7:29 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration|Massachusetts
4 Jun 2010I came across this via Facebook last night. Seems like the Massachusetts Senate has caught a case of the Russel Pearce’s. Their State Senate passed a budget amendment, 28-10, that would bar the state from doing business with any company found hiring undocumented immigrants. It would also toughen penalties for creating or using fake identification documents, and explicitly deny in-state college tuition for undocumented students.
The amendment would also require the state’s public health insurance program to verify residency through the Department of Homeland Security, and would require the state to give legal residents priority for subsidized housing.
The measure would also create a toll-free hot line for anonymous reporting of companies that employ the undocumented and opens the door for the state to work with the Feds, a la 287(g).
I could be wrong and I invite Mass. people to comment here, pero as this is an amendment, then the governor does not need to sign it not does the governor have the opportunity to veto it.
So if Massachusetts goes the way of Arizona, do we boycott them as well?
Via / Boston.com
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
About | Advertise with us | Contact | Twitter
14 Responses to Massachusetts Senate Goes the Way of Arizona
Bryan J.
June 4th, 2010 at 7:41 am
Oh dear. Call it pandering, because it seems like this “amendment” is superfluous in several respects:
“and explicitly deny in-state college tuition for undocumented students.” I’m fairly sure the latter already do not get in-state tuition.
“The amendment would also require the state’s public health insurance program to verify residency through the Department of Homeland Security, and would require the state to give legal residents priority for subsidized housing.”
Unless one has fake documents, one is not going to get health insurance.
The scariest part is the “hotline”. Like, really, unless it’s the ACTUAL employer, no one can genuinely “suspect” whether a person is working and undocumented. Example: at the pizzeria i worked at, there were about 7 or 8 latino individuals working in the kitchen. The average dunce would assume that all of them were undocumented. In fact, that’s far from the truth, the majority were here with authorization.
In that respect(the hotline) this law is very similar to Arizona; Latino individuals, whether here with or without authorization, will be disproportionate targets of investigations.
If they do go the way of Arizona, like so many other states WILL, if the sb1070 is not enjoined, the boycott couldn’t be as effective.
Tweets that mention Massachusetts Senate Goes the Way of Arizona | VivirLatino -- Topsy.com
June 4th, 2010 at 8:06 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vivir Latino and CruelSecretary, pazenlavida. pazenlavida said: RT @vivirlatino Massachusetts Senate goes the way of Arizona. | VivirLatino http://bit.ly/cy4xan [...]
Maegan La Mala
June 4th, 2010 at 8:21 am
Well the problem with the in-state tuition thing is that it directly goes against all the efforts to push the DREAM Act as a stand alone, so in that way the state senate is killing two birds with one stone if you will.
Benito
June 4th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents. This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened. All of us ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated, but this is not the case.
I know the proponents of this law say that the majority approves of this law, but the majority is not always right. Would women or non-whites have the vote if we listen to the majority of the day, would the non-whites have equal rights (and equal access to churches, housing, restaurants, hotels, retail stores, schools, colleges and yes water fountains) if we listen to the majority of the day? We all know the answer, a resounding, NO!
Today we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics and do what is right, not what is just popular with the majority. Some men comprehend discrimination by never have experiencing it in their lives, but the majority will only understand after it happens to them.
Maegan La Mala
June 4th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Right on Benito y gracias
James Aiken
June 8th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
You ask whether we should boycott MA. What if all 50 sates go the way of Arizona, do we Boycott all 50?
Benito
June 9th, 2010 at 11:40 am
“All Men are created equal”! The founders had it right, when attempting to form a perfect union and they also knew that they were not there yet but knew we one day would get there. Lincoln moved us forward as did JFK and LBJ. This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.
It is my contention that this AZ law is not constitutional and will fail when challenged (unless, of course, they keep adding more amendments), pretty funny for this so called perfect law, that many internet blogs claim it was copied “Word for Word” from the Federal law, which I frankly do not believe, if it was then no amendments would have been made, right?, of course.
