Victoria Defrancesco Soto: Western states have their own personality. Arizona’s brand of cowboy politics is largely unbridled by partisan institutions and a republican form of government.
Idiotas: Enduring Fools
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Rudy Acuña: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer wagging her finger at President Obama recently caught my attention; it is a gesture that betrayed her IQ and upbringing. It was a punk act, and she did it because she knew she could get away with it.
Giving Hypocrisy a Bad Name: Censorship in Tucson
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Rodolfo F. Acuña: The nativists’ hypocrisy gives opportunism a bad name. They care nothing about the truth, they care nothing about Latino students
Latino Students: Don’t Get Angry, Get Even
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Rodolfo F. Acuña: ALEC Arizona and Latino Students – In Tucson, brutalizing immigrants and Latino students is part of the grand strategy ALEC and others use to keep Mexicans in their place.
Anti-Immigrant State Senator Recalled
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Michele Waslin: Today, many in Arizona and across the U.S. celebrate Pearce’s defeat as a victory for practical solutions over extremist rhetoric and anti-immigrant proposals.
Alabama Governor Signs Costly Immigration Bill
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Seth Hoy: Arizona has shown us that using a “get tough” immigration law to drive undocumented immigrants out of the state is not only costly, discriminatory and unconstitutional; it’s also ineffectual in actually addressing larger immigration problems.
States with Arizona-style Immigration Laws Face Costly Legal Battles
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Seth Hoy: Despite repeated warnings from business groups, tourism and industry boards and advocates about the hefty price tag attached to Arizona-style legislation, state lawmakers continued to push “get tough” copycat proposals.
White Elbows: “Better Than What?”
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Rodolfo F. Acuña: My mother always knew that Mexicans had to be better than gringos if they were going to make it. We had to be cleaner; she would scrub my elbows until they were raw, trying to make them white. She bought us an Encyclopedia Britannica that none of us could read.
Restrictive Immigrations Measures Dying
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Seth Hoy: The legislative graveyard got a little bit bigger this week as lawmakers in Mississippi pronounced a series of restrictive immigration measures dead.
States Reframing Approach to Immigration
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Seth Hoy: Recognizing the vital role immigrants play in our economy, workforce, and communities would go a long way in crafting fair and workable solutions that go beyond enforcement.
Phoenix Police Exaggerate Kidnapping Stats
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Andrea Nill: One city councilwoman claims that police officials have known the figures were wrong since August 2010, but continued to deny allegations that they weren’t for months.
Some States “Just Say No” to Harmful Immigration Enforcement Laws
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Seth Hoy: Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arizona are still pursing harmful enforcement legislation, but they do so in full light of the social and economic consequences—consequences for which Arizona and other states are still paying.
Brewer Countersues Feds
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Andrea Nill: Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) announced that she is filing a countersuit against the federal government on behalf of the state of Arizona. The countersuit names several counts, including a “failure to protect Arizona from invasion.”
What’s in Your Wallet? Fiscal Notes Give States Pause Over Enforcement Laws
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Seth Hoy: As many states face budget deficits in 2011, lawmakers might be asking their constituents the same question as those Capitol One commercials, “What’s in your wallet?”
Brisenia Flores: The Little Girl That You Don’t Know
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Jessie Daniels: Brisenia Flores was a 9-year-old girl murdered in Arizona by anti-immigrant vigilantes, yet her death – unlike that of the 9-year old killed last week in Arizona – is getting almost no attention in the U.S. mainstream media.
Anti-Immigrant Leader Spearheading Effort to Oust Sheriff Dupnik
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Andrea Nill: The focus of Dupnik’s controversial statements was not immigration. However, it is no coincidence that Americans Against Immigration Amnesty is going after one of the most vocal critics of Arizona’s immigration law.
Expanding Gun Rights
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Carl Matthes: One last thought, Rep. King, to be even more safe, why not amend your bill to say that a gun may not be carried within your congressional district when you’re there?
So, Did Anything Unusual Happen Over Last Weekend?
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Robert Letcher: With all the violence and contempt that seemed “in the air”, it was starting to feel like some “Tucson” was bound to happen, but there wasn’t enough actionable information: no “when”, no “where”. Nor were resources available to “look into the situation”, as they had been to President Bush.
State Lawmakers Conflicted Over Immigration Enforcement Measures
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Seth Hoy: While state legislators continue to consider their own versions of Arizona-style enforcement laws, the voices of dissent continue to grow. Legislators should carefully consider how the bill unfolded in Arizona—a bill that was, for the most part, gutted by a federal judge.
Arizona Copycat Law Could Cost Kentucky $40 Million
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Andrea Nill: Senate Bill 6 would cost Kentucky a net $40 million a year in court, prison and foster-care costs. Yet, the Kentucky senate voted 24-14 last week to pass the bill without knowing its cost.
Arizona Goddamn
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David Love: The recent assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, which left 18 wounded and 6 dead, is a reminder that all is not well in that state. With anti-immigrant legislation, a ban on Chicano studies in the public schools and lax gun laws, Arizona is ground zero for hate and intolerance in America.
The Unintended Consequences of the Loughner Rampage
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Jasmyne Cannick: I can almost guarantee you that it’s going to be next to impossible for the average citizen to meet with their representative. Because if they didn’t have good cause for blatantly avoiding you before—you can betcha bottom tax dollar they do now.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot
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Tragedy in Tucson Arizona Congressional Representative Gabrielle Giffords has been shot. She was shot in the head as she was addressing constituents at a Tucson, Arizona stripmall. Congresswoman Giffords was immediately taken to a nearby hospital and is listed in critical condition. The Arizona representative was attending an event at a local stripmall in Arizona [...]
Prisonomics 101: How ALEC and the Prison Industry Got Arizona’s SB1070 onto Gov. Jan Brewer’s Desk
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Seth Hoy: private prison corporations, who stand to make hundreds of millions in profits from the detention of immigrants, not only had a hand in drafting Arizona’s controversial immigration enforcement law, SB1070, but contributed millions to the bill’s cosponsors and continue to push the legislation in other states.
Top “Tossup” House Race for Progressives: Raul Grijalva
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Norman Solomon: Demagogues in the Republican Party, and their Democratic allies, will say this is about amnesty and open borders. No matter how many times they repeat it, it won’t be true.
From Bad to Worse: Immigrant Smearing in a Time of Midterm Cholera
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Seth Hoy: You don’t even have to stare into the headlights of campaign politics to observe how blithely some candidates have taken aim at their opponents and managed to catch immigrants in their crosshairs.
SB1070-Inspired Activity Continues in the States
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Michele Waslin: Even though a judge ruled that it could not be implemented, Arizona’s immigration law, SB1070, has sparked a great deal of activity across the U.S. Unfortunately, it’s not the type of activity that’s going to result in meaningful solutions.
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