Protests Erupt Over Arizona Immigrant Crackdown Bill

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Immigrant rights groups are calling for federal intervention to counter a newly enacted measure in Arizona that forces police officers to determine the immigration status of someone they suspect of being an undocumented immigrant. Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill on Friday following its approval in the state legislature earlier in the week. Opponents call it the harshest anti-immigrant measure in the country and a license for racial profiling. Shortly after adding her signature, Brewer says she thinks the measure “is what’s best for Arizona.”

Gov. Jan Brewer: “I have decided to sign Senate Bill 1070 into law because, though many people disagree, I firmly believe it represents what’s best for Arizona.”

As Brewer spoke, thousands of protesters rallied outside the State Capitol. Democratic Congress member Raul Grijalva urged federal non-cooperation with the new law.

Rep. Raul Grijalva: “We have insisted on non-cooperation with this state law by the federal government. Immigration is a federal law. It has supremacy. And if our federal government tells the state of Arizona, ‘You can have the law, we are not detaining, we are not processing, we are not accessing your law,’ then it is moot. And I think that is the next step, is the non-cooperation.” Grijalva is also calling for an economic boycott of the state.

Another major protest was held on Sunday with thousands of people in attendance. At the White House, President Obama denounced the bill and suggested the federal government could intervene.

President Obama: “Indeed, our failure to act responsibly at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others. And that includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe. In fact, I’ve instructed members of my administration to closely monitor the situation and examine the civil rights and other implications of this legislation.”

Justice Dept. Reviewing Arizona Immigration Law
The Justice Department has confirmed it’s reviewing a new law in Arizona that forces police officers to determine the immigration status of someone they suspect of being an undocumented immigrant. Opponents call it the harshest anti-immigrant measure in the country and a license for racial profiling. Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she has “deep concerns” about the law.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano: “The Justice Department is reviewing the Arizona law. It does not actually take effect until 90 days after the close of the Arizona legislative session, so it is not, in fact, in effect in Arizona which permits time, I think, for the Justice Department to really look at whether the law meets constitutional safeguards or not.”


Malcolm X Assassin Released on Parole
And the lone person to confess to the 1965 killing of Malcolm X has been freed on parole. Thomas Hagan has been jailed since February 21st, 1965, when he and several others shot Malcolm X at Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom. Hagan has been on work release for over twenty years, but had still been required to spend two days a week in a Manhattan prison.


Appeals Court Suspends Ruling Blocking ACORN Funding
A federal appeals court has suspended a ruling that blocked the congressional effort to defund the anti-poverty group ACORN. On April 20, the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan froze a decision from last year that stripping ACORN of its federal funding amounted to an unconstitutional “bill of attainder.” The suspension also applies to a follow-up ruling that ordered federal agencies to resume ACORN funding. It will stay in place until the Second Circuit rules on the government’s appeal of the original decisions. ACORN attorneys say they’re considering a Supreme Court appeal of their own. Speaking outside the courtroom, ACORN head Bertha Lewis said the funding cuts have left the group “on life support.”


Goldman Execs Grilled at Senate Hearing
Executives from the bailed-out Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs faced tough questioning on Tuesday at a Senate hearing on their role in the financial crisis. Current and former Goldman officials were grilled on their aggressive marketing of mortgage investments at the same time the firm was betting the investments would fail. During his opening remarks, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan cited internal Goldman documents to argue the firm had betrayed its clients.

Sen. Carl Levin: “The firm’s own documents show that while the firm was marketing risky mortgage-related securities, it was placing large bets against the U.S. mortgage market. The firm has repeatedly denied making those large bets despite overwhelming evidence that they did so. Now why does that matter? Surely there is no law, ethical guideline or moral injunction against profit. But Goldman Sachs didn’t just make money. It profited by taking advantage of its clients reasonable expectation that it would not sell products that it did not want to succeed.”


Senate Republicans Block Financial Reform Bill for Consecutive Day
The session was held as Republicans blocked the Democrats’ financial reform bill from advancing in the Senate for a second consecutive day. Democrats remained three votes shy of the 60 needed to override a Republican filibuster and bring the measure to the Senate floor. We’ll have more on the Goldman Sachs hearings and the financial reform bill after headlines.


