As the political frenzy rages over Arizona's crackdown on immigration, scholars and state officials gathered to elucidate the complexities of immigration policy at a national conference held at ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law on Friday.
Organized by ASU law professor Carissa Hessick, "The Role of States in Immigration Policy and Enforcement" featured immigration experts from around the nation, lecturing on the historical and socioeconomic facets of Mexican immigration as well as its legal and political intricacies.
"The College of Law held this conference in order to provide our students with access to research from leading experts in the field, and to promote rational dialogue on this issue," said Hessick.
Sandra Day O'Connor prefaced the event with a brief introduction over a video feed, highlighting the importance of fact in the immigration debate and apologizing for not being able to attend in person. Hessick followed with an overview of SB 1070, as the bill was at the heart of much of the day's legal discourse.
Douglas Massey, professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton, gave the keynote address, "How Arizona Became Ground Zero in the Nation's War on Immigrants." His lecture examined data documenting trends and factors of Mexican migration since the 1930s, compiled from the Mexican Migration Project, a research initiative he co-founded in 1982. He reasons that the U.S. policy has historically failed to take the facts of Mexican migration into account.
"U.S. immigration policy has very little to do with an actual understanding of immigration a lot more to do with domestic politics," said Massey. "And the Mexico-U.S. border becomes a stage on which American fears, hopes, aspirations and insecurities get projected."
State representatives David Lujan (D-Phoenix) and John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) joined Arizona Attorney General's Office Senior Litigator Cameron Holmes to conclude the conference in a roundtable discussion, answering queries from both the panel of national law scholars and the audience. While Lujan and Kavanagh underscored their respective sides of the SB 1070 bill, Holmes asserted America's need to focus on Mexico's drug war over illegal immigration, and the audience applauded him for it.
Approximately 175 people attended the event, held in Armstrong Hall on the Tempe Campus, including university students, attorneys and members of the public.
Masterrogue666 posted at 5:31 pm on Tue, Oct 12, 2010.
"How Arizona Became Ground Zero in the Nation's War on Immigrants" --- They are not immigrants, they are ILLEGAL ALIENS, or invading Foreign Nationals. Either of those two terms are MUCH MORE ACCURATE!!!
When I see misinformation like that, I already know which side they are on....
Brittanicus posted at 2:03 pm on Sun, Oct 10, 2010.
Los Angeles as a prime example is just one haven for illegal aliens where expenditures will keep skyrocketing upwards, if the majority of Democratic Liberals in Sacramento are not removed. California cannot pay its bills, because the amount expended to support the 2.5 million illegal alien households in the county. In the midterm elections watch cautiously illegal aliens violating federal voting laws. Be particularly observant of absentee balloting, as it’s not that complicated for foreigners to vote and alter the direction of voting numbers. The whole system of "Honor Voting" has been compromised in the last ten years and may have severe implications in close races in LA and in every other precinct across the country. The Tea Party, moderate Conservatives neither genuflect to either the GOP elites or the Liberal Democrats. Learn who is buying and selling your families future, by allowing this rising incursion into our country.
It’s been the obligation of both parties and is they are entirely to blame through the years. This DOJ states they are arresting more illegal aliens than ever before, but what they are silent about--it's only the criminals and for the most part they are releasing average illegals without a criminal history back to our streets. YOU CAME TO THE US WITHOUT BEING INSPECTED, YOUR A CRIMINAL.Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, who has used the race card and has the same Modus Operandi as Sen. Harry Reid in enacting new laws to maintain illegal immigration. First bill in the next session of the Senate will be another try at Amnesty by Reid, Pelosi and Napolitano. Voting--YES--on funding Sanctuary Cities (March 2008), even when deaths at the hands of illegal alien criminals has spiraled out of control; Voted—YES--on Comprehensive Immigration Reform--Amnesty; Voted--NO--In declaring the English official language of government; that would save millions of dollars in judicial documents in 176 foreign languages and professional translators for court appearances (June 2007).
Voted--YES--on another Guest Worker program (May 2006), resembling the 1986 Immigration Control and Reform Act gave Amnesty that upped the population and in addition voted--YES--on illegal aliens being able to participate in our Social Security system (May 2006), that is on the rocks now and then providing Social Services to non citizens. Heaven help us---Americans have worked all their lives to collect Social Security, to keep them afloat for the rest of their lives. But Barbara Boxer has attracted the people’s outrage to join the rest of the Liberal crowd to enact this legislation, allowing foreigners who have never paid into this financial pool access to our Social Security? In my view as a Tea Party advocate--ALL these incumbents should be shown the road out of town, tarred and feathered.
Federal law already has mandated free health care for anybody, who can dodge the US border Guards, plus education for their children and an overcrowded prison system. Estimates are over a hundred billion dollars a year, with a large proportion spent to support the instant citizenship of babies intentionally born here. None of these massive taxpayer funds cover the draining of public welfare at the State, County and city outpouring of welfare payment in services and cash. IF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT WAS EVER HONEST ABOUT STOPPING THIS UNVOICED INVASION, THEY WOULD HAVE MADE ILLEGAL ENTRY INTO AMERICA A FIRST CLASS FELONY. It’s easy to speculate that the majority of illegal aliens who appear here are far from the highly educated, the individual and their families that are not business owners, wealthy or those with any special abilities. This cut throat illegal labor are sought by degenerate employers, for the value of no traditional obligations of offering benefits such as health care. Once again the US taxpayer takes up the slack for these federal obligations of free emergency room visits, free schooling for their kids, that has exploded in billions upon billions of dollars throughout this sovereign land.
The people who flee from south of the border, Latin countries, Asia are people who have no job skills, desperate and penniless. They come to USA with the compliments of their countries officials, since our society has been negligent and a dumping ground with a border easily circumvented. American taxpayers have become unfortunate subservient pushovers by years of our administration in supporting these recipients of our welfare system. They arrive from countries that are overpopulated through religious conviction, dictatorships and our nation has developed into a behemoth relief valve to all other lands woes. Below our border those governments have never placed any restrictions on their people illegally migrating here, explicitly since estimates of 60 billion dollars are transferred from the illegal workers remittances to their foreign banks annually.