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I wish it would cause our city govt to collapse....
Cruces Mayor reversed today in light of the HB 2162 developments. ABQ is about to institute the exact policy AZ in place (as announced by Mayor Berry today)
jeez! i hope not, although boycotts are childish IMO. this will set AZ back -90 million in lost revenue. no doubt if Albuquerque passes an AZ like bill, we surly will be put on the boycott list. we cannot afford to lose ANY revenue of any kind.
One of the LA city council members said they thought some businesses might relocate from AZ to CA because of the boycott. As if the loss of the small amount of money LA will not spend in AZ would offset CA's high business taxes and horrible economics.
As more and more places adopt something similar to AZ, any boycott will become more and more meaningless.
Polls across the country are showing the majority of folks, not only in AZ but in other states as well, support AZ's action, and the politicians will figure this out sooner or later.
And the feds won't do anything other than talk a lot since Obama can read the polls, too. Plus there's a clear issue of states rights involved here that if the feds tried to cross would provoke even more folks to side with AZ.
I flew into Phoenix the day after the bill was signed and while I was there met fellow immigrants who were here in this great country like myself legally. We have spent thousands of dollars going through the correct legal channels to obtain what are commonly known as "green cards" and the right to live and work here. The ones I spoke with were all in favour of this bill.
Currently the Police have no power over immigration, this bill is aimed to help police detain and deport illegal immigrants, those who skirt the law and bypass all rules and regulations and fail to pay the federal government their fee's for the right to reside here, I for one am appalled at the City of LA and their boycott of AZ, to me and I'm sure other immigrants it is a kick in the teeth to us after all the money and time spent going through the correct legal process.
I wonder if the majority of the opponents of this bill were up in arms about the profiling which was happening at our airports the months after 9-11, I highly doubt it.
I strongly believe in states' rights, and this is a clear case where the federal government has not done its job, leaving it up to the state (AZ in this case) to do what it feels it must do to protect state residents. Those up in arms against the law should be protesting the feds failure to do its job, not the AZ bill. If the feds had enforced their own immigration laws, there wouldn't be an AZ law to complain about.
I was in PHX for a week right after the bill was signed. I got earfuls, from all walks of life, all colors, all income levels. Once you hear the stories first hand, you'll understand why the voters passed the bill. I don't think racial profiling was what the voters were voting for - they were voting to express a desire for safety and frustration with the federal government.
Instead of protesting the AZ law, people should be asking their elected officials why protecting Afganistan and Iraq are important to "National Security" but protecting our own, immediate borders isn't.
Guess I won't be visiting my sister in LA this year - think I'll boycott LA.
As a proud American I'm boycotting Arizona (not that I was planning to go there anyway) because this whole thing is a political stunt cooked up by the far right wing. Plus, as a citizen not used to carrying around my "papers" in my own country, I don't want to be somewhere where I could be subject to this kind of search-- this is what police states and "lesser" countries do, IMHO.
If you look at city-data crime stats for Phoenix, the crime rate has been going down steadily since 1999. In 1999 the crime index was 622, and in 2008 (the last year with statistics) the index was 482. Same for Tempe, reached a crime index high in 2002 of 716, and a low in 2008 of 417. (Tucson is missing some figures.)
City-data stats for crime in the border towns of Douglas and Nogales shows that it mostly stays below national averages. You are far safer in these border towns than you are in Albuquerque.
The estimates of numbers of illegal aliens in the US that I can find go from 7 million in 2000 to 12 million or more in 2006.
Anybody can see from this that the more illegals, the lower the crime rate in Arizona. Where's the problem here? But no matter how much someone can pound away at facts, people whose minds are made up simply will not listen. Moderator cut: This is a New Mexico only forum, do not go off topic, keep the politics New Mexico related.
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 05-13-2010 at 10:19 PM..
^Not to mention there are cities with far larger proportions of immigrants from Mexico than Phoenix, such as San Antonio and El Paso - that have among the strongest economies and among the lowest violent crime rates in this country.
So why are worries over crime and the supposed negative effect on the economy given as the chief reason for laws such as Arizona's, despite the large amount of evidence that suggests that the perceived threats are not real, as well as the fact that immigrants have nothing to do with the current economic troubles of Arizona? I'd say it's political posturing and scapegoating with a fair amount of racism thrown in.
I am for targeting employers who hire illegal immigrants and setting up actual consequences for those that do. I am for ensuring a secure border. I am firmly against any law that can result in discrimination (as I believe Arizona's can), and that results in a a potential loss of freedom of citizens. Albuquerque's new law I haven't given much thought to as of yet, but it seems fair on the face of it that everyone's immigration status will be checked. However, there may be some tricky issues around this as well - for instance will status be checked after they have been proven guilty by the courts? Or only after they are accused (ya know, innocent until proven guilty, etc)?
By that logic, we should allow 100 million more illegals and eliminate crime entirely, right? What about the old fashioned notion that the government has a duty to enforce the law?
I wonder how many people who comment on the AZ situation and immigration issues in general actually have read the AZ law (or standing US immigration law for that matter). There is NOTHING in the AZ law that contravenes current federal laws on illegal immigration.
The AZ law specifically forbids racial profiling. Of course, the fact is that most illegals in AZ are from Mexico. So if most of those stopped happen to be Mexican, does that have more to do with patterns of illegal immigration than it has to do with racial or ethnic prejudice? If most of those arrested for acts of terrorism happen to be Islamic, does that have more to do with the nature of terrorism today or with American prejudice toward Islam?
As to people having to carry around proof of identification or immigrant status, it has been federal law for more than 70 years that non-citizens who are in the United States permanently must carry on their person, at all times, the official documents proving that they are here legally -- green card, or work visa, student vise, or whatever. That's the current law in New Mexico, in Albuquerque, and in the entire country as well as in Arizona.
Mayor Berry is NOT suggesting that NM do the same thing as AZ.
What he said:
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will now check the immigration status of everyone arrested and processed at the prisoner transport center in Downtown Albuquerque before they are taken to the main jail."
and
"If you find yourself in handcuffs at our processing center, you are going to get checked 100 percent of the time," Mayor Berry said. "Regardless of nationality, your race, what language you speak."
So, no NM law enforcement official is going to have to decide if someone is "suspicious" and the checking will be done by the correct federal body responsible for verifying citizenship.
For all of you applauding this, I hope you remember to pack your passport when you travel to or through AZ.
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