U.S. Coast Guard Mulls “Controlled Burn” of Gulf Oil Slick
The U.S. Coast Guard is considering a “controlled burn” of the vast oil slick approaching the Louisiana coast line as a result of last week’s oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. A pipe that had been attached to the rig continues to spill around 42,000 gallons of oil per day. Rear Admiral Mary Landry of the US Cost Guard said the spill is within 21 miles of hitting Louisiana’s shores.
Rear Adm. Mary Landry: “It’s reached, I think it says within 21 miles? So it is the closest it’s been to shore throughout this response. We’re paying attention to that, very careful attention to that and we’re engaged in the states and the coastal areas.”


BP Opposed Drilling Safety Rules
The rig was drilling oil for the energy giant BP. Eleven crew members are still missing and presumed dead. Newly-disclosed documents meanwhile show BP heavily lobbied against stricter offshore drilling safety rules when they were being considered last year. In September, BP wrote the U.S. Minerals Management Service that additional safety regulation was unnecessary to replace existing voluntary standards. On Tuesday, Democratic Congressmembers Henry Waxman of California and Bart Stupak of Michigan asked BP to explain what they knew about safety risks at the drilling site before the explosion took place. In a letter to BP, Waxman and Stupak also expressed concern BP is attempting to manage the spill “with techniques that have never been used before at these ocean depths.”


Hashmi Pleads Guilty on Eve on Terror Trial
A jailed former college student accused of aiding members of al Qaeda has pleaded guilty on the eve of his trial. Syed Fahad Hashmi has been held in twenty-three-hour solitary confinement for nearly three years. The government’s case rested on the testimony and actions of an old acquaintance of Hashmi’s who turned government informant after his own arrest. Hashmi was being prosecuted for a two-week period when the informant stayed at his home carrying rain gear that was allegedly later delivered to al-Qaeda members in Pakistan. Hashmi was facing the prospect of a 70-year prison sentence were he to proceed with a trial. He’ll be sentenced in June and now faces up to 15 years in prison.


US Extradites Noriega to France
The US has extradited the former Panamanian president and CIA asset Manuel Noriega to France to face trial on money laundering charges. Noriega has been jailed in Miami since 1990 after his overthrow in the US invasion of Panama that killed up to 3,000 people. Noriega’s drug trafficking sentence ended two years ago, but he’s remained in jail while fighting France’s extradition request. Noriega’s attorney, Frank Rubino, criticized the US for failing to inform him of Noriega’s extradition.

Frank Rubino: “We have had no official recognition whatsoever. We’ve heard from the press, and you folks tell us that he’s on a plane to France as we speak.”

Reporter: “Is that normal practice?”

Rubino: “No, usually the government has—does things in a more professional manner and respects common courtesy. And we’re shocked that they didn’t. I’m surprised that they just didn’t put a black hood over his head and drag him out in the middle of the night.”

Noriega was previously a close US ally and a paid CIA informant despite known ties to drug trafficking. The Reagan administration began turning against him in the mid-1980s after Noriega became less cooperative in the US war on the Nicaraguan government and on US plans to retain effective control over the Panama Canal.


Appeals Court Upholds Wal-Mart Discrimination Suit
And a federal appeals court has upheld a class action lawsuit against the retail giant Wal-Mart alleging gender discrimination against female employees. In a 6-to-5 decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ruled hundreds of thousands of female Wal-Mart employees can sue the company as a single class over allegations they received lower pay and less promotions than male co-workers. The case could mark the largest class action employment discrimination suit in US history. Wal-Mart has sought to have each case tried individually and says it will appeal to the Supreme Court.


“Avatar” Director James Cameron Follows Box Office Success with Advocacy for Indigenous Struggles
On the heels of his record-setting Hollywood blockbuster Avatar, the film director James Cameron is taking on a new role as an activist. Since its release last year, Avatar has become the highest-grossing movie of all time, topping only Cameron’s previous film, Titanic. Avatar centers around an indigenous species called the Na’vi, who resist the private military force of a powerful corporation trying to mine a valuable mineral on the Na’vi’s planet of Pandora. Well, in real life, Cameron is now allying himself with indigenous struggles he says mirror the story told in his film.

