Thread: Phoenix officials feel heat over migration as protests conti

Phoenix officials feel heat over migration as protests continue
Think tank weighs suit



Illegal-immigration protesters and counterprotesters gather Saturday at 35th STreet and Thomas Road near Pruitt's furniture store in Phoenix. Sheriff's deputies arrested eight people nearby suspected of being undocumented immigrants.

Casey Newton and Yvonne Wingett
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 3, 2007 12:00 AM
http://www.azcentral.com


As protests and arrests of undocumented workers continued near a Phoenix furniture store over the weekend, a Washington-based think tank is researching whether to sue Phoenix over its immigration policies.

Judicial Watch, a 13-year-old conservative think tank best known for its lawsuits against the Clinton administration, sent its chief investigator to Phoenix on Friday to review public documents related to immigration.

The group's visit comes at a time when Mayor Phil Gordon, Police Chief Jack Harris and other city officials are under pressure to take stronger actions on illegal immigration-related controversies. Gordon reportedly spoke with advisers over the weekend about how to respond to mounting criticism over his handling of issues related to illegal immigration. advertisement




The Mayor's Office would not comment on Judicial Watch's visit to Phoenix, or about the ongoing protests at M.D. Pruitt's Home Furnishings.

"I don't have any comment today," said Gordon's spokesman, Scott Phelps, on Sunday.

Protesters did. About 200 gathered Saturday near 35th Street and Thomas Road, about half to support the mostly undocumented day laborers who look for work in the area, and half to oppose them. For the first time during the protests, deputies with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office arrested eight people nearby on suspicion of violating immigration laws. None of those arrested were protesters.

Judicial Watch has offered legal aid to a coalition of businesses near 36th Street and Thomas, including Pruitt's.

For years, dozens of day laborers have gathered near Pruitt's and along a stretch of Thomas Road, between 32nd and 36th streets. They are drawn to the area by a busy home-improvement store and its customers, who hire them to paint, landscape and do other manual labor.

Many residents and business owners don't want them there, and tensions have escalated, which last year led to protests and counterprotests.

Back then, officials with Gordon's office told The Republic that they were working with area church and community leaders to find a piece of property for the workers to gather. Those involved in conversations declined to give details about the meetings, and later, those talks broke down. Now, a year later, the furniture store has again become a flashpoint over illegal immigration.

In October, Pruitt's co-owner, Roger Sensing, asked the Sheriff's Office to patrol the area surrounding his business for undocumented immigrants. Sensing and other business owners say the day laborers hurt their businesses because customers often don't want to deal with them.

"We're doing all we can to try to help out some business owners who are being jerked around pretty badly," said Chris Farrell, Judicial Watch's research director. "You've got taxpaying citizens who are just being treated like dirt."

Many of Judicial Watch's recent lawsuits have focused on immigration issues. The group is suing Los Angeles over the city's Special Operations Order 40, which prevents police in most cases from asking about a person's immigration status.

Phoenix has a similar order, Operations Order 1.4, which has led to increasing political pressure on Gordon and the City Council to change the policy.

Supporters say the order frees officers to concentrate on serious crimes and encourages undocumented immigrants to cooperate with the police. Critics have cited the order in branding Phoenix a "sanctuary city," saying officers should have more discretion to contact immigration officials if they encounter undocumented immigrants.

"We're extremely concerned about it, and in fact, we are weighing litigation on that matter," Farrell said of 1.4.

Harris is now reconsidering the policy at the request of the police union.

Talk-radio hosts, newspaper columnists and others have pressured the mayor to play a larger role in ending immigration-related controversies. Gordon is traveling with Gov. Janet Napolitano to Washington, D.C., this week to discuss the costs of illegal immigration with federal officials.

Saturday's weekly protest attracted about 200 people with some carrying signs criticizing Sheriff Joe Arpaiofor enforcing immigration laws and others criticizing Gordon and Harris for inaction.

As protesters shouted at each other, sheriff's deputies arrested eight people suspected of being undocumented immigrants nearby on suspicion of violating immigration laws. Over the past six weeks, deputies have arrested at least 32 others, and Arpaio said his office won't let up.

"I met with Judicial Watch in August, they came to my office, along with the owner of Pruitt's, and they asked me to do something about that situation because no one's doing anything about it," Arpaio said Sunday. "I promised to do it, and I did."

The arrests have spread fear and anxiety through the day-laborer community, which numbers around 117,000 nationally.

"They think they're the only Americans," said Victor Guerrero of Phoenix, pointing to protesters carrying American flags. "Just because we don't have blond hair and blue eyes doesn't mean we have to carry a sign around our necks saying that we're not illegal."

Valerie Roller of Glendale said she was in front of Pruitt's because the border needs to be secured and laws need to be enforced.

"Illegal is illegal," Roller shouted into a megaphone.



Republic reporter Ofelia Madrid contributed to this article.

The arrests have spread fear and anxiety through the day-laborer community, which numbers around 117,000 nationally.

Talk about fudging the numbers!!