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GUEST: Isabel Garcia, co-chair of Derechos Humanos, based in Tuscon, Arizona

Last Tuesday, voters in Arizona overwhelmingly approved several anti-immigrant ballot measures by an average margin of three to one. Arizona voters decided to deny bail, state-funded literacy programs, punitive damages in lawsuits, and in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants. Also passed was proposition 103 which made English the state’s official language. Interestingly, according to an Associated Press exit poll, about half of Arizona’s Latinos voted to pass proposition 103. As immigrant rights activists have noted, voters essentially made English the state’s official language while at the same time denying undocumented immigrants access to literacy classes. Additionally, in Arizona’s state and congressional races, candidates who favored the so-called comprehensive approach to federal immigration reform of Arizona Senator John McCain, prevailed over more hard-line anti-immigrant candidates.