Race and the Immigration Debate: Chapter 1001

Both the Washington Post and Business Week, two mainstream media outlets, recently acknowledged how anti-immigrant policies and sentiment often adversely affects minority citizens in the United States.

We blog often about the immigration antics of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.  The Post today wrote about about Manuel de Jesus Ortega Melendres, a Mexican citizen, entered the United States legally last fall, using a visa valid until 2016 as well as a permit from the Department of Homeland Security. Ortega looked to be complying with the law “except for one small misstep: being brown in Maricopa County.”

In a story “The Immigration Fight Gets Ugly,” Business Week reports that “worker advocates claim innocent workers also are being swept up in the ensuing response from employers. `Some employers are misunderstanding the law and just getting rid of Latino employees,’ says Bill Chandler, executive director of the Jackson (Miss.)-based Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance (MIRA). `The law is confusing for employers and devastating for workers.'”

KJ