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A bill recently introduced by Rep. Don Pridemore would allow law enforcement officials to detain someone for up to 48 hours, if officials have a "reasonable suspicion" that the person is in the United States without authorization. To avoid detention, the person must immediately show proof of her or his immigration status.
WNPJ rejects such measures as racist diversions from the real problems facing Wisconsin. These proposals would harm our state because:
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| Kristen Petrosius (center) at a civil resistance action in Arizona |
Kristen Petroshius of the Madison Groundwork anti-racist collective was one of more than 80 people recently arrested in Arizona for engaging in acts of civil resistance against the state's new anti-immigrant racial-profiling law, SB1070. The Phoenix protesters targeted the Fourth Avenue Jail run by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has led a wave of police repression against immigrants and people of color in the state. In deciding to risk arrest, Kristen had to confront the fears that keep many of us from taking action against injustice, and found inspiration and role models in those who shared her jail cell. Read and comment here...
WNPJ member Francis Pauc critiques new legislation being proposed by State Representative Donald Pridemore ( R-Hartford ) that would require police to stop and question any person if they have a "reasonable suspicion" that the person is in this country illegally. The bill is modeled on Arizona's harsh anti-immigrant legislation, SB 1070, and would require that any person asked for proof of citizenship who could not provide that proof be jailed until they could come up with the proper documents. Noting the obvious danger of racial profiling as police target those who appear to be hispanic, Frank says, "This is a law just begging to be abused."
A Dane County circuit court judge has issued a permanent injunction blocking Wisconsin's voter ID law, ruling that it creates a “substantial impairment of the right to vote” guaranteed by the state Constitution. The court ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by the NAACP and WNPJ member group Voces de la Frontera. The injunction means that the law, which would have required a state-issued photo ID from all voters, will not be in effect for the November election, although Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has said he intends to appeal the decision.
All of Wisconsin’s 72 counties are now members of a controversial program that connects state fingerprint databases with a federal immigration registry. The new federal program, called Secure Communities, says its foremost goal is the deportation of aliens convicted of serious crimes, but by the government’s own admission, a large percentage of the people taken into custody since the program began in 2008 had no criminal record.
Immigration advocacy groups, including Voces de la Frontera, the largest in Wisconsin (and a WNPJ member group) have accused the program of using a dragnet approach to deportation.
LEGISLATION INTRODUCED BY REP. PEDRO COLON FOR ISSUANCE OF DRIVERS CARDS
(This bill was introduced during the Winter 2010 legislative session; it did not pass. Rep Colon is now following developments in Arizona before deciding if to introduce it again in the next session.)
Saying he wants Wisconsin to be "on the side of Arizona," state Representative Don Pridemore (R-Hartford) is drafting anti-immigrant legislation similar to Arizona's infamous Senate Bill 1070.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Pridemore's bill would apply to anyone arrested, "if police had a reasonable suspicion they were here illegally.
From WNPJ member group Voces de la Frontera: Wisconsin is Not Arizona! Join us this Saturday, May 22, at noon at the Frontier Airline Center (formerly Midwest Express Center), 3rd and Wisconsin, for a press conference in front of the State Republican Convention to condemn gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker's recent reversal on Arizona SB1070 law; now proclaiming, "If I were governor of Arizona, I too would sign the Arizona immigration bill"
Arizona's harsh new anti-immigrant law, SB 1070, requires the police to investigate and detain anyone who could "reasonably be suspected" of being an undocumented immigrant, and even makes it a crime for legal immigrants not to have papers proving their immigration status. The bill is a clear violation of 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable government search and seizure, and, just as in the 1960's, federal action is needed to protect civil rights in a state where the governor and legislature are writing racial discrimination into the law. Click here to sign an online petition urging Attorney General Holder to enforce the Constitution by blocking the enforcement of Arizona's anti-immigrant racial-profiling bill.
U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Harry Reid (D-NV), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) John Kerry (D-MA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) re-introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill aimed at addressing the broken immigration system, offering an alternative to enforcement-only policies.
According to Mendez, "this is common-sense legislation that addresses the realities of the situation, stops the flow across our borders, and contributes to our economic recovery. If we can put political grandstanding aside and come together on a comprehensive, pragmatic bill like this one, we can bring resolution to a great national need.”
608-250-9240, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, 122 State Street, Suite 405A, Madison, WI 53703, Send an email to the office info@wnpj.org.
WNPJ is a member of the Community Shares of Wisconsin.
