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June 26. 2012 8:48PM
NH rep. satisfied with immigration ruling
State Rep. Bruce Marcus, R-Peterborough, who sponsored a recently passed resolution in New Hampshire in solidarity with Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law, said he was satisfied with Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold a key part of the law.
“They reaffirmed the fact that profiling is legal,” Marcus said. “There’s lots of profiling, it’s not only racial. You can profile by religion, country of origin, social status. But we all agree that the abuse of profiling is wrong.”
Marcus was unhappy that three parts of SB 1070 were struck down, including one that would make it illegal to look for work, one that would criminalize the failure to carry immigration documents and one that would authorize police to make arrests for immigration crimes. The court did rule that police can question a person’s status after stopping that person for other, legal reasons.
“I’m disappointed that the other three things were turned down,” Marcus said, “but the most important of the four, was the fact that the police, with justifiable circumstances, can ask where you’re from.”
President Barack Obama announced June 15 that some illegal immigrant youths will be allowed to stay and work in the country. His executive order allows those under the age of 30 who came to the U.S. before they were 15, to stay and work in the country for two years. It also includes those currently or previously in high school or in the military.
With elections just five months away, the President’s move seems purely political, Marcus said. If Obama could force something through Congress like the Affordable Care Act, he certainly could have acted on immigration.
Obama “had two years with an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and if he really cared about the Dream Act he would’ve done something then.”
Nashua resident and immigration attorney Enrique Mesa disagreed.
“Personally I think racial profiling is wrong. I’m a U.S. citizen. What? Just because my last name’s Mesa, I’m supposed to be treated like a second-class citizen?”
Mesa, who chairs Gov. John Lynch’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, said the key to the ruling was the affirmation of the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration policy.
The Republicans “have been dragging their feet (on the DREAM Act) for the last several years, and you have (Mitt) Romney here trying to get Latino voters, and basically Obama took the wind out of his sails with this new policy.”
Mesa said there’s one major hitch to Obama’s order — the “dreamers” have no legal status. Under the recently adopted HB 1383, in-state tuition to New Hampshire universities is prohibited to those who can’t prove they are in the country legally.
“It’s very sad because you’re going to have a lot of kids here that want to go into college, that are able to stay here, but they’re going to have to pay an out-of-state tuition.”
Mesa said a member of the Latino Affairs Commission urged Lynch to veto the bill, but the governor had already signed it.
“Their parents’ dream was for them to have a better life. They went to school, they have an education, they don’t have any criminal convictions, they’ve been here more than five years. Why not give these people at least some protective status and allow them to work?”
Mexican immigrant Asencion Avalos has been coming to Nashua every year since 1999 to work in masonry and landscaping. He makes about three times what he would back in Colima.
Though it won’t affect him directly, Avalos said the country took a step forward when the President issued the order.
Avalos, who came for years under the H2A guest worker program but received a 10-year green card last year, said he feels bad for those who don’t have papers.
“If you’re participating by working and by doing good in the community, you’re entitled to your rights. I imagine you should have the right to get your papers.”
“We all earn that right,” Avalos said. “If you work hard, are honest and a good person, what more does the country want to accept you?”
The order excludes illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes. Avalos said he agrees with this, though he believes people deserve a second chance.
“They reaffirmed the fact that profiling is legal,” Marcus said. “There’s lots of profiling, it’s not only racial. You can profile by religion, country of origin, social status. But we all agree that the abuse of profiling is wrong.”
Marcus was unhappy that three parts of SB 1070 were struck down, including one that would make it illegal to look for work, one that would criminalize the failure to carry immigration documents and one that would authorize police to make arrests for immigration crimes. The court did rule that police can question a person’s status after stopping that person for other, legal reasons.
“I’m disappointed that the other three things were turned down,” Marcus said, “but the most important of the four, was the fact that the police, with justifiable circumstances, can ask where you’re from.”
President Barack Obama announced June 15 that some illegal immigrant youths will be allowed to stay and work in the country. His executive order allows those under the age of 30 who came to the U.S. before they were 15, to stay and work in the country for two years. It also includes those currently or previously in high school or in the military.
With elections just five months away, the President’s move seems purely political, Marcus said. If Obama could force something through Congress like the Affordable Care Act, he certainly could have acted on immigration.
Obama “had two years with an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and if he really cared about the Dream Act he would’ve done something then.”
Nashua resident and immigration attorney Enrique Mesa disagreed.
“Personally I think racial profiling is wrong. I’m a U.S. citizen. What? Just because my last name’s Mesa, I’m supposed to be treated like a second-class citizen?”
Mesa, who chairs Gov. John Lynch’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, said the key to the ruling was the affirmation of the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration policy.
The Republicans “have been dragging their feet (on the DREAM Act) for the last several years, and you have (Mitt) Romney here trying to get Latino voters, and basically Obama took the wind out of his sails with this new policy.”
Mesa said there’s one major hitch to Obama’s order — the “dreamers” have no legal status. Under the recently adopted HB 1383, in-state tuition to New Hampshire universities is prohibited to those who can’t prove they are in the country legally.
“It’s very sad because you’re going to have a lot of kids here that want to go into college, that are able to stay here, but they’re going to have to pay an out-of-state tuition.”
Mesa said a member of the Latino Affairs Commission urged Lynch to veto the bill, but the governor had already signed it.
“Their parents’ dream was for them to have a better life. They went to school, they have an education, they don’t have any criminal convictions, they’ve been here more than five years. Why not give these people at least some protective status and allow them to work?”
Mexican immigrant Asencion Avalos has been coming to Nashua every year since 1999 to work in masonry and landscaping. He makes about three times what he would back in Colima.
Though it won’t affect him directly, Avalos said the country took a step forward when the President issued the order.
Avalos, who came for years under the H2A guest worker program but received a 10-year green card last year, said he feels bad for those who don’t have papers.
“If you’re participating by working and by doing good in the community, you’re entitled to your rights. I imagine you should have the right to get your papers.”
“We all earn that right,” Avalos said. “If you work hard, are honest and a good person, what more does the country want to accept you?”
The order excludes illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes. Avalos said he agrees with this, though he believes people deserve a second chance.