Tens of Thousands Protest Arizona’s Immigrant Law
Tens of thousands of people of conscience from across the nation converged on the Arizona state capitol today in Phoenix for a national day of action against that state’s infamous anti-immigrant law, also known as S.B. 1070.
Chanting “Stop Racism in Arizona,” protestors marched five miles in the hot desert sun to the capitol in one of the largest demonstrations yet against this law. S.B. 1070 allows police to stop and question anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” of being undocumented. The law does not define “reasonable suspicion,” a fact that many opponents say is carte blanche for racial profiling.
After leading the march—sponsored by Alto Arizona—AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told the crowd:
Sisters and brothers, this is wrong. S.B. 1070 is wrong. Our broken immigration system is wrong. And we are here today to say it’s time—past time—to put things right. We’re here because 12 million unauthorized immigrants are living in the dark shadows of abuse. That’s why we’re here today.
Arizona Immigration Bill Draws Bipartisan Fire
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Across the country, there is a bipartisan outcry against Arizona’s draconian new anti-immigrant law, which many say is impractical, unenforceable, poor policy and will lead to racial profiling.
On Friday, Arizona’s Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law S.B. 1070, which allows police to stop and question anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” of being undocumented. The bill does not define “reasonable suspicion,” a fact that many opponents say is a carte blanche for racial profiling.
Rebekah Friend, secretary-treasurer of the Arizona AFL-CIO, says:
First of all, this is a federal issue, not a state issue. Second, our police are overburdened already because of budget cuts and this puts an unnecessary burden on them. And I believe it could lead to racial profiling. The presumption of guilt is the antithesis of everything we stand for. Arizona is better than this.
