New Immigration Law in Arizona Reminiscent
of King Holiday Repeal

By Floyd Alvin

Galloway (NNPA) - In the late 80’s Repu blican Governor Evan Mecham, set-off a bomb that cost the state of Arizona millions of dollars in tourist and conven tion business when he repealed the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.

Some protesters of the illegal-immigration bill signed by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer believe it will have the same effect on an already financially troubled state. On Friday, April 23, Gov. Brewer signed what is called the most stringent anti-immigration bill in the country.

They have likened it to the South African apartheid rule when Blacks were required to carry proper papers justify them to be in certain areas or be arrested, beaten or worse. The governor describes it as “another step forward in protecting the state of Arizona.” But, many in the minority community say it will open the gates to racial profiling.

“I will not tolerate racial discrimination or racial profiling in the state of Arizona,” she said. She also emphasized an amendment to the bill that prevents law enforcement personnel from using a person’s race as the only factor in implementing the law. “This protects all of us – every Arizona citizen and everyone here lawfully,” she said.

The bill, authored by Sen. Russell Pierce, who is also trying to eliminate ethnic studies in high schools and university, says this bill will take the handcuffs off law enforcement and allow them to do their jobs without restrictions.

Opponents of the law, including Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), have said it amounts to “institutionalized discrimination and abuse.” But Brewer defended her decision as her only choice considering the federal government’s failure to secure the border.

During the Bush administration, the president tried to pass comprehensive immigration reform, but was met by opposition from his own party including Arizona senator Jon Kyl. Sen. John McCain had at one time endorsed immigration reform, but during a tough campaign re-election he has changed his tune regarding it to try to gain more support from the conservative side of his party.

On Thursday, April 22, close to a thousand students from high schools around the Valley participated in a hands on civics lesson. They walked out of classes, and marched to the capital to voice their opposition to the Senate Bill 1070.

Protesters from as far away as California, Texas and New Mexico picketed at the capital to try and sway the governor to veto the bill.

A 24 year old Black California resident came with a group called the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “My parents are from Nigeria and they went through something similar in the 70’s and I think it’s wrong. All it does is promote hate and fear.” The out of state contingent chanted, “Arizona We Got Your Back.”

Dory, a Black Arizona State University graduate student was protesting with 125 other people outside the downtown Sheraton Hotel in downtown Phoenix where the governor was speaking at a dinner for Chicanos Por La Causa.

“I heard about the bill I think it is an embarrassment. I think it’s wrong to be racial profiling people, and that’s what this bill will do. I’m an immigrant; I just don’t look like an immigrant. I think its wrong and I wanted to be heard.

Before Brewer signed the bill, President Obama called it “misguided” and said the legislation demonstrates why Congress must act soon to pass comprehensive immigration reform. He has ordered the Justice Department to look at the bill.

At a Rose Garden naturalization ceremony Friday for members of the American military, President Obama warned that the bill “threatened to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”

The bill will make it a state crime not to carry proof of legal immigration status and will require Arizona’s state and local police to ask about a person’s immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion” that he or she is in the country illegally. There are expected to be numerous challenges in the courts to the bill.

House Passes Bill to Honor Slain Civil Rights Workers

By Monica Land

JACKSON - The United States House of Representatives have passed a bill to designate the Federal Bureau of Investigations building, currently under construction in Jackson, the James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner Federal Building.

Bill Number 3562 passed the House by unanimous consent this month with no Members of the House objecting to its passage. “Mr. Speaker, these young men paid the ultimate price attempting to bring justice and equality to my home State of Mississippi.” said U. S. Rep. Bennie Thompson on the House floor. “ While the naming of this building pales in comparison to the loss of a son or brother, we hope that the families of these three young men will find solace in our acknowledgment of their contribution by naming the latest symbol of justice in Mississippi after their loved ones.”

