21st Century America Project

Today, Russell Pearce unleashed his latest Anti-Immigrant legislative juggernaut, which according to the Arizona Republic has been dubbed "SB1070 on steroids."

The legislations bill number is SB1611, and can be found on the Arizona State Legislature website here. The bill is making its way thru the state Senate Appropriations committee today, below are just a handful of the legislative proposals in the legislation seek to deny immigrants access to the following:

Public Benefits

• Requires documentation demonstrating lawful presence in the U.S. for all federal public benefits, including those that do not require participants to be U.S. citizens, legal residents or otherwise lawfully present.

Public Housing

• Requires a public housing authority, city, town or county (PHA) to require that a person who is applying for public housing provide verification of U.S. citizenship or documented verification of qualified alien status.

• Requires a PHA to evict all residents of a dwelling unit in rental housing accommodations owned, operated, managed or contracted for by the PHA if a resident of that unit allows a person who is in the U.S. illegally to reside in that unit.

Unlawful Vehicle Operation by an Alien

• Specifies that it is unlawful for a person to operate a motor vehicle in Arizona if the person is unlawfully present in the U.S.

Schools

• Removes the requirement for a school or school district to notify a person enrolling a pupil that within 30 days the person must provide a certified copy of the pupil’s birth certificate or other reliable proof of the pupil’s identity and age.

E-Verify

• Requires the Attorney General (AG) to provide a notice of noncompliance to any employer who does not provide proof that the employer is registered with and is participating in the E-Verify Program.

Each one of these sections contains more subsections which essentially create more stringent enforcement standards on the area they effect.

What is more notable is that this legislation takes federal laws that are already more or less in effect and makes them more punitive. Which is to say that these proposed laws are nothing if not more invasive for everyone. This legislation would give the Arizona government an opportunity to ask everyone in the state for not only their citizenship status but a whole host of other documents.

For example if someone were to move from California to Arizona, they would be required to at a minimum provide one of the following documents:

a) a birth certificate or delayed birth certificate issued in any state, territory or possession of the U.S. b) a U.S. passport or certificate of birth abroad c) a foreign passport with a U.S. visa d) an I-94 form with a photograph e) a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employment authorization document or refugee travel document f) a U.S. certificate of naturalization or certificate of citizenship g) a Tribal certificate of Indian blood h) a Tribal or Bureau of Indian Affairs affidavit of birth; i) an Arizona driver license issued after 1996 or an Arizona non operating identification license.

All in the name of cracking down on undocumented immigrants of course... More on this legislation to come. Stay tuned.

As the Continuing Resolution passed in the House moves to the Senate this week, the debate over cuts in border spending is beginning to heat up.

Julia Preston of the New York Times has the full story here, essentially Democrats are saying that they will not sign the budget passed this week because there are cuts in spending on border security:

Preparing for the fight next week in Congress over federal spending legislation, Democratic leaders in the Senate said they will not support a bill with $60 billion in budget cuts that passed the Republican-led House on Saturday because it reduces funding for border security.

Democrats are arguing that the cuts to border funding would undermine the Emergency Border Security funds that passed with complete bi-partisan support last year:

In a letter sent on Monday to House appropriations leaders, Senator Charles Schumer of New York and two other Democrats said the House bill would shrink the Border Patrol by 870 agents and cut $272 million in funds for surveillance systems to monitor the border with Mexico. They said those cuts would cancel gains from a bill adopted last August, with virtually unanimous bipartisan support, that increased border funding by $600 million, adding 1,000 new agents to the Border Patrol. “This magnitude of reduction is simply dangerous,” wrote Mr. Schumer, who is chairman of the Senate judiciary subcommittee on immigration. Also signing were Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Jon Tester of Montana.

The full letter can be read HERE, The other really important thing that Preston notes is that in the current Congress both Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on the importance of Border Security.

Tough border security is a mantra for both Democrats and Republicans in Congress this year, with each party trying to outdo the other. Republicans have accused the Obama administration of slowing border enforcement, allowing illegal immigration and drug violence to run out of control.

GOP refusal to accept that the Government has poured unprecedented amounts of resources at the border is especially frustrating, given that they are currently trying to cut funds to secure the border. Lamar Smith, (R-TX) Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, gave the following as a reason for GOP cuts:

“Even with all the money in the world, the administration would not succeed in securing the border because they are not serious about it,”

To these ears, the statement above sounds a lot like politics with little in the way of policy to back it up.

Arizona Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, of Senator John McCain's television advertisement "Complete the Danged Fence," fame, is once again in the news claiming that the Arizona Border is out of control.

