Hispanic-looking US citizens are set to launch demonstration at the State Capitol today to voice their opinion against the new immigration law, which they fear will cause unnecessary harassment of legal immigrants.
Two days ago, Gov. Jan Brewer had signed a bill permitting the police to seek answers from the people about their immigration status, including asking for identification, if the police suspect that the person is an illegal immigrant.
The new law also made it tougher to hire illegal immigrants for day labor. Civil rights advocates have expressed unhappiness over the law, pledging to appeal against it in the court. Although, Brewer has assured that the law will not cause unnecessary harassment, the civil rights activists said that it would lead to racial profiling.
Meanwhile, the supporters of the bill have rejected the concerns of the activists saying it does not authorize the police to do an immigration check only on the basis of race or nationality. On Friday, hundreds of people had assembled outside the state Capitol to protest against the implementation of the new law. However, Brewers did not pay much heed to critics' call, saying they were "overreacting."
Democrat politician Raul Grijalva, who is against the bill, has urged the companies and groups, who are looking to hold meeting and convention in Arizona to stay away from the region. Under the new law, it would be a crime to be in the country illegally and immigrants, who would fail to produce required documents, could face jail sentence for up to six months and fined $2,500.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has also slammed the law. "The Mexican government condemns the approval of the law" and the criminalization of migration, far from contributing to collaboration and cooperation between Mexico and the state of Arizona, represents an obstacle to solving the shared problems of the border region," said a statement released from Calderon's office.
