U.S. argues Arizona immigration law unconstitutional

Politico.com reports: In a brief filed Tuesday, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to find unconstitutional Arizona's law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants. "Petitioners assert that Arizona’s status as a border State that is particularly affected by illegal immigrationjustifies its adoption of its own policy directed to foreign nationals. But the framers recognized that the 'bordering States…will be those who, under the impulse of sudden irritation, and a quick sense of apparent interest or injury,' might take action that undermines relations with other nations, and regarded that possibility as a further reason to vest authority over foreign affairs in the National government," says the brief filed by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli.

The Framers' quote is from Federalist No. 3, written by John Jay. One interesting note about the U.S. Government brief: it was signed by State Department Legal Adviser (and former Yale Law School dean) Harold Koh, underscoring the foreign policy-related argument against the Arizona statute.

Arizona's opening brief is posted here. The case is set to be argued before the high court on April 25.

PROOF: Alabama Immigration Law is RACIST Against Latino Legal Citizens!

When Alabama's sweeping new immigration law went into effect last month, Birmingham business owner Steve Dubrinsky realized he had a serious problem. Dubrinsky runs Max's Delicatessen, a classic Jewish deli, in the city's Inverness neighborhood. In the kitchen he employs several Latino workers, all of whom, he says, provided the necessary documentation when he hired them, and none of whom have given him reason to believe they're in Alabama illegally.

And yet several of them have told Dubrinsky to start looking for replacements. Even though his employees say they're here legally, they've told him they either have undocumented relatives who they must leave with, or they simply no longer feel comfortable as Latinos in Alabama. The new law authorizes police to demand documentation if they have "reasonable suspicion" someone is in the country illegally.

Dubrinksy was so concerned about his burgeoning staff problem that he spoke to the Birmingham News about it last week. "They are scared and I can't blame them," he told the paper, speaking about his documented employees. "It is affecting a lot of restaurants. It's a mess." Suddenly, Dubrinsky had much greater problems.

The morning the article ran, Dubrinsky hopped in his car and turned on local talk radio, only to discover that the discussion topic was Dubrinsky himself. The host and his guests were trying to decide whether or not they should boycott the deli. Dubrinsky grabbed his paper and read the Birmingham News article just to make sure he hadn't been misquoted, perhaps voicing support for undocumented immigrants. Indeed, he was quoted accurately, showing sympathy for the area's properly documented workers.

It hardly mattered. Dubrinsky was being tarred as an illegal-immigrant lover. "People twisted what the story said," Dubrinsky told HuffPost. "I was under attack." The article had been shared on an anti-immigrant website, and Dubrinsky was soon bombarded with vitriolic hate email. One reads: "well u can bet your ass that i will never eat in your resturant agian and will tell everybody i know what kind of person you are for suporting those dam wetback that are ruining our country."
Another: "if you cant keep the doors open and employ legal people then it is time to close."
And another: "I hope your unamerican establishment closes down!!!!"

The assault on Dubrinsky and his restaurant shows just how risky it can be for a business owner to publicly stake out even a moderate position in Alabama's immigration debate. Dubrinsky's wife happens to be a U.S. citizen from Mexico, and he says he never imagined he could be attacked for supporting the Latinos who, like her, have every right to be in the country. The nastiness of the past week has left him shocked and saddened.
"This hatred being spewed anonymously," he says, "it's very scary."

Just as bad as the hate mail was the hit to his restaurant's reputation online. After the article ran, Google was quickly flooded with negative reviews of Max's Deli from people, many who had probably never eaten there. By Dubrinsky's count, it was more than 70 reviews in two days, and they all remain on the web today. His loyal customers tried to chime in with positive words, but they were drowned out in a chorus of hate from first-time reviewers, dropping his rating to 1.5 stars out of 5. One recent review reads, "You could not pay me to patronize this place!" "Not one American worker in the place. Move your Deli to Mexico," read another by a reviewer who was only identified as Cherie. "Food is marginal at best. Employs only Illegal immigrants. Owner and entire staff are rude. Don't go here!!!" reads a third review, which, like many of the recent reviews, came from first-time reviewers.

(The vicious reviews stood in stark contract to the reputation of Max's Deli at Urbanspoon.com, the popular foodie site, where registered users have given the restaurant an enviable 81 percent rating out of 49 reviews.)

Not all of the hatred has poured in from out-of-state. Last Wednesday, many businesses were closed as Latinos skipped work to protest the new law, which is the harshest of its kind in the country. Dubrinsky convinced his workers to come in for the day, though he decided to shut down early -- at 5 p.m., as opposed to the typical 8:30 p.m. -- in a show of solidarity with his staff. He hung a sign on his door explaining his compromise.
He was pilloried for the early closing, too, receiving more hate emails -- emails that, sadly, could have come only from his fellow residents who noticed the sign.

