New York State Attorney General against SB 1070 : "The principle of the United States that supersedes and underlies really every other is the principle of equal justice under law. Ours is a system that only functions if we understand that everyone has rights and equal justice under law is not just something carved over our court house"

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"This is fundamental to all of the work that we do on laws and all of the work we do on public policy".

Long Island Wins
Eric Schneiderman: “Equal Justice Under Law” Key to Immigration Debate [VIDEO]
by Ted Hesson
May 11, 2012


Eric Schneiderman: “Equal Justice Under Law” Key to Immigration Debate [VIDEO]


Some excerpts :

At the Long Island Regional Immigration Summit on April 20, industry leaders from agribusiness, healthcare, and education, among others, convened to develop immigration policy initiatives that would allow these different sectors to work collaboratively.

The event, which was organized by Long Island Wins and the Long Island Immigrant Alliance, also featured New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as the keynote speaker. In his opening remarks, Schneiderman explained how protecting the rights of immigrant workers affects all workers and businesses across the state.

He also spoke at length about Arizona’s immigration law SB 1070, which he believes erodes the rights of all citizens. The week following the summit, Schneiderman filed a brief with the Supreme Court stressing that SB 1070 preempts federal law and would place an undo financial burden on the federal government, as the feds would be forced to monitor a messy patchwork of state-authorized immigration laws.

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The dysfunction of our national immigration system has opened the door to a lot of misguided and discriminatory laws in the state and local level. Obviously, it’s a contentious issue here on Long Island; it’s contentious all across the state and all across the country. So today, I want to do some work to establish, propose to you, establishing some parameters for our work as we address this critical issue.

I have two principles that guide me here. The first and most important is to admit to facing facts, separating data from demagoguery and working on an evidence based approach. Very, very important in this area and we have to be as disciplined as we can be about doing that. Second, we have to always remind people that the principle of the United States that supersedes and underlies really every other is the principle of equal justice under law. Ours is a system that only functions if we understand that everyone has rights and equal justice under law is not just something carved over our court house. This is fundamental to all of the work that we do on laws and all of the work we do on public policy.

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