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Monday, April 26, 2010

Bronx Pols Slam Arizona's New Immigration Law

Congressman Jose Serrano released a statement on Friday criticizing a new immigration law in Arizona which gives the authorities increased powers to identify, prosecute, and deport illegal immigrants.

Serrano said: 

It is a sad day when any state makes racial profiling and discrimination the law. This is a deeply flawed measure that singles out a specific group for harassment.

Our nation has a long tradition of welcoming immigrants, but today the government of Arizona turned their back on that tradition in favor of anti-immigrant grandstanding.

We all know that the only way to bring immigrants out of the shadows is to enact comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship.

Laws like this give greater urgency to our work to pass a humane, non-punitive comprehensive immigration reform package. The time has come for action, before this law becomes a model for other anti-immigrant activists and is replicated elsewhere.

State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. also released a statement condemning the legislation. He said:

While we deplore this blatant attempt to legitimize the police when they stop and interrogate the Hispanic population of Arizona, we are hopeful that passage of this bill should finally motivate the members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives to pass a humane and comprehensive, nationwide policy in regard to immigration.
It is unfair and inappropriate for anyone to blur the lines and equate immigration with terrorism. Our nation's long and rich tradition of welcoming newcomers must not be a thing of the past.

Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., meanwhile, has slammed Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Levy for not immediately opposing the law. (Levy, the Suffolk County executive,  has a reputation for being tough on illegal immigration.)  In a statement, Diaz said:

It sounds like Steve Levy hasn't changed that much after all. That Steve Levy even entertains supporting such a perverse and un-American policy should serve as a wake up call to the immigrant community, and in fact to all New Yorkers, that Steve Levy falls far outside the mainstream on one of the most critical issues facing our state and nation. Steve Levy needs to make absolutely clear where he stands on the Arizona law and whether or not he would pursue a similar policy in New York if he were elected governor. In New York, where we take pride in welcoming immigrants from across the globe and celebrate our diversity, there can be no room for ambiguity.

UPDATE 1 P.M. TUESDAY: Eric Schneiderman, the state senator who's running for attorney general, also released a statement. He said:
Arizona's new law giving local police the power to profile and arrest people who cannot prove their immigration status on demand is as radical as it is irresponsible. This is a wake up call for the federal government to deliver comprehensive immigration reform that will undo this moral, economic and law enforcement disaster, and prevent another state from following Arizona’s lead. There is no reason we cannot secure our borders and protect the civil rights of everyone living in this country.

7 comments:

  1. You are forgetting that they are not immigrants but illegal immigrants. The constitution is to protect citizen of the United States. Not to protect criminals that broke a federal law. I agree with the law passed in Arizona. I am willing to debate you on this subject any time you chose. I can tell you this I will win the debate. The points you make are irrelevant.

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  2. Children are Watching

    by stopdainsanity2

    When I entered kindergarten - I was put into a class for the mentally retarded. Because my skin was brown my teacher assumed I did not speak English and required special bilingual support which was not available at the time. Yes - I was a Mexican-American citizen child.



    It literally took 2 weeks for my parents to force the school to place me in the mainstream kindergarten class -- even though I could respond to questions in English. At the time if was easier for frustrated- overworked teachers (not bad people), who felt school district should have a place for spanish speaking children to learn (reasonable), to send me to the special needs class - no questions asked - based on my skin color. Although the error was corrected, as a child I never lost the feeling I was not welcomed and somehow my rights as a citizen were not equal to those of white americans. Be careful - children are watching.

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  3. Now you are the biggest cry baby in history of the world. Why should schools have special programs for kids that have trouble speaking English? To me it sounds that maybe your story should change. I think it should say that you are grateful that you received and education in the greatest country in the world.

