FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2011

CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or [email protected]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) filed public records requests with the Office of Governor Susana Martinez and the NM Secretary of State seeking all records and correspondence related to Secretary of State Dianna Duran’s announcement yesterday that her office had uncovered possible instances of voter fraud by foreign nationals. Through the requests, the ACLU-NM seeks to ensure the transparency and objectivity of the investigation.

“We want to know the motivations behind this investigation and the validity of any assertions that the New Mexico law allowing drivers licenses for all immigrants contributed to voter fraud,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “We take claims of voter fraud seriously because they undermine voter confidence in our electoral system and tend to discourage participation in elections. We also wish to ensure that any exchange of records in this investigation did not violate voter privacy guarantees that are written into state law.”
In 2008, the ACLU-NM sued the Republican Party of New Mexico and the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office for illegally releasing confidential voter registration information to the public in an attempt to prove voter fraud.

The ACLU-NM requested the following information from the Governor’s office:

• All records pertaining to possible voter fraud and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico involving foreign nationals, including, but not limited to, any memoranda, correspondence, including email, and/or notes that discuss voter fraud and/or irregularities between the Office of the Governor and the Office of the Secretary of State.

The ACLU-NM requested the following information from the Secretary of State:

• All records pertaining to possible voter fraud and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico involving foreign nationals, including, but not limited to, any memoranda, correspondence, including email, and/or notes that discuss voter fraud and/or irregularities and the Office of the Secretary of State’s search for voter fraud in voter rolls and registrations.
• All records that support the Office of the Secretary of State’s allegations of possible voter fraud and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico involving foreign nationals, including, but not limited to the voter registrations in question.
• Any documents that reflect communications between the Office of the Secretary of State and any one at the Governor’s Office related to alleged and/or proven voter fraud involving foreign nationals and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico.
• Any documents that reflect communications between the Office of the Secretary of State and the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division related to alleged and/or proven voter fraud involving foreign nationals and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico.
• Any documents that reflect communication between the Office of the Secretary of State and any federal agency related to alleged and/or proven voter fraud involving foreign nationals and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico.
• Any documents that reflect communication between any parties outside of the Office of the Secretary of State—including, but not limited to faculty at the University of New Mexico and representatives of any political party—and the Office of the Secretary of State related to alleged and/or proven voter fraud involving foreign nationals and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico.

“The public deserves to know how the government is using their voting records and personal information and to what end,” said ACLU-NM Managing Attorney Laura Schauer Ives. “Allegations of voter fraud are serious and should be subject to thorough, non-partisan scrutiny.”

