Sharpton vows to protest Arizona immigration bill
NEW YORK -- The Rev. Al Sharpton says he's ready to travel to Arizona and march in the streets to protest the state's new immigration law.
Sharpton joined Lillian Rodriguez Lopez from the Hispanic Federation in New York City on Sunday to speak out against the law. They say activists are prepared to commit civil disobedience to fight it.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the bill Friday. It requires police to question people about their immigration status - including asking for identification - if they suspect someone is in the country illegally.
The law will take effect in late July or early August.
President Barack Obama has called the new law "misguided" and has instructed the Justice Department to examine it to see if it's legal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...042502131.html
KC protesters oppose Arizona immigration law
More than 100 people turned out in Mill Creek Park this afternoon to protest a new law in Arizona to crack down on illegal immigrants.
“No Juan Crow” was among the messages on signs that attracted honks from passing motorists on the Country Club Plaza.
Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed a law that requires police to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants. Critics say it will lead to civil rights abuses.
“It’s the beginning of a police state,” said Gil Guerrero, who works for the Guadalupe Centers in Kansas City. “It’s like the South Africa ‘pass laws’ where you had to have ID at all times. We don’t study history. This is what happened in Nazi Germany with the Jews.”
Supporters of the law say Arizona, which has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants, has waited long enough for the federal government to do something and that critics are overreacting.
Jude Huntz, director of human rights for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, was among those protesting on the Plaza.
“Our concern is that Missouri is going to wind up the same way because we already have harsh anti-immigration laws here in Missouri with our state legislature,” Huntz said.
Read more:
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/25...#ixzz0m9pdEDWG
Chicago Congressman: Cancel Arizona Vacations
A Congressman from Chicago is on his way to a protest in Arizona today. He’s upset about a new immigration law there. We report from our West Side bureau.
The Arizona law requires police officers to question anyone they suspect is in the country illegally. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says her state needs the law to combat drug cartels and undocumented immigrants.
But Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Chicago) predicts the policing will result in racial profiling.
GUTIERREZ: You can’t do that.
He’s calling for tourists to cancel summer vacations to Arizona.
GUTIERREZ: Why would you want to contribute to a group of people that clearly are engaged in a discriminatory act?Gutiérrez says the Arizona law may have a silver lining. He says it’s lighting a fire under President Barack Obama to help provide undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.
The congressman wants the president to push Senate Democrats to introduce an immigration overhaul.
But just one Republican senator has voiced support for revamping immigration laws.
http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=41556