GOP Lawmakers Want Explanation of Draft Memo on Amnesty for Thousands
A group of Republican senators has written to top immigration officials in the Obama administration asking them to reveal whether large-scale plans are under way to provide a so-called non-legislative version of amnesty.
The lawmakers cite an 11-page draft document written by staff to the director of the Citizenship and Immigration Service that says they are reviewing several executive orders and other mechanisms that effectively would serve as a substitute for comprehensive immigration reforms.
The objective would be to promote “family unity, foster economic growth … and reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization."
Among the suggestions, the document offers proposals for rewriting legal opinions to allow unaccompanied minors, victims of human trafficking or extreme hardship and others who've overstayed their visas to remain in the U.S.
For instance, the four aides who wrote the document told Director Alejandro N. Mayorkas that general counsel at the CIS has reinterpreted legal opinions of the definition of "admission" for those entering under "temporary protected status" -- in the face of war or environmental disaster -- so that they can change their status to stay in the United States permanently.
"Opening this pathway will help thousands of applicants obtain lawful permanent residence without having to leave the U.S.," reads the memo, which was provided to Fox News by the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
A statement released by the USCIS warned that internal draft memos should not be equated with official action or policy by the department.
"We will not comment on notional, pre-decisional memos. As a matter of good government, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will discuss just about every issue that comes within the purview of the immigration system. ... Internal memoranda help us do the thinking that leads to important changes; some of them are adopted and others are rejected. Our goal is to implement policies wisely and well to strengthen all aspects of our mission," reads the statement.
"Nobody should mistake deliberation and exchange of ideas for final decisions. To be clear, DHS will not grant deferred action or humanitarian parole to the nation's entire illegal immigrant population," it continues.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/30/gop-lawmakers-want-explanation-draft-memo-amnesty-thousands/

Federal Judge Blocks Part of Arizona Immigration Law

Published July 28, 2010
| FoxNews.com

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A federal judge on Wednesday blocked some of the toughest provisions in the Arizona immigration law, putting on hold the state's attempt to enforce federal immigration policy.

Though the rest of the law is still set to go into effect Thursday, the partial injunction on SB 1070 means Arizona, for the time being, will not be able to require police officers to determine the immigration status of anyone they stop or arrest.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton also struck down the section of law that makes it a crime for someone to fail to carry immigration registration papers and the provision that makes it a crime for an illegal immigrant to seek or perform work.

Click here to read the ruling.

In all, Bolton struck down four sections of the law, the ones that opponents called the most controversial. Bolton said she was putting those sections on hold until the courts resolve the issues.

Opponents say the law will lead to racial profiling and is trumped by federal immigration law.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/28/federal-judge-rules-arizona-immigration-law-dispute/

READ THE RULING:  http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/072810_ArizonaRuling.pdf

READ THE AZ LAW:  http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/SB1070-HB2162New.PDF

