Great Moments in 2011

I corresponded some years ago with "Franko Music", a DREAM act student who wanted information on the Legislation. Years later a friend of his tells me he is in detention. His "crime": not to set a foot on the ground (a complete stop for a motorcyclist) in an intersection. Dulce Matuz, ADAC Chair and I, go around Maricopa County Sheriff Office and ICE- Phoenix to see where he is being held while making calls to coordinate a quick campaign. Genie Zavaleta works the connection with DC. State Legislator Catherine Miranda contacts local ICE officials.

Before attending CPLC Esperanza Awards (all decked up) we get the word he would be released. (Don't even have time to write a constant contact e-mail and start a campaign). Franko is released the same day of our intervention.  You can see Franko here at time of his release.  I always wanted to liberate persons in high heels.  


Tucson DREAMer.

Great team work saves Juan Manuel Munoz from deportation.  Lawyer Jose Penalosa,  always  ready to help DREAMers, provides all the professional help. Thanks to advocates Matt Matera, Yadira Garcia and friends in Tucson we coordinate a quick case.  
I felt so honored to have Congressman Grijalva's office monitoring the situation and offering help.

___________

During 2011 I was happy to  continue supporting  DREAMers initiatives like Carla Chavarria's  I DREAM  Campaign and Angelica-goes- to-Washington with press releases and pro-bono work by Critical Mass Communications, LLC.

This is More on Carla's  I DREAM  Campaign.

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How can I forget? I owned Paris for two and half weeks ! Thanks MEGA.

____________

Complete sadness: Maricopa County Community Colleges  (MCCCD) raised their tuition, pricing out DREAMers and some citizens out of higher education. Yes, part of the Pearce legacy. More damaging, they plan to implement an obscure law HB2008 full extent, full force, extreme interpretation. Thanks to hours and hours of pestering the Board, Chancellor and Machiavellic general counsel, Lee Combs with my friend Daniel Rodriguez we managed to tone down some of the implementation of HB2008 (like asking the immigration status of students riding vans to student' congresses). Next semester 5,000+ students dropped out of the Maricopa system. 

If you ask Mr. Combs, he will deny  he intended to ask MCCCD student's immigration status " on a case by case scenario". 
To this date, the press, nobody cares about it. #couldhavebeenevenworse.

______________

ADAC protests the Maricopa County Community College Boards for pricing out DREAM Act students taking 1 to 2 hours. I run a national campaign to ask the Chancellor to re-consider. Great help from Jackie Mahendra and team from Change.org.  At least we take it national and it is not an unknown pain. Sadness, anger. 

Students paid good money for their education. They will take their money other place. A grear option is State Legislator Catherine Miranda's Manzana Foundation partnering with the Navajo Technical College. 
Potential lost estimated for MCCCD: FTSE 2,265 Revenue $3,222,777.00 ( I think it is even more as now).

___________

Thanks to educational devastation created by  MCCCD's  Legal Counsel Lee Combs, we kind of figure out there were a lot of things going wrong at the Community Colleges. I replicate the craft of the journalists (my friend Gregory Pratt comes to mind) and I start requesting information to MCCCD invoking Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  It opened a new world of possibilities and learning. POWERFUL tool. Now, I know too much (I should be killed). #Iwanttoknowmore! BUT #nobodycares!

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Carl Hayden Robotics continues kicking robotic butt. So honored to work on their press releases and know in advance how they are going to be profiled on the media. Very proud of student leader Maria Castro (profiled in a CNN special) Dulce Matuz (a robot named after her- welcome to the club!) and all the past, present and future Falcons.

____________

I got a phone call. An ASU student's best friend is in detention. Did an intensive research in a matter of hours. Great, beautiful young lady. Got really upset since she was about to get transported to Florence or other of the detention holes (I know what might happen there.  If you do not know, read this study by UofA).I get determined to get her out QUICK. Sent my constant contact online petition. Great help from Mohammad Abdollahi to make the petition GO NATIONAL. Nallely is out by the evening. (Michelle Dallacrose has been gaining weight ! Haha).

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Starting 2011, we were able to save Pedro Gutierrez from deportation thanks to Mohammad Abdollahi,  Lawyer Mo Goldman, the great ADAC and Pedro's mentors. Here is one of the many media clips on Pedro and the awesome PR job.
So honored to have coordinated the campaign (even when I was shivering with fever and the flu).

