“It’s not a short trip to Santa Fe from Anthony and Las Cruces, where most of our members live,” said Jose Manuel Escobedo, BNHR Policy Director. “The sacrifices our members make to fight for their licenses shows exactly how much this means to their families.”

The Day of Action will include a 9 a.m. press conference followed by rounds of visits with lawmakers.

Details: Border Network Day of Action and Press Conference at the Roundhouse

When: All day on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Where: The Roundhouse in Santa Fe, Press conference in the Rotunda

AP Investigation finds only a tiny minority of applicants are suspicious

A recent analysis of driver’s license application abuse rates by the Associated Press sheds light on some facts and it raises questions about political speculations on both sides of the debate.

Perhaps most striking is the relatively low number of supposed abuses of the application process. After almost a decade of issuing licenses to drive to applicants who do not use a social security number only 170 addresses are suspect, representing 3% of all applicants. And even some of these suspect address are already resulting legitimate such as those housing units in our military installations.

Despite legitimate addresses, how does this rate compare to the abuse or fraud that other states experience with their driver’s license application process? It is not clear that states who do not have a legitimate way for immigrants to apply for a license to drive have a lower rate of application abuse.

With such a limited number of suspect cases, how much sense does it make to legislate a blanket solution to an issue that cannot be zeroed in to one sector of the population? What is the state doing to target those cases where the abuse or mistakes are occurring? How much responsibility lies in utility companies who issue account statements, MVD employees who need to be better trained to process applications, or businesses who exploit immigrants and abuse New Mexican laws? Also, the AP does not report that suspect addresses are in Dona Ana County, the Governor’s home county, or other Southern New Mexican communities.

Any legislation to repeal the 2003 law, would not only not fail to target specific places where abuse may occur, but it also would also impact the pocket book of all New Mexicans who use the roads. The public remembers that the reason this law was created was to improve safety, reduce uninsured rates, and balance insurance cost. Even more impacted would be the tens of thousands of drivers currently out of immigration status who work, raise their families, educate their children, and go to church utilizing their license to drive.

Voters will remember that no law enforcement officials complained that this was a problem until Susana Martinez began her campaign to be governor. It is an unfortunate but realistic observation that using the divisive issue of immigration will activate a passionate sector of the Republican Party. This Tea Party element has already been connected with xenophobic, nativists positions. During a similar debate in our neighboring state of Texas, the Tea Party leader said that the reason anti-immigrant laws were not more prevalent in the state is because there are ‘too many Hispanic legislators.’

For the Governor and Republican and Democratic lawmakers to begin to adopt and institutionalize the vision that xenophobes value, it is a departure from the traditions and culture of New Mexico, where Spanish is Constitutionally also the official language, and where people recite their pledge “I salute the flag of the state of New Mexico and the zia symbol of perfect friendship among united cultures.”

Instead, the public should focus on persuading their federal lawmakers to deal with immigration issues, because the Federal government is the only one with the Constitutional authority to make immigration laws. State lawmakers will realize that voters believe their time be better spent improving the budget of our state to create more jobs.

More than 300 people marched in memory of Martin Luther King and in support of the current New Mexico driver's license law in Las Cruces on Monday, Jan 16.

(LAS CRUCES, New Mexico) — More than 300 Southern New Mexico residents marched and rallied in Las Cruces today to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. Most of the marchers were members of the Border Network for Human Rights and where there to show support for the current driver’s license law in New Mexico.

The current driver’s license law in New Mexico, in effect since 2003, allows undocumented immigrants to legally obtain a license if they can show other ID, residency verification and security checks.

Governor Susana Martinez, who’s grandparents famously came to the U.S. without legal status, has vowed to try a third time to repeal the common-sense law.

Martinez has shamefully compared hard-working immigrant families in New Mexico to terrorists on her campaign to repeal the law.

Marchers answered this shameful, offense political rhetoric with solidarity. “Susana, escucha! Estamos en la lucha!” the crowd chanted. ” Susana, reacciona aqui no es Arizona!” (In English: “Listen, Susana, we are in the struggle!” and “Susana, be resonable, this isn’t Arizona!)

Fresh off the energy of the march and rally, Border Network members announced they would be sending a delegation of 15 people straight from the march to Santa Fe for the start of the legislative session.

