J.D. Long-Garía/CATHOLIC SUN
Thousands of immigration rights advocates gathered at the Arizona State Capitol April 25 to protest a controversial immigration bill signed by Gov. Jan Brewer.
By J.D. Long-García | April 25, 2010 | The Catholic Sun
Gov. Jan Brewer might have signed the toughest immigration law in the nation, but the fight isn’t over.
That was the resounding message put out at a rally of more than 2,000 immigration rights advocates at the Arizona State Capitol April 25, two days after the governor signed SB 1070 into law.
The bill, which the Legislature sent to Brewer April 19, would make it a crime to be in the United States illegally. The bill would also require police to make a “reasonable attempt” to determine legal status during “any lawful contact.”
“The governor made a huge mistake,” according to Arizona Congressman Raul M. Grijalva. “By signing this bill, she’s nationalized this issue. This opens up a dangerous precedent for the rest of the country.”
The national impact of the law was exemplified by the presence of Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez, who spoke to those gathered after Grijalva.
“We should not ask, but demand that the police do not have an inherent right to carry out immigration policy, it is the responsibility of the federal government,” he said to roars of approval. “We understand that this is not about immigration reform. This has to do with racism.”
Gutierrez assured protestors that they were not alone in the fight against the bill. People from across the country were watching.
He, along with several other rally speakers, called on President Barrack Obama to fulfill his campaign promises. Gutierrez hope the Arizona would make the the president “find his voice again” in service “of the people who put him in office.”
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon reminded protestors to remain peaceful.
“This is just plain wrong,” he said, explaining his involvement. “We will address this in the courts. The law is unconstitutional.”
Gordon said an injunction would prevent the law from taking effect while a court battle settled things.
“It violates the dignity of the human person,” said Jesuit Father Sean Carroll, executive director of the Kino Border Initiative. “The passage of the law undermines the safety of our community. That’s why we’re against this.”
Opponents of the measure say the law will discourage witnesses of crimes from working with police. The witness, if here illegally, would fear being deported after giving their testimony, according to opponents.
RELATED: Gov. Brewer signs controversial immigration bill
“Crimes are committed and people feel like they’re going to have to report their legal status,” said Fr. Carroll, who serves immigrants in Nogales, Mexico after they’re deported from Arizona. Safety depends on having trust between the community and the police, he said, and this law puts that trust to the test.
The bigger issues, he said, will still be happening on the border — where drugs and human smuggling are rampant. Deportations will continue to separate families.
Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, a Unitarian Universalist minister, was also concerned with family unity. Her congregation is the sponsoring the anti-oppression “Standing on the Side of Love” campaign.
“Families are the foundation of human growth,” she said. “SB 1070 is criminalizing families composed of people of multiple status.”
The law affects all family members, she said, not just the undocumented.
“It criminalizes spouses, who harbor them. It criminalizes children for shielding them,” Frederick-Gray said.
“The legitimate anger that Arizonans are facing with the economy is being misdirected at the most vulnerable workers and students in the community,” she said. “They did not bring on this economic collapse.”
Many of the laws opponents have said it will legalize racial profiling.
“Racial profiling is illegal,” Brewer said after signing the law, adding that there’s an exemption that stipulates law enforcement need not ask legal residency status if it would impede a case.
“People are disappointed and frustrated with the federal government in regards to illegal immigration into the state,” she said. “We need to put a stop to it.”
Supporters, who gathered outside the Capitol hours before the April 23 signing, had similar sentiments.
“This is just another step,” according to Robert Kuhn, a Minuteman who attends St. Luke Parish. “The federal government won’t enforce the border, so states have to take it into their own hands.”
Volunteering on the border with the Minutemen, Kuhn said he’s seen drug and human smuggling. Undocumented immigrants are “dragging on our society,” he said. “They have no right to do it.”
A Rasmussen poll take last week indicated that 70 percent of Arizonans support the bill.
Brewer, along with signing the bill, issued an executive order that established law enforcement training for immigration laws. Among other things, the training would protect “the civil rights of all persons.”
A person’s “race, color or national origin alone cannot be grounds for reasonable suspicion to believe any law has been violated,” according to the order.
“We can move forward if people remain calm and understand what’s in the bill and understand how it’s going to effect them,” Brewer said.
