» Are you under 30 years old, an undocumented immigrant who moved to the U.S. before the age of 16, have lived in the United States for more than five years, and a graduate or someone who has served time in the military? The U.S. would like to give you a chance to do it right. However, if you’ve been convicted of a felony or a serious misdemeanor, not so much. A big step, though — although one, with few exceptions, that undocumented immigrants will have to pay for.
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One year ago, journalist Jose Antonio Vargas revealed to the world that he was an undocumented immigrant — building his entire career, which included time at The Washington Post and The Huffington Post, on a lie. Vargas looks back at the past year in an interview with BuzzFeed, where he considers the weirdness of becoming an activist, his friends lost (many in the news industry), and his friends gained (Mark Zuckerberg, Aaron Sorkin). Great piece.
This guy right here? He’s 96 years old and a U.S. citizen. Recently, he was detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents because radiation from a recent medical procedure set off an alarm. He was forced to exit his vehicle in 100 degree heat as he was detained by agents. Oh yeah, one more detail: This guy, named Raúl Héctor Castro, is Arizona’s former governor, and this is the third time this has happened to him.
Unhappy with the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Arizona’s controversial “papers please” law to stand, while throwing out other provisions of the bill, Rep. Luis Gutierrez challenged his fellow lawmakers to pick celebrity immigrants from a lineup that included Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Ted Koppel, and even Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Sonia Sotomayor. During his remarks, Gutierrez told colleagues that Arizona’s SB1070 wasn’t just an issue for those who may look like immigrants, but for “every American who cares about freedom.” source
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It is not clear at this stage and on this record that §2(B), in practice, will require state officers to delay the release of detainees for no reason other than to verify their immigration status. This would raise constitutional concerns. And it would disrupt the federal framework to put state officers in the position of holding aliens in custody for possible unlawful presence without federal direction and supervision. But §2(B) could be read to avoid these concerns. If the law only requires state officers to conduct a status check during the course of an authorized, lawful detention or after a detainee has been released, the provision would likely survive preemption—at least absent some showing that it has other consequences that are adverse to federal law and its objectives. Without the benefit of a definitive interpretation from the state courts, it would be inappropriate to assume §2(B) will be construed in a way that conflicts with federal law.
Translation: Police can still ask to see your proof of U.S. residency.
EDIT: But as Think Progress notes, this decision leaves room for this portion of the case to be decided more definitively later. If there is evidence that this is being used for racial profiling, it’s possible it could get struck down later.
REUTERS LIVE BLOG: Supreme Court Decisions
Is today the day when the health care decision gets announced? We’ll find out shortly.
It is a simultaneously exciting and exhausting time. There’s a good chance that with healthcare all the chambers are engaged in some way … and at full capacity.Kannon Shanmugam, a former law clerk for Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia • Discussing the June period when the court generally makes its most high-profile decisions. The court has two of those coming up — one on immigration and one on health care — which we imagine are stressing out both the justices and their clerks. Former Chief Justice William Rehnquist particularly disliked the June period, once telling a colleague he joined in a majority ruling basically because he wanted it to be over with. Dude liked his vacations.
» He still has options, though: He could always do what Obama did and issue an executive order, despite Republicans slamming Obama for using his executive powers to enact immigration reform. A little surprising Romney wants to help the families of the oft-decried “anchor babies” of immigrant parents. Unsurprising? Mitt still wants to build a “high-tech fence” across the Mexican-American border.
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Some people have asked if I will let stand the president’s executive order. The answer is that I will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the president’s temporary measure.Mitt Romney • During a speech at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference on Thursday morning. Romney has come under fire from some in his own party for not saying he would overturn President Obama’s recent immigration-reforming executive order. While he would not elaborate on any plan(s) he might have, Romney did offer a few thoughts on our current system. “Our immigration system should help promote strong families, not keep them apart,” he said, adding, “Our nation benefits when moms and dads and their kids are all living together under the same roof. “ source (via • follow)
The Republican presidential candidate tells CBS” ”Face the Nation” that if he’s president, Obama’s executive order “would be overtaken by events … by virtue of my putting in place a long-term solution.”
Romney was asked three times in the interview if he would overturn Obama’s order, but he didn’t directly answer the question. Instead, he said would work to pass a law to help those young people who were “brought in by their parents through no fault of their own.” Romney said he doesn’t know why Obama “feels stop-gap measures are the right way to go.”
Romney was one of the harder-line folks on immigration during the Republican presidential debates (here’s an example of this), to the point where Rick Perry looked like the only sensible person on the stage when the question came up during a few of the debates.
What about American workers who are unemployed by immigrant farmers?The Daily Caller reporter Neil Munro • Interrupting President Obama while the president was making a speech about his new immigration policy, which allows for work visas for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. at a young age. Because clearly this was a Q&A, not a speech. In related news, The Daily Caller won an Edward R. Murrow award for writing earlier this week, according to Munro’s most recent tweet.