Insurance companies in arizona
It just got tougher to hire an undocumented worker in Arizona. The state has enacted some of the toughest penalties towards business owners who hire immigrants without papers, among them the loss of their very livelihood:In the wake of the federal government's failure to reform immigration laws, Arizona joins the more than 100 states and municipalities that have taken matters into their own hands in hopes of stemming the tide of illegal immigrants. But Arizona's law is by far the harshest toward business. A company caught knowingly employing an undocumented worker has its license suspended for up to ten days. Get caught a second time, and a company loses its license to operate altogether--what Governor Janet Napolitano has called the "business death penalty."
Anti-immigrant advocates call them anchor babies, children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants. By law these children are citizens of the U.S. but a group of Arizona citizens wants to change that.
The text of the proposal would ask hospital maternity wards to verify the immigration status of parents of newborns before issuing a birth certificate, which according to my reading of the Constitution, isn't legal.
Those supporting the proposition have until next July 3 to get the 153,365 signatures they need to get the measure on the ballot.
Via / 
The first section of a high-tech "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border is just about ready to be switched on. What is a virtual fence? It's a 28 mile stretch of the border armed with heat sensors, radar, cameras and 9 towers to detect immigrants crossing into the U.S. just southwest of Tuscon.
So far the pilot project has cost $20 million. Hmmm I wonder how much children's health insurance we could buy with that money? Anyway, the fence project has had software problems which have kept the radars turned off. But Boeing (yes the airplane people) are ready for live testing later this month.
Via / 
Community members and clergy in Maricopa County, Arizona are calling for a stop to an initiative by the Sheriff to offer hotlines for reporting undocumented immigrants to authorities:The hotline, they say, perpetuates a climate of fear within the immigrant community, raises the chance of racial profiling and opens the possibility for people to take revenge on former friends and family.
"What right does he have to investigate people based on the color of their skin, or their accent or the way they look," said Phoenix attorney Antonio Bustamante. "I want him to stop this nonsense and enforce criminal law instead of going after landscapers and nannies. He needs to stop this hotline." Latino leaders are calling the hotlines unconstitutional but the Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, isn't backing down -- not by a long shot. According to the Arizona Republic, he's even trapping undocumented immigrants as they visit their family members in the county jail: "Once they come in, we're going to have to arrest them and turn them over to ICE."
So much for love thy neighbor.
Via / 
Arizona is on the record books for having the most recorded number of undocumented immigrants entering the state. This fact combined with the 
Reading the headline of a recent article posted on the CBS Evening News website might lead one to envision scores of armed Mexicans shooting Border Patrol Agents. The headline alarmingly reads:Border Patrol Agents Under Attack Violence Against Agents In Yuma, Ariz. Up To 154 In First Six Months Of Fiscal Year. Reading further though, the weapons being used to "attack" are revealed as rocks.Along the desert stretch where Arizona and Mexico meet, there's more flying in the air than just dust. There are rocks flying back and forth toward the border agents, CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports.
It's part of a nightly bombardment of Border Patrol vehicles and agents all along the southwestern border.
Of course getting hit with a rock has its potential consequences but don't Border Patrol Agents have guns. Does this
accurately represents the locus of border violence?
Yesterday Arizona voters helped three proposals targetting undocumented immigrants and one English only proposal pass by about a three-to-one margin statewide. Prop. 100 denies bail to undocumented immigrants charged with felonies. Prop. 102 prohibits undocumented immigrants from being awarded punitive damages in any civil lawsuit filed in the state. Eligibility of illegal immigrants to file for compensatory damages is not affected. Propositions 300 prohibits undocument immigrants from receiving in-state tuition, financial assistance or access to state-subsidized childcare and family literacy programs. It will also require the Board of Education, community colleges, universities and the Department of Economic Security to report any illegal immigrants who try to apply for those programs. Prop. 103 declares English the official language. Via / Arizona Capitol Times
Via / Democratic Underground
