Groups Protest Arizona Immigration Law’s Enforcement

Cumberlink | A day after the most contentious provision of Arizona’s immigration law took effect, rallies were held around Phoenix to protest the mandate that civil rights activists say will lead to systematic racial profiling.

More than three dozen activists stood outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building along a busy thoroughfare Wednesday evening. They chanted: “No papers, no fear.”

Carlos Garcia, an organizer with the immigrant rights group the Puente Movement, said the strategy is to urge people not to cooperate with immigration enforcement efforts – whether they’re in the country legally or not.

Tempe resident Beatrice Jernigan said friends who are in the country illegally are scared.

“They don’t know what’s going to happen. They’re more cautious,” she said. “Some parents who are illegal immigrants are not allowing their kids to participate in afterschool sports.”

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled that police could immediately start enforcing the so-called “show me your papers” provision of Arizona’s immigration law. It requires officers, while enforcing other laws, to question the immigration status of those suspected of being in the country illegally.

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