[migrawatch-public] Janet Napolitano is Anti-Immigrant

Obama is not the change we can believe, or trust, or whatever his catchy
slogan was. Not catchy enough, I guess. This house-nigga has chosen the
most anti-immigrant governor in the U.S., Janet Napolitano from Arizona.
What did Malcolm X call the Democratic party? Wolves in sheep's clothing?
Obama is the anti-thesis of Malcolm X, and with his current choices for
his cabinet, the anti-thesis of change. His slogan should have been: "the
more things 'change,' the more they stay the same."

The struggle continues,
Ramiro

Janet Napolitano = Homeland Futility

Janet Napolitano's sorry service in Arizona makes her a terrible choice
for Homeland Security secretary.
By Michael Lacey
Published on November 26, 2008 at 9:58am

Consorting with anti-immigrant enforcers, indulging rank opportunism, and
adhering to failed policies seem an unlikely recipe for change we can
believe in. And yet this very cocktail of mediocrity — stirred by an early
endorsement of Barack Obama — has thrust Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano
into the heady midst of Washington's inaugural speculation.

She finds herself on the president-elect's short list for a cabinet seat,
as well as on Saturday Night Live's hot seat for parody.

The governor captured the front page of American journalism this month
with the announcement that she is the frontrunner to take over the
Department of Homeland Security. Napolitano must protect this nation's
borders and ensure our safety from terrorism and natural disasters while
overseeing billions of dollars in contracts in service of theses goals.

Janet Napolitano has considerable experience failing at administrative
oversight.

But it is her role in securing Arizona's frontiers that bears scrutiny.

Confronted with a border state's unavoidable immigration challenges,
Napolitano defended the citizenry with a devil's pitchfork. Her
multi-pronged strategy: embrace the nation's most regressive legislation;
empower a notorious sheriff using cynical political calculations; employ
boots on the ground.

And yet she remains beloved by Democratic apologists. Those who cling to
Napolitano point out that the alternative to her tepid, and occasionally
disgraceful, leadership would be a Republican. That sends her partisan
supporters to the fainting couch.

Her faithful base, supine with the vapors, is in no position to consider
the record.

Here, quite simply, is the situation.

According to September's GAO report, Homeland Security squandered $15
billion in the past five years on contracts that failed, fell behind
schedule, or were over budget. From Katrina to airport security, federal
money grew on stunted trees.

And there is little reason to believe this is the sort of mess Napolitano
can untangle.

In Arizona, the Department of Transportation, which Napolitano oversaw,
bungled billions, the largest contracts in the state's history, by hiring
firms embedded with the state agency's former employees and cronies. The
ballot proposition that made all this possible was financed, of course, by
the very corporations that stood to benefit. The glaring favoritism in the
roadway contracts precipitated expensive litigation ("Friends at Work,"
Sarah Fenske, June 1, 2006).

Furthermore, Homeland Security, like every government agency, is under
acute budgetary pressures having little to do with malfeasance.

Facing similar revenue shortfalls in Arizona, Napolitano ducked hard
choices, refused to tighten the state's belt and opted for accounting
gimmicks: highway radar to raise funds with increased ticketing of
motorists; future lottery money diverted to current funding gaps.

Mere corruption, greed, and the cupidity of boondoggle bookkeeping in hard
times — these are simple things to understand, if not sanction, within a
state government.

But when the Valley of the Sun was in crisis, when the community was torn
apart by the worst human-rights tragedy in the state's history, the
central villain owed his political power to Janet Napolitano.

And when Arizona became the epicenter of anti-immigrant fever, when armed
militiamen patrolled our southern flank with Mexico, our governor followed
the advice of a notorious outlier congressman, an anti-immigration foghorn
of despair.

She militarized the border.

The mere suggestion of work visas or a reasonable path to citizenship for
the 12 million Mexicans living in America burned both President George W.
Bush and John McCain in the wildfires of anti-immigrant populism before
the election.

Immigration was the only major issue facing this nation that was
studiously avoided by the candidates in the presidential campaign. The
future of this hot-button issue is, at best, murky.

In Arizona, Governor Napolitano fed — and fed upon — the anti-immigrant
fever that rages in our state. Though Napolitano's reputation is that of a
modest progressive, her true profile is that of a pragmatist who is
willing — in fact, is adept — at riding political currents.

She has signed several pieces of legislation that have criminalized that
most human desire: the need to work and feed one's family.

This remarkable definition of lawbreaking behavior has created an era in
Arizona that is the equivalent of a new Prohibition. Once, teetotalers,
the temperance movement, and the anti-saloon league drove us into the
Noble Experiment and the hands of mobsters. Today, those who migrate here
seeking work, like those who once sought drink, are increasingly in the
grip of organized crime.

"As the border gets tighter and tighter, it requires more professional
smuggling operations," said Jennifer Allen of the Border Action Network.
"It makes everyone more desperate to ensure that the cargo gets across."

