When Mr. Kobach Comes to Town / Nativist Laws & the Communities They Damage

[proud2BlibKansan]

Trail of Tears

In the last decade, high levels of non-white immigration have sparked a backlash against the changing racial makeup of the United States. Hate crimes against Latinos, who make up the bulk of the immigrants, have spiked. The number of racist hate groups has expanded by more than half. Frustration with what is seen as federal inaction has fueled the growth of vigilante-type groups patrolling the border and the proliferation of anti-immigrant ordinances and state laws.

The municipal response began with a pro- posed 2006 law aimed at punishing undocumented immigrants in San Bernardino, Calif., and quickly metastasized into scores of similar proposals, many in communities with just a handful of immigrants, that would sanction employers, landlords and the immi- grants themselves. Finally, early last year, the state of Arizona adopted the harshest nativist law yet seen.

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That was just the beginning. The four towns and one state examined in this report all saw a crisis in race relations as conflicts between Latino immi- grants and mostly white natives escalated. Latinos reported being threatened, shot at, subjected to racial taunts and more. Police are having trouble getting cooperation from any in their Latino communities. Pro-immigrant activists have been threatened with notes that promise to “shed blood” to “take back” communities. The mayor of one town had his house vandalized after opposing a proposed law and was warned by federal agents to be careful; he ended up retiring after four terms in office. Angry protests and counter-protests, along with dangerously rising ten- sions, have rocked one town after another. In some communities, business districts have largely collapsed.

Behind all of this stands one man: Kris Kobach, a former Kansas City law professor who was just elected Kansas secretary of state. For the better part of the last six years, Kobach has been chief legal counsel to the Immigration Reform Law Institute, which is the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). He helped to write and defend in court the laws in Hazleton, Valley Park, Farmers Branch, Fremont and Arizona, and he is seeking to do even more.

more . . . http://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/downloads/publication/When-Mr-Kobach-Comes-to-Town_1.pdf