Sheriff Babeu is currently in the midst of a very public argument with a group of border mayors over whether or not the border is safe. 

Earlier this month San Luis, Ariz Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla , Nogales, Ariz., Mayor Arturo Garino and Douglas Mayor Michael Gomez sent a letter to Sheriff Babeu calling into question the accuracy of the statements he has made to the news media regarding dangers posed by violence stemming from the border. The full text of that letter is here.

This prompted the Sheriff's Information Officer to fire off a letter disputing the claims made by the Border Mayors; in his letter he included photos of a dead body in the desert, but little in the way of actual statistics showing any rise in violence in Sheriff Babeus region. His full letter can be read here.

There are a couple things here which are worth pointing out:

1. The Border Mayor's letter provides statistical evidence that crime is down in their region, Sheriff Babeau's letter provides no similar evidence that violence is up.

To the Border Mayors point that crime is at historic low points along the border and the region which Sheriff Babeu is assigned to monitor. The following is from the Border Mayors letter:

"The facts show that violent crime is down or remains flat in our border region as we are sure it is in your area as well. In 2002 it peaked at 742 per 100,000 residents but has since drastically dropped to 219 per 100,000 in 2009 (per the F.B. I. Uniform Crime Reports Program)."

Sheriff Babeu's information director, provides no statistical evidence that crime has increased in his area, while the photographs of the dead body in the desert are certainly going to get some news, the letter offers no real credible evidence that violence has increased in his sector. Which actually brings us to the second point...

2. Sheriff Babeau may be mulling a run for a Congressional House seat:

With Arizona Senator Jon Kyl retiring, and Congressman Jeff Flake throwing his hat in to take his spot, Sheriff Babeau has said that members of the Republican Party have reached out and urged him to run for Congressman Flake' seat.

E.J. Montini of the Arizona Republic has the full story HERE. It is no wonder that the GOP establishment has gone to Sheriff Babeau in regards to the open seat, he has cultivated a national media presence as a talking head on the border. Appearing regularly on FOX News, he certainly has the appearance of a campaigning politician.

Wait, that is probably because before he was a Sheriff, he got plenty of practice running for election. In a profile written in the Arizona Daily Star it was revealed that Sheriff Babeu, was born and raised in North Adams, Mass. and was elected to the City Council at age 18. He only moved to Arizona after losing a Mayoral bid in his home town. The full profile can be read here.

One of the key takeaways from the profile is that while, Sheriff Babeau is a decent sheriff, but where he shines in in politics.

In a week in which Republican Governor Jan Brewer sued the United States government for not adequately protecting the border, Republican Utah Senator Orrin Hatch touted the re-introduction of his border enforcement heavy legislation, and the President released his budget increasing border secuirty funding, the House GOP released proposed cuts to Border Security.

In that same week, two House Republican's offered amendments to the Continuing Resolution to cut funding to the federal government that would prevent them from entering into any lawsuits with states who pass laws similar to Arizona's immigration law SB1070.

With the debate over Border Security sure to continue in the coming weeks, NDN/NPI offers up a quick set of background materials for those looking to do a deeper dive on this complicated issue.

GOP Assault on Judicial Due Process In Arizona

Republican Congressmen Offer Amendments to Prohibit Justice Department From Prosecuting Federal SB1070 Suit  by Kristian Ramos 2/17/2011

This years Continuing Resolution (CR), the current mechanism employed to fund the federal government has become another tool for the GOP to  engage in fight with the federal government. This post highlights two amendments to the CR, which seek to prohibit the Justice Department from engaging in any legal battles with states who try to pass laws similar to Arizona's SB1070

GOP Seeks to Cut Border Security Funding In CR

GOP Proposed Budget Cuts To Border Security Enforcement Are Extensive by Kristian Ramos 2/16/2011

This post takes a deep dive in the proposed cuts that the Republican controlled House Appropriations committee is seeking to the Department of Homeland Security, these cuts include a significant reduction in infrastructure funds which effects the border fence currently being built along the southwest border.

While Senator Hatch Releases Stringent Enforcement Legislation House GOP Seek To Cut DHS Border Security Funding by Kristian Ramos 2/15/2011

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation touting the re-introduction of The Strengthening Our Commitment to Legal Immigration and America's Security Act.  At nearly the same time the House GOP Announced their cuts to the continuing resolution, including steep cuts to the Department of Homeland Security.

And be sure to check out NDN's Webinar on How The Governments Border Plan Is Working and What That Means for Immigration Legislation In The Future, be sure to RSVP HERE

Congress has not passed an actual budget in some time, so in its place they pass a Continuing Resolution which provides a mechanism to fund the federal government. This year the GOP has pledged to drastically reduce spending and have released a list of amendments that they have proposed to the CR.