Thompson also said in support of the bill, which is now headed to the Senate for consideration: “While there may be many individuals who are worthy of having their names grace Mississippi’s new FBI building, I cannot think of anyone more fitting for this honor than James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner,” he said. “May the naming of this building serve as a notice to domestic terrorists—in this instance, they were law enforcement officials, Ku Klux Klansmen, and trucking company owners—that their actions will never be tolerated again.

The new building, located at 1220 Echelon Parkway, Jackson, Mississippi, is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2010. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were three Civil Rights workers murdered during what is known as, “Freedom Summer.”

On June 21, 1964, Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner went to investigate the burning of the Mount Zion United Methodist Church in Neshoba County, Mississippi. Supposedly, the church had been burned because it supported Civil Rights activity.

Chaney, the only Black victim, was a local Freedom Movement activist from Meridian. Schwerner was a CORE organizer from New York, and Goodman, also from New York, was a Freedom Summer volunteer. All three young men had just returned from a week-long training on the campus of Western College for Women regarding strategies on how to register blacks to vote.

Later that evening, the three men were pulled over by Neshoba County deputy Cecil Price who charged Chaney with speeding. Price, a member of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, alerted his fellow Klansmen on how to kill the three men.

Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were taken to an isolated spot near Philadelphia, Miss., where Chaney was savagely beaten and all three men were shot to death. Their car was set on fire and driven into the Bogue Chitto swamp. The three victims were buried in an earthen dam and their bodies were discovered six weeks later.

The FBI subsequently arrested 18 men in October 1964 for the murders, but state prosecutors refused to try the case, claiming a lack of evidence.

On June 21, 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, an ordained Baptist minister, and ringleader of the kidnapping and murder of the three men, was found guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner.

Now 85, Killen is serving 60 years with the Mississippi Department of Corrections

Has the DREAM Act been passed yet?

By Judy Marsie-Hazen

Unfortunately the DREAM Act has not been passed yet. For those of you not “in the know,’’ the Dream Act stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The Dream Act is a proposal for massive amnesty for the millions of illegal immigrants aged 12 to 35 who entered the United States before the age of 16. While various versions of this Act have been introduced since 2001, it has not been passed yet. Under the latest version of the Dream Act, those who apply for this amnesty would receive conditional, temporary resident status. This temporary status could be converted to a nonconditional green card or permanent residency after six years. Also, these immigrants could use their status to obtain green cards for their parents.

In addition to the age requirements mentioned above, to be eligible, individuals: 1. would have to have been in the US for at least 5 consecutive years prior to the bill’s enactment; 2. must have graduated from a US high school, obtained a GED or been accepted into an instutition of higher education (colle ge/university); and 3. be of good moral character. Once approved for the conditional green card, the qualified student would have to do one of the following: enroll in and pursue a bachelor’s degree or higher degree or enlist in one of the branches of the United States Military . Within six years of approval for conditional permanent residency, the individual must have completed at least two (2) years of one of the options outlined above and then within 5 ½ years apply for Legal Permanent Residency and then, consequently apply for United States Citizenship.

Can I sponsor a niece f or a green card? Unfortunately, not all family relationships can lead to green card or permanent residency sponsorship. This is the case if you are an aunt or uncle. That being said, another possibility for sponsoring your niece is adoption under certain conditions. For instance, if your niece is under 16 and an orphan, you could possibly adopt her. Under US Immigration Law, your niece would be considered an orphan if both parents are deceased, separated or lost or if your niece has been abandoned or deserted by both parents or if the sole surviving parent is unable to take care of your niece and has irrevocably released your niece for emigration and adoption. Typically, the orphan petition must be filed before the child’s 16th birthday, but if you are adopting two nieces or nephews at the same time, one of them may be 18 at the time of filing the orphan petition.

Judy Marsie-Hazen is a US Immigration attorney of Jamaican/Ethiopian heritage (Florida licensure). Since Immigration is a federal practice in the US, if you have any questions about your specific case, you may contact her directly at Marsie-Hazen & Associates, P.A. at (877)914-6644 or judyhazen@comcast.net. The above Q/As are hypotheticals based on common issues.