Rawley Soberano, Ph.D.

By Rawlein G. Soberano, Ph.D.

Germantown, MD (May 1, 2012) — In WI, a Dane County judge issued an injunction barring the state from using its new voter ID law. A hearing began April 25 with both sides presenting their opposing arguments to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, because the state did not successfully appeal the injunction, the new voter ID law was not in effect for the April 3 presidential primary.

If Gov. Jan Brewer wins this, Mitt Romney and many GOP candidates lose in the general elections in November. His entitlement claim to the presidency (by wife Ann), that it’s now his turn, will crumble to dust. SC has filed an appeal over DOJ’s denial of pre-clearance for its new voter ID law. DOJ found the law discriminatory because the state’s minority voters are 20 percent more likely than white voters to lack a photo ID that meets the standard. Thirty-one states require all voters to show ID before voting at the polls. In 15 of these, a voter with ID must include a photo of the voter; in the remaining 16, non-photo forms of ID are acceptable.

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WASHINGTON (April 24, 2012) — The Chairs and members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus joined with the National Immigration Forum to release the following statements regarding the hearing of United States v. Arizona before the U.S. Supreme Court this week:

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While nearly 400,000 immigrants are incarcerated each year in an expanding archipelago of punitive and life-threatening detention centers, including Minnesota jails, Congress continues to deny the human rights crisis caused by mass, arbitrary detention.

With appalling indifference to these human rights violations, Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX) will convene a hearing this afternoon of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement cynically entitled “Holiday on ICE: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s New Immigration Detention Standards.” The Advocates for Human Rights condemns the gross mischaracterization of this ongoing denial of due process and other severe human rights violations and calls upon Congress to repeal mandatory detention laws, which have driven the explosive expansion of immigration detention.

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Do current and proposed  state and federal immigration policies measure up to the demands of the Gospel?

The next “Hot Topics: Cool Talk” forum at the University of St. Thomas will examine immigration-related questions in light of Catholic teaching. The forum, free and open to the public, will be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 2, in Room 235 of the St. Thomas School of Law on the university’s downtown Minneapolis campus.

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LOS ANGELES (Jan. 6, 2012) — The Asian Pacific American Legal Center, a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, applauds the Obama Administration for adopting a new process – which will be implemented in the coming months – that will direct certain visa applicants to file their applications for family unity waivers in the United States.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 9, 2012) — South Asian Americans Leading Together, a national immigrant and civil rights organization, welcomes the recent proposed changes announced by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service that would promote family unity in certain immigration cases.

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WASHINGTON (Nov. 30, 2011) — The Asian American Justice Center, a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, applauds the Obama Administration for recently taking two positive steps towards protecting the rights and well-being of immigrants.

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Washington D.C. (Nov. 21, 2012) — Last week, the Executive Office for Immigration Review issued new guidance addressing the “asylum clock.”

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The APACL short-animated film in online on YouTube.

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 10, 2011) — The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, has unveiled an animated video short to inform the general public about the exploitation of immigrant workers here in the United States.

The informative, animated short is based on the true-life harrowing story of 72 Thai laborers who were held captive and forced to work 18-hour days for many years in a Southern California sweatshop.

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WASHINGTON (Nov. 17, 2011) — Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Principal Legal Advisor directed all ICE attorneys to begin a systematic review of immigration cases to determine whether pursuing deportation in each case is consistent with the Administration’s enforcement priorities.

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