Crisis on the Border?: A Discussion of Security, Immigration, and New Mexico’s Reality

WHO: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico Law School Chapter

WHAT: Panel discussion focusing on the New Mexico/ Mexico borderlands. Invited speakers:

Tim Manning, Director of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security

Gary Mitchell, President of ACLU-NM Board of Directors,

Christina Rosado-Maher, Director of Immigration, Catholic Charities

Bob Wright, Director for the New Mexico Minuteman Corps

WHERE: UNM School of Law, Room 2401

WHEN: November 1st, 2005 from 5:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M.

WHY: Diverse panelists concerned about immigration issues debate current policies and the perception that New Mexico’s borderlands are in crisis.

ALBUQUERQUE—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed a civil rights lawsuit today asking the federal court to declare Albuquerque’s recently-passed Voter I.D. Amendment “unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.”

The new law requires people who vote in person to present a “current valid identification card containing the voter’s name and photograph.” Among the acceptable forms of identification are a driver’s license, a credit card, and a voter identification card issued by the City Clerk. Absentee voters are exempt from any photo I.D. requirements.

“If you’re poor or homeless, there’s a good chance you don’t have any of the permissible forms of identification,” said ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson. “Wealth shouldn’t determine your ability to participate in democracy. Americans shouldn’t have to jump through unnecessary hoops to exercise their constitutionally-guaranteed right to vote.”

Under the Voter I.D. Amendment, an application for an absentee ballot simply requires that people provide their name, address, and the last four digits of the social security number. No photo I.D. requirement applies and the ballot may be cast by mail or delivered in person.

Simonson said, “Why should people who actually show their faces at the polling place suffer more rigorous identification requirements than someone who votes from a distance? It doesn’t make sense. We’re creating two classes of voters. The Constitution doesn’t permit that.”

The filing of the ACLU suit coincides with today’s decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a court ruling blocking another voter I.D. law in Georgia. Like the Albuquerque law, Georgia’s photo I.D. requirements only applied to in-person voters. Simonson said the Georgia decision “sets a very good precedent for our case.”

Attorneys James Scarantino, Joseph Kennedy, and Shannon Oliver are litigating the ACLU’s case along with ACLU Staff Attorney George Bach. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the ACLU of New Mexico and Barbara Grothus.

Reminder:
The Youth Advisory Board and the Center for Civic Values are pleased to be co-sponsoring the first ever Bill of Rights Mock Trial. The registration deadline for the Bill of Rights Mock Trial is November 4, and the competition is November 19.
For more information please refer to the October 12 posting on this blog.

ALBUQUERQUE – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed a lawsuit yesterday to protect the right of a Department of Health employee to post material that is critical of the Iraq war on the window in her office.

On August 22, the employee’s supervisor instructed her to remove the materials from a window that looks out onto an atrium in the Runnels Building in Santa Fe. For over a year, the employee had posted materials of similar political content without incident.

“It appears that they wanted the items removed because a senior staff meeting was to be held in the building that day,” said ACLU staff attorney George Bach. “But they didn’t seem bothered by other postings that were generally more favorable to the war effort. To us that smacks of viewpoint-based discrimination.”

In August and September, Bach sent letters to the Department of Health attorneys asking that the Department reverse its directive, but without effect. On October 20, he and ACLU Cooperating Attorney Julie Sakura said filed a lawsuit claiming violations of the employee’s First Amendment rights in State District Court.

Sakura added, “The Constitution protects speech that addresses issues of great public interest. No one would argue that the employee’s postings fail to meet that test. If others can express their opinions about the war, then she should have that right too.”

“It just doesn’t make sense to prohibit an employee of the Department of Health, of all people, from posting statistics about New Mexicans who perish in the war in Iraq,” said Bach

CONTACT:
Claudia Guevara, ACLU of Texas at 915-532-0921 ext. 27
Peter Simonson, Executive Director, ACLU of New Mexico at 505-266-4622

HACHITA, NM – Border Patrol authorities revealed to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that they arrested a member of the New Mexico Minuteman last week for smuggling/detaining a group of migrants outside of Hachita, New Mexico, a community on the U.S. border with Mexico.

The Minuteman volunteer, said to be from Colorado, was driving in Hidalgo County and came across a group of migrants who flagged him down for food and water. He was arrested while en route to the town of Hachita.

“We don’t yet have complete information on the Minutemen’s arrest,” said Ray Ybarra, Racial Justice Fellow for the ACLU of Texas, who has been monitoring the activities of the New Mexico Minutemen. “What we do know is that this individual was taken into custody, but that the charges eventually were dropped.

