Day 1 – Arizona: Ground Zero on Immigration

*Dr. Gabriela Lemus,  Executive Director of the Progressive Congress, is in Arizona on a listening tour on immigration. This is the first of several reports that she’ll be filing on NewsTaco. VL

By Dr. Gabriela Lemus, NewsTaco

Arizona is the epicenter for all that relates to bad immigration policy in this country.

History in Arizona is a tough lesson for Latinos.  A series of land grabs back in 1848 when President Polk pushed forth Manifest Destiny, a time when land meant wealth – more than 2.4 million acres were appropriated by white settlers from Mexican land grant owners.  This series of events followed by a history of violence against the Mexican and Native-American locals who were attacked by white settlers from the South who wanted to turn the area into a slave state for the confederacy.  Fast forward to today, to a white sheriff who continuously gets elected by snow birds who came in the late 1980s to retire in wealthy enclaves like Scottsdale without an iota of understanding that Mexico was a neighbor and people speak Spanish on the border, as well as English. Sheriff Joe Arpaio – a man who is willing to ignore the U.S. constitution and the rights of the people in his midst because he has decided that they’re all illegal because clearly they’re brown.  They’re a scourge to society.   Who represents the real affront here?

History in Arizona is active, not passive.  Old history translated into modern history through a series of local anti-immigrant laws that have been used as models for state legislation in 48 states with different levels of success – laws like SB1070 which passed in 2007 and enlarged the powers of local police and state officials to enforce federal immigration law and criminalized undocumented immigrants.

You hear its echoes in the stories of the people who live there.  The tension is palpable. Arizona is the tip of the arrow for hate against the Latino man, woman and child.

Unlike many localities, Arizona embraced federal programs like the 287(G) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) law enforcement partnerships to delegate immigration authority to local police forces.  The program was so controversial in Arizona that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded the “task force” aspect of the program in 2012 after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down significant parts of SB1070. The “task force” component allowed for local roving police officers to act as immigration enforcement agents – allowing them to randomly stop, detain and arrest people on the streets – legalized racial profiling.  Outraged by the DHS decision, Governor Jan Brewer accused President Barack Obama of “total disregard” for the “people” of Arizona in canceling the program.

However, the Supreme Court stopped short of allowing local law enforcement to check on anyone in their jails allowing them to investigate detainees’  legal status and quickly handing them over to ICE for potential deportation proceedings.  The relationship is so close between local police and DHS – ICE can often be found in many of the local jails. It appears their job has been made easier.

Sheriff Arpaio remained undeterred despite the Supreme Court and DHS setbacks. Raids continued. New worksite and “crime suppression” raids became the norm. The worksite raids were justified under local Employer Sanction Laws against employers who hired undocumented workers.  The crime suppression sweeps were another story.  In the small Yaqui town of Guadalupe, Arpaio’s team led 12 raids sweeping in with 200 posse members of “deputized” citizens, terrorizing the locals. According to Phoenix advocates, these types of raids were eventually stopped and led to some 3,600 lawsuits filed against him by the local American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF). Apparently, the deputized posse didn’t differentiate between citizens, legal permanent residents and undocumented workers.

But behind every dark cloud, there is light.  Latinos have become much more politically organized in Arizona, even successful.  Not only have they been able to push back against many of the anti-immigrant birthright laws, but they are managing to get elected into local and state office. They are registering voters and more importantly, they are mobilizing them to vote – building a culture of civic engagement in a disenfranchised population.  The road is long and fraught with challenges. For every gain made by Latinos and pro-immigrant advocates, there are anti-immigrant forces pushing back against the inevitable reality that Latinos in Arizona are here to stay.  They were here first, and they will be here long after the snowbirds have flown away.

This is their border.

Dr. Gabriela D. Lemus is the Executive Director & President of Progressive Congress. She tweets @progcongress.