4:14 PM UPDATE: Here’s an excerpted statement from Promise Arizona: “We remind Mr. Franks that more than two-thirds of Arizonans support an immigration reform plan that includes a path to citizenship for the nation’s undocumented population, because they understand that the current system causes incredible pain and suffering among immigrants...
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EDIT: Unfortunately, Franks has since walked back his support. This weekend, Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) became the first House Republican to support HR 15, and Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) became the 29th House Republican to support immigration reform with a path to citizenship. According to the Arizona Republic, immigration reform advocates...
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Today, more than 50 immigration reform advocates–including children and DREAMers–arrived on Capitol Hill from Phoenix, Arizona to pray for Speaker Boehner and push him to have the courage to move forward on immigration reform. Though the advocates stood, prayed, and waited outside Boehner’s office all day, the only word...
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Last summer, we wrote extensively about a civil lawsuit against Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio that could finally make him answer for years of racial profiling and police-power abuse. Now the Sheriff’s day of reckoning is coming, after a ruling from US District Judge Murray Snow (and months of negotiations) decided...
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In a move widely condemned as unnecessary, vengeful, and vindictive, Jan Brewer’s Arizona this week announced that it would no longer issue driver’s licenses to immigrants who receive deferred action. Last year, on the very day that President Obama’s deferred action for DREAMers / DACA program began, Jan Brewer...
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Two of the most inaccurately named public policies have to be “Secure Communities” and the “SAFE Act.” Neither keeps communities secure or safe. Instead, they breed fear and profiling. And, some law enforcement officials are taking a stand against them, including one, Sheriff Marlin Gusman, who used to be...
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In the last couple of weeks, reporters and commentators have made clear that when it comes to August and immigration reform, pro-reform advocates have decisively won the day. Our side has turned out far more people, who are much more enthusiastic, at significantly more events, and made our views...
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Over the weekend in Arizona, ICE systematically raided 16 car washes associated with two companies and arrested 223 immigrants. A spokeswoman from ICE went out of her way to emphasize that the raids followed a targeted investigation into businesses that were hiring the immigrant workers, not the workers themselves,...
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On the one hand, the Republican National Committee (RNC) recognizes the need to pass immigration reform in order to engage with Latinos, Asians and other immigrant communities. They even released an outreach report earlier this year in which the sole policy recommendation was supporting immigration reform. On the other...
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Last summer, we covered a civil rights trial against Arizona’s notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio and allegations that he and his Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office have been discriminating against Latino drivers on the basis of race. Last week, a federal judge officially found that the anti-immigrant practices of Arpaio and...
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