immigration reform

Wonderful story in the Globe by Juliette Kayyem   

"Immigration-law remorse Alabama and Arizona suffer the unintended consequences of bad laws."

Here's one sad story ..

Brent Martin prepares tomato fields to be plowed under in Steele, Ala. Martin lost his own farm and took on the job after migrant workers fled the area because of the stiff new Alabama immigration law, leaving many farmers without enough help to harvest their crops.

Of course I'm tempted to stick out my tongue and chant "I told you so, I told you so!!" but I think I'd be arrested. I loved particulary this wonderful quote from a local public safty official who is apparently worried about his next BBQ ... (And I don't blame him Alabama BBQ is the best.) 

In Alabama, meanwhile, business leaders and lawmakers are feeling the tinge of a new law written with such haste that no one actually can figure out what it means. According to the New York Times, the law states that an individual must provide proof of lawful immigration status for any interaction “between a person and the state or a political subdivision of the state.’’

Vast government resources are now being used to ensure that local pee-wee football leagues are not filled with undocumented Mexican children. One Alabama public safety official told me that the farming and meat industry are already worried about the law’s impact on its labor market. “By the time we figure out what this thing means,’’ he said, “we will all be vegetarians.’’

Judy Meredith and Lew Finfer are pooling their collective organizing, advocacy, and leadership experiences to form the Massachusetts Policy and Organizing Leadership Training Academy.  There's a wealth of knowledge to pass on to the next group of organizers and advocates and the current group of aspiring leaders.

State Representative Linda Dorcena Forry said the pair’s new focus on educating future activists comes at a critical time as non-profits struggle through a sluggish economy and new ethics reforms which she said has left many organizations scrambling to adjust...“I think it’s great what they’re doing,” Forry said. “There are a lot of non-profits that feel they don’t have the skills to address legislators. They find themselves paying out for a lobbyist when they could be doing much of the work themselves.”  [Full Article: Dorchester Reporter]

Secure Communities is the federal immigration criminal database program, that many states have problems with.  Boston so far is the only city in Massachusetts that has enrolled in the program, but Bristol, Worcester, and Plymouth are talking with the feds about joining.

Secure Communities works by tapping into a longstanding relationship between local and state police and the FBI. ..To activate Secure Communities, US officials say they first need enough federal agents, jail space for detainees, and vehicles to transport them to make it work.   [Full Article: The Boston Globe]

There's a reprise, of some sort, in Alabama where the worst in the nation immigration law was to take effect on Thursday.  The federal judget temporarily blocked implementation of this law while she reviews it to determine whether it is constitutional.

[U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Blackburn]... said she needed more time to consider lawsuits filed by the Justice Department, private groups and individuals that claim the state is overstepping its bounds...Similar laws have been passed in Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Georgia. Federal judges already have blocked all or parts of the laws in those states.  [Full Article: The New York Times]

There's a struggle in our country about immigration.  Without a comprehensive, thoughtful national immigration policy, individual states are drafting their own legislation...some more egregious than others.  Alabama legislature and the Governor have the dubious distinction of being the leader in passing and signing the cruelest immigration law in our country.  Most importantly though, people in Alabama are protesting this horrible legislation and have sued to block it.

Just how bad is this legislation.  Not only it is a crime to be an undocumented immigrant in Alabama, but Americans are not spared.  Anyone knowingly “concealing, harboring or shielding” an illegal immigrant could be charged with a crime, say for renting someone an apartment or driving her to church or the doctor.   [Full Editorial:  The New York Times]

Although the Department of Homeland Security cancelled the state agreements under the Secure Community program after some governors protested, including Massachusetts, the Feds are saying they did not need these agreements to operate the fingerprint and subsequent deportation program, where necessary.

Under the program, the FBI automatically sends fingerprints from local law enforcement agencies to U.S. Immigration and Customs to check a suspect’s immigration status.  [Full Article: Los Angeles Times]

In written testimony submitted to the committee Wednesday on the two bills, one introduced in the House and one in the Senate, [Governor] Patrick outlined what he called three "sound public policy" reasons why he supports the bills; the importance of college graduates to the state's workforce, an increase in revenues to public institutions from new enrollees who otherwise could not afford attendance, and providing equality in accessing higher education. [Full Article and Audio: WAMC]

It looks like Massachusetts has no choice when it comes to participation in the federal Secure Communities program.

“The governor and I [ Mary E. Heffernan, public safety secretary] are dubious of the Commonwealth taking on the federal role of immigration enforcement,’’ she wrote to ICE, the Homeland Security agency that runs the program. “We are even more skeptical of the impact that Secure Communities could have on the residents of the Commonwealth.’’   Mary said that more than half of those deported under Boston’s program were not criminals.  Governor Patrick added...“We run a serious risk of ethnic profiling and frankly fracturing incredibly important relationships in communities that are important for law enforcement.’’  [Full Article:  Boston Globe]

Senate quietly ok's measure, avoiding repeat of last year...

Senators approved an [immigration] enforcement measure on a voice vote late last month, without any debate, at 11:18 p.m., gaveling it through along with a slew of last-minute amendments to the state budget.  [Full Article:  Boston Globe]

On the table...cuts in health care coverage for legal immigrants.

Immigrant advocates in Massachusetts said they are preparing "an intense" lobbying effort to help around 20,000 legal immigrants who are at risk of losing their state sponsored health care coverage under a proposal to slash state spending… But MIRA [Massachusetts Immigrants & Refugee Advocacy Coalition] executive director Eva Millona said cutting the program will drive up health care costs for the state since the immigrants will be forced to use more expensive emergency care if they get sick. "These are residents who pay taxes, they contribute and already get less coverage than everyone else," said Millona. "And now they will get nothing." [Full Article: Boston Globe]