Dubrinsky has remained remarkably diplomatic through it all. After receiving a nasty email from a woman he didn't know, Dubrinsky wrote an email back to her, sending her a link to the story and explaining his side of things. They had a little back-and-forth, and the woman ended up apologizing and asking him for forgiveness. When he received a nasty phone call from a stranger in Michigan, Dubrinsky tried to explain himself rather than simply hang up. But the woman couldn't be reasoned with.

Regardless of what happens to his reputation, Dubrinsky says he's worried about losing longtime staffers who he describes as good workers as well as good people. "They're like family to me," he says. Despite a national unemployment rate above 9 percent, he says that finding non-Latino workers willing to toil in his hot kitchen for modest pay has not been easy, just as many farmers are having a hard time finding non-Latino workers willing to pick their fields.

"It's easier said than done," says Dubrinsky. To prepare for his vacancies, Dubrinsky offered a job to a woman at $8.25 per hour a couple of weeks ago. After initially accepting, she called back to say she couldn't take it because she'd lose her food stamps and government-funded health care. More recently, Dubrinsky hired a man to work the grill in the kitchen. He showed up on Sunday but didn't last long. Dubrinsky says the man disappeared after just two hours, leaving only an apron in his place.

Texas Dems Recall Racism in the Past and Racism in the the Future with TX Repubs New Racist Hate Bill!

Dems Blast Sanctuary Cities Bill, Hispanic Senators Cite Personal Expriences with Discrimination
Toward the end of Sen. John Whitmire’s speech against sanctuary city bill, he said that a Republican senator had asked him, “Why do you want to talk when you know the outcome?” Whitmire’s answer to the question thundered through the Senate chamber. “Because it’s our moral obligation.”

It was in that spirit that Democrats — badly outnumbered in the Senate with little hope of being able to block the sanctuary cities bill — continued their campaign against the legislation with speeches that featured the personal stories of Hispanic members and the discrimination they’ve experienced as well as the policy implications of potentially turning local police into immigration agents. “You will never, ever be confronted with the measures of this legislation,” Whitmire told his white colleagues. “We have to slow down and think about what we’re about to do.”

Whitmire, D-Houston, recounted a story of a single mother who’s in the U.S. illegally and is afraid to try to collect child support from her American husband, who abandoned her because she could lose her son and be deported. “Sometimes you have to do the right thing and suffer the consequences,” Whitmire said, finishing his statement with a last minute quote from Sam Houston, in a bid to sway Republicans.

Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, told his fellow Senators that he had experienced discrimination throughout his life. When he was in school, Uresti said his name was changed to Charlie because they were forbidden from speaking Spanish. He told the Senators that when he was in the Marine Corps, he was called a wetback by his fellow white Marines. He called the legislation “mean,” “vindictive,” and “wrong” and said that the bill “strikes at the heart and the soul of Latinos of Texas.”

“All that matters, all of a sudden, is the color of your skin,” Uresti said. “[The bill] opens the doors to discriminate against… anyone who looks like me.” Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, recounted that his son was pushed up against the wall by an immigration officer who demanded to know if he was an American. Democratic Senate Caucus Chair Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, said the fact the Senate is going to pass this bill, broke her heart.

“Today we are going to pass legislation that would treat my children differently, because I have children with blue eyes and sandy hair and they look like their Belgium ancestors. And I have sons with the proud brown skin and eyes and hair and they look Mexican-American.” said Van de Putte, her voice cracking. “And if we’re passing legislation that treats brothers so very differently, how can that be right?”

Latino American Child Hater - Rep. Steve Hart Introduces Birthright HATE Bill! Uses HATE Term "Anchor Baby!"

Unbelievable! On the 1st day of Congress, Latino Baby Hater Rep. Steve King introduces "Anchor Baby Bill" in Congress!

Politico.com reports:
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) isn’t wasting any time with his immigration agenda, dropping a bill on the first day of Congress that goes after birthright citizenship. King’s measure would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act, ending automatic citizenship for anyone born in the country. Instead, the measure requires that only the children of citizens, legal immigrants permanently living in the country or immigrants in the military, be granted citizenship.

Republicans grabbed headlines last summer after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) criticized the longstanding law, saying it encourages pregnant women to come to the country to have children so they can eventually become citizens themselves. Though others have called for changing the 14th Amendment, King said that ending birthright citizenship through statute makes sense because it’s easier to do.

“We need to address anchor babies,” he told POLITICO Wednesday. “This isn’t what our founding fathers intended.” Immigration legislation isn’t high on the list of priorities for House GOP leaders. At least five other members – Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), Gary Miller (R-Calif.), Rob Woodall (R-Ga.), Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) – are co-sponsoring King’s measure.