__________________

I'm looking forward 2012 for more advocacy and great times !
Good bless you all, dear readers!

Arizona's Special Election and the Unfolding Everyday Drama

For the first time ever a State Senator President is being recalled and a new election is set for November the 8^{th, 2011.}

The State Senator is not other than Russell Pearce, an early proponent of many anti-immigration l laws that have been copycatted in many states and had devastated Arizona’s economy. He is infamous for pushing SB1070.

Russell Pearce is not only bad for the immigrant and minority population but he had slashed education budgets K to 12, colleges and universities to record lows, affecting all and sabotaging our future In Arizona.

He has introduced the most ridiculous laws like "birthter" bills and made the Colt AZ official’s gun at the time when the economy in the state is in shambles.

Mr. Pearce is notorious for his associations with neo-Nazis groups and recently the media had disclosed his participation on the Fiesta Bowl Scandal where he took illegal gifts and junkets.

State Senator Russell Pearce is one of the most divisive public figures and a well-known bully who intimidates people, even inside his own party, who forces elected officials to follow his extremist agenda. He is notorious to rally support to extremist candidates to eliminate moderate Republican voices from the Legislature.

Now that he has being recalled and the election on Nov the 8^th will take place he has planted, with the help of tea party activist and even members of his own family, a Hispanic woman candidate to divide the vote and confuse Latinos.

Olivia Cortes , has been called to testify on her candidacy and has stated she doesn’t know who paid a petition gathering company to put her in the ballot, does not know the volunteers who are posting signs, or where the supports for her campaign comes from in spite that she handles treasury.

In an unprecedented move probably unique at this time in the nation, and for the sake of the well being of Arizona, the Democratic Party has agreed not to put a candidate in the hopes that a unifying Republican, Mr. Jerry Lewis, can win in which may be one of the most conservative districts in the nation.

New information comes every single day about this election. We are keeping our sights on November the 8th.

If you live in Mesa District 18th participate in this important election. If you are not registered to vote, a group of students will be registering new voters Wednesday October the 5th and Thursday October the 6th at Mesa Community College from 10 A.M. to 7 P.M. by the clock tower.

Why Ban When You Can Price them Out???

It is like an euphemism. Do not ban undocumented students from Higher Education just price them out. On the day Community Colleges classes start in 10 institutions in the Metro Phoenix area, members of the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition and Education Advocates mark with sadness the elimination of affordable tuition rates for out of state students.

Last March Maricopa Community Colleges District (MCCCD) approved a tuition hike close to 230% targeting “Out of State” individuals including, but not exclusively, undocumented students which already made countless sacrifices to pay for one or two classes each semester.

MCCCD is one of the largest Community Colleges systems in the nation.

“Out of State” students taking six credits hours or less (one or two classes) paid last semester 96 dollars per credit but under the new policies implemented, MCCCD is charging 317 dollars per credit or about 1000 dollars per class even if they take limited schedule. Students taking more than six credits have been already paying triple “In State Tuition” for years already.

Before the tuition hike 1 to 6 credit hours was the little window of opportunity for affordable higher education undocumented students had in one of the largest community colleges systems in the nation.

Beside the tuition hike, MCCCD voted for a harsh interpretation of laws that require the reporting to ICE and DHS of undocumented students by the institution that students are supposed to trust. The financial and admission department’s personnel are forced to report on the immigration status of the students if they disclose it. The powerful and influential Legal Counsel threatens jail time to not complying personnel.

The process in which these changes were implemented was done in secrecy, with original implementation taskforces disappearing and other political interest groups supplanting a cross-section of the departments that deal with enrollment.

The implementation of these measures is contrary to the financial health of MCCCD because they will lose income from thousands of students dropping out and now it takes more personnel time to check on the paperwork of ALL students. Also new forms have been printed, new processes established and hasty personnel training given to have the appearance of compliance also adds to the costs of implementing flawed policies.

The MCCCD board has, in short, betrayed its own mission of providing access to higher education.

The new policies are also affecting programs that MCCCD had in partnership with K-12 institutions including ACE, dual enrollment, and its own charter schools, which prepared students to move into post-secondary education. The reporting issue is also present in these environments, possibly violating Federal laws.

