Labor_Day_parade_Buffalo_NY

 

Monday September 6th is Labor Day

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.  In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.  Cleveland was also concerned that aligning an American labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair.  All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.  Pictured at right is a photo of a Labor Day parade on Main St. in Buffalo NY in 1900.

 


PPD Immigration Policy Mirrors SB 1070

CH_5_screen_shot_sb_1070Phoenix Police Officers have been "test driving" SB1070 for the past two years.  

In that two year period, we've been able to have discretionary contact with ICE when an officer had reasonable suspicion that a person was in the county illegally and that person was connected with criminal activity.  During this two year test drive, we were able to have over 3000 illegal aliens deported without any additional crimes, without any additional cost, without any additional burden on manpower, and without a SINGLE civil rights, racial profiling, or biased policing complaint. 

Under our new policy (the SB1070 two-year test drive) crime rates plummeted.  Attached are the reasons Jack Harris attributed to this drop in crime: "We developed a new immigration policy (two-year test drive of SB1070) that allows our officers to use their discretion when dealing with criminal aliens and our officers have used this tool (new immigration policy) effectively."

Where was his concern about racial profiling then?  Phil Gordon knew this and continues to be disingenuous when sharing his fears that Arizona law enforcement will now become Nazis when his own officers, under the two-year test drive, didn't engage in any conduct even near this. 

Why is Jack Harris in DC questioning the validity of the new law when the policy in Phoenix mirrors the same statute he's criticizing?  It worked for him, it worked for us, why won't it work for the state?

CLICK HERE to view comments made by Chief Harris in October of 2008. 

CLICK HERE to read comments from PLEA in a recent interview with the Washington Post.