Not surprising but also a little misleading. The bill that was introduced in RI was also withdrawn almost immediately due to public outcry and having no support from others in the statehouse. This has happened in other states. By boiling this map down into a new version of red v blue, us vs them you oversimplify what is happening on a state by state level and allow an entire population to be labeled as welcoming this kind of stupid law simply because 1 idiot state legislator decided to propose or introduce on of these hateful bills.
Additionally, I find it interesting that the article writer choose to call out that the RI legislator that introduced the bill was a Democrat without researching a little about politics and party affiliation in Rhode Island. Almost all RI legislators are Democrats in party name. You don’t have to live in RI long to realize that party affiliation means nothing and it all comes down to candidate platform. While RI may be the bluest state by party, there are plenty of VERY conservative “blue” legislators. This was exactly the case with the guy that introduced this bill.
“SB 1070 has also lifted up the most vitriolic elements of the anti-immigrant movement and as of today, politicians in 21 states are following Arizona’s lead.
We’ve found five states in which legislators have introduced laws that mirror the one in Arizona and 16 in which politicians say they plan to introduce bills.
As reported in ColorLines last month, these copycat bills are not merely following Arizona’s lead. Rather, the bills are the fruits of a concerted political strategy seeded by the far-right group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which has taken money from a eugenics foundation and was created by a man who warned of a ‘Latin onslaught.’”
(via COLORLINES - Mapping the Spread of SB 1070)
(via colorlines)
