Entradas
Civil rights attorney assails Arizona's immigration law
SALT LAKE CITY — Twelve Utah legislators returned from Arizona on Tuesday, and a nationally recognized civil rights attorney stopped in Salt Lake City Thursday to reinforce his support to the area's Hispanic community.
Thomas A. Saenz, president and general legal counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), made an appearance in the Beehive State on the heels of the state lawmakers evaluating and gathering information on SB1070.
Saenz took a role in blocking Arizona's immigration law when MALDEF filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the controversial measure, seeking to prevent it from being implemented.
"We filed that lawsuit months before the federal government filed their lawsuit, raising similar claims," he said. "That lawsuit moved forward as well as several others against SB1070, and ultimately we sought a preliminary injunction to prevent it from being implemented." The judge issued a preliminary injunction in the federal government's suit.
About a bill announced earlier in the day by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, Saenz said, "I am concerned because it seems to be an enforcement-only bill, and that is not what we need to have in an immigration system that will best serve our country and will best reflect our constitutional values. We need a reform to ensure there is greater fairness, due process and equal protection in our immigration system. And that we are putting in place recognitions of the contributions that so many had made to this country over decades and (they) deserve legal protection."
He thinks that states should stay away from any immigration reform, saying it is an issue only the federal government has the power to change or enforce.
"It is important to understand that the problem with 1070 is that in our Constitution, only the federal government has the right and the authority to regulate immigration issues. So states and localities, the best thing to do is work to integrate immigrants in the community by providing opportunities for them to be involved, to interact with others in the community, to become a part of the fabric of the community."
Saenz also said MALDEF is very concerned about future state immigration bills and is monitoring very closely the proposals that are seeking to replicate the language or intent of Arizona's law. He said MALDEF is prepared to take legal action to challenge them.
He said over and over that the federal government has to take action because immigration reform has been on the agenda for over a decade.
"We need to have our senators and representatives move forward and recognize the contributions that so many have made despite having no legal status," he said.
During his remarks at the gala, presented by the Latin American Chamber of Commerce in West Valley City, he said the community needs to get together and fight for its constitutional rights and that it is necessary to work with other communities and stand together to say no to the duplications of unconstitutional laws.
When the DREAM Act was blocked, he said that "today's vote is a temporary setback for a bill that has had bipartisan support for many years that would address in part our critical national need for more skilled and educated workers and that would vindicate our foundational national value to evaluate young people on their own merits rather than on the acts or decisions of their parents. We hope that in the very near future the Senate will put partisan politics aside and have the courage to support the DREAM Act as an appropriate recognition of our country's right to benefit from the efforts of American-raised and educated scholars and patriots."
MALDEF was founded in 1968 and is the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the law firm of the Latino community, MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights and political access
Maclovia Perez
801-833-2793
Coordinadora Red de Peruanos en Utah
E-mail:redperuenutah@gmail.com
http://redperuenutah.blogspot.com/
Corresponsal Red Democratica del Peru
