Federal Lawsuit against Racist Arizona Law (UPDATED)

• • immigration, law, Obama



Hot news about the Arizona law. It will be challenged in court by the Obama administration:

According to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, the decision has already been made. “President Obama has spoken out against the law because he thinks that the federal government should be determining immigration policy,” she said in an interview with an Ecuadorean television station flagged by The Right Scoop. “And the Justice Department, under his direction, will be bringing a lawsuit against the act.”

It is interesting that the news came from the Secretary of State, in Ecuador. And there was a good reason for it, as below.

UPDATE: NY Times

A State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, said Mrs. Clinton was responding to deep unhappiness over the law that has been expressed in Mexico and other Latin American countries. At home, polls show that a majority of Americans support the law, or at least the concept of states more rigorously enforcing immigration laws. But Latino groups and elected officials have denounced it as an affront to Hispanics.

Pressing for Enforceable Human Rights in All Nations: The 2048 Rights Project

• • human rights, indigenous, international, law, Native American, Obama, politics



I just learned today about the 2048 project on international human rights, which has bold goals that in my view would make for a much more human, humanitarian, rights-oriented world:

Our mission is to educate students and the public about the evolution of human rights, and to provide a process to draft an international framework for enforceable human rights that can be in place by the year 2048, the 100th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

There is lots of good stuff on the site about human rights, and about teaching about human rights issues, nationally and internationally.

The site also has some excellent links to many good resources on U.S. and international human rights issues, like this listing on the U.S.’s spotty record on signing and not signing (or signing with major reservations) various important international rights agreements.

Interestingly, too, the U.S. government under President Obama is just now rethinking our official and hostile position (developed under George W. Bush and other previous administrations) against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Indian Country Today summarizes our “outlaw state” record:

UNDRIP was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 13, 2007, in a historic vote by an overwhelming majority of 143 states in favor to four against, with 11 abstentions. Canada, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand – all countries whose sizeable indigenous populations can claim large areas of land – were the only four states that voted no.

Interesting: 143-4! Here is the Obama administration recent statement:

Welcome to the Department of State’s website for the U.S. review of its position on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Administration recognizes that for many around the world, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a framework for addressing indigenous issues. Tribal leaders and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have recommended that the United States reexamine its position on the Declaration. In response, the Department of State and other Federal agencies will be conducting a review of the Declaration’s provisions.