FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2010
CONTACT:Alessandra Soler Meetze, ACLU of Arizona, (602) 773-6006; ameetze@acluaz.org
NEW YORK – On Monday, May 17 at 9:30 a.m. PDT/12:30 p.m. EDT, a coalition of leading rights organizations will hold a national media call to announce and discuss the filing of its legal challenge to Arizona’s unconstitutional racial profiling law.
The coalition includes the American Civil Liberties Union; MALDEF; National Immigration Law Center (NILC); the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice.
Arizona’s new law requires police to demand "papers" from people they stop who they suspect are not authorized to be in the U.S. and criminalizes immigrants for failing to carry immigration papers. The unconstitutional law, the groups say, encourages racial profiling, endangers public safety and betrays American values.
WHAT:
National Media Call to Announce Filing of Lawsuit Challenging SB1070
WHO:
Lucas Guttentag, Director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project; Nina Perales, Southwest Regional Counsel of MALDEF; Linton Joaquin, General Counsel of NILC.
Hilary Shelton, Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy of NAACP; Stewart Kwoh, Executive Director of APALC; Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of NDLON; Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona and others will also be available on the call for questions.
WHEN:
Monday, May 17 at 9:30 a.m. PDT/12:30 p.m. EDT
DIAL:If you’re a member of the media and need dial-in information, please e-mail ameetze@acluaz.org.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
SHOW ME YOUR PAPERS?
We do NOT need immigration reform. We need immigration ENFORCEMENT! I have to show my ID when I board a plane and I am paying. Don't you think people looking for government handouts should show ID proving they are here legally?
Simple question
What happens if someone jumps the fence and wanders around a gated community without an ID? I am sure a resident of the community calls the cops saying someone that doesn't look like they belong here is roaming the streets. The cops arrive. They would ask the wanderer a few questions. And since the wanderer does not have a valid reason for being inside the gated community, the cops would escort them out, wouldn't they? Isn't a country, like the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, a “gated community”, too?
WAKE UP AMERICA AND SMELL THE HYPOCRISY
I really agree. It's the Border Patrol and ICE that have that
responsibility.
Don't we have enought people in this country to bully, scapegoat and put in their place without adding workers whom we know full well we need to do our scutwork to the list of the persecuted?
(Takes a breath)