“If the report is corroborated, it would confirm our suspicions that the Minutemen are, at best, not well-supervised and, at worst, inclined to take the law into their own hands, including unlawfully detaining people who they think are undocumented immigrants.”

The Minutemen have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that states, “Minutemen do not verbally contact, physically gesture to or have any form of communications with suspected Illegal Aliens.”

The US Attorney’s office in Tucson is prosecuting Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss for transporting three migrants to a hospital on July 9th after finding them with symptoms of severe dehydration. Sellz and Strauss are volunteers for a humanitarian aid organization called No More Deaths.

Ybarra questioned why Sellz and Strauss would be more aggressively prosecuted than the Minutemen when they were performing as Good Samaritans. “Letting the Minutemen violate the law without accountability sends the signal that vigilante activity is welcome in New Mexico. This can lead to a very dangerous situation for migrants and New Mexican residents alike,” he said.

Rio Rancho—Rio Rancho science teachers are getting some advice from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico: don’t “be afraid to refuse to discuss or teach intelligent design…Any teacher who is disciplined in any way for declining to discuss or teach intelligent design should contact the ACLU immediately.”

The ACLU made those recommendations in an email letter (attached) that it sent yesterday to eighty science teachers in Rio Rancho middle and high schools. The letter responds to a recently-passed Rio Rancho school board policy on science education that many have interpreted as a tactic to introduce intelligent design, the belief that a supernatural creator ‘designed’ the universe, into science classrooms.

“We wanted science teachers to know that the ACLU supports them and that the Constitution does give them some control over this situation,” said ACLU executive director Peter Simonson. “Intelligent design is religion, not science. No credible scientist or science association endorses it. To allow the study of intelligent design in the science classroom not only would violate the school district’s standards on science education, but it also would be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.”

Last Friday, a group that calls itself “Pastor’s Net” held a meeting at Destiny Church in Rio Rancho to encourage students in Rio Rancho schools to provoke discussions about intelligent design in their science classes. The ACLU letter urged science teachers to respond to such activity with “a brief comment on why intelligent design is not science–and therefore not appropriate material for the science classroom–and then direct the class to legitimate science curriculum.”

Simonson said, “One of the most troubling aspects of this controversy is the willingness of some Rio Rancho school board members to make a political battleground of the classroom–and the subtle ways in which they are enlisting students to carry out their campaign. Science teachers should be left alone to carry out the important mission of delivering a legitimate science education, instead of being made a focus of religious politics.”

The ACLU has vowed to file suit against the Rio Rancho school district if it requires science teachers to promote the study of intelligent design.

ACLU spokesperson Ray Ybarra on Public T.V.s “In Focus” program TONIGHT at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday October 16 at 7:00 a.m. Ray is a featured speaker in a roundtable discussion focusing on the “Minutemen” and vigilante activity.

ACLU New Mexico Presents : UNDOCUMENTED: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MINUTEMEN PROJECT at the Guild Cinema in Nob Hill ALBUQUERQUE – This SATURDAY OCTOBER 15 at 12:00 Noon a free screening at the Guild Cinema on 3405 Central Ave. NE! We still need legal observers on the border - to sign-up for legal observer dates please send an email to cguevara@aclutx.org or call 915-532-0921 at least several days in advance.

Film “Unconstitutional: the War on Our Civil Liberties” to be Shown at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Carlisle ALBUQUERQUE – TONIGHT Friday, October 14 at 7:00 PM, there will be a showing of the film “Unconstitutional: the War on Our Civil Liberties” at the Unitarian Church on Carlisle. The 1-hour film will be followed by discussion. “Unconstitutional", an independent documentary film, presents the director’s view of the effects on individuals and communities of new laws and government actions that went into effect after 9/11. The film addresses such areas as passage of the USA Patriot Act, secret government surveillance, detention of immigrants and “unlawful combatants,” racial profiling, and prison conditions at Guantanamo Bay. All members of the public are invited to attend this free event.

ACLU of New Mexico Southwestern Chapter Annual Meeting Saturday ,October 22 SILVER CITY – The ACLU of New Mexico Southwestern Chapter will hold its annual meeting at 5:00 pm on Saturday, October 22 at the First Church of Whats Happening at 609 N. Arizona Street. ACLU of New Mexico Staff Attorney George Bach will give a talk entitled “The Bill of Rights is NOT discretionary: Defending the Constitution in New Mexico in the 21st Century.” George Bach will speak about the ACLU of New Mexico’s work in defending privacy, liberty, and the separation of church and state. For more info CONTACT: Barbara Tegge, President, ACLU of New Mexico Southwest Chapter at 505-388-3407 .

MORE DETAILS SOON TO FOLLOW:

ACLU of New Mexico Northern Chapter Bi-annual meeting in November

ACLU of New Mexico Bill of Rights Dinner on Friday December 9 at the Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town (formally the Old Town Sheraton).

