Prop 187 Redux
A proposed state ballot in California would create a special birth certificate for the U.S.-born kids of undocumented immigrants and then bar those kids from receiving public health and other benefits. Taxpayer Revolution, the sponsoring group, has until September to gather the 400,000 signatures needed to put their proposal on the ballot for the 2010 elections. The measure is very similar to Prop 187, which passed in 1994 and would have denied public services to immigrants in California (the proposition was later overturned in court).
Maryland Takes a Step Back
Come July 2015, undocumented immigrants in Maryland will no longer be able to access or keep their driver’s licenses. The change was decided in the state legislature as a compromise. The House wanted undocumented immigrants to keep their licenses but lose the ability to enter federal buildings or board planes, while the Senate wanted to take away licenses completely. These folks do know that taking away driver’s licenses doesn’t deter people from driving where they need to go, right?
FBI’s Most Wanted: Community Relations Manager
Muslim leaders in Detroit claim FBI agents have approached local residents to spy on their neighbors and fellow mosque-goers, according to The Detroit News. Community leaders say FBI agents identify themselves, then threaten to revoke or stall the citizenship of people who do not report the activities of their neighbors and those worshipping at mosques. A coalition of Muslim leaders has now asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate. Meanwhile, the FBI doesn’t get why their brilliant counterterrorism tactic isn’t working.
Driving While Black: The Tenaha Edition
Between 2006 and 2008, more than 140 Black motorists pulled over by cops in Tenaha, Louisiana, gave up their belongings under threats of being charged with money laundering or other crimes. Some even had jewelry and phones taken from them. Police got to do this because Tenaha has an “asset forfeiture” law that allows cops fighting drug trafficking to seize property and even use those assets to bolster their department budgets. Civil rights groups have filed a federal class-action lawsuit.