Thread: AZ: Panel: Immigration a federal issue

Panel: Immigration a federal issue


By LARRY HENDRICKS
Sun Staff Reporter
Sunday, April 13, 2008


A four-person panel spoke to a crowd of about 50 men, women and children at the Federated Community Church Saturday morning on current issues surrounding illegal immigration.

The panelists were state Rep. Tom Chabin, D-Flagstaff; Tony Gonzales, a Flagstaff attorney who specializes in immigration law; Carlos Flores Vizcarra, consulate general for the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix; and Sgt. Tom Boughner of the Flagstaff Police Department.

"When it comes to immigration issues and when it comes to immigration law, the state really has no place," Chabin said. "Arizona has no jurisdiction over this issue."

Immigration law, for the sake of continuity across the country, must be addressed at the federal level, he added. State lawmakers who attempt to address illegal immigration, like state Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, merely inflames political passions and do nothing constructive to help solve the problem.

And law enforcement officials, like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, become "instruments of civil unrest."

Gonzales, who started out practicing real estate law, discovered a need to help Hispanics -- here legally and illegally -- protect their constitutional rights. Particularly relevant is the need to get leaders all the way down to the local level on board to protect against racial profiling and holding people in jail beyond their sentences.

Vizcarra outlined the basic services all Mexican nationals, in the country legally or illegally, should seek out. Be sure to have documentation, first and foremost -- either a passport or a Matricula Consular identification card. And document children. Unfortunately, the country's 50 Mexican Consulates are so overburdened, waiting for documents takes months.

Vizcarra stressed the importance of immigrants learning to protect themselves, primarily by not breaking the law and earning the scrutiny of law enforcement.

Boughner reaffirmed that Flagstaff police will only ask immigration status upon a criminal arrest. He reminded the audience that being afraid to approach police after being a victim of a crime -- regardless of immigration status -- victimizes all over again. Do not be afraid to contact police, or to ask questions in order to be informed and not part of a rumor mill.

Comments that arose from the audience centered on the likelihood of racial profiling, how difficult it is to come to the country legally from Mexico and the importance of presenting the correct identification information if arrested.


UPCOMING IMMIGRATION EVENTS

-- The Mexican Consulate mobile program comes to Flagstaff Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m., at Killip Elementary School, 2300 E. Sixth Ave. For more information, contact the Mexican-American Brotherhood at 527-1157.

-- An immigration forum sponsored by the Sunnyside I.A.M. Youth group will be Thursday, May 1, at 6:30 p.m., at the St. Piux X Catholic Church, 2257 E. Cedar Ave. For more information, contact Sunnyside Weed & Seed at 213-5900.

http://azdailysun.com

"When it comes to immigration issues and when it comes to immigration law, the state really has no place," Chabin said. "Arizona has no jurisdiction over this issue."

Immigration law, for the sake of continuity across the country, must be addressed at the federal level, he added. State lawmakers who attempt to address illegal immigration, like state Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, merely inflames political passions and do nothing constructive to help solve the problem.

And law enforcement officials, like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, become "instruments of civil unrest."

Illegal immigration is a citizen and legal immigrant issue. Illegal immigrant gangs and illegal immigrants driving wothout licenses and insurance are the issue of the community.

The Mexican Consulate mobile program comes to Flagstaff Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m., at Killip Elementary School, 2300 E. Sixth Ave. For more information, contact the Mexican-American Brotherhood at 527-1157.

This is the 3rd recent even where a mobile Mexican consulate has USED SCHOOL PROPERTY PAID FOR AND SUPPORTED BY U.S. TAX-PAYERS to run their questionable activities. This must halt. There are performing actions of a foreign government property on U.S. soil.

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power."
Franklin D. Roosevelt