¡Alto Arizona!

A Shortage of Mexican Laborers Threatens Arizona Farming

By Monica Alonzo | Thursday, Aug 25 2011 | Source: PhoenixNewTimes.com

Santiago Gonzalez walks through his watermelon fields on an overcast morning in May, surveying the crops. Some of the melons are bright green; others still have a yellowish tinge. The lifelong West Valley farmer reaches down for one, splits it open with a pocket knife, and cuts a chunk from the center. The red, juicy melon melts in his mouth. It's sweet, but he knows it could be sweeter. And his trained eye knows the rind will get even brighter. He's still a few weeks from harvest.

It seems unlikely that the tough desert land near Phoenix could yield such nutrient-rich and delicate produce as watermelons, strawberries, tomatoes, and peaches. And yet it does.

ALEC Arizona: Community Demand for Transparency and Accountability

Los Comités en Defensa del Barrio
LA HUELGA DEL PUEBLO
Boycott Commission

Press Advisory
For Immediate Release
Date: Monday, 2011
Contacts: Raul Cordero (602) 488-9731; Anayanse Garza (602) 487-0186; Tupac Enrique Acosta (602) 466-8367

ALEC Arizona:
Community Demand for Transparency and Accountability

Phoenix, AZ - Following in the wake of recent revelations by the Center for Media and Democracy that have exposed the immoral collusion between private prison industry lobby groups with ties to the American Legislative Council (ALEC) and state legislators across the country, the Boycott Commission of Los Comités en Defensa del Barrio today have requested that all current Arizona state legislators be immediately forthcoming in making public their association, participation, or membership in the ALEC consortium.  A deadline of July 29, 2011 has been extended to all elected state official to address and respond publicly regarding their ties with ALEC.

The date of July 29, 2011 coincides with the anniversary of the date when AZ SB1070 was to be implemented, a piece of legislation which was crafted in the bowels ALEC and then imported into the Arizona State legislature by AZ Senate President Russell Pearce.  The call today by the Boycott Commission of the CDB is for transparency and accountability for the economic interests that have been profiteering through contracts with the private prison industry in cahoots with law enforcement personalities across the state.

Your State Can’t Afford It: The Fiscal Impact of States’ Anti-Immigrant Legislation

By Philip E. Wolgin, Angela Maria Kelley | July 5, 2011 | Source: AmericanProgress.org

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It has been just over a year since the passage of Arizona’s ill-fated anti-immigrant law, S.B. 1070. In its wake, many states put copycat bills on their agendas for the 2011 legislative session. But as most states wrap up their legislative session for the year, only a handful (Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, and South Carolina) actually passed anti-immigrant bills, while 26 others rejected them. Even Arizona, which last year saw its anti-immigrant bill largely blocked by a federal judge, joined this movement and rejected a series of even harsher bills this year.

While opponents have had some successes in a handful of states, far more states rejected anti-immigrant bills. One of the principal reasons for the failure of so many of these legislative efforts was cost. S.B. 1070 and bills like it in other states are expensive to implement at many levels, placing a heavy burden on state and local governments already feeling the effects of a down economy. This brief examines the costs of anti-immigrant legislation from a variety of perspectives, detailing the losses that states such as Arizona have already faced, as well as the future costs that states such as Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, which have only just recently passed their own anti-immigrant laws, will have to reckon with.

Immigration law uncertainty hangs over Hispanic neighborhoods

Source: East Valley Tribune
updated 4/18/2011 12:46:11 PM ET

Adan Gallegos stands with a crowd of day laborers waiting on job offers in front of the Circle K convenience store in Chandler’s “Little Sonora” neighborhood.

On this day, there are about a dozen men alongside him near the corner store at 295 S. Arizona Ave. — which fronts the neighborhood of small apartments and mobile home parks where residents say at least 90 percent of the people are from the Mexican state of Sonora.

“The crowd waiting out here used to be bigger,” says Gallegos, 38, who has lived in the neighborhood south of downtown Chandler for about 20 years. “Not anymore.”

“I used to watch the news about SB 1070. I think it was to scare people out of town. A lot of the people I used to see, I don’t see anymore. They either moved out of state or back to Mexico.”

It’s been one year since Senate Bill 1070 was passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer. The state’s controversial undocumented immigration bill — which makes it a crime for Mexican nationals to live in Arizona — sparked cheers from many, and fury from others. Debates about SB 1070 took place from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. Opponents marched. Supporters tried to strike up copycat bills in other communities. Entertainers, businesses and even community leaders in other states cried foul and called for boycotts.

60 executives say 'no' to more immigration bills

Mar. 16, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

More boycotts, more protests, more lost business. Arizona doesn't need this.
The state Senate is looking at a reckless, costly and counterproductive package of immigration bills.