This situation we live in Arizona is contrary with the well-being of the State. Our State will not have a globally competitive workforce if higher education affordability is eliminated for thousands and thousands of students.

What happens in Arizona is also a cautionary tale of the spreading tentacles of a battery of immigration laws passed over a period of time.

Closing the Door of Education in Arizona

Education in Arizona is having its SB1070 moment and this time there is no Judge or ruling that can come to the rescue.
Since the passing of laws like Prop.300 and several more intended to get rid of undocumented students in Arizona, a policy called attrition through enforcement, the number of immigrant students participating in higher education has been dwindling dramatically from around 1500 students on public universities in 2007, to only 106 in 2010 according with an article by Cronkite News.
Many of these students and freshmen sought access to education through Community Colleges, which thanks to a tiered tuition system charged 96 dls. per credit hour.
However on March 2011 the Maricopa Community Colleges Board voted to increase 230+ % the tuition for "per credit" classification, hitting undocumented students with a hike that puts higher education out of their reach. That decision came through a random revision of a law called HB2008 which relates to public benefits in the state. This law is highly encompassing, vague and troubling and was believed to affect primarily hospitals.
The consensus previous to the hike was that the MCCD was following the law and acting its due diligence to comply.
An internal memo from the colleges acknowledges there was not statutory language requiring the Colleges to restructuring the tuition system or affect or implement changes but an over zealot lawyer, Mr. Lee Combs, drove this decision.
The lawyer's interpretation took administration to order denying access to undocumented students to school related travels for the use of a bus paid with "public funding".
That is when panic started to take over. The decision to raise the tuition was bullied into administrative personnel, MCCD board members, the Chancellor Mr. Rufus Glasper, afraid of an hypothetical backlash of conservative members of the community.
Everyone started to get along with the interpretation of the in house counsel, Mr. Combs aided by the support of Minutewoman Board Member Debra Pearson which made a motion on the Board.
Activist engaged in talks to several members of the Maricopa Community Colleges District and discover several troubling situations:
.The meetings that lead to the change in policy were held away from key administrative personnel and in an unusually speedy manner.
.There was never a detailed tuition cost analysis for regular and on line classes.
.There was never an analysis of the impact of the interpretation of HB2008 on the community colleges program.
.There was never a list of the programs affected by the interpretation of HB2008 or the effect on enrollment.
Officials at the MCCD estimate than 5% of the student population or between 6,000 -8000 students will be affected by the tuition hike and most likely not return to the system. Most of the affected may be out of state citizens, persons in the process to obtain a legal status, snow birds living in Arizona.

Carmen Visits The Lou Show and Talks About the DREAM Act

Lift the Torch

Pedro Gutierrez led the crowds and lifted the torch of freedom on the Phoenix Martin Luther King Parade.
He could have been doing so many things that day.. many... like packing his belongings, maybe retreat to his place in shame or bitterness since the following day his deportation had been scheduled, but he decided to attend the Parade. "It was crazy", he said, "I chose to go to the parade".
Lewis and Jane Storey found my name and phone number on Facebook thanks to a lead provided by Luis Avila, hoping I will be able to help Pedro Gutierrez and save him from deportation. The Storeys have been mentoring Pedro for years touched by his story of good behavior in spite of tremendous odds. Being brought undocumented by his grandmother (who had legal status) after his parents wasted their lives lost on drugs. Grandma was later unsuccessful making connections with more relatives in Mexico when she fell gravely ill. When she dies, leaves Pedro at 11 at the care of her African American husband, who abandons him before Pedro becomes an adult.
In spite of the abandonment, Pedro dreams to follow his step grandfather's life in the military and sought recruiters to join. His legal status prevents Pedro to enlist but relentless he "trains" along the new recruits.
Getting all the details on Pedro and his touching story I asked my fellow CADENA members for their permission to use the list of supporters and request their action with phone calls and faxes asking DHS to stop Pedro's deportation. I also connected with Mohammad Abdollahi from dreamactivist network who made possible connections at national level, even finding a terrific Tucson lawyer, Mo Goldman, who took the legal side of Pedro's defense pro-bono. It was an exciting week where we put together a national team with the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition (which took care of the media events and rallies for Pedro), Adam Luna from America's Voice with the social media resources to send on line faxes and extensive distribution list, Mo from Dreamactivist network, CADENA, Lawyer Mo Goldman and the Storeys.
Thanks to the actions of many subscribers to our networks, DHS delayed the deportation date and granted Pedro Gurtierrez eventually deferred action.
Pedro now can be without fear, as long as this administrative procedure is in place.
On Saturday I saw Pedro and the Storeys in Casa Grande along with other students ready to form The Arizona DREAM Act coalition of Pinal County. Hearing Pedro recount of what he thought was his last hours of his life in the USA before being thrown into homelessness, made my own petty life disappointments dwarf by his experience.
"I chose to go to the parade... people recognized me and asked me to lead the Martin Luther King parade...gave me the the torch. What I thought was my last day of my life in the USA was the best day of my life. I could gave everything up for those moments when I had the torch and all would have been worth it".
So I wake up in the middle of the night and I think of Pedro and I get reminded: "live your life like you are going to be deported tomorrow". Lift the torch and lead the parade.

