The shifting debate over The DREAM Act illustrates one of the themes of 9500 Liberty and the Coffee Party — that a fact-based, solutions-oriented approach to collective decision making can supersede blind partisanship when we focus on the facts instead of the fight.
70% of Americans support the DREAM Act. If enacted, it would offer six years of residential status for young people who are in every way “American,” but were brought to the U.S. as children without proper legal status. After ten years, they could apply for a green card if they have completed two years of college or two years of honorable service in the U.S. military. And, after acquiring a green card, they could apply for citizenship.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates this measure would reduce our deficit by $1.4 billion over the next 10 years due to increased tax revenue. A recent study by UCLA’s North American Integration and Development Center estimated that $1.4 TRILLION over 40 years in income would be generated by DREAM Act beneficiaries. And, America’s military leaders advocate for the DREAM Act because it would significantly increase the pool of recruits qualified to defend our nation.
Despite bipartisan support for the DREAM Act, the irrational ugliness we are seeing in opposition is a manifestation of widening division within the Republican party between pragmatists and extremists.
This editorial in the Washington Post criticizes one of the main subjects in 9500 Liberty, Chairman Corey Stewart, for misrepresenting the University of Virginia’s report in an attempt to reignite the immigration culture war that put him center stage in 2007 and 2008.
Stewart has created a Political Action Committee and is touring Virginia to lobby for an “Arizona style” policy proposal (ironically titled “The Rule of Law”) in the Virginia General Assembly. But Virginia’s conservative Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli responded with a blistering legal critique of Stewart’s policy proposal due to its cost to taxpayers, its redundancy, and its illegality under the U.S. Constitution and the Virginia State Constitution. The release of the UVA report and the Attorney General’s stern rebuke make Stewart’s “Rule of Law” crusade a much tougher sell.
Often during post-screening discussions around the country, audiences ask “What’s going on now days in Prince William County?” This week’s development is the most interesting one since the “Probable Cause” mandate for immigration status checks was repealed in April of 2008. Virginia political blogger Lowell Feld broke the story on Blue Virginia, but I know at least three other journalists who received copies of the previously unknown documents at the center of the storm.
I am quoted in this article in the New York Times by Sabrina Tavernise (full text below) that begins, “an Arizona-style immigration policy in Prince William County, Va., has found that it reduced the number of illegal immigrants in the county.” The reporting here is a step in the right direction, with the repeal of the “Probable Cause” mandate fully acknowledged and accurately described. At the heart of the article are statements made by one of the main subjects of 9500 Liberty, Chairman Corey Stewart, in response to a study conducted by the University of Virginia released on Tuesday.
In the context of Arizona’s S.B. 1070, an examination of what happened in Prince William County, VA must take into account the often ignored and sometimes deliberately denied fact that Prince William County’s “Probable Cause” Mandate was repealed, over Chairman Stewart’s objection, after only eight weeks of implementation. Once this can be established, the next question is “Why was it repealed so quickly?”
This panel discussion took place in Phoenix, AZ on July 27, 2010, two days before S.B. 1070 would have gone into effect if not for the federal court injunction announced the next day. 9500 Liberty director/producers, Annabel Park & Eric Byler were joined by Phoenix attorney Sam Coppersmith, Member of Congress, (1st District, Arizona, 103rd Congress, 1993-95), and Dale Wiebusch, Legislative Associate for the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, one of the most experienced lobbyists at the Arizona Capitol. Livestream brought to you by the Unitarian Universalists Congregation of Phoenix and Coffee Party USA (Park and Byler’s current project).
SB 1070 de Arizona ya ha sido juzgada. Y falló. En el condado Prince William, Virginia, una ley que requiere la policía para verificar el estatus migratorio de personas a las que había “causa probable” para sospechar que eran inmigrantes indocumentados entró en vigor en Marzo de 2008. Los ciudadanos se unieron para exigir que la ley fuera rechazada en el enfrentamiento de costosas demandas legales y un impacto económico devastador.
“9500 Liberty” has a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s better than my three previous feature films. Below are some of the DVD box contenders (quotes that we considered putting on the 9500 Liberty DVD box).
“9500 Liberty’’ is both an inspiration and a warning … about what happens when a community’s civic machinery is hijacked by ideologues and extremists — and what exactly it takes for the silent center to push back.
—Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
“…A unique witness to our times. Part of what makes 9500 Liberty so special is what Byler and Park did with their footage before it was assembled into this feature film. They created a YouTube channel and posted all their interviews and clips online as they were gathered, and they encouraged viewer participation in shaping the material and steering the filmmakers toward unexamined aspects of the subject.” —Marjorie Baumgarten, The Austin Chronicle
“Timely and chilling. There are certain films in certain times that make it exceedingly difficult to shut out the world around you. 9500 Liberty is one of them.” —Bill Goodykootz, The Arizona Republic
9500 Liberty documents the first time in U.S. history that an Arizona-style immigration law was actually implemented—and the surprising grassroots movement that rose up to repeal it.
Racial tension and threats of violence erupt when Prince William County, Virginia adopts a law requiring the police to question people who appear to be undocumented immigrants. Supporters of [...]more →
