Blowback from the new AZ law continues

For about the eight months or so, I've been posting at the Bill of Rights Defense Committee web site. It's one of the reasons that I haven't been here as much as I would like. I've decided that I want to share what I post here on my own personal site.

Last week I referenced a post from Foreign Policy in Focus regarding the new Arizona immigration law:

Christine Ahn and Linda Burnham have a nice overview of Arizona's new immigration law at Foreign Policy in Focus. They point out the many that political entities around the country are responding negatively to the law,

City councils across the country — in Boston, West Hollywood, Oakland, Tucson, and Flagstaff — have all passed resolutions against SB1070, and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on city worker’s official travel to Arizona. The Phoenix Suns even demonstrated their solidarity with migrant communities when they wore jerseys with “Los Suns” on Cinco de Mayo.

Testimonies are being taken from undocumented woman and children. The fear that has been generated by this law has intensified,

Woman after woman shared how everyone is afraid to come out of their homes, whether to drive to the grocery store or to send their children to school. One woman named Terri told the delegation that she had often given rides to people going to the doctor or to the store, but “since SB 1070 was signed, a lot of people haven’t been coming out, even to get free food.” Women testified that not only were they afraid to access medical or other urgent social services, the threat of deportation also prevents them from reporting incidences of sexual assault, domestic violence, or exploitation on the job.

There have also been incidences of violence,

Then there are the cases of police brutality. One woman named Alejandra was the victim of police violence during a raid by Maricopa County sheriff deputies wearing ski masks. They slammed her into a wall, and she suffered injuries to her jaw and teeth. While detained for three months, she was denied any medical care. The mother of four children, she was still nursing her three-month old baby at the time of the raid. Stories like these abound.

One point that is rarely mentioned in all this has been the reasons behind the mass immigration. As an example the writers explain,

What is often absent from debates about immigration is why so many people are seeking work in the United States. According to Timothy A. Wise of Tufts University, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) doubled migration to the United States, “despite stepped up enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border.”

The writers end the article by pushing the point that the President must be pressured into overturning this bill.