Secrets

As an advocate sometime people share personal information that I need to keep secret.

There are a lot of things that I keep for myself, minding at all time the best interest for the DREAMers and the DREAM Act advocacy.

I have been given the go ahead to reveal one of the many secrets and now I let you all know Oscar Vazquez has enrolled in the army and will finish basic training in June. This is just an example of the sense of patriotic duty the dreamers have in their hearts. If you follow the DREAM Act advocacy in Arizona, you will remember his story.

Oscar Vazquez was member of the team who beat MIT in the MATE underwater robotics competition and was famous around the world thanks to the article "La Vida Robot", by Joshua Davis. The article was the single most clicked article online on Wired Magazine and was reprinted in Readers' Digest editions in several languages in many countries. Read the original article clicking here.

Notoriety followed.

Watch the ABC Nighline video piece on the mighty Falcon robotics here.

After successfully completing a bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering, Oscar left the country, self deported, frustrated by the lack of action of the federal government and in search for legal venue for re-entry.

It was a gamble, because there are no legal or administrative roads to officially do this. But Oscar and his young family, Karla and Sammy, where ready to endure the hardships. Please read the AZ Republic article on his self deportation here.

I knew of Oscar departure after some weeks he had been living in Mexico. I knew some persons, including some VIPs, were requesting DHS his re-entry but nothing happened.

I decided to look for support in different congressional offices starting for the obvious in Arizona. I was flatly turned back at Ed Pastor's office where they explained only in cases of extreme hardship (i.e. a citizen wife with a malignant cancer in her head waiting for the re-entry of an undocumented husband to assist her and the children ) will be considered. There was no consideration to economic hardship or separation of father and sons, daughters, husbands and wives.

I turned to Raul Grijalva's offices who were a little more sympathetic and willing to explore the possibility but I do not think anything came from it.

I decided to connect with the office of Senator Richard Durbin from Illinois, mayor proponent of the dream act at the national level. That was when things started to move in the right direction.

I was going back and forth exchanging e-mails with Durbin's excellent staff, which arranged meetings with DHS to petition Oscar.

Although it seemed clear to me the impossible may happen, the "legalization" of Oscar Vazquez, Mohammad Abdollahi from Dreamactivist.org confirmed what I suspected in his characteristic unassuming way. " Hey, Carmen ! do you know that Oscar Vazquez is coming home?", he said.

But the family did not wanted all to know until he was actually here. For weeks that seemed like years I kept the secret. Then he finally came home.

Today, Oscar has been away for basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky; since Feb 1, 2011. He went in as a Specialist (Spc) thanks to his BA in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Cavalry Scout/Infantry.His family will be reunited with him again on April ready to face their new adventure.

Dreamer in Detention

Just as I was getting ready for a dinner party on Saturday, I got a phone call from a young woman who was looking for help for a friend. Somebody had giving her my number and was seeking support for Nallely, who had been stopped and detained a day earlier for a minor traffic violation and had an unpaid ticket in her record.

I promised to get back the next day. I spent Sunday and Monday reconstructing the life of Nallely Farman, sorting through the confusion of her legal name and the name she goes for. It took me several phone calls to have all the facts straight.

There were aspects of Nalleli's life not totally clear to her mother so I also tracked down her friends, asking for more details.

