Thread: La Raza, LULAC, SEIU + Others Call for Arizona Boycott

Latino rights group, others call for Arizona boycott

By the CNN Wire Staff
May 6, 2010 12:44 p.m. EDT

Washington (CNN) -- A Latino rights group and other immigrant and labor organizations called Thursday for a national boycott of Arizona over the state's new immigration law, which allows police to ask anyone for proof of legal U.S. residency.

The call for a boycott was led by the National Council of La Raza, which bills itself as the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

Other organizations calling for the boycott include the Asian American Justice Center, the Center for Community Change, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Puerto Rican Coalition, the Service Employees International Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the United Food and Commercial Workers union.

The groups pledged not to hold major conventions, conferences or other special events involving significant travel to Arizona from out of state and "asked others to consider whether their purchases of goods and services might perpetuate the unjust and discriminatory law in Arizona," La Raza said on its website.

"When a law so contrary to our values is passed, we must act decisively," said La Raza President and CEO Janet Murguia. "We are calling for a boycott because this law will blow open the door to increased racial profiling, wrongful arrests and other discrimination."

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the immigration measure April 23, says it does not involve racial profiling or any other illegal acts.

The law, known as SB 1070, is scheduled to go into effect this summer.

The measure has drawn criticism in the United States and abroad.

In Arizona, the Tucson and Flagstaff city councils voted this week to file suit against the measure.

The city councils said they're taking action because of concerns over enforcement costs and negative effects on Arizona's tourism industry.

In Tucson, council member Regina Romero introduced a motion for "the city attorney to bring a legal challenge" because the immigration bill is "unconstitutional" and "a bad law, which could cost the city millions of dollars in lawsuits."

"This bill opens the door to racial profiling, and it puts Latinos in Arizona in automatic suspect mode," Romero said.

Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup said up to 38 percent of retail sales in the city come from legal Mexican visitors.

The state immigration law threatens Tucson's businesses, Walkup said, just when "the city is just beginning to recover from the economic downturn."

Criticism also has come from abroad, with the Mexican government issuing an advisory to its citizens last week to avoid travel to Arizona.

The Organization of American States expressed its concern about the law last week, and presidents of South American countries meeting in Argentina for a gathering of the Union of South American Nations condemned the law Tuesday.

Well-known Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes recommended this week that dark-skinned people, men with mustaches, women who use shawls, or anyone who does not speak English well should not go to Arizona, because the state has "officially declared itself racist," the government-run Notimex news service reported Wednesday.

The Phoenix Suns basketball team also criticized the new law, and wore jerseys marked "Los Suns" in Wednesday night's NBA playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs.

"The frustration with the federal government's failure to deal with the issue of illegal immigration resulted in passage of a flawed state law," Suns managing partner Robert Sarver said in a statement. "However intended, the result of passing this law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question, and Arizona's already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/06/ ... tml?hpt=T3

Click on link above to view:
Video: Emilio Estefan urges boycott of Ariz.

Someone tell Janet Murguia that AZ law mimics U.S. law almost word for word. She should probably boycott the entire U.S.

I find it truly comical that anyone from Mexico would threaten to boycott AZ. That's the intent of the law.

These Racist Open Border Anarchist Conquesta groups are encouraging illegal aliens to enter and remain in the country in violation of U.S. Law. They should be brought to justice immediately!

I wonder if the SEIU membership actually voted to do this---or if it was imposed by the jackboot SEIU radical leadership?

SEIU Announces Boycott Of Arizona
Lucy Madison | May 6, 2010, 12:32PM

The SEIU announced today that it will join a growing number of civil and labor groups in a boycott of Arizona, as a protest of the state's recent passage of a controversial new immigration law.

"By issuing an extensive boycott of meetings and conventions in Arizona, we are sending a clear message that working families want serious solutions to our immigration problems--not frivolous policies that undermine public safety, waste millions of taxpayer funds, and imperil our most basic civil rights," said SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina in a statement released this morning.

The SEIU, which has 2.2 million members, says it will also urge other institutions -- including labor partners, student and religious groups, and legislators on the state, local, and federal level -- to pull their business out of the Grand Canyon state until the law is invalidated.

"As we stand against intolerance in Arizona, SEIU is simultaneously stepping on the gas to make sure that Congress and the White House respond to the vast majority of Americans who want a serious, comprehensive immigration solution now," Medina said.

SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina

i think this alone should tell you whose idea it was

SEIU has many, many illegals as members. They're only acting in their best interest so they can keep their union members and collect their dues.