Californians split on Ariz. immigration law
July 16th, 2010, 6:56 am • 289 Comments • posted by Dena Bunis, Washington Bureau Chief
A new Field Poll out Friday shows that by a margin of 49 to 45 percent Californians support the new tough Arizona immigration law but the results are marked by major partisan and ethnic differences.
Among Republicans voters who responded to the survey, 77 percent favor the law while 62 percent of Democrats oppose it. Non-partisans are about evenly divided with 46% in favor and 49% opposed.
And according to the new poll, white non-Hispanics approve of the law 58 percent to 37 percent while only 24 percent of Latino voters support the law compared with 71 percent against it.
The California results are in stark contrast to nationwide polls that have consistently reported that a clear majority of Americans support the Arizona law. The measure requires local and state police officials to check the immigration status of those they stop for other crimes if police believe there is a “reasonable” suspicion that the person is here illegally.
The law is scheduled to take effect on July 29th but seven lawsuits aiming to quash it have been filed. A federal judge heard arguments on one suit Thursday and plans to hold hearings on the others next week, most notably the lawsuit filed by the Justice Department.
The measure has brought the debate to communities in Orange County and around the country.
Westminster and Rancho Santiago Margarita became the latest cities to debate the issue this week. Westminster decided Wednesday to put off the debate until a later date whileRancho Santa Margarita’s city council voted to support the law.
Costa Mesa, Orange andYorba Linda’s city councils have all expressed their support for the measure. Santa Ana’s city council has condemned the measure.
When likely November voters were asked about support for the law the gap widened with 54 percent saying they support is and 41 opposing.
Immigration in general and the Arizona law specifically could have an impact in the two key statewide races this fall – governor and U.S. Senate.
According to Field, “Only about one in four voters who prefer Democrats Jerry Brown for Governor or Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate race register approval of the law. By contrast, about four out of five of the supporters of Meg Whitman for Governor or Carly Fiorina for U.S. Senate are lining up in favor of the legislation.”
Brown, Boxer and Whitman have all expressed opposition to Arizona’s law and the Justice Department’s lawsuit challenging it. Fiorina supports the law and opposes the lawsuit.
Voters who are currently undecided in the governor’s race support the new law 63% to 35%, while undecided voters for U.S. Senate are divided (49% approve vs. 47% disapprove, the survey reported.
http://totalbuzz.ocregister.com/2010/07/16/californians-split-on-ariz-immigration-law/38023/

 Broad coalition of faith leaders urges immigration reform
By Jennifer Garza
jgarza@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jul. 18, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, Jul. 18, 2010 - 10:04 am
The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez interrupted a recent Thursday night Bible study class at Sacramento's Christian Worship Center to discuss a topic he knew concerned many of his congregants: immigration reform.
As his wife, Eva, translated in Spanish, Rodriguez, an Assemblies of God pastor, paced the stage while describing the meeting he and other religious leaders had with President Barack Obama a few days before the president's July 1 speech on immigration.
"We urged him to take the moral imperative on this," the pastor said.
Rodriguez is also president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, an advocacy group that serves 16 million evangelical Latinos. The local pastor sat in the front row for the president's speech and is at the forefront of the issue nationally.
"We believe God is on our side on this issue," he said.
Many of his congregants, mostly Latino, nodded in agreement.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/18/2897608/broad-coalition-of-faith-leaders.html#ixzz0u3XUiygp

Immigration bill could aid 500,000 in state
BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

WASHINGTON – If Congress extends legal status to illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children, more than half a million people living in California could be eligible to apply for green cards.
In all, a report by the Migration Policy Institute found that about 2.1 million young illegal immigrants living in the U.S. could become legal residents under of the DREAM Act, a law that has been proposed in Congress for nearly a decade but has yet to pass. The number in California – 553,000 – was by far higher than in any other state.

Some of Yenni Diaz's friends find themselves in this predicament. A political science student at the UC Irvine, Diaz has several undocumented friends who went to high school in California, are studying for the same degree as her but under current law will never be able to legally get jobs after they graduate. The DREAM Act could enable them to become citizens of the only country they have ever known.
"These are people that are students that are working toward a degree or have a degree already," said Diaz, a member of the Orange County DREAM Team, which has fought for the law since it was proposed in 2001. "They would be able to actually work in their field and use their degree."
But critics, who view the plan as a form of amnesty, argue it is counterproductive and dangerous to provide any benefits to anyone who entered the country illegally.
The Migration Policy Institute report, co-authored by Margie McHugh and Jeanne Batalova, provided the first snapshot of how many people might be affected by the law.
The legislation would grant conditional legal status to illegal immigrants under the age of 35 who arrived in the country before the age of 16, have lived here for the last five years and have a U.S. high school diploma or GED.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/status-256870-people-high.html

Democratic strategists divided on impact of immigration suit
By Susan Crabtree - 07/07/10 06:00 AM ET

