3/20/2018 0 Comments Monday, March 19, 2018 We began our Monday with a drive into Phoenix to the office of Arizona senator Jeff Flake. While the senator is currently busy touring for his potential presidential bid, we were granted an audience with Chris Stoller, his director of Hispanic Outreach. Over nearly two hours the director listened to and answered our questions, often with refreshing frankness. He occupies an intriguing position, often serving as a mediator between Arizona’s large Hispanic population and a Republican senator who often takes a conservative stance on immigration. To the credit of Senator Flake, and particularly this director, it did seem that many of their positions were heartfelt. For instance, Stoller claimed that tougher border security was in fact a humanitarian choice, because it would deter would-be immigrants from attempting to cross the dangerous Sonoran Desert into Arizona. While the conversation was civil and we found common ground, we did later contest some of the director’s arguments. For instance, while Jeff Flake has attempted to distance himself from Trump-era republicans, the main distinction seems to be largely rhetorical. This is especially evinced by Flake’s voting record, which hews very closely to the positions of Donald Trump. How much does rhetoric matter, especially when compared to action and legislation? Our second meeting, with ADAC(Arizona Dream Act Coalition), came at a fortuitous time. Earlier in the day, the United States Supreme Court had ruled against Arizona’s ongoing fight to deny DACA recipients driver’s licenses. After we had an hour-long discussion with the group about their struggle to secure rights for DACA recipients, we helped them set up for a press conference about the big news. We were even standing in the background as a succession of speakers celebrated the victory, and also talked about the limitations of this victory. The overall tone was hopeful, as was the message on the ADAC shirts many wore: They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds. It was a lot to process, so we were thankful for the opportunity to talk to James Garcia over dinner at a cozy Mexican restaurant. Having witnessed a lot of changes in Arizona, he told us about the trauma caused by the 2010 SB 1070 bill, which among other things mandated that police check immigration status during regular stops, and also seemed to encourage racial profiling. According to Garcia, this racist law earned Arizona the title of ‘the new Alabama’. However, as national attention has shifted elsewhere, Arizona has made strides to undo the problems wrought by the law. Now, there are encouraging trends of female and Latinx representation at all levels of power in Arizona. Our guest was so busy answering our questions that he hardly touched his spinach enchilada. AuthorAlonso Perez-Putnam
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