'Immigration Spotlight' Archives

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Phoenix SWAT Team Rams House, Kidnapping...

By Weston Phippen
Bill Montgomery Over-Dramatic in Response to...

By Matthew Hendley
Jury Mulls Death Sentence in Jodi Arias Case

By Ray Stern
Atheist State Lawmaker Quotes Carl Sagan...

By Matthew Hendley
Mexican Man Busted Smuggling $100,000 Out of...

By Matthew Hendley
Arizona's 20-Week Abortion Ban Is...

By Matthew Hendley
Patrick Corbin Tosses Another Gem,...

By Matthew Hendley
Will the Joe Arpaio Recall Effort Get Enough...

By Matthew Hendley
Caleb Everett Pleads Not Guilty In...

By Weston Phippen
Border Agents Find a Ton (Literally, 2,000...

By Matthew Hendley

Immigration Spotlight

County Attorney Bill Montgomery's Endorsement Rejected by Pastor Warren Stewart in District 8 Phoenix City Council Race

By Monica Alonzo Thu., Mar. 28 2013 at 3:22 PM

Categories: Immigration Spotlight

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery apparently either was asked for his endorsement or offered it -- depending on whom you ask -- to Pastor Warren Stewart's District 8 campaign.

We asked Stewart's campaign, and we didn't get a straight answer at first, other than getting informed that Stewart and Montgomery never had a conversation.

Well, today, Mario Diaz, the campaign's consultant, rejected the endorsement. A little later, however, a spokesman for Montgomery called New Times to say there never was a formal endorsement.

Tags:

bill montgomery, jason rose, mario diaz, pastor warren stewart, phil gordon, scott phelps, vernon parker

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Immigration Spotlight

John McCain on Why GOP Will Support Immigration Reform: Hispanic Votes

By Matthew Hendley Mon., Jan. 28 2013 at 11:45 AM

Categories: Immigration Spotlight

Senator John McCain

Republicans in Congress are suddenly on board with immigration reform -- specifically, a bipartisan plan that would create a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrations -- according to Senator John McCain.

"Well, I'll give you a little straight talk," McCain said on ABC's This Week. "Look at the last election. Look at the last election. We are losing, dramatically, the Hispanic vote, which we think should be ours, for a variety of reasons."

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Tags:

amnesty, arizona, immigration, immigration reform, john mccain

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Immigration Spotlight

Raul Grijalva Has a Word or Two for Jan Brewer Over Executive Order on Driver's Licenses

By Matthew Hendley Tue., Jan. 22 2013 at 1:48 PM

Categories: Immigration Spotlight

Congressman Raul Grijalva

Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva says it's pretty clear that deferred action beneficiaries should be allowed to apply for driver's licenses.

Grijalva, and previously, the ACLU, have disagreed with the executive order issued by Governor Jan Brewer, in which she stated that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program do not have "any lawful or authorized status and does not entitle them to any additional public benefit," which includes driver's licenses.

See also:
-Jan Brewer "Kinder, Gentler" on Immigration? Republic Dons Kneepads for Governor
-Jan Brewer's Order Denying Driver's Licenses for DREAMers Challenged by Bill
-ACLU: Feds Clarify Deferred Action Recipients Should Be Able to Get Driver's Licenses
-Jan Brewer's Order to Deny Driver's Licenses Earns Her a Lawsuit
-Jan Brewer to DREAMers: State Laws Bar You from Drivers Licenses
-Jan Brewer's Order Has "Absolutely No Basis Under State or Federal Law," ACLU Says

More »

Tags:

aclu, aclu of arizona, alessandra soler, arizona, deferred action, diet dream act, dream act, executive order, immigration, jan brewer, obama, raul grijalva

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Immigration Spotlight

Jon Kyl Proposes Something That Is Kind of, Sort of, Like the DREAM Act

By Matthew Hendley Tue., Nov. 27 2012 at 10:55 AM

Categories: I'm Only a Bill, Immigration Spotlight

Kyl says this special pathway to citizenship creates "no special pathway to citizenship."

Now that outgoing Republican Senator Jon Kyl doesn't have to rely on votes from the anti-immigrant crowd, he and Texas Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison have introduced a bill that's kind of, sort of, similar to -- but definitely isn't -- the DREAM Act.

Whereas versions of the DREAM Act have provided a way for certain people who were brought to the United States illegally when they were young to become citizens after six years, the ACHIEVE Act allows the same group of immigrants to stay in the country for 10 years before getting the chance to become a permanent resident, and eventually, a citizen.

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Tags:

achieve act, arizona, dream act, green card, immigration, jon kyl, kay bailey hutchinson, obama

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Immigration Spotlight

Pinal County Jail Earns a Top-10 Rating (as One of the "Worst Immigrant Prisons in the US")

By Matthew Hendley Thu., Nov. 15 2012 at 4:04 PM

Categories: Immigration Spotlight

A bunch of immigrant- and civil-rights groups have named the Pinal County Jail one of the top-10 immigration detention facilities in the nation.

