Protesters rally against Arizona immigration law

freshh. · 02:40 PM

Quote:

Angered by Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants, several thousand protesters descended on a park in central Phoenix early on Saturday, urging Washington to block the new state law they call racist.

Civil rights and labor group activists from across the United States -- toting banners that read "Obama Keep Your Promise" -- rallied to protest the law, which requires state and local police to investigate the immigration status of people they suspect are in the country illegally.

After meeting in the park, they plan to march through the city for a rally outside the state capitol later in the day.

"We want to stop the spread of the law around the country," said Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, one of the organizers of the march.

Activists want President Barack Obama to order federal authorities not to accept custody of illegal immigrants detained under the law.

They also want the Obama administration to revoke the so-called 287g agreement, which deputizes officers from local police agencies to enforce federal immigration laws.

The Arizona law seeks to push illegal immigrants from the desert state, a major corridor for migrant and drug smugglers crossing the border from Mexico. The measure is supported by a solid majority of voters both in Arizona and nationally.

Advocates of the law -- which is due to come into effect on July 29, subject to legal challenges -- also plan a protest in the Phoenix valley on Saturday.

Opponents of the law charge it is unconstitutional and will lead to racial profiling of Hispanics, who make up around a third of the state's population.

At the morning rally, many activists wore T-shirts saying "Indocumentado" -- undocumented in Spanish.

One group carried a pinata plastered with a picture of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, and the words "racism is ugly."

Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder have both expressed concerns over the state law, and speculation that the administration could challenge it grew this week after officials met with a legal team appointed by Brewer.

Serafin Cabrera, 39, a Mexican construction worker living in Phoenix, said he was marching to send a message to Obama.

"We want him to overrule the law," Cabrera said, speaking in Spanish. "He had the support of us all to get where he is. He made a promise on immigration reform, but he hasn't acted."

-SOURCE

For anyone who wants to watch live coverage of the march through downtown Phoenix, watch here: http://www.kpho.com/live/index.html

Early estimates from this channel put the turn out at approximately 30,000 protesters, but I haven't heard any other numbers. I read another article that said the Tea Party folks had planned a demonstration in support of the law and had expected 5,000 people to turn out. They'd even gone as far as renting a warehouse where they set up cots for out of town people to stay.

Video (Courtesy of AltoArizona)

I was watching some of the live feed and while protesters were making their way to the capitol building, white supremacists had to be detained by police. Several of them were armed.

Photos (Courtesy of several people on Twitter)

Mona Lisa · 05-29-2010, 02:54 PM

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO that video is hilarious. Love it

The Tea Party can all die and go to hell. These are the people that McCain is trying to please. These people are nuts

By the way, that song is catchy

Dreamer777 · 05-29-2010, 03:08 PM

It sounds really messed up, but I think that some killing and some really horrible thing has to happen before the country takes action. With white supremacist using guns something really terrible could of happen and it could of sparked something big.

It happened in the Revolutionary war, Happened for slaves, I thinks its going to happen for us.

There is always a sacrifice for something great.

Demise · 05-29-2010, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreamer777

It sounds really messed up, but I think that some killing and some really horrible thing has to happen before the country takes action. With white supremacist using guns something really terrible could of happen and it could of sparked something big.

It happened in the Revolutionary war, Happened for slaves, I thinks its going to happen for us.

There is always a sacrifice for something great.

yeah, for quite some time my aim status was "you really need people to die to get shit done"

freshh. · 05-29-2010, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demise

yeah, for quite some time my aim status was "you really need people to die to get shit done"

Let's hope that it doesn't have to come to that. I hope that somewhere in the U.S. people that support this law, begin to question why they agree with a law that is supported by white supremacists.

Demise · 05-29-2010, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freshh.

Let's hope that it doesn't have to come to that. I hope that somewhere in the U.S. people that support this law, begin to question why they agree with a law that is supported by white supremacists.

oh please man, i saw some people gloat over immigration supporters cursing out the neonazis (who were hiding behind the cops), i really hate to say this but unless it gets bloody nobody will care, this nation is just wired like that

dreamy14 · 05-29-2010, 05:15 PM

Quote:

One group carried a pinata plastered with a picture of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, and the words "racism is ugly."

O. My. God. Lol.

Mona Lisa · 05-29-2010, 07:08 PM

The tea party movement is so racist and they just deny it. Who goes around saying that they want to stop the brown invasion from killing off the white population. They feel that Latinos are creating a genocide in America.

Estupidos

freshh. · 05-29-2010, 08:57 PM

Video - DREAM Act Banner @ today's rally (Courtesy of [email protected])

Dreamer777 · 05-30-2010, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freshh.

Video - DREAM Act Banner @ today's rally (Courtesy of [email protected])

at the end of each clip you see this guy run across the road. HAHAHa

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

They need you!

Forum links

Resources

Join our list

National calendar of events

August

Protesters rally against Arizona immigration law