Category Archives: Press Release

Gov. Bentley Must Go Further Than Objecting to Parts of the Bill

Alabama state lawmakers must stop making futile attempts to revise their anti-immigrant law, HB56, and their only recourse is to repeal it, the Fair Immigration Reform Movement said today.

“The tinkering, tweaking and toying with HB56 does not address its underlying flaws of totally violating the civil rights of undocumented immigrants in Alabama,” said Rich Stolz, Interim Director of FIRM, a network of community-based immigrant advocacy organizations in 30 states. “Gov. Robert Bentley today sent the bill back for reconsideration. He correctly objected to parts of it, but Bentley must show his constituents that he will stand up for Alabama’s reputation and economy and call on the bill’s total repeal.”

Yesterday, the Republican controlled Senate passed a so called ‘tweak bill’ that made the law even harsher.  The bill includes a sweetheart deal for large businesses in the state concerned about complying with employee verification requirements, and they changed language to try to prevent the detention of more foreign business executives. Bentley objected to the part of the bill that changed the way public schools collect information from students, saying he did not want kids asked about their parents’ legal status. He also objected to the provision requiring the Department of Homeland Security to post a quarterly list of the names of any undocumented immigrant who appears in court for a violation of state law, regardless of whether they were convicted.

Bentley did not go far enough in his objections, and his actions today are small consolation to farmers desperate to find workers or businesses and residents concerned about the impact HB56 has had on the state’s reputation.  These changes, if anything, only exacerbate worries over racial profiling, undermine trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities, encourage vigilante harassment and send a message that immigrants, or anyone that looks like one, is unwelcome in Alabama.

“States like Alabama and Arizona have shown a complete unwillingness to enact fair immigration laws and as the Supreme Court weighs its decision on Arizona’s SB1070, the high court must be mindful of how much damage state lawmakers can do when allowed to set policies that clearly violate the civil rights of citizens,” Stolz added.

Gutierrez’s Help Keeps Gabino Sanchez With His Family

(WASHINGTON)—The Fair Immigration Reform Movement, a network of community-based immigrant advocacy organizations in 30 states, today commended Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) for fighting to stop the deportation of a South Carolina man. Gutierrez’s efforts on behalf of Gabino Sanchez have helped keep Sanchez with his family while he works to resolve his case with immigration officials.

Sanchez, 27, has lived in the United States since he left his native Mexico when he was 14. Sanchez came to the U.S. to work and send money to his family. He is a construction and landscape worker from Ridgeland, S.C. He is married and has two children, both American citizens. Sanchez had been arrested for driving without a license, a misdemeanor.

Yet immigration officials had targeted Sanchez for deportation although the Obama Administration had directed federal officials to review more than 300,000 cases currently in deportation proceedings to identify low-priority individuals whose cases could be closed because they had strong ties to the United States and they posed no threat to society.

Today, Rep. Gutierrez and Mr. Sanchez had the support of hundreds of North Carolina residents who gathered at the immigration courthouse in Charlotte.

“We thank Rep. Gutierrez for working on behalf of Sanchez and his family, to keep them together,” said Rich Stolz, FIRM interim director. “The lengthy fight to keep Mr. Sanchez with his family in the United States is an example of how the prosecutorial discretion policy announced by the Obama Administration last year has fallen short of expectations in the immigrant and Latino community. This is only one example of thousands who deserve to stay with their loved ones.”

“May Day” is celebrated worldwide to show support and solidarity for workers’ rights, and in the United States May Day has become a traditional day to show solidarity among workers and immigrant rights. Members of the Fair Immigration Reform movement, a network of community-based immigrant advocacy organizations in 30 states, are celebrating May Day nationwide with events calling on the Supreme Court to remember the human consequences of Arizona’s immigration law, calling on an end to deportations and the separation of families, and for just and humane immigration reform.

Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments on SB 1070, Arizona’s vehemently anti-immigrant law. Legal experts opined that the justices seemed to agree with portions of the law, and if upheld, would put setback any gains made in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform.

“If the Supreme Court sides with SB 1070, the decision will rip our country apart and show that the justices were blind to the human consequences of this racist legislation,” said Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director of the Center for Community Change. “May Day events will show that immigrants and immigrants’ rights groups will not stop fighting to achieve fair comprehensive immigration reform

Thousands of grassroots leaders today called on the Supreme Court to strike down Arizona’s anti-immigrant law to show they care for human rights, unity and justice for all.

Arizona’s SB 1070, infamously referred to as the “show me your papers” law, and similar laws enacted in other states, has undermined basic civil and human rights and essentially has legalized harassment and discrimination, said leaders of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, a network of community-based immigrant advocacy organizations in 25 states.

“SB 1070 takes a sledgehammer to human rights, destroying what America has always been known for: a nation that prides itself on justice for all,” said Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director of the Center for Community Change. “Under SB 1070, there is only justice for people with the right skin color.”

“Arizona’s proposed solution to our broken immigration system, like Alabama’s law and the anti-immigrant laws passed by several other states, is no solution at all.  America’s immigrants are our neighbors, our co-workers and our future,” said John Wilhelm, President of UNITE Here. “Criminalization and unfair targeting of our immigrant brothers and sisters is nothing more than scapegoating aimed at dividing us and distracting our attention from the real problems we face – a lack of good jobs and the capture of our political system by the rich and powerful.”

