URGENT Legislative Action Alert!

While the state faces a tremendous budget, health care and education crisis, the bills targeting immigrant communities just keep on coming�

There are FIVE bills up for committee votes on Monday and Tuesday. Call or email the Committee members ASAP! Don't let the Minutemen-types be the only voices they hear! Last week we out-called and emailed the anti-immigrant groups by a ratio of 5:1 -keep it up!

For more information on these bills, visit www.azleg.gov and enter the bill #s. For Committee emails and phone #s, see below. Contact Border Action at ban@borderaction.org with any questions or responses from the legislators.

Take Action!
Toll-free phone number to reach any state representative: 1-800-352-8404. Press #4 for the House. Then, ask the operator to connect you to the office of the person with whom you'd like to speak. Calling during office hours will most likely connect you with their assistant who will take a message. If you just want to leave a message you can call after hours and leave it on their voicemail.

House Homeland Security and Property Rights Committee, 2/18/08 1:30pm
HB2012 Drivers licenses; out of state; identification purposes VOTE NO!
This bill is a tourism and business-killer! It states that Arizona should not accept as a primary form of identification the driver's licenses issued by any state that does not require lawful presence in the country to receive a driver's license.
HB2412 Criminal trespass; day laborers VOTE NO!
This bill would expand the definition of criminal trespass in the 1st degree to include standing or remaining on any public highway, public street or any property adjacent to a public highway or street and disrupting vehicle or pedestrian traffic for the purposes of soliciting day labor employment. If someone who is seeking day labor employment does not leave after having been warned, they would be subject to 1st degree criminal trespass. Trespassing is already a crime �we don't need to this bill! It is simply an attempt to harass people looking for work.

Take Action!
E-mail the Entire House Homeland Security and Property Rights Committee Regarding HB2012 and HB 2412 NOW!
Ray Barnes - rbarnes@azleg.gov
Nancy K. Barto - nbarto@azleg.gov

Cloves C. Campbell, Jr. - clcampbell@azleg.gov
Doug Clark, Vice-chair - dclark@azleg.gov
Steve M. Gallardo - sgallardo@azleg.gov
Warde V. Nichols, Chair - wnichols@azleg.gov
Jonathan Paton - jpaton@azleg.gov
Tom Prezelski - tprezelski@azleg.gov
Kyrsten Sinema - ksinema@azleg.gov
Jerry Weiers - jpweiers@azleg.gov

Talking Points
There are so many things we could say about these bills, but here�s four quick points. Use these, edit them or write your own.

These bills discredit the state legislature. This set of bills is a shameful display of misguided leadership, poor allocation of limited state resources and a reflection of the utter loss of humanity that has infused the immigration debate in Arizona.
Public service employees aren�t and shouldn�t be immigration officers. SCR1012, S1009 and S1072 would place the burden of verifying someone�s citizenship status in the hands of public service employees and hold them liable for any errors. Public service employees should be able to do their jobs, not the jobs of immigration officers.
Uphold the U.S. Constitution. The state legislature should focus on bills that will actually benefit the state of Arizona, not waste the time of state attorneys. SCR1016 and SCM1003 disregard years of constitutional analysis upholding the 14th amendment and birthright to citizenship.
Prioritize Immigrant Integration, Not Interrogation. The bills not only turn hospital employees into immigration officers, but they also create a permanent underclass in our society. Instead of leading the nation by promoting dehumanizing bills, Arizona should prioritize bills that integrates immigrant families into society so that they, and the state as a whole, can be more productive,
http://www.borderaction.org/news2.php?articleID=124