Here and Now - Secertary Napolitano
Okay, you'd think it would have been easier to book a guest we had on almost every month for five years straight. Think again. Janet Napolitano went from being a big fish in small pond as Arizona Governor to a big fish in a huge ocean as Secretary of Homeland Security. It's not that our former Governor didn't want to come back on KJZZ's Here and Now, it's just that her schedule has been very demanding. And, well, let's face it, while she appreciated the wide range of questions that both host Steve Goldstein and KJZZ listeners would ask, the KJZZ audience is just a smidgen compared to the number of people who watch national networks. So, why give time to this little ol' Phoenix radio station when you can have hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people see her on network and cable news? (That is, when they're not covering the latest gossip about Michael Jackson's death. But I digress, as I often tend to do here. )
But as Steve will say, quality matters a lot more than size. And he plans to pack as many quality questions into his interview with the former governor. That's where you come in. We want your input on what you'd like to hear discussed. Even though we asked for as much time as possible with the Secretary of Homeland Security, we only have just over ten minutes with her. And in the interest of full disclosure, we are unable to do the interview live, so we'll be taping the conversation Tuesday.
We will however, do a live interview with Rafe Esquith. Who you say? Mr. Esquith is an extraordinary California educator who wrote the best selling book Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire. He will be in the valley Thursday to sign copies of his new book Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-Up, Muddled-Up, Shook-Up World. The book provides insight on how parents can help their children build character and instill habits that can lead to a fulfilling life.
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Paul Atkinson - Here and Now Producer at
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Question - Doesn't the construction of the proposed interior, permanent checkpoint on I19 presuppose that our drug policies and immigration policies have failed and will always fail? Were they successful now or in the future, there would be no need for permanent checkpoints. Wouldn't the money be better spent on solving the problems rather than building permanent checkpoints?
What a travesty that you publicized Secretary Napolitano's appearance for Wednesday but taped the interview on Tuesday. Many people were looking forward to asking her some tough questions and now it will seem to listeners as though she's gotten off without the accountability we were hoping for in this program.
We need to ask her what public safety benefits she believes have come from the failed 287g program that warrant her continuing and expanding it. The political benefit of appeasing nativists is obvious but not defensible. Can she truly name a community that is safer because local law enforcement has this agreement with ICE? Rogue law enforcement law enforcement officers in communities with 287g agreements are using the ICE pact to demagogue their "tough on illegals" stance. And what of the fact that many287g communities have a history of white supremacy? The truth is that these enforcement policies have destroyed community policing such that we have whole neighborhoods in which residents are too fearful of the police to call them when they see crime taking place. This creates havens for the real bad guys and makes all of us less safe. The so-called improvements to the 287g program are window-dressing. Sheriff Joe just conducted a 287g raid on a paper company, leaving dozens of families without breadwinners and children as young as two years old without either a mommy or a daddy. This happens every day here in Arizona. How does this make any of us safer? Are these children merely collateral damage to her? Why won't she place a moratorium on this failed program and focus all of her energies on her charge of passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform?
Arizona has one of the harshest environments for undocumented students in the Nation. Young people that had grown on our communities, are English proficient, share our culture and values are not given a path to legalization. They are in constant danger of detention, incarceration, mistreatment and deportation. As advocates we have done everything we can to express the urgency of the passage of the DREAM Act. What can you do to help the young and valuable human resources to finally get legally integrated. Why the US Congress cannot pass a single, short bill that its for children, students and young lives?
Can you help us?
Respectfully
Carmen Cornejo
Executive Director
CADENA,
www.dreamactaz.org
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