profiled in the films participated in a question and answer session with an engaged and moved audience.
On first impression, it might seem that these two films take on important but unrelated issues.
The Trust is predominantly about the impacts of the prison-industrial complex in urban, African American communities – including the challenges of mass incarceration combined with limited opportunities for rehabilitation or re-entry.
The Least of These is about immigrant families (Middle Eastern, Latino and others) forced to flee atrocities in their home countries only to arrive in the United States and face long-term detention in for-profit, prison-like facilities because they have no access to asylum without being detained.
So what’s the connection? Well the crowd at the Kabuki-including students, activists, organizers and lawyers-was a perceptive one and it saw a clear connection between the two pieces: we live in a nation that systematically locks people up, and in large part failing to craft solutions consistent with the human and civil rights principles the United States purportedly stands for. Whether we call it incarceration, immigrant detention, enemy combatant detention, or internment, the United States always seems to be putting people away. And the people being put away always seem to be predominately people of color and the working poor.
The good news is that people are noticing, people are talking about it and people are working collectively to address this phenomenon. The film screening and subsequent discussion is a key example of this process. It was inspiring to see such a diverse crowd realize the big picture together even though different individuals are working on different angles and aspects of the issues. People left the event with a refreshed commitment to their own work as well as a new motivation to reach out and connect with others to bring a different, richer perspective to that work.
Thanks again to the co-sponsors, filmmakers, panel participants, and audience for making the event a definite success.
- Mairead Donahey
Session on ‘Myth of Post-Racial America’ at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh, Aug. 13-16
The Equal Justice Society is proud to support Netroots Nation, the country’s top convention for progressive online activists. The fourth annual gathering of the Netroots (formerly known as the YearlyKos Convention) will be held August 13–16 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
EJS is coordinating a session on “The Myth of Post-Racial America” on Thursday, August 13, from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Panelists include Rinku Sen, President and Executive Director of the Applied Research Center (ARC); Rich Benjamin, Senior Fellow at DEMOS; Annabel Park, director/producer of the upcoming documentary film “9500 Liberty” and moderated by Keith Kamisugi, EJS Director of Communications. Save the session date and info on Facebook.
Netroots Nation 2009 will include panels led by national and international experts; a progressive film screening series; practical training sessions and workshops; and the most concentrated gathering of progressive bloggers to date.
Past gatherings have included a Presidential Leadership Forum that drew seven Democratic candidates, a surprise visit from Al Gore; an interactive Ask the Speaker session with Nancy Pelosi; and hundreds of panels, roundtables, training sessions, workshops and keynotes.
Contact Keith Kamisugi (kkamisugi@equaljusticesociety.org) for more information on this session or the conference.
Scholarships Available for Bloggers Covering Immigration Issues
As progressives across the country begin strategizing and organizing around comprehensive immigration reform, there’s no better place to connect than this summer’s Netroots Nation convention. With nearly 100 training sessions and panels to choose from, it’s vital that those who write about immigration are well-represented in Pittsburgh.
Do you know someone working at the intersection of new media and immigration, who blogs on the issue, and who needs some help getting to Netroots Nation? If so, tell them to apply for a scholarship!
This year, America’s Voice, an organization committed to supporting a vibrant and independent pro-migrant blogosphere, will send eight immigration bloggers to Pittsburgh to attend the convention. The scholarship includes registration, a travel stipend and shared hotel accommodations.
The America’s Voice and Netroots Nation scholarship selection committee will rely on several unique factors to select contest winners. Above all, we are interested in hearing your personal story and your personal connection to the issue, what drives your work, and why you would like to attend Netroots Nation.
It’s also important that we select people who are not only passionate about blogging and/or online activism, but who bring a unique and underrepresented perspective to the Netroots Nation convention.
The answers that you submit in your application are private, but if selected as a winner, we may ask to publish some of your answers on our website.
Apply now to be a America’s Voice/Netroots Nation 2009 Scholar.
Since time is short and we want to let winners make their travel arrangements, all applications are due by Monday, July 20. Selections will be posted online by August 1, but winners will be contacted via email as soon as they are selected.
National “Family Unity” Immigration Event in San Jose
On April 18, San Jose’s faith-based communities join a national effort—spanning 20 major U.S. cities—to document the harm caused to citizens across our nation in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform. This will be the first event of the tour to highlight voices of the Asian Pacific Islander community, and other diasporic communities.
“These testimonials will be critical as President Obama builds his case for comprehensive immigration reform in May, which happens to be Asian Pacific American Heritage Month,” said Rep. Michael Honda (CA-15), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). “At a national level, the voices of the Asian Pacific Islander communities are often left out of the immigration debate. I am looking forward to amplifying these voices on Saturday.”
As part of an unprecedented nationwide outreach tour, Rep. Honda will be joined by Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (IL-04), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Immigration Task Force and California’s religious community to spearhead the “Family Unity” outreach event in San Jose.