Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department announced on Tuesday that it would join 13 other Latin American nations in signing an amicus brief supporting the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit against Utah’s restrictive immigration law, HB 497. Utah’s law “dangerously contributes to a patchwork of laws that impede effective and consistent diplomatic relations,” according the brief filed on behalf of the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

Following the lead of Arizona, Georgia and Alabama, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed HB 497 (titled “Utah Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act”) into law in March and it went into effect in May 2011.

While some Utah lawmakers have marketed as more human than other copy-cat laws, many of HB 497’s provisions are just as harsh as those of its predecessors. For example, the law requires police to verify the immigration status of people arrested class B or C misdemeanors (including minor offenses like littering, jaywalking and traffic violations); prohibits any policy limiting state and local agencies from assisting the federal government in the enforcement of federal immigration law; and makes it a third degree felony to encourage or induce any immigrant to come, enter, or reside in a the state illegally.
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Republican frontrunners took to their podiums last night for the second televised debate, where a discussion on immigration reform and border security featured prominently. Texas Governor Rick Perry’s debut in the GOP race was rare opportunity for guest-moderator and Telemundo anchor Jose Diaz-Balart to press candidates on their views on immigration, with a focus on the undocumented population.

Gov. Perry, who currently leads the race despite announcing his candidacy for president less than a month ago, stirred things up with his criticism of President Barack Obama’s immigration speech in May. “For the President of the United States to go to El Paso, Texas, and say the border is safer than it’s ever been,” said Gov. Perry, “either he has some of the poorest intel in the history of this country or he was an abject liar to the American people.”
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Luis Gutierrez, a democratic congressman from Illinois, was arrested in front of the White House on Tuesday while staging a sit-in to demand that President Obama stop the deportation of undocumented immigrants. The president has come under fire from Rep. Gutierrez and other prominent immigration activists for supporting immigrants’ rights in rhetoric while his administration deports more undocumented immigrants than any other U.S. president.

Tuesday’s protest was not Rep. Gutierrez’s first foray into the immigration debate. The tenth-term congressman has been a leader in the fight for immigrant-friendly policies such as the DREAM Act. While Gutierrez and other supporters of progressive immigration policy recognize that President Obama continues to face strong resistance in passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR), particularly from Republicans, he feels the president should be held accountable for what he could be doing, but isn’t.
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In less than two months, House Bill 87—Arizona-style immigration legislation signed into law on May 13 by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal—goes into effect. As of July 1, businesses with more than 10 workers will be required to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm employees’ work eligibility; state and local police will be permitted to inquire about the certain suspects’ immigration status; and people who apply for public benefits, including food stamps and public housing, will be required to prove they are living in the United States legally. Uncertainty about the measure’s effect on Georgia’s economy and whether it will lead to an exodus of Hispanic immigrants out of the state has some Georgia residents on edge.

According to the 2010 Census, Georgia’s Hispanic population doubled over the past decade. The state is now home to more than 850,000 Hispanics, representing almost 9 percent of the total population. According to Gov. Deal, a Democrat-turned-Republican, 500,000 of Georgia’s immigrants are undocumented. He has argued that they are a drain on public services and—by taking the few available jobs—are partly responsible for the already-high 9.9 percent unemployment rate. Gov. Deal’s message resonated with conservatives across the state, particularly in suburbs of metropolitan centers like Atlanta.
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