http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/17/1 ... _Container


Protests to Arizona immigration law expected at Florida Marlins game
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@ElNuevoHerald.com

The growing national protests against the new Arizona immigration control law may come to Miami-Dade Monday night.

Immigrant rights activists from throughout South Florida plan to gather at Sun Life Stadium in North Miami-Dade to distribute fliers and hold up protest signs during the baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Florida Marlins starting at 7:10 p.m.

MarĂ*a RodrĂ*guez, executive director of Florida Immigrant Coalition, one of the groups involved in planning the protest, called on all immigration activists last week to join the protest.

The stadium protest is part of a broader effort to persuade Major League Baseball Chairman Bud Selig to move the 2011 All-Star Game from its currently scheduled location in Phoenix if the Arizona immigration law has not been withdrawn.

The stadium protest in Miami-Dade will cap a day of actions and events by immigrant rights activists aimed at opposing the Arizona law that empowers police officers to question a person on his or her immigration status and file criminal charges if the person is not legally in the state.

For example, a coalition of organizations will hold a national media call to discuss the filing of a lawsuit against the Arizona law.

The coalition includes the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigration Law Center, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center.