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Source: The Associated Press

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama USA - The Tuscaloosa  police chief Steven Anderson  told The Associated Press that a police officer  on Wednesday night stopped a rental car for not having a decal required and asked for his driver license. The  man had German  identification only, so he was arrested and taken to the police station. (more…)

Source: USA Today
NOGALES, Ariz. – The number of illegal immigrants arrested by the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector fell by over 40% last year, indicating a significant drop in illegal immigration has declined considerably in Arizona.

Official statistics will be released for several weeks, Butala Bersin, Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, told the Border Patrol agents in Nogales this week that the arrests in the Tucson sector fell to 123,000 last year fiscal. Arrests in Nogales Station, the largest in the Tucson sector, fell by 43% to 18,000.
“Ladies and gentlemen, know that you are engaged in a historical enterprise here,” said Bersin agents. The fall of the arrests, he said, shows that illegal immigrants “do not come around here anymore, and when they do, they get arrested.” (more…)

This past Monday, October 31^st, the administration of President Barack Obama challenged a new South Carolina immigration law, its third,  arguing that it is unconstitutional and interferes with federal immigration authorities, a Department of Justice spokesman stated. The South Carolina law, signed by Governor Nikki Haley – the daughter of immigrants from India, signed into law in June. It should come into force on 1 January, 2012. (more…)

 

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Arizona’s immigration law that severely penalizes businesses when knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

In the ruling that’s likely to embolden Congress and other states, the court declared that Arizona’s law fits comfortably within the state’s powers.

The anticipated decision keeps intact the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act. Employers could have their business licenses suspended or revoked for hiring illegal immigrants, under the law. The ruling will make it easier for states to pass similar laws, even though immigration is traditionally a federal responsibility.

The law requires Arizona employers to use a federal program called E-Verify to check the immigration status of potential workers.

President Barack Obama is turning to a Hollywood cast of Latino celebrities and activists for help jump-starting his stalled immigration policy.

The White House said the president was meeting  with a group, including actresses Eva Longoria, America Ferrera and Rosario Dawson, “to discuss the importance of fixing the broken immigration system.”

Obama wants to overhaul the nation’s immigration system to provide a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.

But with Latino voters , an increasingly important force going into the 2012 election, Obama is determined to show engagement on the issue. Another participant  is influential Los Angeles radio show host Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo, who’s urged Obama to work harder on immigration.

 

 

Enter the heart of an American family living in the shadows of a state that has criminalized their existence. Walk in the shoes of a public official who has won enormous political gains by incarcerating “illegals” as he stares down criminal charges of his own.

Courtesy: AltoArizona.com

President Barack Obama on Tuesday criticized an immigration bill passed by Georgia’s Legislature that would give police authority to question suspects about their immigration status.

Obama also defended his administration’s record on securing U.S. borders and repeated his call for comprehensive immigration reform.

The Georgia bill is similar to one passed by Arizona last year that sparked a national debate on state attempts to crack down on illegal immigration.

Arizona’s law criminalizes illegal immigration by defining it as trespass and allows local law enforcement agencies to question anyone they suspect lacks correct immigration papers.

Asked about the Georgia bill, Obama said: “It is a mistake for states to try to do this piecemeal. We can’t have 50 different immigration laws around the country. Arizona tried this and a federal court already struck them down.”

A year after its approval, the Arizona immigration law, SB 1070, continues to cause division in the U.S. population. Although a federal judge has blocked key parts of the initiative, Arizona’s economy has been hit by boycotts and the US Hispanic community has expressed a widespread rejection, several states have decided to take the same route.

The states of Georgia, Utah, Alabama, Oklahoma, have passed bills similar to that of Arizona. The SB 1070 that empowers local police to detect and report illegal immigrants to federal authorities has received support from taxpayers, politicians and television personalities in an attempt to eradicate illegal immigration in the country.

The problem, according to supporters of the legislature, is the lack of action by President Barack Obama’s administration, who has “obliged states to adopt different immigration laws to protect their borders.”

