"Juan Crow" Lawmaking in Tennessee

categories: Activism, Federal, Government, Immigration, Inequality, Nonprofits, Policy, Race Ethnicity Class & Gender, States

Published May 04, 2009 @ 09:15AM PT

I hope you all caught Dave's great post a few weeks back on "systemic discrimination and exploitation" against Latin@ immigrants in the South, according to a recent report by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Dave writes, "Roberto Lovato has dubbed this [growing anti-immigrant] phenomenon Juan Crow, highlighting the similarities of this system to the previous network of social norms, law enforcement priorities, and economic abuses that kept Southern blacks poor and powerless under the Jim Crow regime of official disenfranchisement."

As I sit in my Nashville hotel room, I'm reminded of an exchange I had with a Latin@ activist at a community development meeting years ago in Memphis, when he told me that the state was organized so tightly along our black-white color line, that it didn't even have official terms (e.g., Hispanic) to recognize its growing Latin@ population. As I read the local news now, it seems the state is really grappling, and painfully, with how to incorporate - or disenfranchise - its Latin@ residents. Turns out, all low-income Americans are at risk from these often discriminatory actions.

First, the good news. A few weeks ago, the TN House voted down a law that would have required government issued photo IDs to vote. I know on its face this sounds like sensible, practical legislation, but immigrants' rights and anti-poverty activists alike find that laws like these are discriminatory and have unintended consequences far beyond the "illegals" generally targeted by such bills. For example:

Recent changes to Medicaid rules similarly imposed citizenship documentation requirements on applicants to prove eligibility. Critics warned this could deter eligible individuals from enrolling, including U.S.-born children of immigrants.

One of the troubling ironies of the policy is that in some cases, other groups were harder hit than the undocumented immigrants that the rules were designed to exclude. In 2007, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities tracked Medicaid enrollment in Alabama, Kansas and Virginia and found that enrollment had “declined by a larger percentage among white and African American children than among Hispanic children after the requirement took effect.” Presumably, many low-income parents couldn't produce the necessary birth certificates or other papers (and may have been less vigilant than Latino parents about collecting necessary documentation to ward off legal hassles).

Racewire writes about this "law of unintended consequences" that stems from legislation such as Tennessee's REAL ID Act, which legalized a "two-tier" form of driving licenses, one for legal residents only and the other for everyone else, the latter not being a form of identification. The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition found that the

"two-tier licensing structure had left many immigrants vulnerable to discrimination and other barriers to services that required official identification.

Driver's licenses may seem like bureaucratic tedium to many, but REAL ID represents a larger pattern of pushing undocumented immigrants and others further outside the purview of law and critical social services."

Apparently, shoving their fellow low-income citizens to the margins as well.

(Photo by author of the Highlander Research & Education Center in E. Tenn., a legendary civil rights and organizing institution that today offers numerous programs to build coalitions among low-income and working-class whites, African-Americans, and Latin@s in the U.S. South)

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Comments (6)

Leigh, I do not consider it good news that there is no requirement to even be a citizen to vote or collect welfare in Tennesee. I understand that is not the intention of voting down the photo ID law, but that is, of course the result. I would rather see illegal citizens be put on the path to citizenship.

Posted by Charlie Reed on 05/04/2009 @ 09:36AM PT
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"critical social services" ah, that is the ones that can be obtained by any one that is not a immigrant, such as free medical and dental, oh... wait, If I am a illigal immigrant I can get those services... but if I am legal they require you to pay up front, or they put you through the wringer to get them, I say yes to anything that helps to filter out free "critical social services" note it is Social services, not " international free ride services" ??? The active word being Social, this means they are contribuiting to the whole, not just a spongeing off of it.

Posted by Roy Wooley on 05/04/2009 @ 08:13PM PT
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I really don't understand the reluctance on requiring photo IDs to vote--except perhaps that they're not foolproof enough. Where I live, you have to have a photo ID to board a plane, put something in your safe deposit box, or cash a check--and sometimes even to use a credit card.

I do understand that older people might have problems coming up with the necessary documentation, but this requirement could be phased in. Perhaps this requirement could be phased in, initially exempting people over age 60.

The U.S. is experiencing an overpopulation problem, and this problem will get worse. (The U.S. Census Bureau projects a 40% increase by the year 2050.) While some of this problem is caused by U.S. citizens and legal residents who have more than two biological children, we don't need to add illegals to the mix.

Posted by C W on 05/04/2009 @ 08:47PM PT
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Cecily, that's a really offensive comment, esp. the casual reference to "illegals."

Did you read my post or the links, about the difficulty many low-income Americans, not elderly, not undocumented, have in providing official records? 100,000 New Orleanians were stranded by Katrina because they didn't have cars. Should we assume they have drivers licenses, passports, etc.? Should they pay $40 - $60 to get a photo ID when they only need it for voting?

The Lower 9th Ward had a high homeownership rate, despite being a high poverty neighborhood. Yet, so many of those houses had been passed from generation to generation. Documents like title, deed, etc. were long gone in many households. So here are legit homeowners now lacking official documents.

It's just not as simple as you state. In Massachusetts, a pretty orderly place, the city of Boston has residents fill out a form identifying household members annually that they use for elections. People are issued voting cards. You provide your address when you go to vote, it's checked off in a big book. It's a pretty effective system.

Now we should require photo ID's on top of that?

@Charlie, I don't disagree on the path to citizenship, and I don't think the activists I cite would either. It's not an either/or here, and the point of the post is that these kinds of policies drive undocumented immigrants further "underground" or behind the scenes, making incorporation even more difficult.

Posted by Leigh Graham on 05/05/2009 @ 07:03AM PT
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Leigh, I am not anti immigrant. Check My comments on daves' site. I do not though see how the requirement of photo ID to vote would be detrimental to anyone unless they were trying to vote. citizens, immigrant or otherwise would get one. Non citizens, legal or otherwise, would not. People should be given IDs free if They are citizens. I know most immigrants are an asset to this country. I also know this country is a huge oppurtunity to them. If You do not believe Me, ask an immigrant. They seem to be the only one Who has anything good to say about America.

Posted by Charlie Reed on 05/05/2009 @ 11:12AM PT
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I catually do think you should have to present a Photo ID to vote. There is so much fraud going on in elections today that I think ti can only help. Also, I don't understand illegal immigrants on this issue. If they are illegal, they have no right to vote...so what is the fuss about? That said, all legal immigrants should be allowed to vote, and if they simply do not have any ohoto ID, then they should still be allowed to vote, using whatever ID they have. I know a man who arrived in this country with a eb5 investor visa and despite how prosperous he is, he does notchoose to vote. So while some immigrants take their right to vote for granted, some, much less financially fortunate ones really want to cast their vote whenever they can.

Posted by Mike Fitzgerald on 11/20/2009 @ 07:07AM PT
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Author

Leigh is a PhD candidate in urban planning at MIT, and a consultant on U.S. Gulf Coast recovery. She sits on the Board of the Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation in Boston, and has worked with non-profits, foundations and local governments on policies and programs aimed at reducing urban poverty and inequality.