Warren Stewart, senior pastor of the First Institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix, Ariz., was among the Arizonans who traveled to Washington to protest outside the Supreme Court. Stewart is also chairman of the board of directors for the National Immigration Forum, and a board member of Promise Arizona. Stewart noted that former Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce spoke at a counter rally at the Supreme Court this morning, and reminded participants that Pearce, author of SB1070, was removed from office by recall because of his extremism on immigration and other issues important to Arizonans, and emphasized the growing power of a new civil rights movement in America.

Alabama Democratic State Senator Hank Sanders described that the Alabama legislature is poised to make several changes to its own copycat of the Arizona immigration law.  He has called on his own legislature to repeal Alabama’s law, which has become a potent reminder of Alabama’s racial history.  Sanders also said he has been inspired by the coming together of African America, Latino, immigrant and other communities demanding an end to Arizona-style laws.

Gustavo Torres, Executive Director of CASA de Maryland, emphasized the sense of unity among participants:

“We are united–Latinos, immigrants, civil rights organizations, African American leaders, Asian American leaders, organized labor and faith leaders–in calling for unity and justice in America.  One good thing that SB1070 and other laws that have attacked worker rights, voting rights
and immigrant rights has done is to bring us together,” Torres said.

Bishop, Police Chief, Congressman, and Civil Rights Advocates File Friend-of-the-Court Briefs in Support of Department of Justice Challenge to Arizona Racial Profiling Law

LOS ANGELES — Calling it “an affront to basic rights,” law enforcement, civil rights, faith leaders and a Congressman decried Arizona’s SB 1070 and urged the Supreme Court to maintain a lower court’s order blocking the law’s most pernicious elements from going into effect. SB 1070, which the Arizona legislature passed in April 2010, was, at the time, considered the most draconian anti-immigrant legislation in the country. The individuals who participated in the call explained why they or their organizations chose to make the Supreme Court aware of their opposition to SB 1070 by filing friend-of-the-court briefs.

“These laws may inhibit the Church’s ability to be the Church — to care for people, to provide them solace,” said Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, who spoke on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Many of these laws put that very essential and positive work of not just the Catholic Church, but also other faith communities, at risk. For that reason, we are extremely concerned about this very imprudent and impractical trend in state legislation, and support the case against SB 1070.”

After the U.S. Department of Justice challenged SB 1070 in court and won an injunction, Arizona appealed the lower court’s decision. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the landmark case on April 25. Although the case before the Supreme Court focuses on Arizona’s law, communities across the country will feel the effects of the Court’s decision: cases in Utah, Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama regarding Arizona-inspired legislation have been put on hold pending the Supreme Court’s ruling in U.S. v. Arizona.

“Police departments have a main priority of reducing crime and making communities safe,” said Jack Harris, former chief of police of Phoenix, Arizona. “The problem with laws like SB 1070, and the reason so many law enforcement officers oppose it, is because it diverts limited resources away from serious crime fighting.”

More than 350 individuals and organizations from myriad sectors of society filed friend-of-the court briefs expressing support for the Department of Justice’s opposition to Arizona’s law, which, if allowed to go into effect, would mandate that law enforcement officials ask for proof of immigration status if they “reasonably suspect” that a person lacks proper authorization to live in the country. Judith Browne Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project, pointed to the discriminatory aspect of SB 1070, which could force people who have been American citizens all their lives to be subject to racial profiling.

Said Browne Dianis, “Racial profiling against African Americans, immigrants, and others is wrong and illegal. It undermines the principle that we are all equal under the law. If the Supreme Court validates 1070, it will open the floodgates for other states to take such action.”

Other notable individuals and organizations that express opposition to SB 1070 include former U.S. Department of State officials, who explain that laws such as SB 1070 interfere with the United States’ ability to engage in foreign policy, as well as former commissioners of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (the former agency whose functions are now performed by subdivisions of the Department of Homeland Security), who argue that SB 1070 interferes with the federal government’s own immigration policy priorities.

“We can turn back the tide on laws that specifically target immigrants for harassment and also end up harming so many others,” said Congressman Luis Gutierrez. “We can set a tone for the future where the tone of someone’s face or the dust on their work boots doesn’t make them a target.”

Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said, “Our country’s greatness is derived from its diversity. No law should force those of us who look or sound ‘foreign’ to be subject to racial profiling or other discrimination. Unfortunately, Arizonans’ basic rights will be at risk if SB 1070 is allowed to go into effect, and the ramifications of this decision will be felt across the country. We hope that the Supreme Court will protect basic liberty and justice for all, and strike this ill-conceived law from Arizona’s books.”

For more information about U.S. v Arizona, please visit www.nilc.org/sb1070usvaz.html.

More information about the friend-of-the-court briefs can be found at www.nilc.org/USvAZamici.html.

A recording of the telephonic news conference is available at www.nilc.org/document.html?id=655.

A news release issued by Congressman Gutierrez in conjunction with this press conference is available here.