In a press release, Arizona’s Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed and approved the law a year ago, said “that my signature on SB 1070 represents my steadfast support for enforcing the law, both against illegal immigration and racial profiling.”

 

“The signing of SB 1070, Arizona said loudly and clearly: Enough. Support remains strong, whether measured by public polling or the nearly $4 million in private donations given freely by those who have contributed to the legal defense fund established last year” added Brewer.

 

But critics, including Mr. Obama, believe SB 1070 would increase discrimination against legal and illegal immigrants. Even many of Arizona’s entrepreneurs say immigration is fundamental to compete and keep low prices of their products and services.

Several immigrant rights groups have sued the measure, arguing potential abuses by law enforcement agents.  However, the lawsuit by the Obama administration tries to show that Arizona misused powers given to states by the Constitution. And so far the initiative has been successful.

 

In an editorial, The Arizona Republic says the SB 1070 has been a “costly failure.” The controversial legislation “brought us boycotts, lost business, a sullied reputation, another court battle and a betrayal of Arizona’s heritage” continues.
However, an opinion poll by CNN / Opinion Research shows that 55% of the U.S. population continues to support the Arizona immigration law, while only 48% thinks it will reduce illegal immigration.

 

 

A tough Arizona-style immigration bill cleared the Georgia legislature late Thursday and needs only the governor’s signature to become law.

The legislation would give police authority to question suspects about their immigration status. It would also require many private employers to check the immigration status of newly hired workers on a federal database called E-Verify.

After extended debate, both the state Senate and House of Representatives passed the crackdown on illegal immigration in the final hours of their 40-day session.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has not said whether he would sign it.

Deal supported E-Verify as a member of the U.S. Congress, said Phil Kent, spokesman for the Virginia-based nonprofit Americans for Immigration Control.

“It would be political suicide for him to go against the wishes of the large majority of the people’s representatives,” Kent said on Friday.

Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, on Friday called for Deal to veto the bill.

The legislation will discourage tourism and overseas investment in Georgia and create a shortage of farm workers to pick crops, Gonzalez said.

“This bill will kill jobs and ruin Georgia’s economy,” he said.

But the Georgia Chamber of Commerce said legislators had addressed the majority of their concerns.

The bill exempts small businesses from E-Verify requirements and gives the businesses required to use it a 30-day grace period to correct good-faith violations.

“We believe that the bill that passed attempts to strike an important balance between addressing the challenge of illegal immigration and allowing Georgia’s economy to continue to grow,” the chamber said.

Critics predicted a costly legal fight for Georgia, similar to the one playing out in Arizona.

On Monday, a U.S. appeals court upheld an earlier court ruling that blocked parts of Arizona’s controversial immigration law from going into effect.

That included the provision that would require police to determine the immigration status of a person they have detained and suspect is in the country illegally.

Arizona-inspired immigration measures also are proceeding through legislatures in Alabama, Indiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina. Utah has passed and the governor signed an Arizona-inspired measure which also included provisions such as a guest worker program.

 

Reuters

Even as the federal lawsuit challenging Arizona’s strict immigration law remains tied up in an appellate court, tensions over the case have ratcheted up, with the state firing a legal shot back at the Obama administration.

Gov. Jan Brewer (R) filed the unusual countersuit last week against the federal government, accusing it of failing to secure the southwest border against a tide of illegal immigrants. The lawsuit, or counterclaim, was filed as part of the same case in which the Justice Department is seeking to have the Arizona law declared unconstitutional.

The department sued Arizona in July over the immigration law, which empowers police to question people who they suspect are in the country illegally. The law has triggered a fierce national debate. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is considering whether to allow the measure’s most contested provisions to take effect.

“We did not want this fight. We did not start this fight,” Brewer said as she announced the state’s countersuit Thursday at a news conference in Phoenix attended by a handful of protesters. “But, now that we are in it, Arizona will not rest until our border is secured and federal immigration laws are enforced.”

The state’s lawsuit names Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who preceded Brewer as governor. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, but Matt Chandler, a spokesman for Napolitano, called the lawsuit “a meritless court claim” that “does nothing to secure the border.”

Washington Post