Thread: In Arizona, Immigrants Make Plans in Shadows

In Arizona, Immigrants Make Plans in Shadows
By FERNANDA SANTOS

Published: April 18, 2012,NT Times

Jovana Renteria, left, leading a six-week “defense” course for illegal immigrants in Phoenix


PHOENIX — Miguel Guerra has a wife, three children and a house. He has a car, but no driver’s license. He has business cards, but no immigration papers. He got into the habit of keeping his cellphone close when he drives so he can quickly call a cousin, the only legal resident among his relatives in the United States, in case he gets pulled over.

If he does not call again within an hour, he said, the cousin knows to look for him at the county jail.

Mr. Guerra, 36, moved here 13 years ago, before Arizona made illegal immigrants a target, turning once mundane tasks like driving to the grocery into a roll of the dice.

Protesting the state’s strict immigration laws “hasn’t changed anything,” he said, so one recent evening he took a more pragmatic approach. He filled out an affidavit designating his cousin to care for his children, his money, his house and everything else he owns should he be arrested.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week challenging the most controversial sections of an Arizona immigration law, known as SB 1070, which seeks to push illegal immigrants out of the state by making it hard for them to go about their lives and earn a living. Lower courts have prevented many of the most controversial provisions from taking effect, but that has not stopped a chill from seeping into the bones of the state’s immigrants.

“Preparing for the worst is our best defense these days,” Mr. Guerra said.

Here and elsewhere in Maricopa County, where one in three residents is Hispanic, illegal immigrants — interviewed at car washes, outside dollar stores, in schools and at the offices of a grass-roots organization called Puente, where Mr. Guerra and others worked on their affidavits — seemed almost indifferent to how the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of the law. Having lived through years of relentless enforcement of the state’s anti-illegal-immigration measures by the hard-line sheriff, Joe Arpaio, they feel little can make life harder than it already is.

Mr. Guerra said he no longer risked taking his family on road trips to Disneyland in neighboring California.

Maria Jesús, 55, who has a tire store that caters mostly to illegal immigrants, said she was on the verge of bankruptcy because most of her clients had either fled the state or were unemployed and broke. A man who said he recently spent time in a federal immigration detention center in Florence, Ariz., after he was pulled over for speeding, and who asked to remain anonymous to avoid more legal trouble, says he leaves home every morning afraid he will not come back. (He was freed on bail and has a date in court to decide whether he will be deported, he said.)

Seated across from him at Puente, a woman who would say only that her name was Leticia and that she was 27, interjected: “The people who are home, waiting, are just as afraid. You leave, and we wonder if today is the day you’re going to get arrested.”

The Department of Homeland Security estimated there were 360,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona as of January 2011, the fewest since 2000.

The downturn in the economy, which hit Arizona particularly hard, may offer only part of the explanation for the decline. In 2010, the number of births by Hispanic women fell below the number of births by white women for the first time in seven years, and it continued to fall at least through February, according to state statistics. The drop, 28 percent over all, is too steep to be explained by a decline in fertility rates alone; Jeffrey Passel, a demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center, said it might suggest that there were fewer Hispanic women of child-bearing age.

Since the bill cracking down on illegal immigration was passed by the State Legislature in May 2010, enrollment at the Balsz Elementary School District here in Phoenix, where 70 percent of the students are Hispanic, has dropped by 8 percent, and fewer parents volunteer to walk children to and from school, the superintendent, Jeff Smith, said.
“We think it’s because they’re afraid of being on the streets,” Dr. Smith said.

It has not always been that way. In 2005, when Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator John McCain of Arizona unveiled a bipartisan immigration bill, which would have provided a path to citizenship to certain illegal immigrants, about 50,000 people rallied here in support. They again took to the streets by the thousands, part of a wave of protests that spread across the country, as SB 1070 made its way through the Legislature.

Their battle quickly moved to the courts, where the law’s most controversial aspects — like giving law enforcement officers the authority to detain anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally and requiring them to determine the immigration status of people who have been arrested — have polarized the political debate about immigration.
A rally has been scheduled here for the start of the Supreme Court’s hearing. Organizers are hoping a few thousand people will turn out; in private, their estimates are less optimistic.

“The excitement of four years ago has turned into bitterness; hope has turned into fear,” said Alfredo Gutierrez, a former state senator and radio host whose call-in show allowed immigrants — illegal and otherwise — to air their feelings in public in the early days after the bill was passed.

The measure “was clearly an attempt to put the entire Latino community under siege, and to a certain extent it has succeeded,” Mr. Gutierrez said.

At Puente, the law was an exclamation point of sorts at the end of one advocate’s long explanation about the other state measures against illegal immigrants: an English-only law in 2002, propositions in 2004 and 2006 blocking their access to state benefits and their right to post bail, a requirement in 2008 that employers check their workers’ immigration status.

