Weekly Immigration Update: Airport Workers Smuggle Immigrants; Latino Lawyers Can Do Much To Help; Antis Have Their Game On
Over Labor Day Weekend, news broke covering a series of airport workers in Puerto Rico who were helping undocumented immigrants enter the United States. This once again highlights the flaws in an "enforcement-only" system, and showcases the need for a comprehensive strategy to fix the current broken immigration system.
In other news, with E-verify becoming mandatory for all government contractors this week, Congress will have to decide on how it takes up this issue again as the program is scheduled to expire on September 30. By dealing with this sub-issue through comprehensive immigration reform legislation, we could finally take this debate off the table.
Several outlets also covered the Hispanic National Bar Association's annual convention in Albuquerque, NM this past week. I attended as a panelist to discuss immigrant rights. Many judges, including Chief Judge for the U.S. Circuit in NM, Martha Vazquez, agree that the current broken immigration system is one of "de facto criminalization" of immigrants.
Latino lawyers can do much to help advise immigrants of their rights, and they can do much to help advocate for reform. However, we have serious obstacles to overcome in having more Latinos - particularly Latinas - represented in the profession, as illustrated by an HNBA study.
And today Simon highlights a very disturbing and concerted anti-immigrant campaign. These videos are extremely well done; while the arguments are factually incorrect and based on no empirical evidence, the ads are incredibly effective. Clearly these guys are elevating their game in preparation for a fight. What are you doing to prepare?
- Zuraya Tapia-Alfaro's blog
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