MI - Ann Arbor City Council to vote on resolution opposing Arizona's law

[stopracism]

Ann Arbor City Council to vote on resolution opposing Arizona's controversial immigration law
mlive.com
July 5, 2010
http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-city-council-to-vote-on-resolution-opposing-arizonas-controversial-immigration-law/

Ann Arbor is on the radar of the ACLU and other national civil liberties groups today as City Council members prepare to consider a resolution Tuesday urging the repeal of Arizona's controversial Senate Bill 1070.

According to the ACLU, approval of the resolution will make Ann Arbor the first Michigan city to go on record against the so-called anti-immigrant law that the group claims violates individual civil rights.

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Council Member Sabra Briere, right, and Sandi Smith are co-sponsors of a resolution attracting national attention.

"This law encourages racial profiling and may violate Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of due process and equal protection for U.S. citizens, legal residents and visitors who are detained for suspicion of being in the country unlawfully," reads the resolution sponsored by Sabra Briere and Sandi Smith, both Democrats from the 1st Ward.

Read the entire resolution here.

"Tell Ann Arbor City Council you support human rights," reads the ACLU's Web page set up to gather electronic signatures of support.

The law signed into effect by Arizona's governor on April 23 has caused national controversy.

The ACLU argues the law requires local law enforcement to investigate a person’s immigration status based solely on the vague notion of "reasonable suspicion" that the person is in the country unlawfully. Not only does the law invite racial profiling, the ACLU asserts, it also forces local police to redirect scarce resources away from the prevention of more serious crimes.

The ACLU says with Michigan’s House and Senate introducing copycat legislation, Michigan cities should go on record opposing the "dangerous, unfair and discriminatory laws that run counter to the American values of freedom and equality."

Michigan Peaceworks, a statewide civil rights group, also is supporting passage of the City Council resolution on its website.

Vivirlatino.com, a blog on topics of interest to the Latino and Latina community in the United States, also is talking about the Ann Arbor resolution today on its site.

The Ann Arbor City Council has a history of stepping into the debate on national immigration issues. In 2003, the council passed a resolution to protest the eroding of civil liberties under the U.S. Patriot Act, saying it posed a threat particularly to Muslim, Arab and South Asian immigrant populations in Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan.

[stopracism]

City of Ann Arbor Legislation Text
File #: 10-0688, Version: 1
Title
A Resolution Urging Repeal of Arizona Senate Bill 1070, "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe
Neighborhoods" Act
Body
Whereas, The City Council of the City of Ann Arbor hereby finds, determines and declares as follows:
a) O n April 23, 2010, the Arizona Governor signed Arizona Senate Bill 1070 (Support Our Law
Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act), requiring all local law enforcement to investigate a
person’s immigration status when there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the
Country unlawfully, regardless of whether that person is suspected of a crime; and
b) A rizona’s law permits the arrest of a person by local law enforcement, without a warrant, if
there is suspicion that the person is not in the United States legally; and
c) T his law does not prohibit law enforcement officers from solely relying on factors such as race,
ethnicity, national origin or language to determine who to investigate; and,
d) T his law encourages racial profiling and may violate Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of
due process and equal protection for U.S. citizens, legal residents and visitors who are
detained for suspicion of being in the Country unlawfully; and
e) T his law may have a chilling effect on victims and witnesses, regardless of legal status,
choosing to forego reporting crime or testifying to a crime to prevent immigration-related
interrogation, discriminatory treatment and arrest; and
f) Accordingly, this law may severely undermine law enforcement’s ability to effectively maintain
public safety resulting in increased crime; and
g) T he stated purpose of this law attempts to usurp functions specifically and solely traditionally
reserved for federal authorities. As a result, many legal scholars, including the Obama
administration itself, have questioned the constitutionality of the law in that it may violate the
U.S. Constitution, and undermines the exclusive power over immigration matters granted to
Congress; and
h) U ndocumented persons, due to their immigration status, are often a more vulnerable segment
of our community victimized by violent criminals, employers and slumlords, finding themselves
without recourse due to the threat of deportation; and
i) United States Citizens, legal residents, visitors and undocumented persons alike may now be
recklessly subject to racial profiling, harassment and discrimination in states such as Arizona
and those that pass similar legislation while legal challenges are pending, comprehensive
immigration reform is critical and should promptly be addressed by the U.S. President and
Congress; and
j) The City of Ann Arbor considers the safety of its residents an unconditional priority, and strives
to protect the community from all criminals, irrespective of legal status;
RESOLVED That the City Council of the City of Ann Arbor opposes SB 1070 and calls upon the
Arizona Legislature to repeal SB 1070;
RESOLVED That the City Council of the City of Ann Arbor urges the President and the Congress of the United States to work on comprehensive immigration reform to fix our nation’s broken
immigration system; and
RESOLVED That the City Clerk be directed to transmit copies of this resolution to the President and
the Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to each
Senator and Representative from Michigan in the Congress of the United States and to the Governor
of the State of Arizona.
This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by the City Council, and the Clerk of the Council shall attest to and certify the vote adopting this Resolution.
Sponsored by: Councilmembers Briere and Smith