Senate President Russell Pearce said, in a meeting with the Editorial Board, that he saw no downside to last year's misguided Senate Bill 1070.

Sixty top Arizona executives know the reality. In a virtually unprecedented move, they sent a joint letter to Pearce urging him not to pass any more immigration bills.

These are the leaders who cross the economic spectrum in Arizona, from health care and development to tourism and automotive. Their company names are familiar: US Airways, PetSmart, Sunbelt Holdings, Intel Corp. They include The Arizona Republic.

They can point to the cancellations, the missed opportunities and the lost jobs.

They know how much Arizona, a state that depends so much on tourism, feels the bite of controversial legislation that clouds our reputation.

SB 1070 created such a noxious cloud of bad P.R. that Gov. Jan Brewer put $250,000 into repairing the state's image.

And now the Senate is deciding whether to give Arizona another self-inflicted bad eye.

Imagine the spectacle of mass protests as Arizona hosts Major League Baseball's All-Star Game for the first time in July.

Portland City Council calls #Arizona #immigration law un-American

Janie Har, The Oregonian

The Portland City Council voted unanimously to oppose a controversial Arizona state law that allows police to check the immigration status of anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.

The vote was 4-0, with city commissioner Dan Saltzman absent. The Portland resolution allows the city attorney to assist in legal efforts by the mayors of Flagstaff and Tucson to overturn the Arizona law. The resolution also allows city lobbyists to push for stronger Oregon laws against racial profiling.  

Portland’s measure stops short of boycotts called by Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities to stop travel to Arizona and contracts with companies based in Arizona. Mayor Sam Adams does not think boycotts are useful or legal.  

Portland’s city council is — based on their skin color — glaringly white. Still, each member spoke eloquently about the un-American nature of judging people on the way they talk or the color of their skin.

Sacramento council approves economic sanctions against #Arizona

The Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday night to place economic sanctions against Arizona companies in response to that state's immigration laws.

The sanctions passed by a 6-1 council vote are on par with the broadest actions passed by other California cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland.

They include forbidding city workers from attending conferences in Arizona on the city's dime, boycotting companies based in Arizona "where practicable and where there is no significant additional cost to the city" and potentially canceling current contracts with firms from Arizona.

"For those who would criticize us for using our time to address this critical issue in our country's history, I would say this: How can we not?" said Councilman Rob Fong, who called for the debate.

Fong added, "I've never been more proud of us" and said the city was "standing on the right side of history."

Racist Anti-Immigration Arizona Law Backfires (Video from 2008)

(Note from Alto Arizona: This video is pre-SB1070, but strangely foreshadowed this year's hateful legislation. This video strangely correlates to a video spoof created by filmmaker, Alex Rivera, "Why Cybraceros?" check link on our site: http://blog.altoarizona.com/blog/2010/04/why-cybraceros-a-mock-promotional-film-by-alex-rivera.html)

May 1, 2008) The tough anti-immigration law enacted in Arizona backfired after illegal aliens left the state and left its economy in shambles, now the same racist politicians want illegal immigrants back and have passed out invitations by way of a "guest worker" program.

via xxmkerror Youtube.com

Arizona on my Mind: The Immigration Law and Homelessness

By Maria Foscarinis,
Founder and Executive Director of National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
Posted: May 11, 2010 01:48 PM

Late last week, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty joined other civil and human rights organizations in the Arizona boycott, pulling out of a major public interest law conference planned in Phoenix this week for which we had organized a panel.

The boycott was precipitated by Arizona's adoption of a draconian new law that imposes harsh requirements on immigrants and gives police authority to stop and demand documents from anyone they have reason to suspect might be an illegal immigrant. Groups representing immigrants' rights, like the National Council of La Raza, are leading the boycott. But the issues at stake go beyond immigration, and the links to homelessness and poverty are pretty direct.

The law imposes requirements that are difficult or even impossible for many poor people to meet--regardless of immigration status--and grants police authority over complex social and political issues. It's a quick political "fix" that does more to appease perceived voter anxiety than to resolve real issues. As such, it risks further criminalizing poverty, and in particular, the extreme form of poverty that is homelessness.

Arizona Immigration Law Makes Shops' Customers Disappear

By Frank James

One aspect of the fallout from Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law that didn't get much attention, at least not from the national media, was the affect the law would have on many small businesses in Arizona, especially those that cater to Hispanics.

The Arizona Republic reports that in the days since the law's passage, many businesses have lost their customers. Some have had to close as the illegal immigrants who used to patronize them have become too fearful to do so any longer, with some making plans to leave the state.

Much of the coverage before and after passage of the legislation focused on the what a boycott by those outside the state who opposed the law would mean for the state. But there clearly will be an economic impact from reduced demand within the state. Which will likely mean reduced sales tax revenues.