On December 10, 2010, the Associated Press published an article entitled, "Judge dismissed part of challenge to Arizona law." Although governor Jan Brewer requested that challenges to some of SB 1070's most controversial sections and she was denied, some parts of the U.S. Department of Justice's challenges to the new law were dismissed.
The U.S. District Judge, Susan Bolton ruled on Friday and ultimately "struck down the federal government's challenge to the portion of the law that prohibits the transport of illegal immigrants" (2010). It will be interesting to read the rulings that will be made over the law's most controversial sections in the weeks to come.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Ohio Lawyer Requests Teen's Deportation be Delayed
Dan Sewell published a report on Bernard Pastor today, he is an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who has been in the United States since the age of three. Recently, he got into a minor car accident which is how police discovered that he was not a United States citizen. He attends high school in Cincinnati, Ohio and is in the top of his class. His attorney, David Leopold is arguing that "there is no urgency to remove 18-year-old Bernard Pastor from the country where he has lived since the age 3" (Sewell, 2010).
Leopold is the head of the Immigration Lawyers Association and was contacted by supporters of Pastor as well as immigration reform advocates a week ago regarding this case. He has undertaken this case without fee and has already "a formal request that his deportation be deferred" (Sewell, 2010).
Although I posted recently regarding this case, I think it is worth describing the situation again. Pastor and his family fled Guatemala as his father faced persecution, he was denied citizenship a few years ago. According to Pastor, "he considers himself an American, speaks little Spanish and hardly knows anyone in Guatemala" (Sewell, 2010).
Pastor is now being referred to as a poster child for the proposed DREAM Act that is currently being debated in Congress. If the bill were to pass, Pastor could gain citizenship and attend college in the United States, or join the military. "Opponents say passing the legislation would encourage more illegal immigration at a time when many Americans are looking for jobs" (Sewell, 2010), but this seems a bit ridiculous as the act is only applicable to children that have been here since they were very young, so even if someone were to come here illegally with their child, it would be quite a while until they were of age to gain citizenship.
Leopold is the head of the Immigration Lawyers Association and was contacted by supporters of Pastor as well as immigration reform advocates a week ago regarding this case. He has undertaken this case without fee and has already "a formal request that his deportation be deferred" (Sewell, 2010).
Although I posted recently regarding this case, I think it is worth describing the situation again. Pastor and his family fled Guatemala as his father faced persecution, he was denied citizenship a few years ago. According to Pastor, "he considers himself an American, speaks little Spanish and hardly knows anyone in Guatemala" (Sewell, 2010).
Pastor is now being referred to as a poster child for the proposed DREAM Act that is currently being debated in Congress. If the bill were to pass, Pastor could gain citizenship and attend college in the United States, or join the military. "Opponents say passing the legislation would encourage more illegal immigration at a time when many Americans are looking for jobs" (Sewell, 2010), but this seems a bit ridiculous as the act is only applicable to children that have been here since they were very young, so even if someone were to come here illegally with their child, it would be quite a while until they were of age to gain citizenship.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests 14 in Fort Myers
Fourteen people were arrested by immigration officials in Fort Myers "last week as part of a five-day statewide operation targeting immigrants convicted of crimes" (2010). According to a report for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "the sweep ended Friday and netted 95 total arrests including 84 men and 9 women from 22 nations, including countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa" (2010). The ICE conducted the operation and they aim "to take in criminal immigrants with convictions for drug trafficking offenses, violent crimes and sex offenses" (2010).
Kentucky Republicans Push for Arizona-style Immigration Law
Today an article regarding Kentucky and its immigration policies was published. The Republicans of the state want to follow Arizona's lead and "pass immigration-enforcement legislation that would allow police to check the citizenship status of people they stop" (Weber, 2010). There are critics in Kentucky arguing what many in Arizona have, that the Republicans are riding anti-immigration sentiment.
It will be interesting to see how many states begin writing up legislation similar to Arizona's, although it is currently being challenged in the federal court of appeals.
It will be interesting to see how many states begin writing up legislation similar to Arizona's, although it is currently being challenged in the federal court of appeals.
DREAM Act Discussed in Fort Wayne
This video simply presents two different arguments regarding the DREAM Act; one man opposing the bill states that "people are working hard to send their kids to school now, paying for it out of their pockets and some of them can't get grants, some of them can't get scholarships. But, this may move these people ahead of them." I think that this statement again, as I have stated in previous posts, has a sort of alienated view of immigrants. This view seems evident through this statement and it made me wonder how allowing more people to go to college would actually impact their chances of obtaining the grants or scholarships. It also seems presumptuous of him when he explains how hard people are working to send their kids to school now, as he seems to imply that parents of non-citizens may not be working as hard.
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