Arizona’s new immigration law has ignited a national brush fire.
As Mike Riggs reports in Eye Street, more than one group has begun pushing for bans on all things “Arizona.” Included on the potential some liberal’s blacklist are the some pretty silly items: the Diamondbacks baseball team and an iced tea made in Brookyln.
On a more serious note, the debate has even divided some of the state’s local families. John McCain, facing a serious GOP challenge from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, has taken a hard-line, anti-immigration approach. Meanwhile, daughter Meghan McCain has publicly slammed the new law, for, like, “missing the bigger picture of what is really going on with illegal immigration.”
In neighboring California, the Los Angeles City Council members are calling for an economic boycott of Arizona because of the state’s new immigration law:
The resolution introduced by Reyes and Councilwoman Janice Hahn calls for the city of Los Angeles to “refrain from conducting business with the state of Arizona including participating in any conventions or other business that requires city resources, unless SB 1070 (Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhood Acts”) is repealed.”
“It’s important that the second-largest city in the country respond to a legislative act that, in essence, promotes persecution and racial profiling of a group of people that make up a large number of this country’s citizenry,” Councilman Ed Reyes said.
Meanwhile, in Texas, the state GOP is pushing for a law similar to Arizona’s. In fact, similar bills had already been introduced before, but had stalled in committee:
Rep. Debbie Riddle of Tomball said she will push for the law in the January legislative session, according to Wednesday’s editions of the San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle.
“The first priority for any elected official is to make sure that the safety and security of Texans is well-established,” said Riddle, who introduced a similar measure in 2009 that didn’t get out of committee. “If our federal government did their job, then Arizona wouldn’t have to take this action, and neither would Texas.”
According to CNN’s Jack Cafferty, Mexico has publicly warned its citizens to be careful if they travel to Arizona. The announcement cautions the citizens that the may be “‘harassed and questioned without further cause at any time’ should they go to Arizona.”
While the validity of that warning could be questioned, the irony isn’t lost — travel warnings usually work the other way around… with various countries warning their citizens avoid Mexico at all costs.
Those avoiding Arizona at all costs include the entire city of San Francisco. Mayor Gavin Newsom has banned official city travel to Arizona, and is figuring out the best way to terminate any of the city’s contracts with the state:
The actions are in response to a new anti-immigration measure signed into law last week by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, and come one day after San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera issued a statement calling the law “draconian” and criticized the state for choosing “to isolate itself from the rest of the nation.”
The moratorium is effective immediately as the mayor and others are considering an official city boycott of the state and take steps “to develop a smart and effect boycott that sends the appropriate message to Arizona while protecting the city’s financial interests,” Newsom said in a prepared statement.
And Sarah Palin believes that President Obama is misleading the public about the bill:
Fresh off her recent Republican fundraising visit to Oregon, Sarah Palin is making the rounds defending the recent passage of Arizona immigration law SB 1070 by Gov. Jan Brewer. She appeared on Fox News Tuesday claiming the Obama administration is “perpetuating this myth that racial profiling is part” of the Arizona immigration law now being challenged by legislators around the country.