Headlines for Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Mexico issues travel advisory; DHS Secy Napolitano testifies about AZ immigration law
Mexico issued a travel advisory today – warning its citizens to act with prudence when visiting Arizona, adding that there is an "adverse political environment for migrant communities and all Mexican visitors.” In Washington, DC today, the Secretary of Homeland Security appeared before the Senate Judiciary committee. Janet Napolitano faced questions about Arizona’s new immigration law that many say amounts to legalized racial profiling by law enforcement. She said the question of the law’s constitutionality is being addressed at the Department of Justice. But she did talk about the impact of immigration laws that place local police officers in immigration authorities’ boots.

“I think these kinds of laws are not value added to law enforcement. There’s a reason why most law enforcement groups, chiefs of police and the like, oppose them which is the undue barrier it puts between crime victims – human trafficking victims for example – a growing problem that we are trying to deal with in the US – and law enforcement so constitutional or not, there are some real law enforcement reasons that laws like that are misguided.”

DC coalition calls on Police Chief to cancel Secure Communities
Also in DC today, another immigration program that links local law enforcement and immigration officials is about to go online. A coalition opposed to the program called on the DC Police Chief to shelve it – Renee Feltz was there.

"This is not backwards Arizona; this is Washington, DC -- the capital of freedom in the world. We don’t want more Arizonas! No more Arizonas!

That was Jaime Contreras from SEIU Local 32BJ. He was one of dozens of labor and civil rights organizations that gathered today who condemned a federal program called Secure Communities that allows local police to collaborate with immigration authorities. The program gives police access to a federal database to determine the immigration status of people they arrest and detain them. It’s supposed to target immigrants with high level offenses. But the government’s own data shows it has mostly resulted in the detention and deportation of immigrants with minor offenses. Secure Communities is in place in several counties in Arizona, and more than 100 others nationwide. It is set to be up and running in every county in every state by 2013 - but today, Washington DC City Council member Jim Graham said he’s joining the communities' call for the police chief to block the implementation of Secure Communities.

"But if she doesn't then I'm prepared to introduce legislation that will prevent her from doing this."

In the nation's capital, Renee Feltz, FSRN.

Former Kyrgyz president charges with mass killing and abuse of power
Kyrgyzstan formally charged former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev today with abuse of power and mass killings. The murder charges stem from the deaths of protestors during the recent uprising that led to his ouster. He's now in exile in Belarus. The Kyrgyz interim government has appealed for his extradition.

Supreme Court hears first genetically modified crops matter
The Supreme Court took up genetically modified crops for the first time today. Monsanto is appealing a lower court decision blocking the sale of genetically modified alfalfa seed while a court ordered environmental impact study is completed. At issue – the possible cross pollination of GMO crops into neighboring organic and non-GMO fields. The case could affect not only the future of genetically modified crops in the US, but also sweeping environmental policy. The study is required by the National Environmental Policy Act – or NEPA – and this case may well dilute the strength the of that landmark environmental legislation. The Federal Arbitration Act has been center stage at the Court this week as well – today judges ruled that arbitration agreements must specifically allow for possible class actions before multiple disputes can be bundled into a single arbitration. And yesterday, justices heard arguments in a discrimination case -- Antonio Jackson sued former employer Rent-A-Center for discrimination – and was forced to resolve the matter through arbitration. The case seeks to determine who has the final say when the outcome of arbitration is “unconscionable.” Is it the arbitrator or the judicial system? F. Paul Bland of Public Justice says that if arbitration trumps judicial evaluation – the result could be the “wild, wild west of lawlessness.”

Free Speech not so Free in San Antonio, Texas
A coalition of community groups from San Antonio is in New Orleans today. They are asking the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to order a trial regarding the Texas’ cities parade ordinance is constitutional.  A new ordinance was drafted after large immigration marches in 2006 – the new law established a fee scale that organizers say is arbitrary and levied at police discretion – charging up to tens of thousands of dollars for marches and cultural processions.  Amanda Haas works with the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. She spoke with us from the courthouse just before oral arguments today.

“For the International Women’s Day march this year we were sent a bill for thousands of dollars which we don’t plan to pay, we can’t afford to pay. But it basically means that people -- especially poor people, people of color, women, immigrants, people who don’t have access to those resources -- have no voice, have no ability to go out into the street.”

The original case in San Antonio was decided as a summary judgment -- the coalition is asking the Appellate panel to order a full trial on the matter.

A French judge ordered former Panamanian dictator and CIA operative Manuel Noriega to wait in jail until his case goes before a criminal court. Noriega was extradited from the US yesterday. He was convicted in abstentia in France for money laundering in 1999, but as part of the extradition agreement – he will be granted a new trial. His lawyers say that he will challenge the charges on the basis that he is a former head of state, and that the

Students stage walk outs in New Jersey over slashes to education budget
New Jersey students are cutting class today. They are protesting cuts in school funding after more than half of the states school districts turned down a property tax initiative to fund education. Walk outs in southern and Central New Jersey were organized via Facebook. Last month, Governor Chris Christies proposed an 11 percent cut in the state's budget for schools.