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  4. The Arizona law is a great law aimed at people who are violating immigration laws, and hope New York and the rest of the Nation passes a similar one.

    ncrown--I have a feeling the School was right the first time

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  5. This unmatched chaos caused by decades of unimportance as seen by both political parties over illegal immigration. In this firestorm of an issue we need to enact immediately the following measures to stabilize our nation’s immigration enforcement. This is specifically come to the surface after the bloody murder of Robert Krentz, rancher and landowner, with the upsurge in deaths of border Patrol agents and illegal aliens. 1. Deploy the National Guard permanently--fully armed along the border from San Diego, CA to Brownville, Texas. 2. Make it a felony with prison time for any employer not using the computer application E-Verify, to identify all workers on the payroll. This program will improve nationwide impact of self-deportation by ATTRITION, over the coming years for unlawful labor. 3. To terminate decades of unprecedented billions of dollars of debt for support of illegal immigrants on taxpayers. Read what Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) has to say about what taxpayers are forced to pay for 20 to 30 million illegal immigrants at--THE DAILY CALLER WEBSITE.

    Reestablish the legality of instant citizenship to babies born to an illegal parent or parents in federal court. 4. Make absolutely sure that any incumbent of both parties, starting with Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) is thrown out of office this year. Send this searing message to--ALL--pro illegal immigrant, Pro-amnesty politicians that America will not stand any longer lawmakers that are for sale to the highest bidder. 5. Those elected will re-fence the border as two separate barriers, with an open tracking area in between for the movement of National Guardsman accompanying the US Border patrol with full funding. That lawmakers who are supposedly there to represent every citizen and permanent resident possessing a green card, appropriate the money to seal the border from illegal entry. That these same elected officials have already spent $445 Billion dollars in taxpayer’s money in supporting some distant foreign government in Afghanistan; they therefore can easily appropriate funds for the correctly designed border fence.

    As a patriotic people we will voice our vehemence that we will join the war against any type of Comprehensive Immigration Reform. That contains in any shape or form a citizenship path, for those who stole into America. THERE WILL BE NO AMNESTY--NO PARDON FOR CRIMINALS WHO IGNORE OUR LAWS. We are not the financial, free-handout for foreign labor, which cannot support those entering America illegally. Arizona is the first state with a backbone that has been financial crippled by welfare payments to illegal alien families. Its undercurrent caused by the rising crime rate never seen to this extent before. Violence on a grand scale has flowed across the Rio Grande from the illicit drug industry. Exhaustion of the local police in Phoenix and other communities unable to handle the daily homicides, kidnappings, home invasions, predatory smuggling people and the narcotics trade.

    Any state, county city, town or public servant that boycotts the exceptional state of Arizona, should be black-listed. Hopefully--Americans will donate (however small) money to Arizona if the Governor Jan brewer gets sued. Perhaps a good patriotic American will arrange a website for everybody to give money in the immediate future? If and when it happens my check will be waiting...? If that happens Americans will boycott companies that hire illegal immigrants and that I will add--ONE--company hiring foreign labor to my blogs.

    NUMBERSUSA--is the website for the legal people of this country, so you can fight this illegal immigrant epidemic--with over a MILLION--members. We are here to tell the--TRUTH--not lies or well-honed rhetoric as the Far-Left liberals, hidden inside the Democratic Party, not from the Liberal editors of national press at the, Huffington Post, New York Times or the Los Angeles Times and others.

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  6. I am a naturalized US citizen in Arizona and I agree we need to do something about illegal immigration. But Bill SB 1070 targets Hispanics. This is racial profiling no matter how many times the bill states it is not. I am a law abiding citizen and now I will be harassed just because my skin is brown.
    http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/summary/s.1070pshs.doc.htm

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  7. to weezer35 --

    As the Supreme Court has many times upheld, the Constitution protects every person within the US borders, regardless of legal status. That is why the USCIS has to hold deportation hearings for suspected illegal immigrants, with both sides presenting evidence for and against, because the Constitution provides illegals due process, habeas corpus, etc. just as it does US citizens and legal residents.

    As to whether or not Arizona's new law will stand up to challenges of Constitutionality - time will tell. As this is America, I'm sure someone will sue.

    ReplyDelete

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