Southern New Mexico residents sign large petitions that Border Network members will take to the Roundhouse on Tuesday, Jan 17.

Before sending the group off, BNHR members signed poster-sized petitions for the delegation to deliver to lawmakers in the Roundhouse on Tuesday.

Olga Pedroza, City Counciller of Las Cruces, addressed the rally in front of the Motor Vehicle Devision. “This is a beautiful event,” she said. “I thank you for marching congratulate you!”

Find more photos of the march and rally on Facebook.

“…I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” – “Letter From A Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King, Jr., April 16, 1963.

(ANTHONY, New Mexico) — Immigrant communities in New Mexico are preparing for the same old attacks from lawmakers in the legislative session, including Gov. Susana Martinez’s familiar attack comparing immigrant families to terrorists.

The fight for immigrant families to keep their driver’s licenses must remind us of the ongoing struggle for equality, justice and human dignity in the U.S. In remembrance of Dr. King and his vision for human rights, t he Border Network for Human Rights and southern New Mexico community members will march in Las Cruces on Monday, January 16.

More than 300 people will march from the Las Cruces Workforce development center to the Motor Vehicle Division to symbolize the interconnectedness of the fight for civil rights, labor rights and human rights.

Details: Martin Luther King Day March in Las Cruces

Who: Border Network for Human Rights and southern New Mexico community members

When: Monday, January 16, 2012 starting at 3:30 p.m.

Where: March starts at 226 S Alameda Blvd and ends at 505 S Main St in Las Cruces, New Mexico

RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/

Map of the march route available here: http://binged.it/wMf3kc

The Border Network for Human Rights has analyzed the bill and is reviewing its consequences in all its Human Rights Committees throughout Dona Ana County.

Some major provisions of the bill include a guest worker program, guest worker fund, a family registry system and screening through the controversial “S-Comm” program, a driving privilege card for immigrants, and benefits screening.

If passed by state legislators and signed by Gov. Susana Martinez, the bill would not take effect unless the federal government agrees to allow New Mexico to implement the law at all.

BNHR recognizes that attempts at regulating immigration at the state level is patently unconstitutional.  The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing states that have passed immigration policy. It is unlikely that DOJ or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will grant any waivers to states allowing state-based immigration policies.

This development should be another alert to Congress and the President that a comprehensive Federal solution can no longer wait.

Aside from the legal implications, many provisions of the bill are very controversial:

Employer Sanctions: Mandatory “E-Verify” for employers and creation of a NM-Verify system.

Dragnet Enforcement Approach: Codifies and expands “S-Comm,” a program that remains under federal investigation and has been suspended in some jurisdictions, such as Arizona.

Allows for Discrimination: Differentiated Drivers Licenses for immigrants creates opportunity for profiling.

Arizona and Maricopa County are examples of how state based immigration laws allow for abuses of civil and constitutional abuses by local officials.  County Sheriffs practiced racial profiling and targeted Hispanics because they felt they could.

New Mexico Can Do Better than Arizona.

BNHR believes that one community cannot be sacrificed for another.  New Mexico should not go backwards and treat one segment of the community as second class.  All New Mexicans will prosper when immigrants are fully integrated into the social, economic and political systems.

It is given that the impetus for this bill was the fabricated crisis that the Governor created regarding drivers license for immigrants.  We believe that a license to drive has nothing to do with immigration.  Attempts by some law makers to ‘compromise’ with the Governor are a dangerous gamble.

We believe that immigration is a core aspect of our nation’s as well as the identity and history of each of the Southern New Mexico institutions listed below.

We believe it is solely the sovereign right and duty of the federal government to regulate immigration and control the nation’s borders. This Constitutional responsibility is subject to the rule of law and should be accomplished with fairness and respect for the dignity of all persons.

Further, the Constitution of the State of New Mexico extends additional particular protections to all persons within New Mexico. Based on this understanding, we affirm that all persons are to be treated fairly under the law.

Living in a border state with a large Hispanic population, New Mexico residents are affected by extensive immigration control efforts. These efforts can lead to violations of families and individuals living in New Mexico such as targeting people for unwarranted searches and seizures, pretextual police stops, or surveillance solely because of their appearance or because they speak Spanish (in a state which, under its constitution, is officially bilingual). Any state based policy that targets immigrants places further burdens on all sectors of Southern New Mexican society.

