Illegal Immigration & the Chandler Roundup

[Ed Barrow]

Reporting from Chandler, Ariz. — In late July 1997, police officers fanned out across this Phoenix suburb searching for illegal immigrants. Working side by side with Border Patrol agents, police demanded proof of citizenship from children walking home from school, grandmothers shopping at the market and employees driving to work. At the end of what became known as the Chandler Roundup, 432 illegal immigrants had been arrested and deported. But during those five days, local police and federal officers also detained dozens of U.S. citizens and legal residents — often stopping them because they spoke Spanish or looked Mexican.

Now, as Arizona prepares to enact SB 1070, the controversial new immigration law, many of Chandler's Latino residents say they are reminded of those terrifying days — and fearful of a repeat of the past.

"SB 1070 just brought home the point: If you are Hispanic or Mexican, you are just not wanted in Arizona," said Joe Garcia, 65, a U.S. citizen who owned a video store in downtown Chandler and helped form a civil rights coalition to demand answers after the roundup.

The state attorney general later determined that authorities had engaged in racial profiling and violated the rights of residents.

...

Though not well-known outside Arizona, the Chandler Roundup wasn't unique. Throughout U.S. history, raids conducted by local police and federal immigration agents have resulted in the deportation of U.S. citizens, according to Francisco Balderrama, a Chicano studies professor at Cal State Los Angeles.

In the 1930s, beginning with a dramatic raid in Los Angeles at La Placita Olvera, federal agents and police arrested more than a million people in operations around the U.S. and sent them to Mexico. By researching records at Mexican consulates, Balderrama estimates that as many as 60% of those deported were U.S. citizens. Other deportation efforts, including the infamous Operation Wetback, continued into the 1940s and 1950s.

Balderrama said that history accounts for some of the unease in the Latino community about SB 1070. "It underscores the situation that your skin color and your surname are used as ways of measuring if you are American or not," he said.


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-chandler-20100606,0,2415717.story

[blondeatlast]

1. When this Arizonan first heard of SB 1070, that is EXACTLY where my mind went.

I knew people who were stopped and asked for papers--and they were lifetime US citizens and Arizona residents.

Guess, just guess, why they were singled out.

[pinboy3niner]

7. Back then, they didn't even bother with the 'reasonable suspicion' pretext

I wonder if Gov. Brewer is already busy pre-filling the arrest forms for when the anti-immigrant law takes effect July 29?

K&R

:kick:

[blondeatlast]

2. Kick so that people can grasp why there is so much (justifiable) anger. nt

[blondeatlast]

3. Please don't just rec--kick, too. this explains why the concern over "reasonable suspicion." nt

[JonLP24]

4. Thank you for bringing this up

I'm well aware of it myself and I believe the same thing will happen with this bill. I always felt the urge to yell Chandler Round-up when the right on TV say it won't lead to racial profiling.

:kick: & rec(I don't rec very much anymore due to laziness but I felt this is important and not really well known even here today in Arizona.

[blondeatlast]

10. I'm sadly stunned that I DON"T hear the incident mentioned in local media discussions of

that hideous bill.

My sister and I were in the car heading to a Target when I first heard about SB 1070 and we both had the same thought--I was driving and she said it while I thought it. The reaction was gut-level and immediate..

[Oceansaway]

5. K&R...n/t

[pampango]

6. K&R.

[SargeUNN]

8. Thanks glad you brought up the Chandler Round up

This is an event of historical importance here in Arizona and is very valid in today's climate.

[southern_belle]

9. K & R n/t

[AlphaCentauri]

11. a shame n//t