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1. Obama to reaffirm commitment
2. Poll: FL voters favor enforcement
3. MA city proposal requires voter ID
4. CA city to continue checkpoints
5. Activists irked by progress

1.
Obama's State of the Union: Immigration? Gays in the military?
By H. Darr Beiser
USA Today, January 26, 2010

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed a few more subjects that may surface in the State of the Union tomorrow night, including immigration and gays in the military -- but he provided few details and noted that the address is still being edited.

"Let's wait for tomorrow's speech," Gibbs said at one point.

The spokesman did say that Obama would mention immigration, but added that it's up to Congress to get the ball rolling on new legislation. Gibbs said, "we've started a process on this," and if Congress can put together "a coalition to get the way forward, then it's something we'll work through."
. . .
As for tone, expect the president to be "feisty" at times, Gibbs said. "I don't doubt that at times he's going to believe that while Washington may not want to make progress in certain ways that Washington has to be pushed to make that progress," he added, "whether that's health care reform or cutting our budget."

The president also has a purpose in this speech, Obama said.

"He looks at the State of the Union as a time in which to update the American people on what's been done and where we go from here, going forward," Gibbs said. "This is not about him; this is about what we have to do, going forward, for the American people."
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http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/01/obamas-stat...

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2.
Poll: Fla. voters want immigration laws enforced
The Associated Press, January 26, 2010

Tallahassee (AP) -- Florida voters don't want immigration laws waived to make it easier for Haitians to stay in the United States or immigrate into the country, a new poll shows.

Fifty-one percent of 1,618 registered Florida voters surveyed by Quinnipiac (Conn.) University said they wanted immigration laws enforced compared to 43 percent opposed to them being waived in the wake of the deadly Haitian earthquake Jan. 12.

Voters were opposed, 50 percent to 46 percent, to a decision by the Obama Administration to grant temporary legal status for 18 months to Haitians living in the U.S. when the earthquake hit and divided on allowing more immigrants into the country. Quinnipiac said the survey had a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.
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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1448271.html

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3.
Marlborough may become first Mass. town to require voter ID
By Kendall Hatch/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News (Framingham, MA), January 27, 2010

Marlborough, MA -- If the city's proposal to require all voters to show identification at polls is approved, it will be the state's first municipality with such a rule.

Despite statewide accusations of voter fraud in the recent Senate election, many argue that the new measure could hinder disenfranchised voters from casting their ballots and would add an unnecessary encumbrance to what is meant to be an easy and accessible right.

"I think it's a solution in search of a problem," said Brenda Wright, the director of the Democracy program at Demos, a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization.

Wright said a voter identification law could make voting more difficult for groups that are less likely to have an ID, such as seniors, students, low-income individuals and minorities.

"I think it's a disservice to the goal of making elections convenient and accessible," she said, noting that federal law requires voters who register to vote by mail to include a form of identification.

"There is already that protection in the law," she said. "I don't think new identification provisions are necessary to protect the integrity of elections in Massachusetts.

"You are more likely to be struck by lightning on your way to the polls than you are to commit voter fraud," she said.

On Election Day, Secretary of State William Galvin's office said one voter in Cambridge and one in Brighton reported receiving ballots that were already filled out. Galvin later said he had no report of any major problems at the polls that day. Democrat Martha Coakley, who lost the special election to state Sen. Scott Brown, issued a press release early in the day warning about potential fraud.

Since the enactment of the federal Help America Vote Act required first-time voters to include identification when registering by mail, 25 states have introduced more stringent requirements.

All 25 states require voters to show some form of identification, with seven states stipulating that it must be a photo ID.
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http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1685421601/Marlborough-may-becom...

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4.
Motorist checkpoints will continue, expand
By Angela Lau
The San Diego Union Tribune, January 26,2010

Despite the threat of a lawsuit from the ACLU, Escondido has decided to continue its driver’s license checkpoints, which a Latino group has characterized as traps to deport illegal immigrants.

Escondido police will conduct them differently, however. Instead of checking only driver’s licenses, officers also will ask for proof of registration and insurance, City Attorney Jeff Epp wrote in a letter this month to the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties. The organization has demanded that the city stop the checkpoints because it contends they violate state law.

The California Vehicle Code specifies that police cannot stop motorists solely for the purpose of checking driver’s licenses.

In his letter, Epp said he disagrees with the ACLU’s interpretation of the law, and wrote that the city “believes that those sections were intended to prohibit officers from randomly pulling vehicles over on routine patrol to demand a driver’s license.”

Escondido police say the checkpoints have led to a marked decrease in hit-and-run and other traffic accidents.

David Blair-Loy, the legal director for local ACLU, said he is monitoring the situation.

The Escondido City Council had mixed reactions yesterday to Epp’s position.

Two council members, Sam Abed and Marie Waldron, pointed out that Escondido is not the only municipality that conducts driver’s license checkpoints, and the ACLU is unfairly targeting Escondido.

Oceanside, Carlsbad and San Diego conduct driver’s license checkpoints, or have conducted them, and police in those cities said they didn’t recall the ACLU intervening.

Escondido held 11 driver’s license checkpoints last year. Checkpoint opponents said Escondido also checked driver’s licenses at its 15 sobriety checkpoints last year.
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/26/motorist-checkpoints-will...

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5.
Lack of immigration reform protested in D.C.
By Tara Bahrampour
The Washington Post, January 27, 2010

About 150 activists gathered Tuesday in front of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters to deliver a "State of the Union" address that protested what they consider a lack of progress on immigration reform.

Holding signs and loudspeakers at a noon rally, the group of community organizers, advocates and faith leaders chanted "Si, se puede" ("Yes, we can") before about 20 of them joined hands across 12th Street SW near Maryland Avenue, blocking traffic. They sat on the road and waited for police to bring out their handcuffs.

"We want to bring attention to the lack of movement on immigration reform," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA de Maryland, one of the organizing groups.

Citing President Obama's promises to pursue immigration reform in the first year of his administration, he said: "We were very excited, because the great majority of the Latino community said: 'Finally, we have a president who looks like us, and he's going to fight for us.'
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/26/AR201001...