Jeannie Burlsworth, leader of Secure Arkansas, has posted this notice on the group’s website about their anti-immigrant petition drive’s failure. They claimed to have gathered 10,000 more signatures than they actually obtained by the deadline, well short of the minimum required by law.
Jeannie Burlsworth with Secure Arkansas responded, “We were informed we had 30 additional days, after the original count, in which to replace stricken signatures. Our attorneys will be exploring the matter Monday to advise us as to our possible options at this point. Apart from that outcome, several legislators have expresses their willingness to take this fight to the Arkansas Congress in January and potentially bring more punitive legislation for illegal / criminal immigrants. This fight is long from over.”
Sorry, Jeannie, you don’t get 30 days if you don’t submit enough signatures in the first place. None of those you submitted were stricken. You just didn’t have enough. The question remains: Can you count?
The desire for “punitive legislation” tells you everything you need to know about this group of bigots, who are on record as saying that the rising population of Hispanics in Arkansas (no reference to legal status) is a prime reason for their effort to target immigrants. Also, a note: being in the country without documents (or with lapsed documents) is not a crime, it is a status offense punishable by removal from the U.S.