18 Feb 2011

Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Needs To Cool Down

In soccer, a player will be "red carded" - kicked out of the game, without a replacement - for using threatening or offensive language, conduct that’s considered beyond the pale of good sportsmanship and fair play. At times, one can't help wishing that similar sanctions...

18 Feb 2011

Florida Businesses, Law Enforcement Question Need for AZ-Style Bill

Florida’s bid to pass legislation similar to Arizona’s S.B. 1070 appears to be running into resistance, according to an editorial in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. (See Immigration Reform Hits Snag in Tallahassee, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial, 14.Feb.2011.) As the editorial points out, the original proposal...

18 Feb 2011

“Good Moral Character” for Naturalization: Part 1/2

In a recently-updated article, available on MurthyDotCom, some of the requirements for naturalization to become a U.S. citizen are discussed. [See Basic Eligibility Requirements for Naturalization (updated 19.Nov.2010).] Here we focus in greater detail on the legal requirement of "good moral character" - an important,...

14 Feb 2011

Schumer-Graham Redux?

In the run-up to last year's midterm elections, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) were the last hope for a bipartisan immigration reform bill, as they worked to hammer out compromise legislation that never materialized. Senator Graham quit the partnership in April, and...

11 Feb 2011

S.B. 1070 as National Legislation?

Arizona's S.B. 1070 has been a mixed blessing - at best - triggering legal challenges, boycotts and other unpleasantness, and leaving only a handful of state politicians as the apparent beneficiaries of the measure. As our readers have noted in previous MurthyBlog entries, several states...

10 Feb 2011

Ronald Reagan and Immigration Reform

In recent days, we have seen countless tributes to our 40th President, Ronald Reagan, who would have been 100 years old last week. Amid all the celebration, some commentators are wondering whether certain aspects of President Reagan's legacy have been airbrushed - perhaps Photoshopped? -...