Members of the Pima County Board of Supervisors hope to grab the national spotlight today as they play their roles in the melodrama being played out across the country and orchestrated in D.C. to intensify support for immigration reform, according to sources with ICE.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors is being asked to pass RESOLUTION NO. 2014 – 83, of the Board of Supervisors, which calls on President Obama and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to administratively close Rosa Imelda Robles Loreto’s removal case.
According to sources with ICE, Ms. Robles is not in danger of being deported, and the resolution is a stunt to generate sympathy for illegal aliens. The source claimed that Robles is not a risk of removal with the current policies in place and would only become a matter of interest to them should she commit a major crime.
As a matter of fact, a 2011 memo issued by John Morton, a former director of ICE outlines and encourages the use of “prosecutorial discretion” when deciding which cases to pursue. In the memo, agents were advised to place a lower priority on the deportation of immigrants who exhibit certain traits, such as long-standing community ties, lack of a criminal record, and children under their care, according to Thinkprogressorg.
County sources say that Robles, who is popular on Facebook, “should win the soccer moms over,” and that is why she was selected for the supervisors’ assistance.
According to a letter from her attorney, Ms. Robles “has lived in Tucson since 1999, aside from three years in Mexico for the birth of her children from 2003 to 2006. She has 16 US citizen or legal permanent resident relatives residing in Tucson. Her children will be DACA eligible when they reach the appropriate age, according to Robles’s attorney, Mary Margaret Cowan. Her husband, Gerardo Grijalva, who is also reportedly in the country illegally, is a little league coach and one of their sons “may be eligible for a college baseball scholarship if he continues to train hard,” according to Cowan. Cowan notes that Robles “regularly assist the teams by providing support, helping with fundraising, and arranging carpools so that other children can participate.”
Robles came to the attention of the Pima County supervisors when she was initially detained on a minor traffic violation. That temporary detention was blown up into a cause celeb.
As the mid-terms approach, pressure is being placed on Republicans in particular, to pass some sort of immigration reform package as soon as possible. As a result, sympathetic cases like of that Ms. Robles are coming before many governing bodies, public forums, and other venues in order to highlight the plight of illegal immigrants.
According to Pew Research, “Hispanics put a premium on changes in deportation policy. By a 55% to 35% margin, Hispanics said it is more important for undocumented immigrants to get relief from deportation than it is to have a pathway to citizenship, according to a 2013 survey of Hispanic adults by the Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project. As a result of the recent border surge, “Pew found that Hispanics in the U.S. are divided on how to deal with the thousands of Central American children illegally arriving in the country. About as many Hispanics support the current system for deciding immigration cases as do those expediting the process (49% – 47%), which would have the effect of speeding up deportations. The split among Hispanics is in contrast to views of the overall public, which backs a faster process over the current policy by 53% to 39%.”
In a survey conducted in 2010 by Pew, researchers discovered that people based their opinions on immigration based on “personal experience (26%), education (20%) or what they have seen or read in the media (20%) as the most important influence on their thinking about this topic.” In little more than one week’s time, the Green Valley News covered the plight of Ms. Robles twice.
While ICE sources say that Robles case is a non-issue, a real issues is tucked into the consent agenda is an issue that many believe should be in the spotlight. The supervisors will be voting on agenda item: Award of Contract, Requisition No. 14-268, for election voting systems and related services. The contract is for a (6) six year term and includes one renewal option for a six (6) year term. The new system, according to Pima County Election Integrity commissioners will allow the County to continue to rig elections.
In an effort to stop the County, some members of the Pima County Election Integrity Commission have been trying to get the public’s attention and rally support for the purchase of scanners at today’s meeting.
Commissioner William Beard, other community leaders, and residents are asking the supervisors to reject County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry’s recommendation to exclude precinct scanners in the purchase. According to Beard, scanners are the best means of allowing for independent verification and oversight of election tallies. Scanners help to cross check the final numbers, verify the final tally and can be independently verified.
Beard says transparency can be maintained and removing the scanners will now concentrate all counting at the central location. This new policy will mean that fewer citizens will have the ability to oversee the counts, according to Beard. “The system of Checks and Balances engrained in every part of the US and Arizona Constitutions direct that powers be divided and the responsibilities of competing interests help guard against harming the Rights of citizens,” argued Beard in a statement released earlier this week. “The Board needs to be reminded that it is ultimately the citizens that are in charge of government,” continued Beard. “We will not stand for the concentration of determining the outcome of any election in the hands of a shrinking number of people held accountable only to the County Administrator.” Beard and others are asking the public to “tell Mr. Huckleberry and the Board ‘NO.’”
Beard intends to present a petition to the Board of Supervisors, which insist that precinct scanners remain a part of the system of ballot counting.
To add your voice visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GR83HBM or visit the website for Az Accountability Foundation and follow the survey link. http://www.azaccountability.org/ The Arizona Accountability Foundation advises members of the public that they can make a change by:
1. Click on the survey link to join the petition. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GR83HBM
2. Email the supervisors http://webcms.pima.gov/government/board_of_supervisors