Posted on 04/24/2010 8:06:24 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
With the signing of Senate Bill 1070, draconian legislation that would force police officers to arrest anyone they "suspect" is an illegal immigrant, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer turns her back on the momentum and outrage that has built around the country in opposition to the bill.
In the last few days alone, national law enforcement organizations, immigrant rights' groups, the ACLU, and even Senators Schumer and Graham--the authors of bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform legislation--have said in no uncertain terms that the Arizona bill is bad law that should never be enacted.
So who's against it?
The People of Arizona. According to an article in Thursday's New York Times, approximately 85 percent of the calls going in to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's office are being recorded in OPPOSITION to the legislation.
Law enforcement groups. Law enforcement groups and agents in Arizona and across the country have opposed the legislation. The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police this week issued a statement, noting in part, "The provisions of the bill . . . will negatively affect the ability of law enforcement agencies across the state to fulfill their many responsibilities in a timely manner. " Individual Chiefs of Police across the country, including in Colorado Springs, Raleigh, San Francisco and Sacramento, have also come out in opposition to the bill.
President Obama. At a press conference Friday, Obama slammed the bill as "misguided," stating that "the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe."
People of Faith. Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, who heads the nation's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese with 4.3 million members, spoke for many people of faith when he lambasted the bill on his blog, stating, "The Arizona legislature just passed the country's most retrogressive, mean-spirited, and useless anti-immigrant law. The tragedy of the law is its totally false reasoning: that immigrants come to our country to rob, plunder, and consume public resources. That is not only false, the premise is nonsense."
Sojourners CEO Jim Wallis has also spoken out against the bill, writing in Huffington Post, "[E]nforcement of this law would force us to violate our Christian conscience, which we simply will not do. It makes it illegal to love your neighbor in Arizona."
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Groups--Including the ACLU, the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League. "The passage of SB 1070 is a catastrophe in the making that would institutionalize racial profiling in a misguided attempt to fix our broken immigration system," said Wade Henderson, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Deborah Lauter of the Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry and protects civil rights for all, concurred. "Laws like this one and the immigration debate that surrounds them have become a flashpoint for racist and neo-Nazi extremist groups that foment bigotry and blame immigrants for all of our country's problems. Other groups in opposition include: the ACLU, the Asian American Justice Center, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the NAACP.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, including Reps. Gutierrez and Grijalva, have asked President Obama to block the Arizona legislation if it passes. "The president of the United States should simply say, 'On the issue of immigration, the Constitution is clear, my power is clear -- I'm going to regulate immigration in the United States from a federal level,'" Gutierrez said. On a call with reporters, Grijalva added, "When you institutionalize a law like this one, you are targeting and discriminating at a wholesale level against a group of people."
Immigrants Rights' Groups. "This bill throws the door wide open to the racial profiling of Arizona's Latinos, the vast majority of whom are native-born U.S. citizens and legal residents, without doing a single thing to protect the people of Arizona," said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.
This afternoon, Gov. Brewer explained her decision to sign SB 1070, saying that "decades of federal inaction and misguided policies" have created "a dangerous and unacceptable situation."
Ironic choice of words, considering one could describe this xenophobic bill--which essentially legalizes racial profiling--with the exact same turn of phrase.
Do you have thoughts about the passage of SB 1070? Send a message to Jan Brewer and we'll make sure that she receives your concerns about the bill.
More absurdity, this time from the SEIU. The Arizona bill doesn’t force a law enforcement officer to do anything, it allows them to question a person when they have a reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed. This is perfectly consistent with U.S. Constitutional law.
The Democrats and the SEIU want as many illegals in the U.S. as possible, for their own reasons.
The above is from another article on the same subject. And, I am against it. I may be alone in my opposition in this forum, but it IS bad legislation. Of course, I am against illegal immigrants, or un-documented aliens or whatever the PC crowd wishes to call them. There are numerous laws already extant which address this problem. They are not enforced.
But mainly, if you give the authorities the kind of power which this legislation enables, you are essentially creating an atmosphere reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Substitute the word JEW for Illegal Immigrant, and you will see my concern. Police will have the authority to stop or detain ANYONE who they "suspect" of being, well, ANYTHING. This is NOT the kind of power we want to give to ANYONE particularly under THIS administration. THINK...
This means there will be LESS chance for SEIU to have illegal members.....you think THEY check for citizenship of anyone who pays dues???? This and the HEALTH Care program are all NEW MEMBERS for SEIU
Where I live, and it’s a sanctuary city, I have witnessed street sweeps where those with no ID were taken to the precinct, citizens held, illegals not; How is that constitutional?
Here illegals get welfare with no docs (per court case), get Medicaid, get SS disability by lying re: speech issues/schools (btw, private or 4201 schools, expensive), housing, etc.
Meanwhile, those citizens who have lost jobs, health coverage, homes, go through hell and may be told no funds are available; These.are the people who worked and paid taxes for illegals to be provided services.
The cons outweigh the pros.
Trust me.
I know people here 30 years who refuse to do the right thing re: imm.. This ‘scared, in the shadows’ meme is a lie, they know nothing will happen to them.
How about those who wait, paid out trying to do it the legal way? How about those getting persecuted, don’t they deserve to come here and not be held back?
Don’t get me started on costs, crime (inc. I’d theft, gangs, smugling, traffic, bringing in OTM from terror states).
Bottom line, is it illegal or not? If they want to claim profiling, they might as well let every drug dealer out of jail as well re: unfair, racism, what laws?.
Thanks! Just sent her a note of thanks.
FUseiu!
LLS
Not sure who will blink first but I’m pretty sure the people of Arizona have more bullets than SEIU. Remember, gun control is the ability to hit your target aka drive-by is for P*$$!^$.
They already do.
Once again, a union works directly against the interests of its members who are too drunk or too stupid to realize it.
Remember these anti-Americans individuals and groups when the real fight start. The communists and anti-Americans are the cancer that have reduced America to the communist control of America we have now.
I don’t understand the rationale for having public employee unions. They should be outlawed.
I can understand — though don’t accept - the populist argument that led to unions: that without the ability to unionize, employees would be at the mercy of evil, capitalists who will exploit them by working them mercilessly, in unsafe environments, at low wages.
But what is the justification for a union of government employees? If the government will exploit them without unionization, then how can it be trusted to govern the citizenry in general?
Would that the SEIU, and other public unions, could be outlawed once and for all. Unfortunately, I know that is politically impossible for the foreseeable future — largely because of the $$$ that public employee unions have to finance the election efforts of their enabling politicians.
And bty Christy, tough s&i+ and you might think about dusting off the old résumé
This particular union wants all the illegals it can get. Indeed, much of their current membership is probably illegal.
The SEIU organizes groups like cleaning ladies and janitors.
There is none. SEIU and other public employee unions receive paychecks courtesy of the US private sector taxpayer. Out of which are extracted union dues, again courtesy of the US taxpayer. Campaign contributions from these unions are, therefore, a direct transfer of wealth from you and I to candidates we would never support.
The long term strategy of the left is to create a permanent voting block funded by taxpayers. And it's working.
"around the country" is not "in" Arizona last time I checked. When all the cockroaches scatter to nearby states, those states will be passing this legislation as well. Sanctuary cities will be no more.
I hope they will leave peacefully whe the time comes. It is not going to end well in any case. Freedom and Communism are incompatible.
They are named Service Employees INTERNATIONAL Union for a reason.
They lie! Most Americans are against immigration reform and would lvoe to see laws like this passed coast to coast. I say right now that I will never frequent any place that uses SEIU employees. I will always ask before I go in any where.
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