Thread: AZ: Advocates to protest immigration policies

Advocates to protest immigration policies

by Daniel González - Jan. 12, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Immigrants-rights advocates are planning a large-scale protest this Saturday to pressure the Obama administration to end an agreement that lets the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office check the immigration status of people booked into its jails.

Organizers say the agreement has emboldened individual police officers in the Valley to engage in racial profiling by arresting Latinos for minor crimes in order to check their immigration status. In 2009, the Department of Homeland Security took away Sheriff Joe Arpaio's power to arrest illegal immigrants under a revised agreement that still lets jail officials enforce immigration laws.

"It's a de facto deportation machine," Salvador Reza said of the jail agreement. He is one of the organizers of Saturday's protest at Falcon Park in west Phoenix.

Reza said he expects 10,000 to 20,000 people, including many from out of town, to attend the demonstration, which will start with a rally at Falcon Park and then follow with a march to Tent City, the outdoor jail facility run by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office on Durango Street. Arpaio is expecting 3,500 to 5,000. A similar demonstration last May drew about 5,000 people.

Reza said the speakers will include several celebrities, including singer Linda Ronstadt, farm labor leader Dolores Huerta and musician Zack de la Rocha, formerly of the rock band Rage Against the Machine.

Arpaio said Monday that people coming from out of state "can save their gas," because instead of backing off from arresting illegal immigrants, he plans to step up his immigration enforcement. He said he plans to unveil a new program by the end of the month that will put more resources into immigration enforcement.

Under an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, jail officials from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office check the immigration status of people booked by sheriff's deputies as well as other Valley police departments.

Arpaio said jail officers have checked the immigration status of 217,000 people since the program started in April 2007 and turned over 31,214 people to ICE.

Vincent Picard, a spokesman for ICE, declined to comment on Reza's allegations that officers are booking people into the jail for immigration reasons.

Saturday's demonstration in Phoenix is part of several events nationwide aimed at putting pressure on the Obama administration to stop arresting, detaining and deporting illegal immigrants as part of ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration that began under the Bush administration. The Obama administration has already eased off of many Bush-era immigration policies, including revamping the 287 (g) program to focus on criminals rather than just immigration violators and targeting employers of illegal immigrants rather than undocumented workers.

Arpaio said he will suspend all weekend visitation to the county jails out of concern for security.

www.azcentral.com

Arpaio said Monday that people coming from out of state "can save their gas," because instead of backing off from arresting illegal immigrants, he plans to step up his immigration enforcement. He said he plans to unveil a new program by the end of the month that will put more resources into immigration enforcement.

Way to go Joe!

I love it when they march; it lights a wonderful fire under our tails, and serves to mobilize Americans.

Do we need to rally an opposition crowd for this, or do we sit back and let them hang themselves with their own rope?