[DerailAmnesty.com]

Just by looking at the photograph provided, I can tell that those two would not list Ronald Reagan or Barry Goldwater as their favorite person from recent American history.

[stopracism]

Ann Arbor City Council adopts resolution opposing Arizona's controversial new immigration law
mlive.com
July 6, 2010
http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-city-council-adopts-resolution-opposing-arizonas-controversial-new-immigration-law/

Ann Arbor became the first Michigan city to go on record opposing Arizona's controversial new immigration law when the City Council adopted a resolution tonight in a 9-1 vote.
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Council Members Sabra Briere, right, and Sandi Smith convinced their peers on council to approve a resolution Tuesday night urging repeal of Arizona's controversial immigration law.

That resolution opposes Arizona's Senate Bill 1070, which has caused national
controversy since it was signed into law in April. The local vote came just hours after the U.S. government filed a federal lawsuit against Arizona to stop the law from taking effect in three weeks.

Federal lawyers claim the law encroaches on the federal responsibility for immigration enforcement and say Arizona has crossed a constitutional line. The Arizona law would require police to question the immigration status of suspects when there is reasonable suspicion they are in the country illegally.

"Certainly I'm in agreement with what is before us tonight," Mayor John Hieftje said in offering his support for the resolution.

Council Member Tony Derezinski, D-2nd Ward, noted that anyone who looks around the council table will see a lot of "curious names" like his own, and Hieftje, Hohnke and Rapundalo.

"This is an immigrant nation. We are all immigrants," Derezinski said.

The resolution was sponsored by Council Members Sabra Briere and Sandi Smith, both Democrats from the 1st Ward.

Council Member Stephen Rapundalo, D-2nd Ward, was the only one to oppose it. He said he didn't like the Arizona law, but didn't believe it was a matter that warranted council action.

"This really is not an issue for the City Council at the moment," he said. "We really do have more pressing issues to be dealing with at this moment, which are our roads and our budget issues."

A native of Canada, Rapundalo noted he is an immigrant to the United States.

The federal government claims the Arizona measure threatens to give rise to a "patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country" prohibited by federal law.

A community coalition led by the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrants Rights urged passage of the resolution tonight, saying Ann Arbor could send a message to other municipalities across the country that racism won't be tolerated.

Other supporters at the meeting came from groups like the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, the University of Michigan, One Michigan, the Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission, the local Latino community, the Ann Arbor Workers Center, Michigan Peaceworks and Reform Immigration for America.

Several people spoke on the issue, and dozens more watched from the sidelines, cheering and applauding as the resolution passed.

“This is an issue of fairness and safety for all of our communities,” Margaret Harner of the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrants Rights said in a statement. “The Arizona law endorses racial profiling, and it hurts public safety. Police should be spending their time protecting neighborhoods, not chasing around immigrant workers, families and students. I’m glad that Ann Arbor stood up for civil rights today, because this misguided law in Arizona could very easily come to Michigan.”