San Francisco officials called for a citywide boycott of Arizona and businesses based there to protest that state’s strict new immigration law, at a rally outside the steps of City Hall.
Arizona’s new legislation, signed into law Friday, April 23, by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer makes being in the country illegally a crime punishable by six months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
City supervisors John Avalos, David Campos, Bevan Dufty spoke against Arizona’s SB 1070 bill before a crowd of reporters, photographers and immigrants-right supporters. They promised to introduce a resolution calling for the severing of any business ties to Arizona.
The resolution was successfully introduced the following day at the Board of Supervisors meeting.
“This is something that needs to be done (…), because we in San Francisco are people who respect the humanity of everyone, respect the Bill of Rights,” said District 9 Supervisor David Campos in an interview with El Tecolote. He himself emigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala as a teenager. “We need to send a message that when a state like Arizona passes that kind of draconian legislation there will be consequences.”
Mayor Gavin Newsom and District Attorney Dennis Herrera have also endorsed the resolution. The latter’s office is determining which contracts between San Francisco and Arizona could be severed without penalty. It remains unclear how many business will be affected by such action.
Protesters and other opponents of the law said it would lead to racial profiling, and only a path to legalization would shield immigrants from abuses that could be committed under this law. Supporters have dismissed those concerns, arguing it is against the law to use race or nationality as the only reasons for an immigration check.
The measure would require immigrants to carry documents verifying legal immigration status. It would also require police officers to question a person about his or her immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person may be an undocumented immigrant.
“We have to secure our borders, we can’t have illegal immigrants taking American jobs in this economy,” said Paul Farmer, a member of the Golden Gate Minutemen—one of the handful of members on hand at the April 26 rally. “It’s not about Latinos. It’s about illegal immigration and securing the borders.”
But dozens of San Francisco residents said this new measure fostered a fear that rippled beyond Arizona’s borders.
“The longer we wait, the more likely that something like what’s occurring in Arizona will continue,” said Campos. “If implementation (of this law) happens, it would essentially be a crime to be Latino in Arizona.”
At a town hall meeting in Arizona, the same day as the rally in San Francisco, Arizona Gov. Brewer said that she didn’t believe the law was “going to have the kind of economic impact that some people think it might,” according to the Associated Press.
“This law targets hard-working Latinos,” said Anna Perez, executive director of CARECEN, who was among those to speak during the rally. “This law in Arizona hurts everyone—and something has to be done.”
The boycott tactic has been used successfully against Arizona once before.
Arizona was one of the last states to adopt a holiday honoring Martin Luther King—a reluctance that led to a boycott in the 1980s that cost the city hundreds of conventions and Super Bowl XXVII, in 1993. The resulting political and financial pressure led the state to put the holiday’s adoption on the ballot. In 1992, Arizona became the first and only state to popularly vote for and pass a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. state holiday.