Please pass our emails on to friends! For those not on the main ACLU-NM public listserve, it is easy to sign-up! Please go to - http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/aclu-nm to sign yourself up. This is the main ACLU-NM e-listserve where we send out press releases, updates, and alerts.

CONTACT:
Barbara Tegge, President, ACLU of New Mexico Southwest Chapter at 505-388-3407

SILVER CITY – The ACLU of New Mexico Southwestern Chapter will hold its annual meeting at 5:00 p.m.on Saturday, October 22 at the First Church of Whats Happening at 609 N. Arizona Street. ACLU of New Mexico Staff Attorney George Bach will give a talk entitled “The Bill of Rights is NOT discretionary: Defending the Constitution in New Mexico in the 21st Century.”

George Bach will speak about the ACLU of New Mexico’s work in defending privacy, liberty, and the separation of church and state.

“The war on civil liberties is unfortunately reaching every community in this country – and it’s our mission to be here in Silver City, Deming, Hobbs, Las Cruces, Reserve, Columbus, anywhere necessary to tackle these issues head-on,” said Bach.

Since he came on board as staff at the ACLU, Bach has traveled to Gallup, Hobbs, Clovis, Portales and consulted on and investigated civil liberties issues in Deming, Silver City, Farmington, Maxwell, Reserve, and Las Cruces. In addition to attacks on privacy and the latest on “Intelligent Design theory” in New Mexico, Bach will give an update on the ACLU legal docket in New Mexico, including the recent lawsuit against the city of Deming on behalf of a firefighters’ union. He will also elaborate on the ACLU’s Legal Observer project which monitors the vigilante presence on the U.S. - Mexico border. There will be time for questions about the ACLU’s activities at the meeting.

Bach has served as the Staff Attorney for the ACLU of New Mexico since February 14, 2005. He is the ACLU of New Mexico’s first staff attorney in its over forty year history as an advocacy organization. Prior to joining the staff at the ACLU, Bach worked as an associate attorney with Peifer & Cornell, LLP in Albuquerque, New Mexico, practicing primarily in civil rights, union-side labor law and employee-side employment law. He earned his B.A. degree from Centre College of Kentucky and his J.D. degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law. He is also a former president of the New Mexico Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association and currently a member of the Board of Directors for Equality PAC, a political action committee working for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in New Mexico.

Materials on the ACLU will be available at the annual meeting and donations are accepted at the door. For more information contact Barbara Tegge, Chapter President, at 388-3407.

ALBUQUERQUE – ACLU of New Mexico’s Central New Mexico Chapter, the UNM Law School Chapter, and the UNM Chapter will host a discussion featuring Mikey Weinstein on Thursday, October 6, at 5:30 p.m. in room 2401 at the University of New Mexico Law School.

Mikey Weinstein, Albuquerque attorney and businessman, is the leader and spokesperson for the much-publicized movement to restore constitutionally-mandated separation of church and state at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kevin Hoover, ACLU-NM Board Member, will introduce Mikey Weinstein and the talk will be followed by a question and answer session.

“If this country violates the Constitution by losing religious neutrality at a place like the United States Air Force Academy within the United States Air Force and Department of Defense, we will not only lose what makes us uniquely American, we will destroy ourselves in the process,” said Mikey Weinstein. Such a disaster would be made all the worse by the fact that we are currently engaged in combat in a region that already sees us, monolithically, as invading and occupying American/Christian crusaders and imperialists.”

In his talk, he will describe his personal and family background, which includes three generations of military academy graduates, how he became involved in and brought events at the Academy to significant national and international attention, how this serious situation impacts the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense and our nation as a whole.

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

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WHEN: Thursday Evening, October 6 at 5:30

WHERE: UNM School of Law, room 2401 - Refreshments Provided

Mikey Weinstein, Albuquerque attorney and businessman, is the leader and spokesperson for the much-publicized movement to restore constitutionally-mandated separation of church and state at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In his talk, he will describe his personal and family background which includes three generations of military academy graduates, how he became involved in and brought events at the Academy to significant national and international awareness, how this serious situation impacts the United States Air Force, the entire Department of Defense and our nation as a whole, particularly in a time of war against an enemy that already sees us as invading Christian crusaders. He will share his unique perspective about the potential catastrophic dangers that may be wrought from the concerted efforts of the fundamentalist religious right to destroy the wall separating church and state and what this means for our lives, the future of America and our place in the world.

This event is co-sponsored by:

ACLU New Mexico

ACLU University of New Mexico Undergraduate Chapter

Central New Mexico ACLU Chapter

Ecumenical Voices for Democracy