Nallely is a great person. She has a list of community involvement activities that is really remarkable.

She has been a good student all along. She is a former ASU student and a Community College Student.

The thought of a nice,cute girl jailed, subjected to invasive "body searches" if she ends up in Eloy or Florence is really upsetting to me.

On Sunday I got the support from Mohammad Abdollahi from Dreamactivist.org and now the story of Nallely is going national.

Please click here to sign the petition to save Nallely from detention, and possible deportation.

http://action.dreamactivist.org/nalley/

Are Hispanics Only Aspiring to be Gang Members?

Dear State Senator Klein,

I was very disappointed to read on the Arizona Guardian your comments on the Senate floor quoting a letter from a supposed educator. On it implied that we Hispanics only have aspirations to become gang members and we disregard education.

http://www.arizonaguardian.com/azg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3057%3Asen-klein-quotes-letter-calling-latino-students-gang-members-and-gangsters&catid=958%3Anewsfp&Ite

Your lack of understanding and knowledge of our (your) community is appalling.

Let me probe your ideas are mistaken.

Last Saturday the Carl Hayden Robotics Team won the FIRST Robotics Arizona Regional that included teams from Arizona, California, New Mexico, 2 teams from Mexico, etc.

Carl Hayden is about 90 % Hispanic.

The Carl Hayden Falcons beat teams of higher income High Schools with students whose parents are college graduates.

Some of the Carl Hayden Team members are undocumented immigrants and all are from low income families.

Along with this big win for the Falcons, another majority minority team from Tolleson offered an spectacular performance and was awarded a pass to the international competition.

Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics will be representing Arizona in the international competition.

These wins are just an example of the continuous successes of our Hispanic, minorities and low income communities.

I demand a public apology for your mistaken words and characterization of our talented youth at the AZ state senate floor along with a recognition of the teams on the Arizona State Legislature.

FYI: This is the Falcon's robot in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fiw9PZ2E08&feature=player_embedded#at=20

Here is the press release:

Press Release March the 21 st. 2011 MEDIA CONTACTS Maria Castro: mariac467@gmail.com 602) 312 4886 Carmen Cornejo:carmen0402@aol.com(480)324-6378

Falcon Robotics Wins the 2011 FIRST Robotics AZ Regional CNN Captures the Big Win for a "STEM in America" Special What: Carl Hayden Falcons wins of robotics competition Best mentor: Fredi, Lajvardi Best student: Eduardo (Eddie) Fernandez Best robot design The Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics Team, which has been profiled on Wired Magazine, the TV show Nightline, and international editions of Reader's Digest, among others, won the 2011 FIRST Robotics AZ Regional this weekend. This event reunited more than 40 teams and from Arizona, California, Mexico and New Mexico. FIRST is an acronym: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. The name of the 2011 Robot is "Dulce's DREAM", to honor Dulce Matuz, a Carl Hayden High School alumni who is an undocumented electrical engineer graduate from ASU. The Falcon Robotics team also got the awards for Best mentor, Faridodin Lajvardi; best student, Eduardo (Eddie) Fernandez and best robot design. The team also won the competition by wide points margins and to cap it off four Falcon Robotics team members recieved W.W. Graingers scholarships: Gerardo Rodriguez, Ramon Balerama, Glenda Maldonado, Mike Kanaly. The Falcon Robotics team will be representing AZ in the Championship that will take place in the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis , MO, April 27th-30th 2011. Dulce Matuz is an inspiration for the members of the team. She continues to participate with the Falcons, offering her technical and fundraising skills, as well as encouragment to the students. Dulce Matuz, who graduated in 2009 from ASU, actively assists the neighborhood FLL (First Lego League) teams which introduce elementary and middle school students to robotic technologies. Dulce is a strong advocate for the DREAM Act, and she meets with elected officials at the federal level to promote this legislation that, if passed, will provide a path to legalization for undocumented students brought to this country as minors, like her. The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an event that teams professionals and young people to solve engineering design problems in an intense and competitive way. The program is a life changing, career-molding experience in a fun and positive environment framed by "gracious professionalism". This year the game for the competition is called LOGO MOTION ® . In the game, two alliances of three teams compete on a 27-by-54-foot field with poles, attempting to earn points by hanging as many triangle, circle and square logo pieces as possible. Bonus points can be earned for each robot that can hang and assemble logo pieces to form the FIRST logo. Robots can also deploy Mini-Bots to climb vertical poles for a chance to earn additional points. FIRST Robotic Competition (FRC) Arizona Regional unites teams from High School and their mentors to construct a functional robot in six weeks that can perform certain tasks pre-established by the game . Students participate on the design, construction, testing, and operation of the project as well as other activities like promotion and fundraising. The competion provides the students a hands on experience in the field of science and technology. Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics team will also participate on a new CNN documentary hosted by Soledad O'Brien. It is scheduled to air in May 2011. The organizing sponsor for the competition in Arizona is Microchip Technology, Inc. with the support of Science Foundation Arizona, Avnet, Craig and Barbara Barrett Foundation, Steve and Maria Sanghi, Wells Fargo Bank, On Semiconductors, US Airways and Critical Mass Communications LLC, among others.

