“Mitt Romney’s rigid position on illegal immigration and embrace of Kris Kobach, former law professor and architect of a law to rid Arizona of illegal aliens, may well cost him the fall election even if helps him win the Republican nomination,” the column states.

“In 2004, George W. Bush captured 44 percent of the Hispanic vote winning handily over John Kerry, but John McCain only gained 31 percent in 2008 and lost to Mr. Obama. Mr. Romney can’t win the White House without about 40 percent of the Hispanic vote.”

However, Romney’s hardline stance on immigration is not likely to win over many Hispanic voters.

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“​It was the most egregious case of racial profiling federal experts have ever seen.

Findings into a long running investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office found that Sheriff Arpaio’s department has an “ingrained culture” of abusing the rights of Latinos. Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez announced today that MCSO committed racial profiling, retaliates against its critics and failed to investigate hundreds of sex crimes.”

Read more here.

“Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said at a packed news conference that the findings were not based on isolated incidents and not gleaned solely from statistics but about real people caught up in the sheriff’s web of unconstitutional activity.

The Justice Department issued an ultimatum: Come to a voluntary court-enforceable agreement to stop the unconstitutional practices, or face a lawsuit under provisions of federal Civil Rights Act.”

Read more here.

AUSTIN, Texas — Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have promised to complete a nearly 1,950-mile fence. Michele Bachmann wants a double fence. Ron Paul pledges to secure the nation’s southern border by any means necessary, and Rick Perry says he can secure it without a fence — and do so within a year of taking office as president. Read full article >>

Blackburn issued only a temporary injunction because she needs more time to study the constitutionality of the legislation. The judge said she will issue a longer decision in September.

The law mandates schools to find out whether students enrolled in schools in the state have legal status and makes giving a ride or leasing a room to an undocumented worker a crime.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed the measure on June 9. It is considered the toughest anti-illegal immigration law in the U.S. The law also grants police officers the power to detain a person if the officer has reasonable suspicion that the former is in the country illegally.

The U.S. Justice Department and other groups such as Hispanics, immigration advocacy organizations and some churches that opposed the legislation said that the law would interfere with immigration enforcement, which is a federal responsibility, and warned of the danger of it leading to racial profiling.

We appreciate all of our clients who have supported us and will strive to live up to our new title.

On June 24, 2011, the Phoenix-based newspaper Arizona Republic published a front-page article featuring Regina Jefferies of Thomas & Jefferies, PLLC. The article titled “Fears rise for safety of detained gay migrants”, discuses the horrendous treatment that one of our clients suffered while detained by ICE. As recently reported in an ACLU reports, the detention facilities for immigrants is often nightmarish and cruel. Unfortunately, abuse of immigrant detainees continues despite complaints from civil rights groups.

Read more of the article here.

photo credit: faul

After signing what is being called the strictest immigration law in the nation, the state of Georgia will found itself defending its controversial and inherently racist law in federal court. On Monday, Federal Judge Thomas Trash heard arguments on a request by civil liberties groups to block Georgia’s law cracking down on illegal immigration from taking effect until a legal challenge is resolved, but said he would not make an immediate ruling.

Civil liberties groups have asked Thrash to block the law from taking effect until a lawsuit they filed earlier this month has been resolved. That lawsuit asked the judge to find the law unconstitutional and to keep authorities from enforcing it.

The Georgia law has some similarities to laws enacted in Arizona and Utah, parts or all of which have already been blocked by federal judges.

Read more here.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security announced this week it will conduct an internal review of its Secure Communities program this August to investigate potential problems with the immigration enforcement program and look into whether officials misled Congress, the public and local communities about whether the program was voluntary.

The review comes on the heels of an announcement by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) that his state would not be sign onto the controversial program, which allows DHS to access information, including fingerprints, taken in by local law enforcement. In May, both Illinois and New York officially terminated memorandums of understanding with the program.

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It did not name the targeted businesses but said 17 sectors singled out for the enforcement action include agriculture and food, financial services, commercial nuclear reactors, drinking water and water treatment, postal and shipping, healthcare and transportation.

“The inspections will touch on employers of all sizes and in every state in the nation, with an emphasis on businesses related to critical infrastructure and key resources,” ICE said in a statement.