ARIZONA: Trinity Cathedral to host July 29 prayer vigil as part of immigration law protest
Episcopal News Service. July 22, 2010 [072210-02]
Pat McCaughan
Local and national activists are planning an ecumenical prayer service at Phoenix's Trinity Episcopal Cathedral as part of a "Day of Non Compliance" on July 29, when Arizona's controversial immigration law is to go into effect.
The Rev. Canon Carmen B. Guerrero, canon for peace and justice ministries in the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, a vocal opponent of the SB1070 legislation which aims to detain and deport undocumented persons, confirmed that the cathedral will host a 6 a.m. prayer vigil on July 29.
A coalition of community activists called for boycotts, civil disobedience and nationwide protests against the law at a July 21 press conference on the steps of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in downtown Phoenix.
They intend to demonstrate, even if a federal judge, who is scheduled to hear legal arguments July 22 against the law, grants an injunction preventing SB1070 from going into effect, according to a statement to the media.
"On July 29, we will not comply with unjust laws," said former Arizona state senator Alfredo Gutierrez of Somos America, who called for civil disobedience at the office of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Somos America is an advocacy group for equal rights for immigrant communities in Arizona.
Carlos Garcia of the Puente Movement said, "In Maricopa County, we've been living under SB1070 conditions with the law in effect," according to a statement released to the media.
"The judge's decision will not stop the rampant racial profiling, extreme terror, inhumane detention, and persecution lived under Sheriff Arpaio and others like him who abuse their power under the guise of 'immigration and enforcement.' Our community's response will continue to grow until real justice comes to Arizona."
Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, also acknowledged that an injunction would be one victory in a long road to human rights.
"Empowering states and cities to enforce federal immigration laws is a dangerous trend that led to the rise of SB1070," he said.
"A real solution to the growing hatred and targeting of people of color requires President Obama to assert the federal government's authority to enforce immigration laws," he added. "Anything short of that leaves communities in jeopardy. What is happening here is a moral crisis."
Groups planned to demonstrate July 22 in front of the Sandra Day O'Connor federal courthouse as U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton is scheduled to consider separate motions from the U.S. Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations, seeking to block SB1070 from going into effect while their lawsuit challenging its constitutionality is being litigated.
At least seven groups have sued to halt the law's taking effect, maintaining immigration enforcement is the responsibility of federal, not local or state governments and that the law is unconstitutional because it could lead to racial profiling.
Lawyers for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the law earlier this year, challenge those assertions.
Other events planned for July 29 include a march to the state capitol, protests and acts of civil disobedience, although it was unclear what that might involve.
Demonstrations were also expected in New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere, in support of the protest against SB1070.
Meanwhile, some 1,200 miles northeast of Phoenix the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit July 21 to challenge an ordinance that seeks to prevent undocumented persons from renting, living or working in Fremont, Nebraska, a town of 25,000.
Ordinance 5165, passed June 21 and also scheduled to go into effect July 29, "encourages discrimination and racial profiling against Latinos and others who appear to be foreign born, including U.S. citizens," said Amy Miller, legal director of ACLU Nebraska in a July 21 statement.
The ordinance requires prospective renters to provide the Fremont Police Department with information about their citizenship or immigration status prior to renting any home. Employers are required to check the status of would-be hires using E-Verify, a federal electronic verification program that Congress has refused to make mandatory, according to the statement.
The press release cited the case of Mario Martinez, a U.S. citizen of Mexican descent who lives in Fremont. Martinez, who works part-time while studying for his bachelor's degree, said he worries that he and his family -- all legal residents -- might be evicted from their home as a result of the ordinance.
"Fremont feels like a completely different town now," said Martinez, a 13-year resident. "I'm as much a part of this community as anyone but now I get hostile looks from people like they want me to get out and my wife has been told to go back to Mexico because of her accent. I'm so disappointed that a law like this could have passed here. I always thought in this day and age laws are meant to prevent discrimination, not encourage it."
The ACLU has successfully challenged local anti-immigrant laws in California, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Jennifer Chang Newell, staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, said laws like the Nebraska ordinance and Arizona's SB1070 "tear communities apart. It's time to stop promoting discriminatory policies like these so that we can together to find a national approach to immigration."
Kristin Ostrom, of "One Fremont One Future" welcomed the lawsuit, citing a climate of hostility and suspicion since the ordinance was enacted.