Some Democratic strategists are embracing the Obama administration’s legal challenge to Arizona’s new immigration law, arguing that the long-term political dividends with Hispanic voters outweigh any headaches it may cause for swing-district Democrats in this year’s election.
The Justice Department is seeking an injunction preventing the law from taking effect July 29 on the grounds that immigration enforcement is the federal government’s responsibility and that the Arizona law could impede that duty.
Arizona’s tough new immigration-enforcement law, which allows police to question people if they think they may be in the country illegally, has sparked a national debate on the already contentious topic of immigration, and the short-term political fallout will no doubt seriously affect both parties.
Before the lawsuit and President Barack Obama’s call for comprehensive immigration reform last week, Latino voters were beginning to rethink their support for the president and question his commitment to their agenda.
While Obama’s approval ratings among black and white Americans remained static over the past six months — at 91 percent and 41 percent, respectively — his approval numbers among Hispanics dropped 12 points, to 57 percent, a Gallup poll found.
At the same time, the majority of the public has expressed support for the Arizona law, several polls have found, a point Republicans will continue to hammer home during the midterm campaign. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/107389-dem-strategists-divided-on-impact-of-immigration-suit

Arizona suit imperils Western Dems
The Obama administration's lawsuit over the stringent Arizona border law might have just made the incline a little steeper for many Western Democrats, providing instant fodder to Republicans who are already optimistic about regaining ground lost over the last two election cycles.
The dust from the Department of Justice lawsuit filed Tuesday is just starting to settle, but the reflexive sense among strategists on both sides is that it will be a net negative for Democrats this fall.
The suit could, of course, help boost turnout among Hispanic voters in key areas across the West. And stridently anti-immigrant rhetoric could turn off independent voters. Yet many foresee a midterm electorate featuring an energized Republican base — for whom the immigration issue has emerged as a priority — prompting moderate white Western voters who are concerned about jobs to decamp to the GOP at least in the short term, political observers said.
“This is a tough issue for Democrats,” said former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm, a Democrat who is co-director of the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver. “Politically, I just can’t think of any place in the West where this is going to play well.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39431.html#ixzz0t0qkYKTg

Ariz. lawmaker takes aim at automatic citizenship By MICHELLE PRICE
Associated Press Writer
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2010 - 11:15 am
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2010 - 11:42 am
PHOENIX -- Emboldened by passage of the nation's toughest law against illegal immigration, the Arizona politician who sponsored the measure now wants to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in this country to undocumented parents.
Legal scholars laugh out loud at Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce's proposal and warn that it would be blatantly unconstitutional, since the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/15/2824421/ariz-lawmaker-takes-aim-at-automatic.html#ixzz0qxePKwF3

June 5, 2010 San Diego rallied for AZ in support of SB 1070! Here are some photos of our local patriots!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dmwlaw23/SanDiegoRalliesForAZ?authkey=Gv1sRgCMj76avd8J2bSg#

THANK YOU SAN DIEGO!

My blog about our expereinec in Tempe,Arizona on May 29,2010 for a rally:

http://blog.socaltaxrevoltcoalition.org/2010/06/07/the-nation-stands-with-arizona-by-dawn-wildman/

Pictures from Tempe, AZ rally: http://picasaweb.google.com/dmwlaw23/PHXRally52910?authkey=Gv1sRgCKbD-ZTTkcOMcQ#

Starting May 5th, we are officially kicking off an on-going ARIZONA BUY-cott to support Arizona bases corporations, local businesses, on-line retailers, and tourism. The following list is just a sampling of the great companies you can support...and there is something for everyone. PLEASE SHARE!!

Be sure to check back at our website regularly...we will add more companies as soon as possible!

PLAN A TRIP TO ARIZONA

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SUPPORT ARIZONA COMPANIES:

“LOCAL FIRST” BUSINESS DIRECTORY for ARIZONA

AIR TRAVEL

AUTO

BEAUTY & SKIN CARE

BOOKS

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HOTELS

MISC.

MUSIC

PETS

RESTAURANTS

SPORTING GOODS

SPORTS TEAMS

TECHNOLOGY

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