Local human rights group denounces Ariz. law
PORTLAND, Ore. – A Portland-based Human Rights Commission is urging Portland day laborers, community organizations, faith groups and civil rights advocates to protest Arizona's new immigration law, Senate Bill 1070. The call was issued as part of a Tuesday morning press conference in Southeast Portland.
"The state of Arizona is institutionalizing racial profiling and disparate treatment under the guise of protecting our borders," said Portland Human Rights Commission Chair Abdul Majidi in a prepared statement. "We cannot allow fear and hatred to continue to set the course for national immigration policy."
Arizona's bill allows police to stop persons "reasonably suspected" of being without citizenship. It was signed into law by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer April 23, but won't go into effect until late July or August. It requires police to question people about their immigration status if they suspect they are there illegally, allows day laborers to be arrested for soliciting work if they are in the U.S. illegally, and lets citizens sue police departments if it's believed they aren't carrying out the law.
This is a stark contrast to Oregon law. Oregon Revised Statute 181 makes it illegal for law enforcement agencies to devote time or resources to "detecting or apprehending" people whose "only violation of law is that they are persons of foreign citizenship present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws."
However, if a person is under federal criminal investigation or already arrested for a crime, the law allows partnerships with the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to verify citizen status.
This is the case in Clackamas County, where on April 6 law-enforcement agencies began using a federal-ICE database that checks immigration status on incoming inmates. Fingerprints not matched to legal immigrants in the Department of Homeland Security's database, automatically notify ICE.
On Monday, Mexico's President condemned the new Arizona immigration law, saying it "opens the door to intolerance, hate, discrimination and abuse in law enforcement." He also warned that relations between Mexico and this U.S. border state will be "seriously affected" – at a time when locals already are battling a cross-border drug war. Not incidentally, Arizona exported $4.5 billion in products to Mexico in 2009 – nearly one third of its total exports.
President Felipe Calderon said he has instructed the Foreign Relations Department to double its efforts to protect the rights of Mexicans living in the U.S. The Associated Press reports that Arizona is home to an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants.
"Nobody can sit around with their arms crossed in the face of decisions that so clearly affect our countrymen," Calderon said in a speech Monday at the Institute for Mexicans Abroad.
Even as some Mexican legislators are urging a trade boycott against Arizona, some American legislators are doing the same. Arizona's own Congressional Representative Raul Grijalva, who represents southern Arizona, called for a tourist boycott of the state April 21. Shortly after, New York City's Mayor came forward asking tourists to consider NYC instead.
"It's regrettable," the president of a Mexico-border chamber of commerce told the Associated Press Monday. "I think this was a hasty decision that did not consider the consequences, not only for Mexicans and undocumented people from other countries, but also for the Arizona economy. Immigrants, as everyone knows, do the work that Americans don't want to do."
Calderon said he would raise his concerns with President Barack Obama and U.S. lawmakers during a visit to Washington in May. U.S. President Barrack Obama, meanwhile, has called the Arizona law misguided and instructed the U.S. Justice Department to examine it to see if it's legal. The Obama administration had promised to make immigration reform a priority, but the issue has taken a back seat amid the U.S. economic crisis.
- Associated Press Writers Alexandra Olson and E. Eduardo Castillo contributed to this report.
KATU Reporter Adam Ghassemi reports:
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