It was Week 3 of Puente’s six-week “defense” course, the first that the group has offered since opening in 2007 in response to Sheriff Arpaio’s raids on Latino workplaces and neighborhoods.

“I don’t need SB 1070,” Sheriff Arpaio said last week. “We’ve been arresting more illegals than we did in the past. We have enough state laws to do that.”

In their wallets, participants in Puente’s course carried a paper that reads: “I will not sign without a lawyer! Slide the warrant under the door!” They also heard other tips: If you have a car, make sure it is registered to someone with a driver’s license. If you have a job, make sure someone knows to collect your pay if you are not around. If you have children, make sure to authorize a legal resident to pick them up at school.

Mr. Guerra spoke of friends who had packed up and left — to Utah, Nevada, Washington State — only to come back after finding no jobs or running into laws much like the one that drove them from Arizona.

“I don’t want to live a nomad,” he said. “So here I am, getting ready for what’s to come.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/us...kdown.html?amp

"Miguel Guerra has a wife, three children and a house."


A house? I guess America has been good to Miguel. I could never afford a house! "

"He has business cards, but no immigration papers."

And a business too? Wow! Illegals can do whatever they please.

Originally Posted by Kiara

"Miguel Guerra has a wife, three children and a house."


A house? I guess America has been good to Miguel. I could never afford a house! "

"He has business cards, but no immigration papers."

And a business too? Wow! Illegals can do whatever they please.

Mr. Guerra said he no longer risked taking his family on road trips to Disneyland in neighboring California.

Wow-his kids even got to go to Disneyland! The only place like that we could ever afford to take our kids was the county fair and that was on bargain night or when they had a free or low cost grandstand show. Poor poor illegal-hope he gets caught doing his illegal business!

New York Times Reporter Again Advocates for Illegals Cowering in the 'Shadows'

By Clay Waters | April 19, 2012 | 11:07
Newsbusters

Other than "climate change," no issue brings out the New York Times's liberal bias more than illegal immigration. Thursday Times reporter Fernanda Santos piled on the pro-illegal immigrant tropes in her story from Phoenix, "In Arizona, Immigrants Make Plans In Shadows." Santos claims an Arizona law "seeks to push illegal immigrants out of the state by making it hard for them to go about their lives and earn a living." The paper has used that sympathetic description in several purportedly objective news stories about illegal immigrants.

Another beloved Times cliche: "shadows." The Times loves to call up the image of illegal immigrants cowering "in the shadows" -- the phrase has cropped up in several news stories, though it doesn't seem to jive with the massive pro-amnesty street demonstrations put on my immigrant supporters (and the photos of illegals that constantly grace the paper, like the one below).

The rest of Santos's story is similarly by the numbers.

Miguel Guerra has a wife, three children and a house. He has a car, but no driver’s license. He has business cards, but no immigration papers. He got into the habit of keeping his cellphone close when he drives so he can quickly call a cousin, the only legal resident among his relatives in the United States, in case he gets pulled over.

If he does not call again within an hour, he said, the cousin knows to look for him at the county jail.

Mr. Guerra, 36, moved here 13 years ago, before Arizona made illegal immigrants a target, turning once mundane tasks like driving to the grocery into a roll of the dice. Protesting the state’s strict immigration laws “hasn’t changed anything,” he said, so one recent evening he took a more pragmatic approach. He filled out an affidavit designating his cousin to care for his children, his money, his house and everything else he owns should he be arrested.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week challenging the most controversial sections of an Arizona immigration law, known as SB 1070, which seeks to push illegal immigrants out of the state by making it hard for them to go about their lives and earn a living. Lower courts have prevented many of the most controversial provisions from taking effect, but that has not stopped a chill from seeping into the bones of the state’s immigrants.

“Preparing for the worst is our best defense these days,” Mr. Guerra said.

Here and elsewhere in Maricopa County, where one in three residents is Hispanic, illegal immigrants -- interviewed at car washes, outside dollar stores, in schools and at the offices of a grass-roots organization called Puente, where Mr. Guerra and others worked on their affidavits -- seemed almost indifferent to how the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of the law. Having lived through years of relentless enforcement of the state’s anti-illegal-immigration measures by the hard-line sheriff, Joe Arpaio, they feel little can make life harder than it already is.

