Thread: Arrests of immigrants at campsite blasted

Arrests of immigrants at campsite blasted
Men targeted by color of skin, coalition says
60 commentsby Toby Phillips - Apr. 16, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
A group of Arizona church leaders called on religious officials across the state Tuesday to band together and stand up to what it said has been racial and religious persecution of the Latino community.

The group of 35 church pastors and leaders accused Arizona law-enforcement officials of racial and religious persecution after members of a Valley church were detained in Prescott over the weekend, resulting in the deportation of seven men.

The coalition, the Alliance of Religious Leaders, claimed in a press conference that the men were targeted because of their skin color.

"Every leader of every faith in our community, in this state, needs to speak out at this time," said Juan Ricardo Aguero, a pastor and a member of the alliance.

The church leaders said they feared for their congregations. Many churchgoers happen to be undocumented immigrants, the group said. By targeting the immigrants, officials are violating the constitutional freedom of religion, the group said.

Aguero said if religious leaders do not speak out and allow their congregations to be "hunted down" by law enforcement, the concept of religious freedom would be lost. Aguero even alluded to Nazi Germany in describing the current plight of the Latino community.

The press conference Tuesday stemmed from an incident Saturday when 12 males, including an 11-year-old, from the Christian church Christiana Agape were detained at the White Spar Campground in Prescott.

The Yavapai County Sheriff's Department has said its deputies were responding to a noise complaint and initially thought nine of the men were undocumented after asking for identification. Representatives of the church group said the men were not causing a disturbance.

Seven of the men have voluntarily returned to Mexico, officials said, and authorities released another man after learning that he was in the country legally. The ninth man, the church's pastor, was still in custody. His legal status was to be challenged in court. The remaining men in the group were released at the campsite.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoe ... t0416.html

What drivel! They were busted because they were disturbing the peace! They didn't want to get caught? Then don't be making loud noise at 630AM in a public campground, DUH!

more on this at
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-111623-0.html

Originally Posted by miguelina

What drivel! They were busted because they were disturbing the peace! They didn't want to get caught? Then don't be making loud noise at 630AM in a public campground, DUH!

That's exactly what I thought when I first learned of this story.

Lesson #1: If you're here illegally, you may not want to do things that draw lots of attention to yourself. Partying loudly at 6:30 in the morning probably won't help.

The coalition, the Alliance of Religious Leaders, claimed in a press conference that the men were targeted because of their skin color.

The Hispanic population accounts for 29% of Arizona citizens, not including illegal immigrants. Skin color has NOTHING to do with discovering that a person is an illegal alien. Police have the right to ask for identification from anyone they stop or question for while investigating a disturbance or any other laws that might be broken.

Stats: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/hhmcensus1.html

Is this what they consider living in the showdows?

I think it's great their still holding the pastor, they believe because of their religon the are above the law, they must have a pretty good idea he is here illegally