This weekend, James Cameron attended the Ninth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues here in New York, along with hundreds of indigenous activists from around the world. He had just returned from Brazil, where he joined protests against construction of the Belo Monte Dam, which opponents say will devastate indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest.


12 Killed in Southern Tornadoes
At least twelve people were killed over the weekend when tornadoes struck areas of Alabama and Mississippi. Hundreds of homes were also destroyed in the tornadoes’ path.


Report: Massey Bars Miners from Attending Victims’ Funerals
The Washington Independent, meanwhile, is reporting Massey Energy has prevented miners from attending their co-workers’ funerals since the explosion. Company officials reportedly also rejected plans for a makeshift memorial outside the mine site. And in at least one case, a relative of one of the victims was forced to go to work even though the fate of the victim was at that point still unknown.


Obama: Abortion Rights a Factor in Court Pick, But Not a “Litmus Test”
President Obama says he intends to choose a successor for the retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in the coming weeks. Obama discussed the Supreme Court search before a meeting with congressional leaders.

President Obama: “My hope is that we’re going to be
able to get a Supreme Court nominee confirmed in time for the next session. As Justice Stevens said, I think it’s very important, particularly given the important cases that may be coming before the Supreme Court, that we get this process wrapped up so that a new justice can be seated and staffed and can work effectively with his or her colleagues in time for the fall session.”

Obama went on to say he’ll seek a candidate who respects women’s rights but won’t make support for abortion a “litmus test.”


Thousands Hold Earth Day Rally in DC
Amidst the wrangling on Capitol Hill, thousands of people gathered on the National Mall Sunday to back passage of a robust climate bill. The Earth Day Network organized the rally to cap a week-long series of events marking Earth Day’s fortieth year.

Protester: “I think Congress needs to stop paying attention to what corporations want, what oil companies want, what coal industry wants, and start actually doing what the American people need them to do, which is create legislation that spends our tax dollars on sustainable jobs that create energy for people here in America without creating the pollution and the hazardous waste and all of the other things that come with listening to oil companies, who say, ‘Hey, we’re making money. Don’t take away our oil.’”


More International News

US to Withdraw Troops from Haiti
The US has announced it will withdraw its military relief operation from Haiti on June 1st. Hundreds of US forces have been inside Haiti since the January earthquake. Haitian President René Préval, meanwhile, announced Wednesday the creation of a commission to oversee Haiti’s reconstruction.

Haitian President René Préval: “With the promise of international help and the Haitian people, though they are still in tough times, we are working to create jobs, we are working to build homes, and we are working for education.”


Study Claims Chernobyl Disaster Killed Nearly 1 Million
A new study released on the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster says the death toll is far higher than previously thought. In a book published by the New York Academy of Sciences, a Russian author and a Belarusian author say nearly one million people have died from exposure to radiation released by the Chernobyl reactor. According to the book, the disaster’s radioactive emissions may have been 200 times greater than the initial estimate of 50 million curies, and hundreds of times larger than the radioactivity from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The authors based their findings in part on Slavic sources they say have never been available in English.


Greece Requests $56B EU/IMF Rescue
Greece has requested a massive $56 billion rescue package in the face of a mounting debt crisis. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou issued the request to the European Union and International Monetary Fund earlier today. Any rescue aid could further tighten the austerity measures, including spending cuts and tax increases that have sparked widespread protest in Greece. Major US firms played a key role in Greece’s financial crisis. One deal created by Goldman Sachs helped Greece obscure billions in debt from European regulators. In addition to Goldman, the Greek government used over a dozen banks to manage its national debt using derivatives.

European Flights Resume Following Ash Closures
Nearly all European flight routes have resumed after a week of closures due to volcanic ash from Iceland. The closures marked the worst halt to civil aviation in Europe since World War II. Airlines lost at least $1.75 billion on over 100,000 canceled flights.

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