Immigrants and Politics Blog

[KR: This ruling is probably not the final word on the extent to which localities can choose not to cooperate with federal authorities on deportation, but it underscores the “tale of two cities” nature of local immigration policies and practices across the country.]

Judge throws out lawsuit against LAPD rule on immigration queries
The slaying of Jamiel Shaw II put a spotlight on Special Order 40, which limits when officers can ask about immigration status. The jurist rules the order doesn’t conflict with federal or state law.
By Joel Rubin
Los Angeles Times

June 26, 2008

A judge Wednesday threw out a lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles resident who wanted to repeal a long-standing LAPD order that restricts when police officers may ask people about their immigration status.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu, granting a motion from the city and the American Civil Liberties Union, said Harold Sturgeon had failed to prove that Special Order 40 was in conflict with federal and state laws that dictate the flow of information between local and federal agencies regarding people’s immigration status.

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[KR: Story in the New York Times about the very low percentage of blacks in the U.S. Border Patrol, and efforts to increase minority agents with a drive to build up the border patrol to 18,000. The article mentions incentives and program modifications such as bypassing English language requirements, but not whether concern over civl rights makes blacks and Latinos more reluctant to join.]

New Outreach to Blacks as Border Patrol Grows
RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD, New York Times
June 23, 2008

MEMPHIS — Nearly 1,500 miles from his post at the Mexican border, Cyril V. Atherton, a Border Patrol agent, embarked on one of his trickiest missions.

He was here recruiting young blacks to an agency few had ever heard of, trying to entice them to the hot, arid Southwest, where few blacks live, for a job that requires learning Spanish proficient enough to know if their lives are in danger while arresting as many as 100 people at a time.

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[KR: We’re back, after a bit of a break in the month of May. Below is a discussion that occurred on a Latino Politics listserv, provoked by a question by David Ayon at Loyola Marymount (LA). The Obama candidacy has opened up many questions about race, and it also has the potential to open up important discussions about what it means to be an “immigrant.”]

Based on a Politico story from June 10:
“… Becerra, who represents heavily Hispanic East Los Angeles, … said he’s hopeful that Obama’s personal story — as the son of an immigrant who struggled to fit in — will transcend racial boundaries and that the candidate’s positions on health care, education and immigration will lead to an instant connection with Hispanic voters.”

DAVID AYON (LMU) wrote:
“Is it relevant or nitpicking to point out that Obama is not really the “son of an immigrant”? His father was a foreign student who returned to his country after finishing his studies. Obama has a great personal story and wide-ranging experience, but I would not consider it part of the immigrant experience in a meaningful way.”

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[KR: This article in the New York Times is in line with my research on local ordinances occurring even in places where the proportion (or growth) of immigrants is small. Given the case (northern Florida), the role of conservative ideology and local partisan (GOP) dynamics likely plays a significant role.

June 9, 2008
States Take New Tack on Illegal Immigration
By DAMIEN CAVE, New York Times

MILTON, Fla. — Three months after the local police inspected more than a dozen businesses searching for illegal immigrants using stolen Social Security numbers, this community in the Florida Panhandle has become more law-abiding, emptier and whiter.

Many of the Hispanic immigrants who came in 2004 to help rebuild after Hurricane Ivan have either fled or gone into hiding. Churches with services in Spanish are half-empty. Businesses are struggling to find workers. And for Hispanic citizens with roots here — the foremen and entrepreneurs who received visits from the police — the losses are especially profound.
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[KR: According to a 2007 report by the Council of Europe, programs of repeated amnesties such as in Spain may have had a small ‘pull effect’ is still a “positive experience from which many European states can learn.” The same may or may not be true for the United States, and this piece does not examine the role of networks of migration that operate regardless of economic or legal push-pull factors.]

June 10, 2008
BORDER CROSSINGS
Spain, Like U.S., Grapples With Immigration

JASON DePARLE, New York Times

MADRID — With the United States riven by calls to legalize millions of illegal immigrants, Americans might consider the possible effects by looking at southern Europe, where illegal immigration has abounded and so have forgiveness plans.

Link to story

[KR: Controversy over a recent news feature story at CBS Evening News.]

Latinos outraged over CBS report
Gebe Martinez
April 30, 2008 05:46 AM EST
Politico.com

As if Katie Couric didn’t already have enough problems.

Weighed down by record-low ratings at the anchor desk of “CBS Evening News,” and by reports suggesting she will leave that post two years before her multimillion-dollar contract expires, Couric now has civil rights groups — mostly Hispanic — on her back.

And for good reason.

The CBS newscast that carries her name recently aired a one-sided and inaccurate report about illegal immigrant women who give birth to their children in the United States. The news story challenged the broader constitutional law of birthright citizenship and stated — without providing the correct context — that the births cost U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars annually.

The story’s central figure was a woman identified as an illegal immigrant, who was lying in her South Texas hospital bed — her right arm wrapped around her newborn and her left hand punctured by an intravenous needle — while reporter Byron Pitts lectured her that “many Americans who struggle to take care of their own families think it is unfair that they should have to take care” of non-U.S. citizens.

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[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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