Governor Napolitano took a page from the anti-immigrant playbook and
deployed the National Guard to the state's border with Mexico.

"Cartels fight for corridors, violence increases as they move contraband
across the border. We've seen increased violence with the militarization,"
observed Allen.

And that violence has moved north away from the borders and into our cities.

There is little argument that Governor Napolitano was an accomplice.

She signed a piece of legislative mischief in 2005 known as the
anti-smuggling statute. Designed to further criminalize organized
smuggling, the law was redundant, and she was counseled not to lend her
support.

Arizona Governor Signs Law Making It Crime to Hire Illegals

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

PHOENIX — Beginning in January, employers in Arizona could face having
their business licenses suspended or revoked if they get caught hiring
illegal immigrants.

A new law signed Monday by Gov. Janet Napolitano created the state crime
of hiring illegal immigrants and requires all businesses to verify the
employment eligibility of workers through a federal database.

It's intended to remove the economic incentive for immigrants to sneak
across the border and help lessen Arizona's role as the busiest illegal
gateway into the nation.

The Democratic governor said she signed the bill because the federal
government has failed to overhaul the country's broken immigration
policies, though she believes the new law contains flaws that should be
fixed.

"I signed it, too, out of the realization that the flow of illegal
immigration into our state is due to the constant demand of some employers
for cheap, undocumented labor," Napolitano wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

The law should have provided exceptions for hospitals, nursing homes and
power plants to prevent them from closing as a result of violations,
Napolitano said.

It also lacks an anti-discrimination clause to ensure fair enforcement,
and its overly broad punishments could lead to the closure of multiple
locations of a business based on a violation at a single location,
Napolitano said.

Advocates for tougher border enforcement said state punishments were
needed becausident of the Arizona Contractors Association, said the state
is trying to turn employers into de facto immigration agents and that the
new law could have adverse effects on certain businesses, such as car
washes and farming operations.

"If it remains in effect (a year from now), then the economic engines of
Arizona will come to a slow grind," Jones said.

Last year, Napolitano vetoed an immigration bill that included employer
sanctions. She said it would have given amnesty to employers because
businesses that heed warnings to stop illegal hirings could have continued
operating as if nothing happened.

As the Legislature was crafting this year's employer sanctions bill,
advocates for tougher immigration enforcement began an effort to bring a
stricter employer sanctions proposal to voters next year.

Under the proposed ballot measure, first-time violators would face the
permanent revocation of their business licenses.

Pearce, a leader in the effort to bring such a measure to the ballot, said
he and other supporters would likely continue to push as a way to head off
attempts at weakening the new law.

Tucson Rally Protests Anti-Immigrant Actions by Arizona Democrat Governor
Janet Napolitano

by George Saunders
Photos by Luis Judiz

About sixty defenders of immigrant rights rallied in downtown Tucson on
July 11 to protest recent attacks on workers by Arizona Governor Janet
Napolitano. This "liberal Democrat" governor has taken one more step to
line up with racist, anti-immigrant forces. In fact, she is stepping to
the front of the anti-immigrant line.

Napolitano had announced a few days earlier that, beginning in January
2008, Arizona would start enforcing the toughest "employer sanctions" in
the country. The new law that Napolitano supports, HB 2779, will punish
businesses that hire undocumented workers by suspending or revoking their
business licenses.

Napolitano underlined her message by sending a letter to the leaders of
her Democrat Party in Congress, Representative Nancy Pelosi and Senator
Harry Reid. She blamed the Democrat-controlled Congress for not enacting
tougher anti-immigrant laws on the federal level. This forced her to act
on the state level, she claimed.

The rally protesting Napolitano's actions was called by the Coalición de
Derechos Humanos, the leading immigrant rights organization in southern
Arizona. A flyer passed out by Derechos Humanos at the rally stated that
"HB 2779 will create a hostile environment for both employers and workers
alike…[The] fear of persecution will push more immigrant workers into the
shadows…HB 2779 will lead to wholesale abuse, racial profiling, and
hostility in Arizona workplaces, ultimately affecting entire Arizona
communities."

Among the groups supporting the rally, besides the May 1st Coalition, were
No More Deaths, Tierra y Libertad, Citizens for Border Solutions, and
Fundación Mexico.

At the rally Isabel Garcia, the leading spokesperson for Derechos Humanos,
denounced the brutal emphasis on enforcement, which denies the humanity of
undocumented workers and disregards the economic conditions that compel
them to seek jobs in the United States. She spoke out against those groups
in the immigrant rights movement who have caved in to the right-wing
agenda. We have to stand firm, she said. We have to say "No" to
enforcement. End the militarization of the border! Abolish the Border
Patrol!