Earlier today, NDN highlighted some proposed cuts from the GOP in appropriations for Border Security, now we are going to turn our attention to the Amendments proposed to the CR.  The full list can be seen here.

Two amendments are worth highlighting, as they both seek to stop the federal government from engaging in the current lawsuit with the State of Arizona over SB1070.

Amendment No. 199—Rep. Poe (R-TX):  The amendment would prohibit the use of funds made available by this Act to be used by the Department of Justice, or any other Agency, to litigate the continuation of the case Untied States of America v. The State of Arizona and Janice K. Brewer regarding Arizona law S.B. 1070.

The other amendment seeks to prohibit any funding provided in the CR be used by the federal government in any lawsuit pertaining to Arizona's immigrant law SB1070:

Amendment No. 445—Rep. Kinzinger (R-IL):  The amendment would prohibit funds made available by this Act to be used to participate in any lawsuit that seeks to invalidate certain provisions of the Arizona Revised Statutes amended by Arizona Senate Bill 1070.

The Judicial branch of the government was separated from the Executive and Legislative for a reason.... The Judicial branch is meant to operate independently from the other two.

For a party that took great pains to read the entire Constitution on the House Floor the importance of the  separation of the Legislative and Judicial branch should be clear. Whatever certain Congressional members may think of the current lawsuit between Arizona and the federal government, the judicial process should be allowed to take its due course.

Yesterday, NDN highlighted the incongruity  of introducing new immigration enforcement legislation while simultaneously cutting funding to the Department of Homeland Security the federal entity responsible for enforcing immigration laws.

Today, as the Continuing Resolution is being argued on the floor of the House, it is worth highlighting some cuts and amendments proposed to the budget.

On the House Appropriations Website, the Majority party has put out a list of proposed cuts, all numbers below are in the millions:

The list above does not include all of the cuts, currently being debated but they are significant in that they are cuts to both enforcement and the construction of a border fence.

For the full list please go HERE.

Last week Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation touting the re-introduction of The Strengthening Our Commitment to Legal Immigration and America's Security Act. 

Senator Hatch's legislation would among other thing's deny children of immigrant health care, and is incredibly enforcement heavy. The text of Senator Hatch's speech can be read here. While it is worth reading on the merits of its very passionate defense of the importance of enforcement legislation, the speech is very much out of line with Senator Hatch's past statements on immigration reform.

Some have speculated that ahead of what is looking like a tough re-election, Senator Hatch is trying to recalibrate from an immigration moderate to a Tea Party approved hard liner. While this is certainly a legitimate point, a more interesting split can be seen between Senator Hatch's get tough enforcement rhetoric and the fact that the House GOP are actually proposing cuts to the Department of Homeland Security's budget.

On the House Appropriations Website, the GOP controlled committee released a press release introducing a Continuing Resolution with the largest spending cuts in history.

Those spending cuts include Customs and Border Protection - Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure, and
Technology which was funded at $350 million last year, and would in the GOP cut continuing resolution only receive $124.2 million this year.

There are many more cuts to Border security programs, by all means peruse the full list here.

While Senator Hatch is welcome to demand more be done on enforcement, despite the fact that currently the government is already enforcing federal laws at a historic rate, he should probably have checked with his friends on the House side on their plans for funding enforcement the existing legislation...

It seems counterintuitive to demand more federal enforcement, at a time when members of his own party are proposing cuts to the Department of Homeland Security, the federal entity in charge of enforcing federal immigration laws.

Just a thought...

Great Op-Ed today in the Arizona Republic from Andrei Cherny on the 14th Amendment:

Illegal immigration is wrong, and we need tough measures to stop the smuggling rings. As a former Arizona prosecutor, I was on the front line of that fight. But birthright citizenship isn't the problem; it's at the heart of what makes America the greatest nation in the world.

One could be born in China and never be Chinese; one could be born in Turkey and never be a Turk. But all children born in America are as American as anyone else - no matter who their parents are or where they came from or the color of their skin. That is the "proposition" that Lincoln enunciated at Gettysburg and that so many gave "the last full measure of devotion" to defend.

What is particularly good about this Op-Ed is that while it is critical of the 14th Amendment legislation, it is also forward looking in its vision of a place that rewards the positive side of immigration:

Just as Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, let's create new Arizona Enterprise Zones to help entrepreneurs and innovators start up the new companies that will create jobs for the future.