Now Say Thanks!!!! Republicans who voted NO on Anti-Immigrant Bills

This is the List of Good Republicans who Voted in Favor of Aizona's Economy, Against Anti-Immigration Bills, according with the AZ Republic (see link below)

SB 1308: Birthright citizenship

• Frank Antenori, R-Tucson.

• Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix.

• Rich Crandall, R-Mesa.

• Adam Driggs, R-Phoenix.

• John McComish, R-Phoenix.

• John Nelson, R-Litchfield Park.

• Steve Pierce, R-Prescott.

• Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale.

• Steve Yarbrogh, R-Chandler.

SB 1309: Birthright citizenship

• Frank Antenori, R-Tucson.

• Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix.

• Scott Bundgaard, R-Peoria.

• Rich Crandall, R-Mesa.

• Adam Driggs, R-Phoenix.

• John McComish, R-Phoenix.

• John Nelson, R-Litchfield Park.

• Steve Pierce, R-Prescott.

• Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale.

• Steve Yarbrogh, R-Chandler.

SB 1405: Hospitals checking legal status

• Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix.

• Rich Crandall, R-Mesa.

• Adam Driggs, R-Phoenix.

• Linda Gray, R-Glendale.

• John McComish, R-Phoenix.

• John Nelson, R-Litchfield Park.

• Steve Pierce, R-Prescott.

• Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale.

• Steve Yarbrogh, R-Chandler.

SB 1407: Schools checking legal status

• Rich Crandall, R-Mesa.

• Adam Driggs, R-Phoenix.

• Linda Gray, R-Glendale.

• John McComish, R-Phoenix.

• John Nelson, R-Litchfield Park.

• Steve Pierce, R-Prescott.

• Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale.

SB 1611: Immigration omnibus

• Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake.

• Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix.

• Rich Crandall, R-Mesa.

• Adam Driggs, R-Phoenix.

• Linda Gray, R-Glendale.

• John McComish, R-Phoenix.

• John Nelson, R-Litchfield Park.

• Steve Pierce, R-Prescott.

• Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale.

• Steve Yarbrogh, R-Chandler.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2011/03/17/20110317arizona-birthright-citizenship-bills-rejected.html#ixzz1GxrZTYWG

Contrary to My Own Predictions...AZ Legislators Block Anti- Immigrant Bills!

Good news for now! Arizona State Legislature blocked anti-immigrant bills among them the so called Omnibus bill and the Birthright citizenship.

Other bills rejected were SB 1405 that would have required hospitals to check an individual's legal status and notify law enforcement if they suspected an individual was in the country illegally. Senate Bill 1407 would have required school districts to collect data on the number of students who were undocumented immigrants.

Also defeated was SB 1611, the so called Omnibus Bill, that included a wide variety of issues. It would have banned undocumented immigrants from attending state universities and Community Colleges or getting any federal public benefits. It would have made it a crime for undocumented immigrants to drive in Arizona and required proof of legal status to enroll a child in a public K-12 school. The Omnibus Bill was a compilation of 16 measures that had failed at various times over the past several years.

There is a small chance that this bill may be revived in what is left of the session. Also there is a possibility that the bill may be sent to the ballot.