We believe it is the responsibility of local and state government to curb such immigration law abuses and must protect and treat all New Mexico residents, U.S. citizens and non-citizens fairly and with respect. Doing the contrary is contradictory of New Mexico’s Constitution and values of treating families and individuals fairly.

Accordingly, I believe that:

Immigration laws, policy, and enforcement must be guided by the principles of protecting our families and individuals through due process of the law. State laws and policies cannot target a specific group of people based on their national origin or ethnicity and must be guided by customary international human rights law.

Some Human Rights pillars particularly important in our part of the state include:
Everyone be able to travel safely and as they wish.
Everyone is provided a fair working wage in a safe environment and to join a trade union.

Except for the rights and liberties explicitly reserved to citizens by the U.S. and New Mexico Constitutions, immigrants to the United States must be afforded all the protections and liberties of our U.S. and New Mexico Constitutions and laws.

We strongly oppose state and local intrusions into immigration policy and enforcement. State and local immigration regulation and enforcement leads to racial and ethnic profiling and undermines effective community policing by discouraging immigrant communities from cooperating with the police as victims or witnesses. State and local regulation and enforcement conflicts with all persons’ rights under the New Mexico Constitution to seek safety. We oppose state and local policies that attempt to supersede national immigration policy and target immigrants, because they create confusion and deny immigrants equal fair protection.

State policy must facilitate free public education for all children and allow all people living in New Mexico to secure a college education.

Non-citizen workers must be guaranteed all the same workplace protections as citizen workers, including, but not limited to, bargain collectively, labor standards and wage protections, occupational health and safety, and protection against exploitive and illegal acts by employers such as wage theft.

Current immigration laws and policies perpetuate the existence of a separate class of people who are forced to live in the shadows. Immigration laws must be changed at the federal level and be adapted to function in today’s economic environment. In the meantime, state based policy needs to promote more immigrant integration into the safety, educational, political and economic fabric of society.

State base policy addressing immigrants and processes for their integration should comply with the following principles:

Equal Protection: The process should not create or perpetuate discrimination on the basis of factors such as religion, ancestry, birth legitimacy, race, ethnicity, color, national or social origin, language, disability, medical condition, gender, gender identity or gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, property, wealth, age, political or other opinion, or education.

Reasonable Eligibility Requirements: The process should not contain eligibility requirements that are unreasonable, lengthy, and costly or that place additional burdens that they would deny immigrants the opportunity to more fully integrate into society.

Legal Rights and Due Process: The process should guarantee all applicants the legal protections available to lawful permanent residents.

Check out video from the rally below.

Crime rate rankings were released today and for the second year in a row, El Paso ranked as the U.S. city with the lowest crime rate.

Border Network for Human Rights congratulates all of the sectors and communities in El Paso on this achievement.

There are many reasons why El Paso enjoys the lowest crime rate among big cities in the U.S. A major reason for El Paso’s low crime rate is that the city and county have rejected policies based on racism and fear. The city and county both rejected policies that criminalize sectors of our community, such as the 287(g) program. 287(g) is a collaborative agreement between federal immigration agencies and local law enforcement departments.

Programs that put local law enforcement to work for federal immigration agencies are notorious for driving a wedge between the immigrant community and police. The major law enforcement executives from every large city and county in Texas have made it clear that community security suffers when immigrant communities stop cooperating with local police.

El Paso is unique for rejecting such policies, just as El Paso is unique for having the lowest crime rate. This is no accident.

By protecting the rights of individuals and the community relationships built by local law enforcement, every resident in El Paso enjoys a safe city.

This news reflects the results of a August 10, 2010 Border Security poll commissioned by Border Network for Human Rights. The vast majority of residents living on the U.S. side of the border between San Diego and Brownsville reported that they felt safe in their community.

Because of the irresponsible and inaccurate rhetoric of politicians, some may be surprised by the rankings. But it comes as no surprise to those who live and work on the border. A recent report by USA TODAY found that the crime rate for cities on the southern border were lower than the rest of the country for the last ten years, even as crime rates fell in the interior.

El Paso has ranked as one of the top three safest cities in the U.S. since 1997.