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New Report on Arizona Legislature |
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Press Room
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Tuesday, 26 August 2008 |
NEW REPORT ON ARIZONA LEGISLATURE SHOWS
CHANGE IN ANTI-IMMIGRANT TIDEDespite Changes, Most Legislators Score Dismally and Do Not
Represent their Constituents Needs and Interests
 Phoenix, AZ –Over the last few years, Arizona has assumed the role of the most anti-immigrant state in the country. From groundbreaking employer sanctions law, to America’s “toughest sheriff”, to the revival of California’s failed Prop. 187 into Arizona’s Prop. 200, Arizona has the led the charge in punitive policies.
But a new report released today at the Arizona state Capitol by the Border Action Network, a human rights community organization, reveals a new Arizona trend. In the 2008 legislative session, none of the 40+ anti-immigrant bills made it into law. In fact, after Friday’s rejection by the Secretary of State of an anti-equal opportunity ballot measure, no anti-immigrant measures will even be on the state’s November ballot.
“There’s a new tide blowing through Arizona,” explains the report’s editor, Jennifer Allen. “During the legislative session we saw state Republicans fragmented and significantly less momentum for bills that would have sailed through last year.”
The report also underscores a gap between legislators and their people of color constituents. For example, legislative district 18 –home to Representatives Russell Pearce and Mark Anderson and Senator Karen Johnson –is 37% people of color. The three legislators combined scores on bills ranging from health care, education, housing, workers rights, healthy communities, civic participation, immigration and justice averaged a meager 30%.
The report is the first in the state to analyze a bold swath of bills, legislators and the governor’s actions, and juxtaposes them with the demographics of their constituents. Border Action explains that the broad array of issues reflected in the report mirrors the complex reality of Arizona’s low-income, immigrant families and other people of color.
“We don’t have the luxury of being single-issue and our elected officials shouldn’t be either,” explains Allen. “Low-income minority families are hit the hardest in economic downturns, by the housing crash, by polluting industries, by unfair labor practices, and so on. Our communities struggle and endure injustices and inequities. We need to know how our legislators handle them and attempt to move Arizona in a new direction.”
Based on the analysis of 29 bills, the Arizona House of Representatives scored a 56%, the Senate 53%, and the Governor 92%. The highest scoring legislative district was District 27 with 87%; District 22 scored the lowest at 28%. The highest scoring Representative was Steve Gallardo (D-13) and Senator, Jorge Garcia (D-27). The lowest scoring in the House was Representative Trish Groe (R-3) and Karen Johnson (R-18) in the Senate.
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DOWNLOAD REPORT HERE
WATCH VIDEO HERE
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Judge Moves Corbett Retrial from September to October |
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Latest News
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Tuesday, 05 August 2008 |
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By Jonathon Shacat
Herald/Review
Published on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 TUCSON — A federal judge has postponed the jury trial for U.S. Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett’s murder case until October.
The trial was scheduled to start Sept. 9. However, the prosecution filed a motion July 25 asking the court to delay the date because lead special prosecutor Grant Woods is scheduled to begin a trial before Judge Roslyn Silver in the case of Meritage versus Hancock on Sept. 8.
Defense attorneys did not object to the prosecution’s motion to continue the trial.
During a hearing Monday in U.S. District Court in Tucson, Judge David Bury set a new trial starting Oct. 21. The trial is expected to last two weeks.
Assistant defense attorney Jim Calle informed the court that his wife is pregnant and her due date is Nov. 1. Depending on when she gives birth, the court may take off a day during the trial.
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Latest News
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Thursday, 07 August 2008 |
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We are delighted to welcome two new babies into the Border Action family!
 Please join us in congratulating Julia (our Administrator) and her husband Clinton on the birth of their adorable baby boy Rowan Clinton Blackburn. Rowan was born on July 20, 2008 and weighed 5 pounds 6 ounces.
And baby makes five for Mo Goldman and his wife Amy, who welcomed their beautiful baby girl Emma Rose Goldman on July 14, 2008. Little Emma Goldman has quite a legacy to live up to!
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Schedule a Presentation on the 2008 AZ Legislature’s Human Rights Record! |
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Latest News
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Tuesday, 19 August 2008 |
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As you may have heard, Border Action’s first-ever campaign focused on the AZ state legislature was a success with no anti-immigrant bills being signed to law this year. However, we cannot stop here. In order to continue to shake the stronghold of organized hatred and bring much-needed systemic change to the legislature, we will soon release our 2008 Legislative Scorecard. The scorecard will analyze each legislator’s voting record on a series of key bills—both bad and good. In addition to assigning each legislator a grade, the report will provide further analysis of each legislator’s district and measuring whether they ignore or truly represent their own constituency.
The report will be released August 19th at the state capital in Phoenix, and subsequently sent to each legislator. |
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Human Rights Promoters On Their Way |
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Human Rights Organizing Institute
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Thursday, 24 July 2008 |
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Two new groups of human rights promoters are currently in training, and another group will start in August, 2008. The groups are a mix of members of Human Rights Committees, ranging from teenagers to married couples. As some of you already know, our human rights training consists of 40 hours of classroom time, spread over 10 four-hour sessions one day a week. Our goal is to train 30 new Promoters this year, which would bring our total number of Promoters to 79!
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Summit Cleans Up an Amazing 50 Tons of Trash |
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Human Rights Organizing Institute
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Saturday, 19 July 2008 |
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A big "Thank You" goes out to all of you who came out to volunteer for Summit's community cleanup on Saturday, July 19th. It was a huge success!
The community had a very positive response to the effort, piling the trash into the five dumpsters which were placed by Tucson Clean and Beautiful around the neighborhood during the whole week. Saturday was an exciting day for all of us as we saw how people from the community as well as people from all around Tucson gathered to clean public areas, such as the arroyos. Supervisor Ramon Valadez was there to kick off the effort, as well as B.J. Cordova and his team from Tucson Clean and Beautiful, the Promotoras of Summit/Old Nogales Hwy., and Border Action's Summit Human Rights Committee led the way. A shocking 50 tons of trash and 500 tires were collected during this campaign. |
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No Joe in Pima Co. --Tucson Protests Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio |
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Increase Law Enforcement Accountability
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Thursday, 10 July 2008 |
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 Sheriff Joe Arpaio came to Tucson to promote his new book at a local Barnes & Noble chain. Arpaio's ideology is far from upholding the Constitution, promoting public safety or even "law and order". Instead, Arpaio has proudly made a name for himself for violating the human rights of prisoners, rampantly racially profiling anyone with brown skin, and flaunting his disregard for due process and other basic rights. Outside the book store, about 100 people gathered to protest and disrupt Arpaio's book signing and live interview on a radio station.
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Worry-Free Advocacy Training on August 20th |
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Latest News
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Wednesday, 20 August 2008 |
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The Alliance for Justice and Border Action Network are sponsoring a can't-miss, one-day workshop for nonprofit managers, staff, and volunteers. Attorney-trainers will be available to discuss the following:
What is lobbying and how much can our 501(c)(3) lobby?
What types of election-related activity can our 501(c)(3) engage in?
What are the Arizona rules and regulations we need to be aware of?
How can 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s, and labor unions work together?
The eight-hour training is scheduled for Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m at Sam Lena Library, located at 1607 S. Sixth Ave., in Tucson.
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