Sunday, April 25, 2010

Arizona Minuteman Sparks Water Throwing Incident By Instigating SB 1070 Protesters

Legal challenges lining up against Arizona's immigration enforcement bill and businesses permanently closing costing hundreds of jobs as a result of SB 1070 passage

April 25, 2010

Phoenix, Arizona (HNNUSA) - On Friday, an Arizona Minuteman sparks water bottle throwing by SB 1070 protesters after instigating crowd. The man walked and pushed through a crowd of protesters outside the capitol while shouting insults. Police were able to escort the Minuteman away from the crowd, but he continued to call out insults. One man was arrested and no injuries were reported.
The incident occured minutes after Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law. The law becomes enforcible in late August. SB 1070 authorizes police to determine the legal status of suspects or citizens, if they have reason to believe they are illegally in the U.S. It requires police departments and state police to enforce the law, and allows for litigation against departments who failed to enforce SB 1070, which makes it a criminal offense for an undocumented immigrant to be in the country illegally, conflicting and superceding federal immigration laws. Under federal law, being in the country illegally is a federal civil offense and not a crime.
The new Arizona immigration enforcement law makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally, and undocumented immigrants, if convicted face up to 6 months in prison and fines up to $2,500.
Over the weekend, hundreds of businesses in Mesa, Phoenix and around the valley have closed their door in the wake of Arizona's new law aimed to prosecute illegal immigrants. Some of the businesses aren't expected to reopen costing hundreds of jobs in the area. Area business owners who depend on Latino business are feeling the effect and say people are just staying home and families are moving out of Arizona and relocating to immigrant friendly states.
Local business and property owners fear that the new law will evently lead to Arizona's economy to crash, if immigrants and legal citizens continue to flee the state for fear of being persecuted and discriminated by police for being Latino.
Currently, the state of Arizona is facing a $3 billion dollar deficit, and a study by the Perryman Group cited, that if all of the estimated 460,000 undocumented immigrants would leave Arizona, the state would lose an estimated $26 billion dollars of economic generated income solely from immigrants.
Arizona's convention and tourism agencies strongly opposed the bill, because it would deter business travel, tourism, out of state corporated meetings and conventions. Since, the measure was signed on Friday by Gov. Brewer, thousands of cancelations have been pouring in to avoid travel and police contact. Potential tourists are now changing plans and traveling to friendly tourist states around the country. One Wisconsin man who had planned to visit Arizona early this Summer, but canceled his plans said, "I wouldn't be surprised at all, if Arizona's future slogan for its license plates read 'Illegals not welcome'." He didn't want to be identified.
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, who opposes the bill says, SB 1070 is unconstitution and has included an item on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting with the City Council to get approval to initiate the first legal challenge against SB 1070. Gordon is expected to instruct the city manager and the city attorney to file a lawsuit against Governor Brewer and SB 1070.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), numerous Latino legal defense organizations, the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the Hispanic Federation and religious groups will follow in challenging the newly signed Arizona immigration enforcement law. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), a national non-profit civil rights organization is expected to seek a federal injunction against SB 1070 in order to permanently keep it from taking effect, according to Victor Viramontes, senior legal counsel for MALDEF. The coalition of groups against Arizona's law will mostly likely file a lawsuit as soon as next week, and adding a costly financial obligation for Arizona to defend SB 1070, which will increase its deficit even more.
President Barack H. Obama has ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to determine, if Arizona's law is legal.
U. S. Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) opposing SB 1070 called for a boycott in Arizona, shortly after it was passed. Other Latino leaders in the U.S. have transpired similar appeals for Hispanics to initiate boycotts.
During a peaceful protest on Sunday at the Capitol in Phoenix, Congressman Grijalva vowed to overturn SB 1070 and march with thousands to protest the law, if it survives a legal challenge. He called on President Obama to ignore Arizona's move to turn undocumented immigrants to the federal government's immigration agency U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation. "We're going to overturn this unjust and racist law, and then we're going to overturn the power structure that created this unjust racist law," Grijalva said during his speech to thousands of protesters that gathered at the Capitol.
The Rev. Al Sharpton on Sunday from New York confirmed he will go to Arizona, if the bill would take effect in August and march with thousands of Latinos and would call on Black America to join the movement to overturn the racist bill SB 1070. Sharpton, Grijalva, and Gongressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) believe the bill legalizes racial discrimination and Americans should overturn it.
In the Midwest, H. Nelson Goodson, an Immigration Reform and Civil Rights Journalist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin called for Latinos to initiate an economic boycott on March 21, and lasting until an immigration reform bill is passed. Goodson said, "Latinos should begin to limit their spending to bare essentials only, to show and eventually manage our economic power, which is expected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2013 in the U.S." 
A successful economic boycott would no doubt result and influence immigration reform, we've managed to elect a majority of Democrats in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in 2006, and millions of Latinos were instrumental in electing President Obama, a Democrat in 2008. So nationally, Latinos have united and are networking with each other resulting in political empowerment, which Arizona's immigration enforcement bill reinforces our efforts to continue to influence change in America along with President Obama.
Arizona's SB 1070 has helped to resurge our efforts to continue to challenge these types of unconstitutional and discriminatory laws enacted by Repubicans. But now, we need to actually manage our economic power to become a collective force to reckon with, according to Goodson.
The Arizona law has push the immigration reform issue forward and both Congressmen and U.S. Senators are moving to address the issue within months. Although, conservative Republicans are expected to oppose any bill that will be pushed forward by Democrats. The opposition from Republicans and the GOP to block the measure has labeled them and the GOP as the "Anti-immigrant Party" and could lead to the downfall of the party. Moderate Republicans are expected to stray away from party lines and could join Democrats in a bipartisan immigration reform bill, according to Congressional insiders.

On Friday, AZ Minuteman sparks water bottle throwing by SB 1070 protesters after instigating crowd, 1 arrest and no injuries reported. News FOX 10 video at http://bit.ly/b5EpvB

News FOX 10 about businesses closing in Arizona as a result of SB 1070 at http://bit.ly/bZPzDs

Nfoque Latino radio talk show in Spanish from April 24, 2010 at WJTI 1460 AM in Milwaukee, invited guest Wisconsin state Representative Pedro Cólon (D-Milw.) speaks on Arizona's enforcement immigration law SB 1070. Hosts H. Nelson Goodson and Zonia Lopez, recorded show at link: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6407244 

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1 comment:

admin said...

Very misleading report, if this person said something what was said that MADE people throw water bottles? Isn't freedom of speech still one of our rights? If you have a different opinion do you just throw a water bottle at them?
Now we are going to label all Minutemen "Racist" again? Please throw out the race card, that is old news and we all know it is untrue. You may not like what other people have to say about your ideas but to take on violent actions against them by doing harm only labels you as intollerant.