SB 1070 had its day in the SC today, and while Russell Pearce and Gov. Brewer smiled before cameras after the hearing, evidently feeling as much as the media has reported that the questions seemed to favor upholding the law, I hope if this is true they will rue the day they opened this can of worms.
CBS 5 in Phoenix reporting live from DC said there were about 500 protesters No arrests and no violence.
video, could not get it to embed:
http://www.kpho.com/...
The audience in chambers included Brewer and Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, both strong supporters of the measure, as well as Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, a vocal opponent.
Gallardo said he hopes the justices will uphold the lower-court ruling halting parts of the law from going into effect.
"But at the end of the day, regardless of what the Supreme Court does, Senate Bill 1070 is wrong and should be repealed," he said. Gallardo unsuccessfully proposed state legislation this session to overturn the law. "That has to continue to be our mission."
"Folks are living in fear that they are going to be separated from their families, detained, arrested," he said. "You have parents leaving phone numbers at the school in case they're not around when their kids get out of school."
http://www.azcentral.com/...
Sister Mary Ellen Lacy, a nun from Maryland, ( one of the protesters) said religious leaders from across the nation oppose SB 1070.
"We are here in prayerful hope that the Arizona law will be struck down," she said. "No religion is for this type of second-class system."
She said under some of the illegal-immigration-enforcement laws within SB 1070, ministers cannot harbor or help illegal immigrants.
"They criminalize what God called us to do," she said. "We serve the poor, including immigrants."
http://www.azcentral.com/...
All local AZ stations were reporting that protests in Phoenix were blocking streets and the light rail and that police in riot gear had arrested eight. After that the protesters moved on.
Opponents of SB 1070 took to the streets of downtown Phoenix Wednesday in protest. They want the high court to overturn the law.
Just after 4 p.m., demonstrators made their way from Civic Space Park near Van Buren and 1st Ave, then headed to Phoenix Police HQ and the 4th Ave Jail.
They're watching the Supreme Court arguments closely.
As of 6 p.m., the protesters were gathered in the middle of Central Ave. Police are on the scene in riot gear asking them to leave.
video:
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/...
One young lady said people are leaving the state. Others wore giant masks of Arpaio and Brewer. It has already been estimated that over 100,000 people have left AZ over SB 1070.
One man comments:
“If it is upheld all hell will break loose. It will divide us more.”
I agree.
As much as the debate by Pearce and Brewer has been framed in terms of enforcing the border and not paying for state services for undocumented immigrants, I don’t buy it and I never had. It is about making money off of the misery of a group of people who have been labeled lesser, not deserving of consideration. Some of Brewer's major contributors and advisors are the prison industry. She increased our prison budget while cutting schools. Detaining undocumented people for indeterminate time and then billing the federal government for it means profits for them, and no expense for AZ. It is about making profits off of the most vulnerable amongst us.
Undocumented people do not qualify for social services in AZ. Most of them are working and paying taxes, sales taxes, rent, utilities and consumers at local businesses.
I urge anyone who cares about this issue to boycott AZ if this law is upheld, much as people boycotted South Africa over apartheid laws. Don’t come here. Don’t spend money here. I hope AZ will be sorry for the day they passed this law. If the SC upholds SB 1070, let their victory be pyrrhic.