Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor
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Filed under: 360° Radar • Immigration |
Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
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Filed under: 360° Radar • Building Up America • Tom Foreman |
Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
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Filed under: 360° Radar • Building Up America • Tom Foreman |
Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor
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Filed under: 360° Radar • Immigration |
Reporter's Note: Once again the unfinished business of immigration reform is causing troubles, and so once again it is the subject of my daily letter to the president.
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Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Dear Mr. President,
I noticed that you lit into the new immigration measure in Arizona, suggesting that its “get tough” approach on undocumented workers is basically unfair. That is, of course, one of those hugely explosive issues that many communities are trying to hash out right now, and I certainly won’t take it on here. But you said one thing in your comments that bears repeating: The inaction by the federal government has invited action by the states.
And to that end, I think your venom might be far more strongly directed at failures of the federal policy than in criticizing the efforts of any state, even if you vehemently oppose that state’s stance.
Hear me out. Do you think that Arizona, New Mexico, Texas or anywhere else would even be contemplating their own immigration laws if the federal government had aggressively and successfully addressed this issue, as it certainly should have, long ago? Such states are on the front line, for good and for ill. Every benefit of new immigrants from the south, they enjoy first; and every problem, too. Without question, citizens there have spent years asking for the federal government to effectively engage this issue to no avail. And again, I’m not arguing that the federal government policy has to be pro or anti immigration…or even illegal immigration…rights. But certainly it is not too much of these border states to ask Washington to have and enforce some kind of policy.
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Filed under: 360° Radar • Letters to the President • Opinion • President Barack Obama • Tom Foreman |
Editor's Note: After Friday night's AC360°, we heard from many of you about Arizona's immigration bill. Opinions were generally mixed. What do you think?
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Watching now. The AZ immigration bill says police have to have "lawful contact" prior to asking for id. This contact can include witnesses and victims of crime. I work with victims of sexual assault and to date, police have not made issue of immigration status...I hate to think the effect this will have on these victims.
The Anderson Cooper interview with Rep. Ash of Arizona brought back some of my faith that good journalism is not dead. Cooper showed his ability to think quickly on his feet, ask probing questions and reveals the many holes and inconsistencies in the argument put forth by Ash. Thank you, Mr. Cooper.
Please have your producers select and interview candidate who can represent the liberal side effectively. If I were to vote today to support the Arizona immigration bill I would have to vote Republican. The Arizona legislator was good – what happened to the other side?
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Filed under: Behind The Scenes |
Anderson Cooper goes beyond the headlines to tell stories from many points of view, so you can make up your own mind about the news. Tune in weeknights at 8 and 10 ET on CNN.
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