Leilani Clarke, speaking for the May 1st Coalition, also decried the
practice of scapegoating and criminalizing immigrants without looking at
the causes of immigration. She reviewed the history showing that the U.S.
authorities have always imported cheap labor. The most glaring example was
slavery, but after centuries of struggle the injustice of slavery was
defeated. In the fight for immigrant rights also, "Freedom will be won!"

Eduardo Quintana, a trade union member of the May 1st Coalition, declared,
"We're not going to stand still while working families are raided."
Napolitano, he said, has joined the campaign blaming immigrant workers for
all social ills

All workers have to stick together, Quintana said, whether they are
"documented" or not. He cited the months-long fight recently waged by his
union, the Machinists, against a company that was making 42 percent
profits, the highest in years, and yet was attacking the workers' standard
of living. With support from the community and from workers in other
unions, the Machinists were able to win their strike. This shows that when
workers and the community are united, we can move mountains. "The problem
is not immigrant workers. The problem is corporate greed."

Eduardo Quintana

Kelly Gato, of Fundación Mexico, questioned the racist fear of immigrants
that is being promoted. What is this fear about? We must recognize that
all are fellow human beings, and instead of stigmatizing immigrants, give
them dignity.

César Lopez, speaking for Tierra y Libertad, questioned whether Napolitano
had "sold out." When had she ever "bought in" to the cause of human rights
and workers' rights in the first place? The solution is not to support
lying politicians but to support grass roots community organizing.

Corinne Bancroft, a volunteer with No More Deaths, expressed
disappointment with Governor Napolitano's actions, which turn human beings
into mere objects for police enforcement. She also criticized Napolitano
for refusing to recognize the unity and interconnectedness of the Mexican
and U.S. economies.

The speaker from Citizens for Border Solutions, based in Bisbee, Arizona,
and Naco, Sonora, in Mexico, said that there were "no words to describe
what militarization is doing to our border communities." The high-tech
camera towers recently erected in Arivaca, she predicted, will soon be
coming to Douglas and Bisbee. In fact, she warned, the plan is to extend
the police-state conditions on the border northward to all of U.S.
society.

In closing the rally, Isabel Garcia, questioned the Arizona state
authorities for wasting the taxpayers' money by bringing out a totally
disproportionate police presence of a hundred or more at this rally.

She ended by repeating: "We will continue the fight to abolish the Border
Patrol and all border enforcement. No more agents! No more cameras!"

Some Background on Napolitano

Janet Napolitano was elected governor of Arizona a few years ago as a
supposed "friend of labor." Among those who came to Arizona and campaigned
for her was Linda Chavez-Thompson, one of the top three leaders of the
AFL-CIO.

(The president of the AFL-CIO is John Sweeney; the vice president, Richard
Trumka. A special new post was created, a third top office of the AFL-CIO,
to accommodate Linda Chavez-Thompson, previously a high-ranking leader of
the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees—AFSCME.)

But we are talking about Janet, the "friend of labor," not Linda, the
labor "leader" who campaigned for Janet.

A couple of years ago Janet Napolitano, the liberal Democrat who was
elected in such an unlikely victory in this long-time conservative
Republican state, showed her true colors. Lining up with the so-called
Minutemen opponents of human rights for immigrants, Janet sent the
National Guard to back up and assist the Border Patrol along the frontier
with Mexico. In fact, a small group of Minutemen carried a sign last year
showing their solidarity with Napolitano. It said something like, "That's
Right, Janet, You Send the National Guard, We'll Bring the Reserves."

Now Napolitano has gone a step further as she joins in with the policies
of militarization and police enforcement that have become the preferred
choice for the politicians and pooh-bahs of the U.S. ruling elite in
regard to the Mexican border.

As Isabel Garcia pointed out, Arizona has often served as a steppingstone
for politicians toward more "brilliant careers" on the national level.

Take the example of Bruce Babbitt, also a Democrat governor of Arizona. He
showed his true colors by sending in the National Guard and state police
to break the strike of copper mine workers in 1983–84. As a reward he was
made secretary of the Department of the Interior in that wonderful "friend
of labor" Clinton administration, which brought us NAFTA and Operation
Gatekeeeper, the beginning of border militarization that drove immigrants
away from the San Diego area, pushing them to the dangerous desert areas
of Arizona, where thousands have died since the 1990s trying to cross over
to the promised land of job opportunities.

The record of these Democrat Party "friends of labor" is clear enough by
now, isn't it? As Malcolm X said, the Democrats are like the crafty,
guileful racist fox compared to the openly racist Republican wolf.
Malcolm advised African Americans to register Independent, not to sign up
with either of the "boss man" parties. Malcolm was killed before he was
able to organize an Independent Black Political Party, as he probably
would have. But his idea of organizing Independent of the bosses'
political parties lives on after him.

--
pimp the system.

_______________________________________________
Public_announce mailing list
Public_announce@migrawatch.org
http://migrawatch.org/mailman/listinfo/public_announce_migrawatch.org