Just as Lincoln signed the Land-Grant College Act, let's create a 21st-century education system for Arizona by reforming our public schools and refashioning our higher-education system so that schools prepare kids for a competitive economy.

And just as Lincoln provided businesses with the incentives to build the transcontinental railroad, let's make Arizona "the Solar State" by working with cutting-edge companies that are searching for a home.

As the debate over the 14th Amendment continues, informed thinking on the issue will make all the difference moving forward.

Lets hope that the Arizona legislature, included State Senator Russell Pearce get back to the real issue affecting the people in his state, the economy.

The full editorial can be read here

File this under two steps forward, one step back... Last week Arizona's 14 Amendment legislation which attempted to do away with birthright citizenship hit a snag, this week debate has begun on legislation that would require hospitals to check the citizenship status of admitted patients.

Elizabeth Erwin, of Phoenix, AZ newstation KPHO CBS has the full story here:

A new bill making its way through Arizona's state legislature is drawing a lot of attention. It's Senate Bill 1405. Some call it the hospital version of SB 1070. Anyone who has spent a day at Maricopa County Medical Center knows people from all walks of life are wheeled through the halls.But if a new piece of legislation passes, some of those patients will be wheeled from the emergency room to immigration officials.If SB 1405 passes, hospitals would be required to check a patient's citizenship status after administering any emergency medical care.

A fact sheet on the proposed legislation can be seen at the Arizona State Legislature web site here, some highlights below:

Purpose

Requires an admissions officer of a hospital to verify a person’s citizenship or legal status before admitting the person for nonemergency care.  Specifies methods for verification and requires the admissions officer to contact the local federal immigration office if a person does not meet citizenship or legal status requirements.

Background

The Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) licenses hospitals and other health care institutions in Arizona.  DHS rules define a hospital as a health care institution that provides, through an organized medical staff, inpatient beds, medical services and continuous nursing services for the diagnosis and treatment of patients (R9-10-201). 

In addition to other licensing requirements, hospitals must comply with certain admissions procedures.  According to DHS rules, a hospital must adhere to the following admissions requirements to receive a state operating license:

a) a patient is admitted only on the order of a medical staff member;

b) an authorized individual is available at all times to accept a patient for admission;

c) except in an emergency, the hospital obtains informed consent from a patient or the patient’s representative before or at the time of admission;

d) informed consent is documented in the patient’s medical record;

e) a physician or other medical staff member performs a medical history and physical exam on a patient within 30 days before admission or within 48 hours after admission, and documents the medical history and physical exam in the patient’s medical record within 48 hours of admission; and

f) if a physician or medical staff member performs a medical history and physical exam on a patient before admission, the physician or the medical staff member enters an interval note into the patient’s medical record at the time of admission (R9-10-210).

More on this as it develops.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer announced yesterday that she intends to sue the federal government for failure to enforce immigration laws. Alan Beard Rau and Ginger Rough of the Arizona Republic have the full story here, Governor Brewer's quotes are here:

Gov. Jan Brewer said the intent of the lawsuit is to force the federal government to protect Arizonans.

"The first and foremost issue we're facing right now is the security, safety and welfare of our citizens," Brewer said. "The federal government needs to step up and do their job."

Ironically, the same day that Governor Brewer made her countersuit, The Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats, a conglomerate of U.S. Border Patrol, Mexican federal police and 60 American agencies, announced that Crime along the border was down. Laura Rozen of Politico, has the full story up here, and some quotes up from the Director of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Alan Bersin are below:

Speaking in Tucson on Tuesday, Bersin lauded the joint operation for its ability to "deter, disrupt and interdict" criminal activity that threatens the border. As a result of this cooperation between the neighboring countries, there will no longer be the "pointing of fingers."  "Rather, drugs going north and guns going south would be seen as part of the same vicious cycle," he said.

I guess Governor Brewer didn't get the memo that violence is down along the border... In the interest of fairness, below is a video of Nogales AZ, Mayor Arturo Garino, taken at the U.S. Mexico Border Mayors Conference. In the video he emphatically states that the border is safe, and that all of the rhetoric about it being violent is not true.

After watching the video above, one must wonder why Governor Brewer seems to willfully ignore a mayor in her own state. A mayor who clearly lives on the Border, and has more interactions on the Border then Governor Brewer does.

Perhaps she likes being on T.V. or seeing her name in the paper, what could the harm in that be?

If you ask people like U.S. Mexico border Mayor Garino, it is plenty harmful.

In a time when the economy is so bad, when Arizona faces historic budget windfalls and very real challenges shouldn't the Governor fixate on actually dealing with real problems facing the people of Arizona.