The implementation of a police mandate for immigration status checks based on a subjective standard of suspicion directly impacted everyone in Prince William County; not just immigrants, and not just those who most uncomfortable living among them. Once the negative public safety, economic, and social impacts of the law became apparent, the law was quickly repealed due to direct engagement by a coalition that included:
* Republicans
* Democrats
* Independents
* Libertarians
* Law enforcement leaders
* The faith community
* The business community
* The Latino community
* The African American community
* The Muslim American community
* The Asian American community
After July 31, you will still be able to become a member of Coffee Party in time to vote in our Board of Directors election this fall. But, if you become a member before midnight July 31, you can receive bonus items like the award-winning film 9500 Liberty, which documents the only 8 weeks in American history when an "Arizona-style" immigration crack-down was actually implemented.
9500 Liberty shows how a civil, fact-based, solutions-oriented approach to even the most controversial issues, like immigration, can lead better policies and a safer, more economically sound county, state, or country.
The implementation of a police mandate for immigration status checks based on a subjective standard of suspicion directly impacted everyone in Prince William County; not just immigrants, and not just those who most uncomfortable living among them. Once the negative public safety, economic, and social impacts of the law became apparent, the law was quickly repealed due to direct engagement by a coalition that included:
* Republicans
* Democrats
* Independents
* Libertarians
* Law enforcement leaders
* The faith community
* The business community
* The Latino community
* The African American community
* The Muslim American community
* The Asian American community
The film also demonstrates the social conditions that allowed the community to look at the facts first, and then making policy decisions. This included courage and leadership from elected officials, community leaders, and ordinary citizens alike. It included some new media and social media innovation. And, it included all “sides” of the issue toning down the sort of divisive, distracting, violent, and dehumanizing rhetoric that blinds people to the facts, and alienates the silent majority, robbing the deliberative process of the more composed and forward-thinking community members.
Below: Coffee Party founders Annabel Park and Eric Byler (who appear in the 9500 Liberty as well as co-direct it) demonstrate a fact-based, trans-partisan approach to the immigration issue.
What is needed when discussing immigration-related issues is a problem-solving approach that puts more emphasis on good policy than on aggressive electioneering strategies. We often say that what happened in Prince William County can happen anywhere — and over the past year, this is proving to be true with Georgia, Alabama, and of course Arizona passing the same law written by the same Washington DC lobbying firm — but the good news is this: in the only jurisdiction in America where this law was actually implemented, the people pulled together across partisan and cultural lines to restore civility, restore fact-based deliberation, and repeal the law after only eight weeks.
DVD's bonus features include deleted scenes and a directors commentary track:
