NDLON

Supreme Court Should Strike Down Arizona Bill, Local March to Call for End to Similar Federal Programs.

Who: A Wide Coalition of Organizations 

When: April 25th. March to begin at 3pm Arizona Time.

Where: Opening Rally at Civic Space Park

March: Highlighting Phoenix PD, Federal Courthouse, 4th Ave Jail, Wells Fargo Tower, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and returning to Civic Space Park.

On April 25th, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the Department of Justice lawsuit against the state of Arizona's SB1070. At the same time, communities in Arizona will come together to participate in a march to protest against the state bill and call for an end to both state and federal policies that erode civil rights, promote racial profiling, and enable local law enforcement such as Sheriff Arpaio to use immigration policy to enforce their prejudice.

Carlos Garcia of Puente states, “With SB1070 Arizona declared a war of attrition on immigrants. What was started in Arizona quickly lead to the Arizonificaiton of this country, one that treats undocumented immigrants as criminals and treats all Latinos as undocumented.”    

Opal Tometi of Black Alliance For Just Immigration explains, "April 25th doesn't just mark a decision for the Supreme Court. The human rights violations now plain as day in Arizona create a moral dilemma for all of us. We will be marching because we refuse to live another day in Attrition. We ask that all those who believe you should not be judged by the color of your skin to join us in turning the tide from hate to a new day for human rights."

Diana Perez of Puente relates, "Maricopa County has been in a human rights crisis created by both state and federal policies that we've only seen spread in the past two years. On April 25th we'll be marching to say that we will not comply with the hate contained in SB1070. The Supreme Court should strike down 1070 and the federal government should re-evaluate its embrace of Arizona-style policies."

Facebook event at https://www.facebook.com/events/370620936316540/

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Salvador Reza of the Puente Movement responded to today's Department of Justice settlement for access to records in Sheriff Arpaio's office with the following statement.
"Nearly three years after the beginning of their investigation, the Department of Justice should be intervening in Maricopa county not just investigating. The people of Maricopa have been living with a likely criminal at the head of our law enforcement for years and it's time for relief. The County Sheriff's Office should be placed under receivership without delay. Anything less than immediate intervention in our human rights crisis makes President Obama and former Governor Napolitano accomplices in the reign of terror- and likely criminal behavior- of Sheriff Joe Arpaio."

The Department of Homeland Security which empowers Sheriff Arpaio through its ICE Access programs has recently come under fire for the expansion of Arpaio-style policies throughout the country through the "Secure Communities" program. The agency has been accused of emulating the lack of transparency and discriminatory practices under investigation in the office of Sheriff Arpaio. As a result, the DHS' spread of Arpaio-style policies is also coming under investigation by the OIG and is facing a growing call for an end to ICE Access programs that entangle local police in immigration laws. ...

Phoenix, AZ. In response to the Governor of Arizona pressing her countersuit to defend SB 1070, Pablo Alvarado, Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, a litigant in the injunction suit against SB 1070 issued the following statement:
“Like Governor Wallace before her, Governor Brewer is choosing to stand on the wrong side of history with her defense of unconstitutional, regressive, and immoral legislation.
Brewer will lose in court and in the court of public opinion. Any short term political gain by scapegoating Americans in waiting will be offset in droves by future generations in Arizona who will have been inspired to wipe away the stain on the state caused by her repugnant, unconstitutional, and anti-American nativist crusade.
Yet, like a driver who refuses to admit they’re lost, the Governor refuses to turn around.
Governor Brewer’s inability to govern and failure to provide real solutions to the state’s problems will no longer be shielded by the diversion created by her spectacle of scapegoating.”
The Governor’s countersuit today precedes another event in court. Tomorrow, on the anniversary of the implementation of SB 1070, local leader Salvador Reza of the Puente Movement as well as Peter Morales, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, will face trial for their act of conscience that prevented Sheriff Arpaio’s raids on last July 29th....