Between The Lines - Christian Ramirez: What's at stake in Supreme Court decision on constitutionality of Arizona's SB-1070 immigration law (Week Ending May 11, 2012)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments Challenging Constitutionality of Arizona's "Papers Please" Law

RealAudio MP3

Posted May 2, 2012

Interview with Christian Ramirez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, conducted by Scott Harris

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 25 from both defenders and opponents of Arizona’s controversial Senate Bill 1070 immigration law. The Obama administration’s Justice Department is challenging the Arizona law, arguing that the federal government has sole authority over matters of immigration enforcement, citing the Supremacy Clause in the U.S. constitution.

Four provisions of the law have been blocked by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Two of the law’s provisions criminalize undocumented immigrants found in Arizona who are soliciting work within the state. Another part of the law authorizes police to make warrantless arrests of anyone they believe has committed a deportable offense. The fourth provision is often referred to as the "papers please" measure, which requires police to demand immigration documents from anyone stopped, detained or arrested in the state who officers reasonably suspect is in the country without authorization. The law also mandates that law enforcement agencies determine all arrestees' immigration status before they can be released. Opponents charge that the law will institutionalize racial profiling, since it targets Latino citizens and non-citizens alike.

During the high court hearing, legal observers saw signals in the questions posed by justices that could imply that the conservative majority on the court will uphold key provisions of the Arizona law. If the law is upheld, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah will likely be able to proceed with similar immigration laws that have been enacted but have been on hold pending the Supreme Court's decision. The court is expected to issue a ruling in the case by late June. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Christian Ramirez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, who examines what’s at stake in how the Supreme Court rules on Arizona’s repressive SB 1070 immigration law.

CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ: Unfortunately, SB 1070 is at the forefront anti-immigrant legislation across the United States. This is an attempt by the government of Arizona to take control these days of immigration policy and enforce immigration laws because they feel that their state has been affected negatively by the influx of migrant workers. The legislators in Arizona have taken it upon themselves to enforce their own interpretation of what federal immigration law should be. Part of that interpretation is that anyone that appears to be an undocumented person will be subjected to questioning, detention until that person is able to prove that in fact they are in this country with documents. This is particularly problematic for a state like Arizona, in which over 60 percent of the population are people of color.

And that has become a hotbed issue not only in Arizona, but across the United States, because a lot of local law enforcement agencies are not well-trained to determine what immigration law is, and have taken it upon themselves to enforce immigration laws and have in fact, created very serious problems in terms of civil and human rights in that state. And the threat, of course, now is that type of state-driven immigration policy will be adopted by other states if the justices in the Supreme Court determine that SB 1070 will stand and be allowed to be implemented.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Christian, can you tell us a bit of how this law has affected immigrant families and others on the ground in Arizona?

CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ: I think the main issue has been the fear-mongering in Arizona. The main driving force behind this bill in Arizon, where legislators that were very closely tied to extremist groups – as matter of fact, Sen. Russell Pierce from Arizona, who was the main architect of SB 1070, was recently recalled by his constituents because of alleged misconduct, and his close ties to white supremacy organizations in that state.

What we have created in Arizona is a climate of animosity. But we have also seen something that has been powerful, which is communities, not just the Latino communities and immigrant communities, but communities of all shapes and all creeds and all faiths are coming together in that state to say, Enough!

We cannot afford in our country to go back 60 years in civil rights gains. We need to hold true to our values as a nation, that we cannot discriminate against folks based on the color of their skin. And what we have seen in fact is not just folks marching and protesting, but also beginning to mend the wounds that SB 1070 has created.

The main issue is emboldening a law enforcement agency that is ill-trained to enforce immigration laws and because of that, a lot of folks in that state have been persecuted because of the color of their skin. And many immigrants have felt that they're no longer welcome in Arizona and have left the state, even those immigrants that are legally in this country. So, it has been a very divisive issue in Arizona, and as I've said, it's not just the fear and the terror that communities feel, but now we have seen a very powerful and very beautiful civil rights movement flourishing in Arizona that is perhaps the silver lining of this very contentious debate over SB 1070 in the Grand Canyon state.

BETWEEN THE LINES: It's interesting. I've heard some commentary from police chiefs and other high officials and police departments around the country who really are not favoring this legislation. They don't want this responsibility and all the scrutiny that they come under when these immigrations are on their agenda every day as they make these traffic stops and all these other minor arrests and then have to go through this extra hurdle of figuring out if this person or that person is here, legally documented.

CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ: Time and time again, and not just in the southwest, but in my visits to other parts of the United States, I have heard from the law enforcement community. The message is loud and clear: We as local enforcement should not have to deal with immigration issues, that is, something that is exclusive to the federal government to enforce, and states and municipalities should not get involved. Because if we get involved, then we will lose the trust of people of color and of immigrants in particular. And that's exactly the debate that's taking place in the Supreme Court.

Find links to Southern Border Communities Coalition at soboco.org/.