2,000 rally against illegal immigration law

[Jeanfromfillmore]

2,000 rally against illegal immigration law
PHOENIX- A little over 2,000 people showed up to the illegal immigration rally at the state Capitol on Sunday to protest Arizona's new illegal immigration law.
Opponents of the law demonstrated peacefully, though DPS, Phoenix police and Department of Justice representatives were present just in case. A DPS helicopter circled the rally and officers were stationed on rooftops.
It was a very different scene from Friday's protest, where police arrested some people for throwing water bottles at officers.
The House and Senate lawn was a sea of American flags. People held signs denouncing the governor, Senator Russell Pearce and certainly the law itself.
Protesters held signs that read ‘We lost the battle but not the war,' and ‘Don't pull me over because I'm brown.' Some held signs that asked 'Legal?' and had an arrow pointing to them. Others wore shirts that said ‘Legalize Arizona.' Demonstrators also displayed their displeasure with Gov. Jan Brewer by chanting ‘Vote them out.'
Singing, chanting and music provided a party-like atmosphere to the event, as protesters remained optimistic that President Obama would begin comprehensive immigration reform.
Elias Bermudez from Immigrants Without Borders says sending a message to the Obama administration won't be done by force.
"We're going to do it by work, by working civically, as we should work civically and try to defeat any measure like this, along with any candidate that feels the way these people feel."
Bermudez says he's confident the courts will stop this.
"This law is unconstitutional," Bermudez said. "There is no way that good police officer is going to be able to determine the legal status of someone without asking the question to a brown person."
Bermudez went on to say that Arizona is taking a well-deserved beating nationally with regard to public relations.
"Arizona has shown to the rest of the nation that they don't like a certain group of people."
Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez flew in from the Midwest and told the crowd that the new law must be defeated and also renewed his call for legalizing the estimated 12 million people living in the U.S. illegally.
Early estimates had the number of protesters at around 5,000.
The Phoenix City Council will hold a meeting Tuesday to vote on whether or not to join the legal fight.
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1287868

Hundreds protest immigration law in Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) -- Hundreds of people gathered outside Arizona's Capitol building on Sunday in a largely peaceful protest against the state's tough new immigration law.
Chanting "Yes we can," waving American flags and holding signs reading "We have rights" and "We are human," demonstrators kept up a festive spirit as they denounced the bill signed Friday by Gov. Jan Brewer.
The new law requires police to determine whether a person is in the United States legally. It also requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally.
Protesters worry that the law will foster racial profiling.
"What is 'reasonable suspicion?' " protester Jose Acosta asked Sunday. "Are we going to get pulled over just because of a broken taillight or because of the color of our skin? ... If so, is everybody going to be pulled over?"
Kearny Police Chief Joe Martinez called critics' concerns unfounded, saying the Arizona law enforcement community includes a large number of Hispanics.
"We've never had a policy of racial profiling," Martinez said Saturday night at a town hall meeting in Casa Grande. "In fact, quite the contrary, it's been outlawed."
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon appeared at the rally in support of the protest, calling the law unconstitutional and "just plain wrong."
"America is a country that is compassionate and that welcomes everyone," he said. "This is not what this country and this state was founded upon."
Gordon vowed to take the fight through the state's judicial system.
"We'll go to the state courts and we'll go to the federal courts and we'll go all the way to the Supreme Court," he told the cheering crowd. "I promise you."
Gordon told CNN on Saturday that he will bring up an item calling for legal action against the law at Tuesday's City Council session.
Others were also vowing this weekend to legally challenge the law.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, along with leaders from the National Action Network and the Hispanic Federation, announced Sunday that he will legally challenge the law.
The law "is an affront to the civil rights of all Americans and an attempt to legalize racial profiling," Sharpton said in a statement after the bill's signing Friday. "As one who helped to make racial profiling a national issue and who has in the last year visited Arizona several times to rally against these draconian immigration policies, I am calling for a coalition of civil rights organizations to work with those in Arizona to resist and overturn this state law."
The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, a group that represents 30,000 Latino churches worldwide, also said Saturday it plans to file a lawsuit against the bill.
"In addition to this law being illegal, if this law goes into effect, we expect it to have a dramatic affect on the state with U.S. citizens, legal residents and others moving out of the state out of fear of being singled out," William Sanchez, an immigration attorney representing the coalition, said in a statement.
CNN's Casey Wian contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/...ation.protest/