Definitely the effective pressure came from the business leaders and the Chamber of Commerce, who months before were lobbying quietly against the passage of these laws.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2011/03/17/20110317arizona-birthright-citizenship-bills-rejected.html#ixzz1GuUEMCxo

You All Are 6 Years Behind, 4 Million Short (at Least)

60 business executives, among them CEOs, are asking the AZ State legislature to back off the immigration bills that are damaging our economy. You can read the opinion page on the AZ Republic here http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2011/03/16/20110316wed1-16-new.html.

Is this action having an effect to stop further economic meltdown in the state? Most likely no.

Russell Pearce had made assurances to the business community, before taking the Senate presidency, that he would not bring this bills up for a vote. He had already broken his promise twice.

Before this last minute action, the business community had chosen to deal with the request to hold the bills in a private way. Now this public, desperate action seems too little, too late.

As I predicted some time ago, State Senator Russell Pearce introduced the challenge to the 14th amendment to the US constitution to deny citizenship to the children of the (at least one of the parents) undocumented. Read here an article by Time magazine.

Today the legislation seemed to be weakening, although there are reports that Pearce will look for ways to vote it in other committees.

Make no mistake. The reason the challenge to the 14th amendment in the AZ legislation is loosing steam is not because cute kids marched in protest, or organized Latinas raised their voices but because the Chambers of Commerce came discreetly but forceful against it.

Money talks and there is not secret that the economy of Arizona cannot endure another

(or the continuation) economic boycott.

Dismantling The Myth of the "Anchor Baby"

(My comments are in bold)

I have been avoiding the topic just to skip using the jargon the Republicans are abusing.

However now the issue has materialized in 2011 in Arizona and other states with the filling of legislation by nativist politicians as State Senate Presidents (Arizona) Russell Pearce, Congressman Graham and others

The Republican efforts challenging the 14th Amendment, against birthright citizenship is centered by the idea that undocumented immigrants cross the border to have children who will be U.S. citizens. As Senator Lindsey Graham wrote about this, according to a posting from Think Progress -The Wonk Room's Andrea Nill:

“People come here to have babies,” he said. “They come here to drop a child. It's called "drop and leave." To have a child in America, they cross the border, they go to the emergency room, have a child, and that child's automatically an American citizen. That shouldn't be the case. That attracts people here for all the wrong reasons.”

There is a complete intent of dehumanizing immigrants and their families with this theories that also feed conspiracy fantasies.

This is what I found on line following the new report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

"Andrea Nill points that "an overwhelming majority of undocumented immigrants — 91 percent — who became the parents of U.S. citizens between March 2009 and March 2010 came to the U.S. before 2007."

"Contrary to Graham's "drop and leave" theory, only nine percent of undocumented immigrants had children shortly after arriving, and there's a distinct lack of evidence that any of them had children for that reason. Nill writes that these "findings pretty much invalidate the argument that is at the center of the birthright citizenship debate." That's actually not the only information in the Pew Survey that contradicts the views of restrictionists. There's also the news that the undocumented population increased slightly to 11.2 million by March 2010, after falling from 12 million to 11.1 million between 2007-2009"

"Now the Obama administration has tried to take some credit for the decline by pointing to its high numbers ofdeportations and increased resources at the border. But because in the long term border enforcement really does little to stem migration, the decline was more likely attributable to a struggling economy. The waning months of 2009 and early months of 2010 however, saw some economic growth. Maybe that's just a coincidence, but it also might explain the slight uptick in the undocumented population.

The data suggests a really shocking conclusion: People come to the U.S. to get jobs, not to have babies. That means that repealing birthright citizenship isn't likely to stem illegal immigration, because it doesn't alter the incentives that cause people to come here. It will, without a doubt, lead to higher numbers of undocumented immigrants, and the creation of a new, nationless class of children within U.S. borders. If, on the other hand, you're trying to reduce the population of Latino citizens rather than the number of undocumented immigrants, repealing birthright citizenship is one route to take"

I may add that Republicans always seek to dehumanize the undocumented immigrants in diverse ways:

1.-Utilizing humiliating vocabulary.

2.-Describing behavior that is contrary to the socio economic reality.

3.- Ignoring studies and research.

4.-Expecting that future immigration reform will legislate immigrant labor as a commodity, ignoring human realities.

Immigrant laborers, workers that arrive the USA are young and will find love, companionship and their unions will be blessed by the arrival of American citizens).