This entry begins on my bike, so I'd say it's fair game for the bike blog, even if it's not entirely related to the bike trip. Twice in May, while riding my bike (once to UMass to deposit a check, and another time through downtown Northampton), I came across groups of individuals protesting Arizona's anti-immigration bill, 1070.
The two major concerns with this bill are that it requires legal immigrants to carry their papers with them at all times, and it allows state law enforcement to demand papers from people that have reasonable suspicion to believe might be illegal immigrants. But you can read more about it and do some of your own sorting and interpreting on the World Wide Web.
Both times I came across rallies against the bill, I stopped to watch, to read fliers that were handed to me and to listen to people take the mic and either pour their hearts out in bouts of screaming, defiant rage or to deliver even-tempered, logical reasons why SB 1070 is dangerous for our country. And both times my skin crawled and tingled as I imagined this statute, which has already been signed into state law by governor Jan Brewer, actually going into affect (which it is set to do July 29th).
A NY Times article I read called SB 1070 "the nation's toughest bill on illegal immigration." President Obama has denounced the law, and it is under review by the Justice Department. Several lawsuits, many by civil rights groups, have been filed challenging the bill's constitutionality, and president Calderón has issued a travel warning to Mexicans advising against visiting Arizona where they risk being subject to harassment by law enforcement based on their appearance.
There's a huge movement to boycott Arizona, and it's not the first time Arizona has done something that merited a boycott. In the late 80's the governor at the time refused to recognize Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday, and as a result, the state lost millions. The boycott, which cut down on concerts, tourism and conventions in Arizona, included the 1993 Super Bowl which the NFL revoked from AZ and awarded to Pasadena, CA. The boycott is back on, and I know that the Austin City Council has decided to end business and travel deals with Arizona in protest of the bill: http://www.statesman.com/news/local/texans-protest-arizona-law-717398.html.
City Councils in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles have all also promised to boycott Arizona in their own ways. All these cities are stops on our bike trip. Coincidence? Well, yes, but I'm happy to be passing through and spending my money there.
For now, however, Arizona is going forward with implementation of the law in late July (http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/06/06/Phoenix-sheriff-vows-to-uphold-SB-1070/UPI-84021275835051/)
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I'll leave you with a flier that was handed to me at the last rally downtown on May 29th:
Immigrant and Worker Rights Coalition
National Day of Action Rally
Northampton City Hall Steps
Saturday, May 29th
12 noon
We are here today to join in solidarity with demonstrators in Phoenix, Arizona (where organizers expect as many as 100,000 people) and other communities around the United States to protest the racist attack on immigrants embodied in Arizona SB 1070.
This Arizona law is quickly becoming known as the "Juan Crow Law" because it legalizes racism and second-class citizenship for Latinos in much the same way Jim Crow segregation laws did in the South to African Americans before the civil rights movement.
GET INVOLVED!
If you want to know what you can do in your city/town to oppose SB1070, you can join us in organizing our Boycotting Arizona Campaigns. Come to a meeting on Tuesday, June 8th at 5pm at Food for Thought bookstore in Amherst (106 North Pleasant Street), or go to http://www.afscwm.org/boycottaz/.
If you want to join the work of the Immigrant and Worker Rights Coalition, you can email us at wmciwr@gmail.com or join us at any of our meetings every third Thursday of the month at 7pm at 241 King Street in the 2nd floor conference room. ALL ARE WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED TO COME!
The Immigrant & Worker Rights Coalition (IWRC) is a group of organizations and community members who advocate, educate, organize, and mobile to protect the human, civil, and constitutional rights of all workers and residents in our communities.
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So doesn't this mean that all of us have to carry proof of legal status around with us if we are in Arizona? What is it that makes a police officer suspicious that someone might be an illegal ? I'm assuming that for the most part it's how they dress and speak. But couldn't I as an anglo be illegally here from Canada or just about any other place? Do we want to live in a country where you always have to carry your papers?
ReplyDeleteI admit to being very sympathetic to the plight of central Americans and Mexicans trying to escape the grinding poverty, lack of economic opportunity and devastation from natural disasters. I've met many men and women who have come here illegally and they are just like you and me only hungry. In an ideal world, people should be able to live happy lives in the country they are born in. Of course every country has to be able to protect its borders and allow for legal immigration and I know that the US admits more immigrants than any other country but I think it's best to accept the fact that our border with Mexico is to some extent porous and that the great majority of people entering are good hard working people. When times get tough here many of the immigrants , legal and illegal , will return to their country of origin anyway. I see fewer and fewer people walking around my shop who appear to be illegals.
It's a very difficult problem and I'm glad to see that public discussion has even made it to biking blogs. JG