So you know that boycott of Arizona that the City Council pushed through to express the outrage over the Arizona’s new immigration law? A lot of people have suggested it’s just a meaningless move, like banning nail clippers on airplanes, that doesn’t really change anything but lets a lot of people pat themselves on the back for doing the right thing. But it seems as quick as they were to pass it, they are just as happy to write in exceptions to it. Like the redlight cameras all over the city, turns out those are operated by Scottsdale-based American Traffic Solutions, Scottsdale being firmly a part of Arizona. And you know, since those are a big source of revenue for the city and prevent accidents at red lights, in the interest of the people, the City Council has gone ahead and excepted them from the boycott. Except they don’t do either of those things. They aren’t making the city any money and if anything they are causing more accidents. And what is worse, the City Council knows this.

The LAPD’s statistics show that about half of the 32 photo-enforced intersections have either had no change in accidents or an increase, said Councilwoman Janice Hahn.

“That’s not a very good record,” she said. And some of the city’s worst intersections for traffic safety don’t have cameras, she said.

She and Councilman Paul Koretz also pointed to a report from the city’s top budget advisor that says Los Angeles’ revenue from tickets falls about $300,000 short of covering payments to ATS and the LAPD’s costs to run the program.

Doing a heck of a job there City Council. Heck of a job.

Wait, WTF are you doing again exactly??
[part of the above photo taken by flickr user jkarsh and used under creative commons]

– Tam Tran, quoted in an article in the Los Angeles Times

I suppose death is the time to reflect and celebrate a life – but what of the black void leading up to accepting the fact that a life should be celebrated because of a death?  Shrug.  I knew of Tam Tran for quite some time before I finally met her, at a party in which we bantered about the best way to serve cheese.  I also met Cinthya Felix then, and I snapped a few photos of both her and Tam with their best friends.  The picture still lingers in the electronic halls of Facebook like a Post-It reminder waiting to be appreciated, if only I were brave enough to look at it again.

Tam Tran and Cinthya Felix, both graduates of UCLA and from Southern California, died in a fatal car crash over the weekend.  Both were undocumented immigrants, brought here as children.  As they went on in their academic careers, they discovered they were ineligible for financial aid thanks to a myriad of statutes barring the release of such funds to undocumented individuals.  Private loans were not an option so long as applications required proof of legal status.  Heck, without proper ID, the pair would have had problems proving they were of age to watch The Hangover.  And so, Tam and Cinthya had to figure out some way to pay the bills in cash.  Cinthya came up with a pretty great website straight up asking the public for donations towards her graduate tuition at Columbia (she wanted to be a doctor).  Tam juggled as many jobs as she could (she wanted to be a filmmaker).  When they didn’t have enough funds, both took off entire quarters until they could re-enroll with the requisite price of admission in hand.

Recognizing they were not alone, the pair advocated tirelessly in support of the as-yet-unpassed DREAM Act, which would grant a carefully defined class of undocumented students residency in this country.  Tam testified before Congress in support of the legislation; her efforts drew the attention/ire of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who, out of sheer coincidence I’m sure, arrested her parents and brother three days after her public stance.

I didn’t know either well enough to presume that I know how they would want to be honored, but I do know that they wanted others to understand their cause, even if one, in the end, did not completely agree with their stance.  To that end, I’m posting a pretty great video Tam created called “Lost and Found (Story of a DREAM Act Student)”.  It was screened at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film Festival in 2009.  It’s after the jump.

For those struggling with the loss of such honest-to-goodness great people, I suppose the best we can do is trust that the void won’t always be so dark.  And when we’re ready, the Post-Its will still be there to remind us all of Tam and Cinthya, and of our dentist appointment tomorrow at 3pm.  Don’t be late.

Meanwhile, Arizona’s governor, who signed the bill to much fanfare/fanhate, just doesn’t understand why all this is happening to the lil’ ol’ xenophobic people of Arizona:

“Why would they want to hurt the legal citizens?” Brewer says. “You and I, and everybody else in this state. It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to me.”

Womp, womp, Governor.  So sad, too bad.

*see also here and here.

Photo of a Los Angeles manhole made in Mexico courtesy Dan Hontz via the Metblogs Flickr pool.

Your situation, of course, may differ. Maybe you have family in The Copper State; maybe you do business there; maybe you have a weekend cabin near Oak Creek Canyon. I don’t know. But you probably already know that, in the midst of the new anti-immigration law recently passed there, traveling through Arizona just got a heck of a lot more interesting. As residents of a border state, Californians have a lot to be concerned about.

According to the new law, police of any stripe — state cops, local cops, sheriffs — may stop any individual they “reasonably” suspect of being an undocumented or illegal immigrant. And if that person doesn’t provide proof of legal immigrant status or citizenship, he or she can be arrested on the spot. That means cops in Arizona can stop anyone they want, at any time, and demand proof of citizenship under threat of being tossed in jail.

The law is not in effect yet. And the chances that it’ll face a pretty huge array of legal challenges are good, so there’s actually a small chance that enforcement may never become a reality. But that’s nowhere close to a certainty, and there’s no guarantee that small-town cops or highway patrollers won’t want to jump the gun.

