by Grazia Salvemini
Maryland, one of only four remaining states that do not require proof of legal U.S, residency to obtain a driver’s license, may soon do so.
More than 60 members of that state’s House of Representatives sponsored House Bill 195, the “Proof of Lawful Presence Act 2009.” Hearings began Feb. 25.
The bill is cross-filed as Senate Bill 369. Hearings will begin March 18.
Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, has stated he will support the legislation.
O’Malley explained that thousands of undocumented persons, including many from North Carolina, travel to Maryland to obtain licenses, often entering fraudulent documents through the system.
Immigrant advocates claim that denying licenses to undocumented workers for whom such transportation is deemed essential is likely to cause thousands to drive without a license or insurance. Licensing also ensures that all drivers have passed state motor vehicle exams demonstrating that they know the rules of the road, beneficial to the safety of everyone, the advocates say.
Other states that do not check the immigration status of applicants are Hawaii, New Mexico and Washington.
Arizona rancher guilty again of abusing migrants
by Jonathan Higuera
TUCSON, Ariz.—A federal jury in Tucson ~as found that border vigilante Roger Barnett guilty of assault and intentionally inflicting motional distress on four people who were part of a group of migrants who had crossed into Arizona from Mexico without authorization. Barnett was ordered to pay a total of $77,600 to four of the six plaintiffs who testified in the two-week trial which ended Feb. 17.
The verdict stemmed from a March 7, 2004, incident on public land near Barnett’s ranch in southern Arizona. A group of 16 migrants were resting in a wash when Barnett found them and held them at gunpoint for about half an hour. During the incident, plaintiffs testified that Barnett kicked one of the women who was lying on the ground twice and ordered, “Levantarse, perros.”
While no criminal charges were ever filed in the case, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund fled a civil action against Barnett, his wife Barbara and his brother Donald, who were also present at some point during the incident. The judge dropped the charges against the latter two.
The jury dismissed three other charges against Barnett: violating the plaintiffs’ civil rights, false imprisonment and battery.
“We’re satisfied with the verdict,” Katie O’Connor, a staff member with Border Action Network, a human rights organization in southern Arizona, who sat through the trial, told Weekly Report.
“Jurors obviously connected with the plaintiffs, who had guns pointed at them and were in fear for their life. But they still couldn’t go the extra distance in recognizing that everyone in this country is entitled to certain rights, whether here legally or illegally.”
Border Action Network helped MALDEF locate the plaintiffs, which took months of work.
The verdict is the second successful civil case against Barnett. In 2006, a federal jury ordered him to pay nearly $100,000 to a Mexican-American family he detained while they were hunting on public land. The verdict was upheld last September by the Arizona Supreme Court.
In that 2004 incident, MALDEF reported Barnett pointed an assault rifle at the plaintiffs, including three girls ages 9 to 11. Witnesses testified that he held the family and a friend, all legal U.S. residents, at gunpoint, cursed them with racial slurs and threatened to kill them.
In an interview with Hispanic Link in 2000, Barnett claimed to have captured hundreds of undocumented migrants who, he described as “crossing the border like cockroaches in the night.”
Following the latest verdict, O’Connor said, “We hope the two large checks he has to write will persuade him not to engage in this activity in the future.” Hispanic Link.