By "top-10," we mean it's among the 10 worst facilities in the country, according to the groups, which have partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona.

See also:
-ACLU Still Waiting for Pinal County Jail to Get It Together on Immigrant Detention
-Immigrants Who Fight Deportation Are Packed Into Federal Gulags for Months or Years Before Their Cases Are Heard

More »

Tags:

aclu, aclu of arizona, arizona, detention watch network, immigration, immigration detention, pinal county jail

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Immigration Spotlight

Bill Montgomery Prosecuting Fewer Illegal Immigrants for Smuggling Themselves Into Country

By Ray Stern Mon., Nov. 5 2012 at 8:21 AM

Categories: Immigration Spotlight

Maricopa County Bill Montgomery has prosecuted far fewer illegal immigrants for conspiring to smuggle themselves than his predecessor, Andrew Thomas.

Thomas, who was disbarred earlier this year for abusing his power, came up with the idea to charge average illegal immigrants with conspiracy under Arizona's 2005 state human smuggling law as a way to meet a campaign promise to do something about illegal immigration. He called the plan his own "no-amnesty policy."

Thomas' political ally, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, was more than happy to supply him with arrested illegal immigrants, who were hunted down by his deputies as part of what the U.S. Department of Justice called one of the worst cases of racial profiling ever seen. In the mid-2000s, though, courts upheld the Thomas interpretation of the smuggling and conspiracy statutes.

Rick Romley temporarily suspended those conspiracy prosecutions while he served as interim county attorney from April to November of 2010, saying that Arpaio and Thomas, while focusing on low-level offenders, were letting crime syndicates gain in power.

Tags:

andrew thomas, bill montgomery, conspiracy, illegal immigration, immigration, jail, joe arpaio, murray snow, racial profiling, rick romley, smuggling, undocumented

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Immigration Spotlight

Elias Bermudez's New Gig Charging Immigrants for Help on Deferred Action Documents Busted by New Mexico A.G.

By Matthew Hendley Wed., Oct. 3 2012 at 1:41 PM

Categories: Immigration Spotlight

Credit: Giulio Sciorio

Elias Bermudez

Remember Elias Bermudez? He one of the stranger critics of Sheriff Joe Arpaio who practically disappeared a few years ago after being ordered by a county judge to stop charging immigrants for his legal advice, since he's not a lawyer.

Well, he's popped up again -- the New Mexico Attorney General's Office says Bermudez was "providing unauthorized immigration consulting services," including helping immigrants prepare Deferred Action applications.

See also:
-The Bermudez Triangle
-DREAMers Vulnerable to Scams, Activists and Feds Warn

More »

Tags:

arizona, centro ayuda, deferred action, dream act, elias bermudez, new mexico

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Immigration Spotlight

Arizona Immigration Laws (and Joe Arpaio) Called Out by Cato Institute for Economic Woes

By Matthew Hendley Tue., Sep. 25 2012 at 12:24 PM

Categories: Another Bad-Economy Story, Immigration Spotlight

The Cato Institute -- a libertarian think-tank -- needed just seven words to sum up its report today on how Arizona's immigration laws are affecting business, and put those words right at the front of its analysis: "Arizona's immigration laws have hurt its economy."

Not only that, but the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Joe Arpaio got special recognition for helping hurt business in Arizona.

See also:
-Why Janet Napolitano Should Read the Cato Institute Report on Immigration Reform

More »

Tags:

arizona, cato institute, economy, employer sanctions operation, illegal immigration, immigration, joe arpaio, legal arizona workers act, maricopa county sheriff's office, sb 1070

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Immigration Spotlight

Arizona Legislators Want Construction to Start on Border Fence, With Enough Money to Build About 500 Feet

By Matthew Hendley Mon., Aug. 27 2012 at 2:57 PM

Categories: Immigration Spotlight

vimeo.com

So close.

Arizona's "Joint Border Security Advisory Committee" is looking to start building the dang fence on the border as soon as possible.

Even better, they have enough money to build about 500 feet of that fence, which would leave the committee just 199.9 miles short of its goal of 200 miles of barrier.

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Tags:

arizona, border, border crossings, border fence, illegal immigration, joe arpaio, joint border security advisory committee

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Immigration Spotlight

Border Patrol Abuse: PBS Video Documents Stories of Cruel Treatment of Immigrants

By Monica Alonzo Wed., Jul. 25 2012 at 8:00 AM

Categories: Immigration Spotlight

New Times Illustration

When we traveled to Nogales, Mexico about two years ago, we found many individuals who reported getting abused while in Border Patrol custody. We documented their stories in Culture of Cruelty.

Since then, not much has changed. See the video below: