A frantic phone call from a Filipino parent was received by our office seeking assistance on how her son may be released from police custody in Arizona. According to the caller, her son was expected to come home from work but was instead incarcerated by police authorities in Arizona. One can easily conclude that the arrest was part of Arizona’s enforcement of its controversial immigration law.
One day before its actual date of effectivity, Judge Susan Bolton of the US District Court ordered the suspension of specific enforcement provisions of Arizona’s SB 1070 also termed by advocates as the “show me your papers” (SMYP)law. This law allows Arizona law enforcers to arrest illegal immigrants by virtue of their “illegal” status and force their deportation. The statute provides that an officer may make a warrantless arrest if he or she has probable cause to believe that an individual has committed any public offense that makes the person removable from the United States. SB 1070 also provides that where reasonable suspicion exists that a person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made to determine immigration status and detention is required until the immigration status of the persons is verified.
Challenges to SMYP
In response to this Arizona immigration law, several civil rights organizations and individual lawsuits were filed questioning its constitutionality. On July 6, 2010, three federal agencies filed similar lawsuits challenging SMYP in federal court. These agencies are the US Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State and the Department of Justice.
The brief filed by Department of Justice (DOJ) claims that the SMYP law unconstitutionally interferes with federal government’s authority to set and enforce immigration policy. The DOJ argues that the Constitution and federal law do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country. This patchwork of policies would seriously disrupt federal immigration enforcement. The federal government is also concerned with the strong possibility of harassment and detention of foreign visitors, legal immigrants and US citizens who cannot readily prove their legal status.
Even certain law enforcement agencies in the State of Arizona, specifically in Tucson and Phoenix, admitted in their declarations that this SMYP law will hamper their ability to effectively police their communities. They are referring to victims or witnesses to crimes who would be less likely to cooperate with police during investigations. Law enforcers in Arizona will also be diverted from solving violent crimes, property crimes and home invasions to attend to immigration law violations which is the sole jurisdiction of the federal government.
Real Solutions
The premise behind the Arizona SMYP law is that the federal government is not taking action to curb illegal immigration. While this may be one of the reasons, the States may not legally pre-empt federal authority over immigration. If States, like Arizona, are allowed to enact their own immigration laws, then a patchwork of immigration policies enacted by possibly 50 different states would certainly conflict with federal immigration enforcement authority.
The appropriate solution to curb illegal immigration is for the federal government to come up with a comprehensive immigration reform program. This program that must be enacted by US Congress should consist of a path to legalization for the undocumented and an improved legal visa system that meets the needs of business in a global economy and foster family unity.
Filipino TNTs
Filipino immigrants are also looking forward to this comprehensive reform that will fix the broken immigration system. Of the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants, 270,000 are Filipino nationals. This is according to the study of the US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics. Philippines is the number five (5) country with the most unauthorized immigrants next to Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. This figure was taken in January 2009. It is still unknown how much the statistics have changed in the last 18 months.
With restrictive immigration policies and a heightened enforcement of immigration laws, there is an increase in the number of Filipino immigrants wanting to return to their homeland and voluntarily departing the United States. The current economic realities facing the immigrants in the US has impacted Filipino workers.
There is an increase in unemployment rates affecting not only those in the health care industry but also in education. There are a number of Filipino registered nurses who are already lawful permanent residents yet find themselves unemployed and forced to accept jobs less than that of a registered nurse. In the East coast, there are Filipino teachers who came in on H1B or J1 visas whose contracts were no longer renewed for the coming school year. They are forced to return to the Philippines at the end of their contract. Despite these occurrences, many Filipino immigrants are still hoping for a comprehensive immigration reform law that will give them a pathway to legalization.
The SMYP law of Arizona was enacted as an anti-immigrant measure that is widely seen as harmful to the immigrant community. This law has, however, brought the immigration issue to the limelight. Hopefully, the Arizona law will be struck down as being unconstitutional. In the meantime, its enactment may be a blessing in disguise as the Obama administration will now be compelled to act on the issue and support immigration reform legislation.
(Tancinco may be reached at law@tancinco.com or at (02)887 7177)
