PHOENIX — Protesters took to the streets of Phoenix today, to oppose anti-immigration proposals, which are a heated topic for many Arizonans.
A group of about 50 people came together Saturday morning to march from Grant Park to the state capitol, holding signs that say, “We have rights,” and “We are human.”
The march was in response to a series of what they call 'anti-immigrant' bills being proposed.
"To us, it’s a very dangerous trend for our community,” Salvador Reza, a spokesperson for The Barrio Defense Committees and one of the organizers of Saturday's protest, said. "And we’re going to march to let the legislature know."
The Republican-led state legislature is looking at several bills tackling the surge in migrants at the border.
On Monday, Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a state senate bill that would have made it a crime for an unlawful immigrant to cross the border at any location other than a lawful port of entry.
Another bill includes expanding the use of the E-Verify system to welfare recipients.
“We will not put up with it anymore,” Reza said.
He says if the trend continues, the group won’t hesitate to call for a boycott, as was the case with SB 1070 back in 2010. That was the controversial immigration measure that then-Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law. While most of the law was declared unconstitutional in 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld one of its core tenets -- allowing police to question the immigration status of someone if there’s reasonable suspicion that they’re in the country illegally.
“I’m close to a lot of the people that are called illegal, that I know are hardworking families,” Rob McElwain, who’s been involved with the immigrant community for the past 15 years, said.
“I think that the rhetoric is really overblown for the immigrant community,” McElwain said. “There’s a lot of deep issues that are involved in this.”
Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh says the issues at the border must be addressed.
“The border is hemorrhaging,” Kavanagh said. “Millions of illegal immigrants are pouring over the border.
“We have to have enforcement by state and local police tethered to immigration law at the federal level, that is enforced."
Kavanagh added that Arizona must take action by enforcing immigration internally.
“…To round up the people who have illegally snuck into our country, who commit crime, drain our services and take jobs away from legal immigrants,” he added.
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