Alto Arizona!
Dear friends,
Arizona is on the verge of enacting the most anti-immigrant legislation the country has seen in a generation. This is a bill which apparently mandates racial profiling. SB 1070 is quite literally intended to terrorize immigrant families.
Specifics of the Bill:
-Makes it a crime (state misdemeanor) to willfully fail to complete or carry an alien registration document.
-Allows officers to arrest immigrants unable to show documents proving they’re legally in the country.
-Allows citizens to sue if they feel a government agency has adopted a policy that hinders the enforcement of illegal immigration laws.
-Prohibits people from blocking traffic when they seek or offer day-labor services on street corners.
-Makes it illegal for people to transport illegal immigrants if the drivers of vehicles know their passengers are in the country illegally and if the transportation furthers their illegal presence in the country.
Right now this is only in Arizona, but if it passes, it has the potential of being replicated in other parts of the country.
The organization I work for, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, has launched a website http://www.altoarizona.com, which has a petition you can sign to urge AZ Governor Jan Brewer to veto the bill. We need to get at least 25,000 signatures by next Tuesday.
If you care about civil and human rights, please please please sign the petition!
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6190/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2698
And just to make it more interactive, we can discuss whether you agree or not with the bill. Thanks!