Feet in 2 Worlds’ News Picks, July 12, 2012

Our racks are overflowing with immigration news. (Photo: Bill Ward’s Brickpile/Flickr)

If the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the “papers please” provision of SB 1070 is going to change how Arizona authorities do their work, there’s been no sign of it so far.  According to CNN, federal authorities report no increase in the number of illegal immigration checks by Arizona law enforcement.

One of the main criticisms of this provision of the law, which requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect to be undocumented, is that it will lead to racial profiling.  It is possible that another lawsuit against SB 1070 will make its way to the Court with this argument.  But according to this article in USA Today, proving racial profiling is difficult and time-consuming.

In South Carolina, a judge has decided to keep his state’s version of the “papers please” provision on hold until an appeals court ruling goes through.

Last week, we included two columns from CNN.com about the term “illegal” to describe undocumented immigrants. Ruben Navarette, Jr. argued that “illegal” was a difficult but truthful designation.  At New American Media, Prerna Lal takes Navarette to task for what she calls oversimplifying the conversation.

Washington Post Group columnist Esther Cepeda calls for a more nuanced discussion of immigration issues in general.

Dominican-American New York State Senator Adriano Espaillat officially announced his candidacy for reelection to his current seat, just two days after narrowly losing a run for U.S. Congress.  In the New York Observer, Espaillat goes into detail on his upcoming race, as well as his anger towards the New York Board of Elections.

In the Bronx, community leaders broke ground on a new Islamic Cultural Center, after one was destroyed in a fire, according to the New York Daily News.

El Diario has the story of a Puerto Rican who fights against injustice with an unusual weapon: a camera.

Fi2W is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation and the Sirus Fund.

AboutJustin Mitchell
Justin Mitchell was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska. He graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 2002 with a degree in theater, and worked as an ESL teacher in the Czech Republic, Cambodia, and Korea. He is now a student at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism with a focus in international journalism. Follow him on Twitter @mittinjuschell.