Opposition Growing Against Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law
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From the courtroom to the basketball court, opposition to Arizona’s anti-immigrant law is growing rapidly across a broad cross-section of Americans. Meanwhile, many of the arguments the law’s supporters are using are beginning to crumble.
First, most economists and those who have researched the issue, say undocumented workers are not taking away jobs from U.S. citizens, a major claim of those who oppose immigration. In a May 13, 2010 article, FactCheck.org cited several experts like Madeline Sumption, policy analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, who says workers “create almost as many” jobs as they occupy, “and maybe more.” In addition, “they buy things, and they make the economy bigger,” she said..
The argument that the law isn’t racist was challenged not only by civil rights groups, but another unlikely group-the conservative Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC). The group pulled out of a planned June 5 rally supporting the law. ALIPAC says it discovered that two of the organizers were knowingly working with racist skin-head neo-Nazi organizations on the rally
Immigrant Students Deserve a DREAM
Our nation cannot afford to lose the productivity of thousands of undocumented immigrant students, a coalition of union, student and civil rights leaders said today. A day after a massive march in Washington, D.C., for comprehensive immigration reform, the leaders called on Congress to fix the nation’s broken immigration system by passing real reform legislation, including the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.
At a morning press conference, sponsored by the United States Student Association (USSA), student leaders were joined by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other union and community leaders. More than 600 USSA members are in town for their legislative conference this week and will visit Capitol Hill to lobby for immigration reform. USSA President Gregory Cendana said:
The DREAM Act will provide some of the hardest working students with the life-changing opportunity to attend college and better their lives as well as their communities. We must now push forward to achieve comprehensive immigration reform and extend opportunity to the next generation of leaders.
Report: Helping Latina Students Succeed Helps Us All
In today’s global economy, our nation cannot afford to leave any of our children behind. We must ensure that every girl and boy receives the best education possible to achieve their dreams and that our nation can benefit from their talents.
Yet Latinas, the fastest growing group of school-aged females in the country, are dropping out of school at alarming rates—41 percent—depriving the nation of much-needed young talent.
A new report shows that Latina students drop out at such high rates because they face more serious barriers to graduating from high school than many of their counterparts. The report, “Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation,” released today by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), addresses the challenges facing Latina high school students in the United States and explores ways to overcome obstacles that undermine their chances of graduating from high school.
