Several provisions of Alabama's disgraceful anti-immigration law were found unconstitutional in a series of rulings by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. They include invalidating any contracts with undocumented immigrants (making it virtually impossible to get a lease), harboring illegal aliens and the requirement that parents and students disclose their legal status to enroll in school. Days ago, Governor Bentley announced his decision to appeal the ruling to the full Court "based on principle"–claiming that Alabama must defend its rights against federal intrusion. The call for states rights' is a time-honored tradition for laws that oppress and disenfranchise people of all types in the southern United States. It is time for Alabama to accept the widely-held and fully constitutional "principles" that all children have a right to education and all people a right to shelter free of discrimination, harassment or fear. And it is time for Alabama to quit wasting money it doesn't have defending the indefensible on a fool's errand in court.

My grandparents arrived here 100 years ago as poor immigrants, willing to work hard to find a better, safer life than in Czarist Russia; they became citizens, all of us, except for Native Americans, came from somewhere else to this country, and were welcomed; we are basically all descendants of immigrants.Yet today, hundreds of thousands of hard-working people are denied the right to enter this country legally, to apply for residency (unless they have $500,000 to invest) or to follow the path that our ancestors did. I'm calling on the government to finally tackle the issue of immigration in a humane and decent way instead of making it a political hot potato.

Rep. Steve King recently came under fire for comparing immigrants to dogs, saying he hadn't heard of instances in which young victims of rape became pregnant, and supporting dog fights. But at a recent campaign event in Iowa, Mitt Romney endorsed Steve King, saying, "I'm looking here at Steve King, he needs to be your Congressman again. I want him as my partner in Washington." Rep. Steve King has a long history of attacking immigrants, women, and anyone who disagrees with his extremist views. Mitt Romney should be ashamed to call Rep. Steve King a "partner." This is no way to lead a country.

Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, is obsessed with two things: immigrant bashing, and the spotlight. She's the mother of one of the worst anti-immigrant laws in the country and now she's launched a hateful attack on DREAMers. President Obama made a smart policy change to allow undocumented immigrant youth–who were brought to the U.S. as children, grew up here, and are either in school or have graduated–to apply for a work permit and relief from deportation. The move is favored by the majority of Americans and it just makes common sense. On the day that thousands of these promising young people lined up to apply, what did Gov. Brewer do? Without skipping a beat, Brewer signed an executive order directing state agencies to, among other things, deny drivers' licenses to DREAMer applicants. It's a mean-spirited and vindictive move that takes her anger with Obama out on 80,000 defenseless Arizona DREAMers. It’s time we put an end to Gov. Brewer’s hateful anti-immigrant campaign. Arizona deserves better! Please stand with the DREAMers in Arizona and join us in saying, “Shame on you, Governor Brewer!”

The vermont service centre has been causing delays in processing for sometime,due to this delay alot of petitioners have either lost their loved ones while waiting or lost interest in the relationship.We the Petitioners have had enough and feel we have to stand up now and be heard or say nothing and become invinsible.

With all the national attention on undocumented immigrants, USCIS seems to be getting behind on their paperwork. Hundreds of US Citizens trying to immigrate their families, spouses, and fiances are forced to wait while government workers are backlogged under paperwork. It's time we bring some attention to legal immigration and get things moving. No US Citizen or legal immigrant should be separated from their loved ones any longer than necessary. The current promised processing time for most application is five months and many applications are exceeding 12 months and still outstanding. And that only accounts for the time applicants wait for their petitions to be initially viewed. It can take many months after that until a visa is granted. In the past, some applications were processed in 90 days or less. What's the holdup?

I am a volunteer with the Los Angeles Occupy Fights Foreclosures subcommittee of Occupy LA. We are trying to help the Cardenas Quinones family (husband, wife and children). This is yet another typical foreclosure case where the bank gave the homeowner hope that they would consider them for a loan modification; but, instead chose to foreclose on the home and sell it to an investor. The interesting story here is that she was arrested for trespassing, in her own home, even though the home was filled with her personal property. The unique thing about their case, which we all need to be concerned about, is that instead of the federal government coming to this family’s aid, they deported her on a technicality; notwithstanding the fact that her husband and two children are all US citizens. This family now risks being broken, unless we stand up and say no. The department of Homeland Security has temporarily allowed Blanca to return to the United States, for 90 days (till Sept 21, 2012); but, this time has run out and she needs an extension to prevent her family from being broken. We are requesting that her 90 day period be extended to two years until the US immigration laws can be amended so that this type of thing does not happen again. Please forward this petition link to all of your friends, and post it on your Facebook, Twitter, etc.., pages so that we can get more signers: http://signon.org/sign/foreclosures-getting Here are some links to more info if you want to read more about their case: 1) http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/03/blanca_cardenas_la_foreclosure_deported.php 2) http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/03/video_occupy_la_breaks_back_into_foreclosed_home_of_blanca_cardenas_deported_la_immigrant.php 3) http://www.insightoutnews.org/2012/03/11/community-rallies-in-support-of-blanca-cardenas-march-through-downtown-la-98003/ 4) http://occupylosangeles.org/?q=node/8649 5) http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/07/439755/california-deported-foreclosure/ 6) http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/03/la_mom_deported_after_protesting_foreclosure_of_former_home.html

I would like for the rule of law to be followed, sanctuary cities to be outlawed, and citizenship for children of illegal immigrants to be disallowed by a proper interpretation of the 14th Amendment.

Dana went overseas to visit family after being in the United States for several years, and the US revoked her passport while she was there. She has two American born children, and her husband, Feras, is in Pennsylvania as a neonatologist and pediatrician. Feras misses his family more and more each day, continuing to help other families as he practices medicine, while his own will be in imminent danger if they are not allowed back. Please visit http://www.bringdanabacktous.com or bringdanabacktous on Facebook to learn more!

While extremists in Arizona have passed laws that make a suspect out of anyone who looks “foreign,” California is poised to take a different approach. If the TRUST Act becomes law, California would set a new bar as a state where immigrants stopped for a broken taillight or for selling tamales on the street won’t be fast-tracked into deportation. The TRUST Act would maintain immigration holds for those convicted of a serious felony, but mothers and fathers who get picked up for minor reasons, wouldn’t have to worry about ending up in immigration detention or deportation. Think of all those families who won’t have to live in constant fear of the police! The TRUST Act has already passed the California legislature. Now, all eyes are on Gov. Jerry Brown.

The safety of Police and Border patrol agents, as well as the entire nation is in grave danger from terrorists and drug cartels and the Federal Government and the Supreme Court are more concerned about political correctness, and offending people. Force them to do their jobs.

The i-word is dehumanizing, racially charged and masquerades as legal terminology, which it is not. There are terms like “unauthorized” and “undocumented,” and other precise, rational descriptions that can be used. The i-word denies people due process and is incompatible with ethical, professional journalistic standards. The i-word inflames anti-immigrant rhetoric, which morphs into anti-Latino sentiment. By dropping the i-word, newspapers can stop fueling hate and prejudice toward members of its own community.