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We face an epidemic here in the United States: a widespread and wholesale vilification of Americans who are followers of Islam. We see it on the cable news networks, in vitriolic opposition to the construction of mosques in our communities, and now, this week with a full blown Homeland Security Committee hearing on the “radicalization of American Muslims.”
To be fair, there is evidence of growing radicalization in some communities in America, and if there is credible threat that this radicalization could lead to terrorist attacks, then it should be investigated. However, the singling out of Muslims and the inflamed rhetoric surrounding the investigation have led some commentators to draw comparisons to the McCarthy Era witch hunts. Indeed, if this investigation was truly concerned with terrorism, perhaps the Homeland Security Committee would broaden the scope of its investigation to include potentially dangerous non-Muslim radical groups—the Hutaree “Christian” Militia that plotted to systematically murder Michigan police officers last year springs to mind. And let’s not forget that the worst pre-9/11 terrorist attack on U.S. soil was perpetrated by a Christian named Timothy McVeigh. Too often in our history we have fallen prey to loud voices defaming an entire group of Americans as an existential threat to our way of life. Invariably, we look back on these moments in profound shame.
Unfortunately, we have these same loud voices here in New Mexico. This legislative session, Sen. Rod Adair (R-Roswell) introduced Senate Joint Resolution 18 (SJR 18), a bill that, among other things, prohibits “New Mexico courts from considering or applying Sharia law.”
For those who are unfamiliar, Sharia is a collection of Islamic principles observed by some individual Muslims and held as law by a handful of foreign governments. There are several different versions of Sharia as well as varied interpretations of the law within the Muslim community itself.
New Mexico is not the only state that saw bills similar to SJR 18 introduced; in the past year 13 states considered laws that would prohibit courts from enforcing Sharia law. One proposed law in Tennessee would make it a felony to follow some versions of Sharia. Last year in Oklahoma, both the state senate and house passed a similar measure—the comically hyperbolic “Save Our State” amendment—which a federal court struck down as unconstitutional.
Do supporters of these laws truly fear a creeping “Islamification” of the United States? Do they aim to protect us from the time when we start chopping the hands off shop lifters and stoning adulterous women in Civic Plaza?
Serious-minded people recognize that this is about as likely as New Mexico courts sentencing someone to death for wearing clothing of mixed fibers (Leviticus 19:19) or gathering firewood on the Sabbath (Numbers 15:32-36).
No, the real reason for introducing SJR 18 and bills like it is to target Muslims as a group, to marginalize and stigmatize the people of an entire faith community. In the words of Oklahoma activist Muneer Awad, these amendments would “enshrine disapproval of Islam into the state constitution.”
But the First Amendment to the Constitution clearly states that congress can make no law that establishes a state religion or creates an excessive government entanglement with religion. U.S. courts are permitted to honor agreements between individuals made under religious law, but never when that law is in conflict with the secular laws of the land.
So in this season of inflamed anti-Muslim rhetoric, let’s tune out the demagogues and quietly meditate on just how remarkable the country we live in is. It is a country that guarantees free exercise of religion so long as it does not infringe on the rights of others—something that religious minorities in other parts of the world only dream of.
Just because some people choose to use their freedom of speech to loudly demonize their neighbors, it doesn’t mean we have to listen.

Diverse organizations form the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2011
CONTACT: Vicki Gaubeca, ACLU-NM Regional Center for Border Rights (575) 527-0664 or [email protected]
SOUTHERN BORDER REGION --  As the government continues to pour more and more resources into border enforcement without providing appropriate accountability and oversight, border communities have borne the brunt of these policies, which have adversely impacted businesses, our residents' civil rights, the environment and international relations.
Today, border organizations and community leaders announced the formation of an unprecedented coalition to assert the rights and interests of the communities that often fall casualty to our country's border policies.
More than six months in the making, the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) has officially launched with more than 60 signatories from San Diego to Brownsville.
"It's critical that we organize and coordinate our voices along the border if we are to have an impact on the national level," states Christian Ramirez of the American Friends Service Committee, one co-chair of the SBCC. The coalition, which is broad-based and includes everything from environmental to faith to business organizations, is based around a formal agreement that identifies the common goals of the parties.
Under the agreement, the parties are focused on four overarching goals: 1. Work to ensure that border enforcement policies and practices are accountable and fair, respect human dignity and human rights, and prevent the loss of life in the region. 2. Promote policies and solutions that improve the quality of life in border communities. 3. Advance a positive image of the border region. 4. Support rational and humane immigration reform policies affecting the border region.
"Many of the organizations in the coalition have been working on these goals already, but now we are intent on coordinating our efforts and taking our work to a new level," stated Jennifer Allen of Border Action Network, the other co-chair of the SBCC. In the coming year, the coalition will focus on developing and deploying a common communication strategy, a coordinated base-building strategy, and a targeted strategy to change enforcement policies and practices that are detrimental to the border region.
The coalition is led by a steering committee representing the four southern border states and co-chaired by Jennifer Allen and Christian Ramirez:
Steering Commitee: California - Christian Ramirez (rep), Andrea Guerrero (alternate); Arizona - Jennifer Allen (rep); Jaime Farrant (alternate); New Mexico - Vicki Gaubeca (rep), Alma Maquitico (alternate); Texas - Mike Seifert (rep), Jazmin Francis (alternate).
A full list of signatories is available at: https://sites.google.com/site/borderstakeholderforum/stakeholders*<https://sites.google.com/site/borderstakeholderforum/stakeholders>

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