Monday, May 3, 2010

Nationwide May Day marches urge immigration reform

From coast-to-coast tens of thousands of protesters rallied on Saturday in favor of immigrants’ rights. Marchers urged for federal immigration reform and against measures like the recently signed SB 1070 in Arizona.

At least 50,000 attended the Los Angeles rally while 34 people including Rep. Luis Gutierrez were arrested after sitting in front of the White House in protest. In the Arizonan city of Tucson an estimated 7000 people attended a protest where speakers extolled that the controversial law was discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Several counter protests where also held though their numbers paled in comparison to the multitude of rallies that also condemned federal authorities for being lax on immigration reform.

The backlash against the Arizona immigration law continues to grow and has even affected the world of sports. The World Boxing Council has excluded scheduling Mexican pugilists from fighting in Arizona while there have been protests outside of Arizona Diamondbacks games. Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres said that he would boycott going to the 2011 All-Star Game in Phoenix should he be selected.

Arizona universities have already felt the effects of the new law according to The Chronicle of Higher Education:
Some out-of-state students have already told the University of Arizona they are not coming because of the law, which asks local and state law-enforcement officers, including the campus police, to ask people whom they suspect are illegal immigrants to provide evidence of legal immigration status.

And although some scholars say the law might not survive constitutional challenges, college officials report that students and faculty and staff members are worried that the state policy will create an atmosphere of fear on campuses, particularly for Hispanic and international students, and may discourage some people from attending college at all.
Image- macon.com (“Marcia Molina, of Marietta, holds up a sign making a comparison of some laws cracking down on illegal immigrants to the old Jim Crow segregation laws of the South, during a pro-immigration rally Saturday in Atlanta.”)
Online Sources- Washington Post, Democracy Now, Tucson Weekly, Miami Herald, USA TODAY, New York Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education

1 comment:

Defensores de Democracia said...

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http://gawker.com/5526107/your-guide-to-the-arizona-boycott-porn-sky-mall-and-pf-changs



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Vicente Duque