Obama Vows Action as GOP Makes Plans for Plutocrats

Blanket Amnesty for Immigrants Now

Faced with dealing with Republicans who have obstructed the economic recovery from the Bush-Cheney great recession, President Obama made plain yesterday that "what I’m not going to do is just wait" for Republicans to work for the country instead of the Republican Party's economic royalists.

The signal could not have been clearer.

Obama "swiftly defied(GOP) objections by vowing to bypass Congress and use his executive authority to change the nation’s immigration system." (Hirschfeld Davis, Baker; NYT)

Welcome news indeed.

The president can begin by issuing comprehensive amnesty for millions of undocumented immigrants, for starters. Student loan forgiveness. Accelerated DoJ action for civil rights for women and minorities. Much can be done.

Executive authority is broad under the "unitary executive," just ask Republicans.

If racists in the Republican Party object, perhaps they can set up a whites-only homeland somewhere, as here in 2014 segregation remains a GOP policy objective.

Republicans in Congress may choose to begin impeachment proceedings. Excellent.

They may decide to shut down the government or refuse to fund the government. Countermeasures exist, and public opinion and rational actors will rapidly remove another GOP attempt to smash the foundations of the American economy, though Ted Cruz would be all for it.

Impeachment would put on display in a manner political campaigns cannot, the destructive and anti-American objectives of the Republican Party and the whacko theories on their plutocrats.

The results are predictable, ala 1998, the last time the Republicans began impeachment proceedings because the rightwing didn't like President Clinton getting so chummy with ethnic minorities.

Blanket Amnesty for Immigrants Now

Update II: See also "Hopes Frustrated, Many Latinos Reject the Ballot Box Altogether" (Calmes. NYT). None of this will come as a surprise to residents of Wisconsin's 8th Assembly District, the heavily Latino, most densely populated district with the lowest voter turn-out in Wisconsin. Folks there know they are not getting a lot of love from the Obama administration, and thus turn to greater community to support extended families and communities, as they shun electoral politics.

Update: See The Severe Hispanic Midterm Falloff Problem, because it's the right thing to do and the smart thing to do: Amnesty for Immigrants Now.

Now would be a good time to for blanket Amnesty (forget about a "path") for undocumented immigrants by president Obama.

This will not make Obama popular with white supremacists, and various other constituencies of white America; begging the question: What do you care about these idiots?

They will be rushing to the polls anyway come November, and I think they won't be voting Democratic.

ACLU Hits Back at Arizona's 'Your Papers!' Law

Update: AP: Arizona's new immigration law is unconstitutional

A civil liberties fight looms on Arizona's new look-like-an-immigrant law on Fourth Amendment and 14th Amendment grounds, as the political consequences of the newly signed statute look to dampen the GOP's appeal to America's largest-growing ethnic group.

The Obama adminstration stated last Friday it will "examine the civil rights ... implications of this legislation."

From the ACLU:

Arizona Immigration Law Threatens Civil Rights And Public Safety, Says ACLU

PHOENIX – Arizona Governor Jan Brewer today signed into law Arizona's discriminatory immigration enforcement bill which requires law enforcement to question individuals about their immigration status during everyday police encounters. The law creates new immigration crimes and penalties inconsistent with those in federal law, asserts sweeping authority to detain and transport persons suspected of violating civil immigration laws and prohibits speech and other expressive activity by persons seeking work. The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona strongly condemn the governor's decision to sign the unconstitutional law and are dismayed by her disregard for the serious damage it could cause to civil liberties and public safety in the state.

"Governor Brewer and the Arizona legislature have set Arizona apart in their willingness to sacrifice our liberties and the economy of this state," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona. "By signing this bill into law, Brewer has just authorized violating the rights of millions of people living and working here. She has just given every police agency in Arizona a mandate to harass anyone who looks or sounds foreign, while doing nothing to address the real problems we're facing."

The new law, which will not go into effect for more than 90 days, requires police agencies across Arizona to investigate the immigration status of every person they come across whom they have "reasonable suspicion" to believe is in the country unlawfully. To avoid arrest, citizens and immigrants will effectively have to carry their "papers" at all times. The law also makes it a state crime for immigrants to willfully fail to register with the Department of Homeland Security and carry registration documents. It further curtails the free speech rights of day laborers and encourages unchecked information sharing between government agencies.

"Forcing local police to demand people's papers and arrest those who can't immediately prove their status will do nothing to make us safer," said Dan Pochoda, Legal Director of the ACLU of Arizona. "What it will do is divert scarce police resources to address false threats and force officers to prioritize immigration enforcement over all other public safety responsibilities. It is a dark day for Arizona when the goalof appeasing one state Senator, Russell Pearce, takes priority over fundamental rights and economic needs of residents."

Before the governor signed the bill, President Obama criticized it harshly, calling it "misguided" and saying that it threatens to "undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans." Obama promised to "closely monitor the situation and examine the civil rights and other implications of this legislation."

The president's statement is consistent with his longstanding opposition to anti-immigrant laws that attempt to bypass the federal government. As a senator, he lauded the 2007 legal ruling blocking the anti-immigrant law in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, calling the law "unconstitutional and unworkable."

Despite the president's statements, his administration has not taken strong action against state and local anti-immigrant laws, paving the way for extreme laws like the one signed today. Currently, the administration has a prime opportunity to take a stand on the issue, because the solicitor general will soon file a brief explaining the administration's position on Arizona's unconstitutional employer sanctions law, passed in 2007, which creates a state-level immigrant employment verification and sanctions regime.

"Actions speak louder than words," said Omar Jadwat, a staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "As the federal government sits on its hands, Arizona's anti-immigrant brushfireshave turned into a firestorm. We call on the administration to file a brief categorically opposing Arizona's employer sanctions law to demonstrate its commitment to stopping anti-immigrant laws that interfere with federal authority, wreak havoc on businesses and cause discrimination against Latinos."

Additional materials on the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act" signed by Governor Brewer today, including the ACLU of Arizona's analysis and written testimonies against the law, are available at: www.acluaz.org/legislature.html

The ACLU's cert petition in the Arizona employer sanctions case, Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America et al. v. Candelaria et al., is available at: www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/chamber-commerce-united-states-et-al-v-candelaria-petition-certiorari