Protests Resume Against Arizona Immigration Law

A coalition of groups opposed to Arizona's SB 1070 law is expecting tens of thousands of people to turn out for a national day of action against racial profiling in Phoenix this Saturday.

Pablo Alvarado of the National Day Laborers Organizing Network laid out the coalition's main demands.

“We demand that this administration reassert the Federal governments exclusive control of immigration law by making it clear that state and local police do not have the inherent authority to enforce immigration law.  Second immediately suspend and terminate all police ICE partnerships including the 287 G agreement and the so-called secure communities initiatives.  Number three direct the dept of homeland security to refuse to take into custody anyone charged with violating provisions of SB 1070”.

Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox has been an elected official for 25 years and says SB 1070 has created a tangible climate of fear in the community

“I can´t begin to tell you, you have to come to Arizona, come to the march talk to the people here and you can feel the fear once you get off the airplane here. It is just amazing how people are being set against each other. It is affecting everything from the boycott to businesses who are now wondering are we going to be affected?  Our schools are being terribly affected, so many kids have left. The schools are having to rethink their whole staffing pattern, possibly close. Our communities are in dire crisis.”

Alfredo Gutierrez of the Arizona Boycott Committee says SB 1070 opponents also have a legal strategy in addition to pressure from the streets and an economic boycott.

"There is a mayor lawsuit that has been filed by ACLU, the National Day Laborers´ Organization and the National Immigration Law Council. It isn´t a single strategy all of these things are notes in a larger symphony.  And that larger symphony has to vow to repeal this. But also to reinvigorate the community to take on this issue of immigration reform."

As protests continue around the country, musicians have become the latest group to join the anti-SB 1070 coalition. A group of bands calling itself the Sound Strike, has signed a manifesto against the law and said it will boycott all performances in  Arizona until the SB 1070 is repealed. The group includes American bands like rage against the machine and Sonic Youth, but also extends to Mexican bands that are popular in the southwest.  

Supporters of SB1070 will also voice their views this weekend. A demonstration in favor of SB 1070 will take place at the Diablo Stadium in Tempe on Saturday, with organizers expecting some 10,000 to attend.

SB 1070 opponents say they will use the convergence of activists in Phoenix to develop a unified national strategy against the controversial Arizona law.