New York Times Reporter Again Advocates for Illegals Cowering in the 'Shadows' | NewsBusters.org

Fernanda Santos - check out "Presidents Club" contributions and the agenda of the NAHJ and the Partity Project at theis link.
2007 NAHJ Annual Report

The Conference starts tomorrow ,

RIDAY IS THE LAST DAY TO REGISTER. NOTE THE NOTE BELOW “Covering the New Southwest: Storytelling in the Heart of La Tierra” in New Mexico April 21

NOTE: You must pre-register to attend. We cannot accept walk-in registrations on Saturday.
Join the National Association of Hispanic Journalists for a regional conference April 21 on journalism, news gathering, writing and hot topics deep in the changing Southwest of Albuquerque, NM! DeeDee Garcia Blase, founder of the Tequila Party and an Arizona political organizer who helped recall the Ariz. State Sen. Russell Pearce, author of SB 1070, is be the scheduled keynote speaker. Also scheduled to appear is US Attorney Ken Gonzales and members of Homeland Security Investigations to talk about how reporters find untapped stories.
Confirmed moderators

• Gene Grant, host of In Focus NM, KNME
• Floyd Vasquez, assignment editor, KOB-TV
• Jeri Clausing, AP political reporter, Albuquerque
• Inez Russell Gomez, editorial page editor, Santa Fe New Mexican

Panels include

• How to cover the drug war, immigration, Indian country, environmental issues.
• Discussions on being a better writer and taking better photos.

Top journalists from the Boston Globe, Associated Press DC, People Magazine, KRQE-TV, KNME-TV, Santa Fe New Mexican, the Albuquerque Journal will be attending. And YOU!
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists regional conference will be held April 21 from 8:30 am to 6 pm.
Conference Registration (You must pre-register for the conference by April 20)
$25 for students/ $50 for NAHJ members/ $125 for non-NAHJ members (includes annual membership + member registration rate)
For more information, please contact NAHJ interim executive director Anna Lopez Buck atalopez@nahj.org.
Here’s the complete program:
NAHJ NM Regional Conference
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Central New Mexico Community College–WTC
9 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
“Enchanting Immigration: Writing about the immigration reality in New
Mexico” — ROOM 104
Marcela Diaz, executive director, Somos Un Pueblo Unido
The Rev. Angela Herrera, assistant minister, First Unitarian Church of
Albuquerque
Sandra Baltazar Martinez, immigration reporter, Santa Fe New Mexican
Rachel LaZar, executive director, El CENTRO de Igualdad y Derechos
Moderator: Floyd Vasquez, assignment manager, KOB-TV
10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
“Water you doing? The coming battle over water and climate change” — ROOM 104
Susan Montoya Bryan, environmental reporter, The Associated Press
John Fleck, science reporter, Albuquerque Journal
Erin Ailworth, business reporter, Boston Globe
Moderator: Elaine Baumgartel, morning host, KUMN-FM
“Capture this: Getting the right visuals for a story” — ROOM 130
Roberto Rosales, photo editor, Albuquerque Journal
Natalie Guillen, photographer, Santa Fe New Mexican
Moderator: Chris Ramirez, features reporter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
NOON – 1:30
KEYNOTE LUNCHEON: DeeDee Garcia Blase, founder of the Tequila Party
– CONFERENCE 101
Interviewed by Inez Russell Gomez, Santa Fe New Mexican, editorial page editor
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
“The Real Breaking Bad: Covering the drug war, arms smuggling,
corruption & federal crime in NM”
– ROOM 104
U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales:
U.S. Marshal Conrad Candelaria
Special Agent in Charge Dennis Ulrich, Homeland Security Investigations
Assistant Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Assistant Special Agent in Charge Keith Brown, Drug Enforcement Administration
Assistant Special Agent in Charge Carlos Carino, Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives
Supervisor Christopher Wajda, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal
Investigations Division
Moderator: Gene Grant, host, New Mexico in Focus
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
“Socialized Medicine: Tips for some Sick Social Media Skillz” — ROOM 130
Astrid Galvan, higher ed reporter, Albuquerque Journal
Manuel De La Rosa, reporter, KRGV-TV
Henry M. Lopez, owner, Lopez Webworks
Moderator: Dan Mayfield, editor, Albuquerque Magazine
3 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
“Election reporting: Digging through the sport of politics” — ROOM 104
Michele Salcedo, weekend political desk editor, The Associated Press;
NAHJ president
Gwyneth Doland, executive director, New Mexico Foundation for Open Government
Nancy Baca, former city editor, Albuquerque Tribune; former NAHJ president
Moderator: Jeri Clausing, New Mexico supervisory correspondent, The
Associated Press
“Sovereignty is…What? Covering Indian country and covering it well”
– ROOM 130
Kevin K. Washburn, Dean & Professor of Law, UNM
Sunnie Clahchischiligi, freelance journalist
Erny Zah, director of communications, Navajo Nation
Joycelyn Pegues Jackson, multicultural coordinator, Albuquerque Public Schools
Moderator: Mary K. Bowannie, managing editor, the Dawn of Nations
Today; UNM instructor
4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
FILM: Precious Knowledge: A Revolutionary Education — Conference 101
Question & Answer Session
Ari Palos, Director
Curtis Acosta, Tucson teacher
Interview by Elaine Aradillas, staff writer, People Magazine
NAHJ

Disneyland, a house of their own, driving with no license, business cards but no papers. Life is grand (and going by the woman in the above pics -WELL FED) when you are an illegal. My kids are entering their teen years soon and still have not been to Disneyland.