As for the undocumented workers, as was attributed to Ronald Reagan “It’s the Economy, Stupid”. When the economy is good we say let’s all celebrate “Cinco de Mayo, my brothers” but when the economy is down “it’s all your fault, you damn immigrant”. This too will pass. The real problem is the narcos, arms and people smuggler that’s what the focus should be on.
Don’t you find it funny that no one ever voted for Brewer for Governor, it’s all about politics and getting elected, do not be fooled. Busy Brewer has passed S.B. 1070, no permit conceal weapons law, the famous Birthers law, banning Ethic studies law, (could she be behind the Mural in Prescott, Arizona) and if history is a lesson she should look up Arizona’s House Bill 2779 from two years ago (which failed when legally challenged) and the craziest one the boycotted Martin Luther King Day, not wanting another holiday, how crazy is that. I believe there is an undercurrent to their enactment of new laws, they real love following a distinct pattern. Poor Brewer, last week, she first she said her Dad had died in Germany fighting the Nazi in World War II (war ended 1945) and we find out her father was never in Germany and died in California in 1955 (watch the spin doctors go into overdrive) and then she went to Washington and came back empty as always, poor dear.
Katie
June 12th, 2010 at 9:44 am
A boycott of MA would be tough for me. Wow. I’ve been saying that my political views should keep me from doing my 1st big vacation in AZ, even though right now it seems like a great option for a winter, domestic “big vacation.” But I have FAMILY in MA and decided to make a personal commitment to visiting them several times a year before they die off. If a boycott is called, I will research it and think about it, because I will definitely need to be educated on ways people are honoring it.
Montana
June 16th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
The Tea Bag Party are just “haters not debaters” or as others have dubbed them “screamers not dreamers”, with their failed attempts at stopping Healthcare reform, they say they respect the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence but they do not mind passing laws, through weak Governors (no one voted for this crazy) who only cares about getting elected Governor, on the backs of undocumented workers, that will not pass Constitution muster.
Brewer signed into law;
1. S.B. 1070,
2. No permit conceal weapons law,
3. The famous Birthers law,
4. Banning Ethic studies law,
5. Could she be behind the Mural in Prescott, Arizona, ordered to be whiten,
6. On deck to pass, no citizenship to babies born to undocumented workers,
7. If she can read she should look up Arizona’s House Bill 2779 from two years ago (which was un-constitution and failed when legally challenged),
8. The boycotted Martin Luther King Day, what idiots don’t want another holiday? Yes, you guessed it Arizona.
Well Arizona, you can boycott new holidays and keep passing crazy laws and the rest of us will continue to challenged them in a court of law and continue to add cities to our Boycott of your state.
I real cannot believe anything that comes out of Brewer’s mouth, in an interview she first said her father had died in Germany fighting the Nazi in World War II (war ended 1945) but of course we find out the truth that father was never in Germany and died in California in 1955. But we are suppose to believe everything else she says, right!
As for the Tea Bag Party, their phony patriotism is sickening; they are just racists going by another name. We all know you are just itching to put a sheet on their head? Let’s face it the Republicans had eight years to deal with health care, immigration, energy (remember Cheney’s secret meetings with oil companies where loosening regulation and oversight were sealed), climate change and financial oversight and governance and they failed. It appears that the Republican Party is only good at starting wars (two in eight years, with fat contracts to friends of Cheney/Bush) but not at winning wars as seen by the continuing line of body bags that keep coming home. The Republicans party will continue turned inward to their old fashion obstructionist party (and their Confederacy appreciation roots) because they continue to allow a small portions (but very loud portion) of their party of “birthers, baggers and blowhards” to rule their party. I will admit that this fringe is very good at playing “Follow the Leader” by listening to their dullard leaders, Beck, Hedgecock, Hannity, O’Reilly, Rush, Savage, Sarah Bailin, Orly Taitz, Victoria Jackson, Michele Bachmann and the rest of the Blowhards and acting as ill programmed robots (they have already acted against doctors that perform abortions).
