Guest Voz- Porter Corn: Another smack down for racist Az Senator Russell Pearce – 9th Circuit kills racist provision of Prop 200

Guest Voz: Porter Corn from Immigration Clearinghouse:
Another smack down for racist Az Senator Russell Pearce – 9th Circuit kills racist provision of Prop 200
Sitting here reading the latest but of trite propaganda from Willy Gheen and ALIPAC, I see irony in what Stephen Lemmons of Phoenix New Times wrote about the decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals striking down a decidedly racist provision of Prop 200, that sought to make proving one’s citizenship a prerequisite for voter registration.

The unelected governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer made the normal statement of outrage, which we expect every time their attempts to usurp Federal law fails.

“The decision is an outrage,” Governor Jan Brewer and Secretary of State Ken Bennett announced in a joint statement, “and a slap in the face to all Arizonans who care about the integrity of their elections.”

The statement continues, “Arizona voters have made their will crystal clear — non-citizens do not have the right to vote.”

PNT clarified:
Which is a classic straw man argument, because non-citizens didn’t have the right to vote in federal elections before Prop 200, any more than they do after this ruling. As the decision itself points out, the National Voter Registration Act, which supersedes Prop 200, requires registrants to sign and attest under penalty of perjury that they are citizens.
The NVRA details federal penalties for voter fraud and voter registration fraud, making such activities punishable by up to five years in prison. Moreover, voting by an illegal alien is expressly forbidden by 18 USC 611, and punishable by up to a year in prison.
You see, Prop 200 had nothing to do with preventing non-citizens from voting. In fact, in the year or so before it was passed, it was widely reported that instances of voter fraud involving non-citizens were practically non-existent.
At the time, Maricopa County elections director Karen Osborne told the Arizona Republic that, “If we have one case a year, it’s an amazement.”

Why I bring up the whacked out President of ALIPAC is he constantly tries to convince the know nothings in American society that that the world is ending because millions of illegals will be voting in the mid terms.

Even Steven Camorata, director of research for the nativist Center for Immigration Studies, admitted to the Republic that very few illegal immigrants actually attempt to vote for the obvious reason: They don’t want to tip off authorities to the fact that they are here and undocumented.

Prop 200 also required proof of citizenship when applying for non-federally mandated programs. But the impact of that provision was minimal. Illegal immigrants were already prohibited from receiving most public assistance by the 1996 welfare reform signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

Indeed, the nativist Federation for American Immigration Reform itself notes the following on its Web site:

“llegal immigrants are barred from the following federal public benefits: grants, contracts, loans, licenses, retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing, post secondary education, food assistance, and unemployment benefits. States are barred from providing state or locally funded benefits to illegal immigrants unless a state law is enacted granting such authority.”

ALIPAC proudly associates itself with another section of the nativist Tanton network, NUMBERSUSA.

Lemmons goes on to explain the expected outrage by the right wing loons, and no doubt with ALIPAC in mind.

Only the part of Prop 200 pertaining to showing “documentary proof of citizenship” was struck down. Folks are still required to show ID at the polls. The suggestion by some right-wing blogs that the court has opened the gate to massive voter fraud is complete hooey.

Right-wingers don’t want eligible Latinos to register to vote. That’s because they’ve spent so much of their time of late alienating Latinos by spewing nativist rhetoric. They want this state to continue to be dominated by a white, reactionary elite.

Racist laws such Prop 200 and SB 1070 help them maintain their political hegemony by keeping the brown folk at bay. For the moment, that is. For the moment.

And that is exactly what is happening now as the ALICRAPPERS are calling for charges of treason against former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner who was part of this righteous decision.