So how can you protect yourself? Unless you plan on engaging in an act of civil disobedience, the best way is to carry proof of legal immigration status or citizenship. For immigrants, that means a green card, visa, Certificate of Citizenship or Certificate of Naturalization. Citizens should carry a passport (current is best, but an expired, undamaged passport is proof of US citizenship) or a birth certificate. A social security card would also be helpful if you have one.

Finally: If you’re not a legal immigrant, or if you know of any errors or misstatements on your immigration documentation, or if you’ve been having trouble with your immigration documentation, or if there’s any doubt at all as to your immigration status, stay the hell out of Arizona until this whole thing blows over. As I said, there’s a good chance the new law won’t survive the inevitable constitutional challenges, so the longer you can wait to do your business there, the better.

Here’s a list (provided by the US Department of Justice) of attorneys providing pro bono immigration services in Arizona. Here’s another list of pro bono immigration lawyers in California.

Rutten speaks to the questionable humanity of the new procedure to deal with illegal immigration that will do nothing to provide the underlying necessity, an overhaul of immigration policy. In fact, as the new procedure eliminates the raids and deportations of the past, it will add to an ongoing one: unscrupulous companies that will hire, underpay, overwork and mistreat displaced workers to save a buck.

The administration seems to be choosing the lesser of two evils here, allowing undocumented workers to remain in the US, assumedly so they can act on getting  legal, rather than deportation. In the interim, they will have to deal with finding a  way to survive and support their families.

Rutten quotes one of the fired American Apparel’s workers here in Los Angeles who says he will “go back to one of those sweatshops where I’m going to have to get paid under the table.”

There will still be those of the Neanderthal “too bad–should have stayed in Mexico” mindset who will remain unmoved, but if they take the time to read Rutten’s column, at least they can’t say they never were confronted by the concept of compassion and its glaring necessity as a component of reform.

The firings are a result of the Obama administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration by forcing companies to fire undocumented workers instead of staging workplace raids.

According to the article, the investigation of American Apparel began 17 months ago under President George W. Bush, but has become regarded by the the Obama administration as a “showcase” for its work to reduce illegal immigration.

Two documentaries examining immigrant experiences, both here in the US as well as in the originating countries for each subject, played last night at the DocuWeeks film festival at the Arclight Hollywood. And if you take for granted how you got here, each of these films are stark reminders of the challenges faced somewhere along the way by the people of a nation primarily descended from immigrants (let alone the problems we collectively created for Native Americans.)

Ingelore is the story of Ingelore Herz Honigstein, a deaf Jewish woman born in Germany in 1924. She comes to grips with her disability over the next 14 years as the Third Reich rises up around her, practically unnoticed by a girl who already has far too much to accommodate and overcome.

Director Frank Stiefel‘s moving film about his mother, who was present at the screening, is propelled by her own words describing her experiences at the hands of embarrassed parents, ostracizing classmates, plundering Nazis and uncaring US Consulate officials. As she tells her story of overcoming her limitations and escaping Germany for the US, I got a sense she still marvels at her own survival.

At a reception after the screening, I approached Ingelore to express the myriad of emotions I was feeling after hearing her story. The energetic 85 year-old looked me in the eye and said, “It’s a true story,” and paused, holding my gaze as she seemed to mirror my taking it in.

Ingelore screens two more times this week at the Arclight: Wed. August 5th at 3:15 PM and Thur. August 6th at noon.

Point of Entry looks at the life of a Mexican immigrant, Carlos, who illegally crossed the US border when he was 15 years old, leaving his family behind in Tlaxcala, the smallest state in Mexico. Now 30, still in the US, married (to another illegal) and with two young children born here, he continues to provide for his family back in Mexico.

Made by USC graduate student director Zeus Quijano, Jr. as part of his master thesis, the film examines familial bonds that transcend geography and economy as Carlos straddles his divided life; here with his wife and their children, now in school, and away from a family that hopes he one day will return to Mexico. The interviews with his parents as they tearfully, proudly tell of his decision to leave, are the film’s emotional core.

After the screening, Quijano told me he’s trying to get Carlos to talk to an immigration lawyer “to get legal,” but with the demands of supporting two families, he prefers spending what little downtime he has enjoying the one he’s with.

Point of Entry screens (with Ingelore, in Shorts Program 2,) two more times this week at the Arclight: Wed. August 5th at 3:15 PM and Thur. August 6th at noon.

The DocuWeeks film festival is presented yearly by the Los Angeles-based International Documentary Association simultaneously in LA and New York and runs for three weeks. (This year, July 31st through August 20th.) The non-profit organization provides filmmakers with a venue for their work as well as allowing them to qualify for Academy Award consideration. (I’m predicting good things for Ingelore in that respect.)

The details aren’t clear just yet – any one of you readers have more information? – but everyone seems to agree that a number of workers were arrested and are being detained at least one local detention center.  A rally apparently is forming in the area – I’ll update if I receive more details.  In the meantime, if you happen to get caught in an immigration raid, know your rights: handy guides here and here.  Think you don’t need to know becauase you’re a red blooded Amer-i-can?  Think again.