A combination of local and federal efforts paved the way to SB-1070. Last month, Arizona passed SB-1070, making it a crime for a person to be in the state without documentation proving their immigration status. The law also gives cops the right to use race as one factor in determining whether there's a reason to ask for those 'papeles' and grants citizens the right to sue cops if they're not doing the job. But just how did Arizona get here? Not 'solitos.' Read more on Colorlines.com
Created by ColorLines on May 7, 2010
Last updated: 05/12/10 at 12:08 PM
Tags: arizona 1070 sb1070 immigration racial justice
Gov. Brewer signs SB 1070 into law making Arizona the first state in the nation to make it a crime to be an undocumented immigrant. Brewer: “We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act.”
http://www.racewire.org/archives/2010/04/brewer_signs_sb1070_legalizes_racial_profiling_of_arizonas_immigrants.html
The unsolved murder of border rancher Robert Krentz fuels the immigration debate in the state. Conservatives blame undocumented immigrants for his death, while authorities speculate that drug cartels are to blame. Sen. Pearce denounces the murder and uses it as an argument for passage of SB 1070.
The Arizona state legislature passes HB 2008 (without any public hearings) mandating that all state and local workers must verify the immigration status of people applying for a public benefit. The law causes confusion in immigrant communities.
The Department of Homeland Security takes away the power from Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to enforce immigration on the streets. But an agreement remains to enforce immigration laws in the jails.
A Congressional committee hears testimony on alleged violations of civil rights and racial profiling by Sheriff Arpaio. Julio Mora testifies that he was racially profiled. Other victims report physical abuse happening in the jails including the case of Maria del Carmen Garcia
http://www.colorlines.com/article.php?ID=517
Gov. Napolitano: It’s “now abundantly clear that Congress finds itself incapable of coping with the comprehensive immigration reforms our country needs.” She signs HB 2779, one of the toughest employer sanctions laws in the nation.
In Sept. 2007, Arpaio’s deputies arrest 20 corn vendors on one of the sheriff’s first immigration sweeps using their new federal immigration training. They also turn over a tourist to immigration authorities during a traffic stop in the town of Cave Creek. Six months later, they start sweeps of entire Latino neighborhoods, detaining hundreds of people for minor traffic stops like cracked windshields and broken taillights. By June of 2008, deputies are using the state employer sanctins law to arrest dozens of works at several water parks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/us/12immig.html
The final attempt to get a bill that would have legalized millions of undocumented immigrants fails in the U.S. Senate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/washington/28cnd-immig.html
State courts start to enforce Prop. 100, a law that prevents undocumented immigrants from being released on bail. The measure creates backlogs in the court system and earns protests from public defenders. Arpaio meanwhile receives $1.5 million in state funding to fight human smuggling.
The push for immigration reform begins with some caveats. Arizona Sen. John McCain: "They must come out from the shadows, pay their penalties, fees and taxes, stay employed, obey our laws, learn our language and history, and go to the back of the line and wait years for the privilege of being an American." Meanwhile Arpaio gets a 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to train 160 deputies and jailers in the enforcement of immigration law on the streets and in the jails.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/04/AR2007060401248.html
Prop. 100 denies the right to bail for undocumented immigrants facing charges; Prop. 300 forces undocumented students to pay out of state tuition for higher education and prohibits schools from using state funding for undocumented student scholarships and teaching English to undocumented immigrants. The other two propositions make English the state’s official language and prevent undocumented immigrants from seeking punitive damages in lawsuits.
President George W. Bush signs a bill authorizing the construction of a 700-mile-border fence, saying, “We have a responsibility to secure our borders.”
March-May, 2006: In protest of the Sensenbrenner bill, hundreds of thousands of people march across the country.
The Arizona state legislature approves a law that would criminalize undocumented immigrants for trespassing onto state land. Gov. Napolitano strikes it down.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2006-05-04/news/no-trespassing/
Under the new “anti-coyote” state law, Sheriff Arpaio begins arresting immigrants, including Rosa Diaz Godines, a minor fleeing violence in Mexico. Although Diaz Godines could qualify for a special visa protection, she’s instead charged with smuggling herself.
Congressman James Sensenbrenner introduces the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, known as H.R. 4437 which makes it a crime for undocumented immigrants to be present in the U.S. The bill is the catalyst for the historical pro-immigrant marches of 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Protection,_Anti-terrorism,_and_Illegal_Immigration_Control_Act_of_2005
Arizona becomes the first state to prosecute those who “conspire to their own smuggling.” The law is dubbed “anti-coyote” despite the fact that it focuses on the victims of the smugglers. Sheriff Joe Arpaio tells the Arizona Republic: "I'm not going to waste my resources going after a guy in a truck when he picks up five illegals to go trim palm trees."
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0821coyotelaw.html?&wired
Gov. Janet Napolitano: “Ranchers are at their wits' end" with damage to property and livestock. New Mexico also declares a state of emergency. Arizona puts $1.5 million into police overtime and more equipment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/national/17border.html?_r=2
It’s aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from receiving public benefits in Arizona and requires voters to present ID at the polls. The measure is funded by FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an anti-immigrant group, and mirrors California’s Prop. 187, which was declared unconstitutional.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Proposition_200_%282004%29
Thousands of armed volunteers from across the country come to Arizona to join The Minutemen Project, a patrolling group lead by Chris Simcox and Jim Gilchrist that report immigrants who cross the frontera to the Border Patrol. They want the National Guard to seal the Arizona border.
The Patriot Act broadens the scope of immigrants who won’t be let into the country and those who can be deported.
http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html
A GAO report concludes: "A study of migrant deaths along the Southwest border concluded that while migrants have always faced danger crossing the border and many died before INS began its strategy, the strategy has resulted in an increase in deaths from exposure to either heat or cold."
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01842.pdf
Congress passes the Illegal Immigration Reform and Individual Responsibility Act. Now anyone who is not a citizen can be deported even if convicted of a relatively minor misdemeanor.
The San Diego border patrol puts Operation Gatekeeper into play amid much fanfare. Agents get four-wheel drive vehicles, infrared night scopes and electronic sensors. Immigrants get pushed further east. Did we mention that Clinton was in the White House and afraid to look weak on immigration?
On September 19, 1993, newly arrived Border Patrol Sector Chief Silvestre Reyes initiated Operation Blockade along the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez border. The El Paso operation deviated from the traditional enforcement strategy of apprehension and removal by deploying more than 400 of the sector's 650 agents to 24/7 duty along the border line.
Later renamed Operation Hold the Line, this turned out to be the first step in what would become a major shift in Border Patrol and INS policy nationwide to prevent the illegal entries or intercept attempted entrants, rather than apprehending them after entry. The operation had an immediate and visible impact on the El Paso community. Illegal entries and apprehensions declined dramatically, as did petty crime and charges of human rights violations by Border Patrol agents.
http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?ID=370
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