The Birthers and the Tea Bag party crowd think they can scare, intimidate and force others to go along with them by comments like “This time we came unarmed”, let me tell you something not all ex-military join the fringe militia crazies who don’t pay taxes and run around with face paint in the parks playing commando, the majority are mature and understand that the world is more complicated and grey than the black and white that these simpleton make it out to be and that my friend is the point. The world is complicated and people like Hamilton, Lincoln, and Roosevelt believed that we should use government a little to increase social mobility, now it’s about dancing around the claim of government is the problem. The sainted Reagan passed the biggest tax increase in American history and as a result federal employment increased, but facts are lost when mired in mysticism and superstition. For a party that gave us Abraham Lincoln, it is tragic that the ranks are filled with too many empty suits and the crazy Birthers who have not learned that the way our courts work is that you get a competent lawyer, verifiable facts and present them to a judge, if the facts are real and not half baked internet lies, then, and only then, do you proceed to trial. The Birthers seem to be having a problem with their so called “Internet facts”. Let’s face it no one will take the Birthers seriously until they win a case, but until then, you will continue to appear dumb, crazy or racist, or maybe all three. I heard that Orly Taitz now wants to investigate the “Republican 2009 Summer of Love” list: Assemblyman, Michael D. Duvall (CA), Senator John Ensign (NV), Senator Paul Stanley (TN), Governor Mark Stanford (SC), Board of Ed Chair, and Kristin Maguire AKA Bridget Keeney (SC), she wants to re-establish a family values party, that is like saying that the Catholic Church cares about the welling being of children in their care, too late for that. Yee Haw!
Sabina
June 16th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
I can’t wait for SB 1070 to get *SMASHED* in court before July. That will nip it in the bud for all these malparidos in other states playing monkey see monkey do.
Oh and can anyone suggest some good ways to support the standalone DREAM act effort, without becoming an organizer that is. I’m trying to get my friends and family to take some small steps to help out….
Sabina
June 16th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Or even better, lazy people who don’t want to work to change their country for the better should just skip the boycott part and just LEAVE. Or just keep sitting on the couch and don’t get in the way when others who do care bust their ass to make good things happen. The way I see this blog, we are here to discuss things relevant to Latinos and help form solutions to our common problems. If you think things are perfect the way they are then stay home, watch TV and let none of this trouble you.
Dogmeat
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:35 am
It is odd that there has been this big spike in right wing idiocy coming out of Arizona though. Texas has a higher background level of crazy and right now Arizona is like a supernova taking the attention. I wonder how long it will last.
Actually it isn’t that strange. Arizona has been moving gradually towards the middle over the last twenty years. The population has doubled in that time and a big part of that spike wasn’t old retirees who tended to be conservative, but a lot of younger families moving from blue states, etc. In 2008 McCain only received 53.4% of the vote here in Arizona, his sixth lowest vote total among the states he won. Now think about that, his home state was one of his least supportive states. Had McCain been from Texas, Florida, etc., he likely would have lost Arizona.
This state has a long history of very conservative, often racist politics and the supporters of those policies aren’t happy that they are consistently losing ground to moderates and liberals (simply termed as liberals in their tirades). Because of how the state legislature is set up conservatives still have a major majority in both houses but, when Napolitano was governor, she vetoed a lot of their stupidity. In fact she set the record for vetoes in the history of the state. You take her away, bring in Brewer who is a wing-nut’s wing-nut, and you see incredibly stupid legislation that was shut down by a reasonable governor make it out of the state house. At the same time you see an increase in non-conservative population as well as an increase in non-white population and the far white err, right is freaking out.
Maegan La Mala
June 22nd, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Dogmeat: this is something that I have heard from lots of people in Arizona, that this in some ways was just a matter of time and ironically when Napolitano became head of homeland security was the time
Sabina
June 23rd, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Napolitano has been eerily quiet. Surreal.