Thousands march to protest Ariz. immigration law

Thousands march to protest Ariz. immigration law


By JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press Writer Jonathan J. Cooper, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 41 mins ago
TEMPE, Ariz. – Thousands of people from around the country descended on the Phoenix area Saturday as supporters and opponents of Arizona's tough new crackdown on illegal immigration held separate rallies.

Marchers carrying signs, banners and flags from the United States and Mexico filled a 5 mile stretch of central Phoenix, demanding that the federal government refuse to cooperate with Arizona authorities trying to enforce the law.

Police declined to estimate the size of the crowd, but it appeared at least 10,000 to 20,000 protesters braved 94-degree heat. Organizers had said they expected the demonstration to bring as many as 50,000 people.

Opponents of the law suspended their boycott against Arizona and bused in protesters from around the country. Some used umbrellas or cardboard signs to protect their faces from the sun. Volunteers handed out water bottles from the beds of pickup trucks, and organizers set up three water stations along the route.

The law's opponents also gathered at capitols in states including Texas and Oregon, and about 300 people protested at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City demanding legalization for undocumented Mexican workers in the United States.

"Many of us have relatives or friends in the U.S. and we must now stand up and speak out on their behalf," said Elvira Arellano, who gained international attention in 2007 when she was deported without her U.S. citizen son.




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100530/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_protests_13

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/05/30/20100530airzona-immigration-law-supporters.html

"Supporters of Arizona's new immigration law put the rest of the country and Mexico on notice Saturday: We're standing steady; you can't shake us from our beliefs.

"Together we will secure our border and get our nation back," Pam Stephenson, director of the Arizona Tea Party, told a crowd of more than 5,000 people gathered at Tempe Diablo Stadium. The "Stand with Arizona" event, organized by "tea party" groups, featured speeches and music and came after a peaceful march in Phoenix of those who oppose the law.

Larry Wachs, an Atlanta radio station host, gave the Tempe group a rallying cry: "Can you hear us, now Mexico? Can you hear us, now? Because this land is not your land. This land is our land," he said. "I pay for it. We work for it. We have our credentials; where are yours?"

"The new law is now a state law," Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told the crowd. "If we catch anyone here illegally, we will arrest everybody and book them into jail. I'm not going to turn them over to ICE.""
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Not to hard to tell which side that the tea parties are on - big government that will arrest you, book you, and not turn you over to ICE. Not sure if the "not going to turn them over to ICE" is part of the Arizona law or Joe is making this stuff up as he goes along. (And I'm not sure which is scarier: a law that empowers Joe to do this or Joe doing it without regards to what the law says.)

Stephenson got "secure our border" in her soundbite, so McCain, Kyl and the rest of the republican strategists will be happy with her. But she didn't get "no amnesty for illegals" in there, so she's going to lose a point or two in their scorebook for that. repubs and tea baggers are supposed to get "secure the border", "amnesty" and "illegals" in every sound bite, so Stephenson has to improve a bit before she goes "big time".

That's really what all of this is about --

and that's one whole hell of a lot of violence upsetting Mexico and now Arizona --

and certainly, if we don't overturn this fake Drug War soon, it will bring this

violence to all of our cities!!

Elites and corrupt government officials are profiting from this Drug War --