What does the immigrant community have that neither the Republican Party nor the Tea Party has? A backbone! After Arizona passed racist S.B. 1070, hundred of thousands of people took to the streets throughout the country in protest on May 1. In Flagstaff, Arizona a town of 60,000 people, 500 came out to say ‘we are no longer afraid, we will not be silent and are here to fight until S.B.1070 is repealed.’ The undocumented and documented community of Flagstaff stood unified in protest on May 1, and last night the Flagstaff City Council voted unanimously to enact a resolution authorizing a legal challenge to S.B. 1070.
In the face of harsh anti-immigrant legislature, The Repeal Coalition of Arizona, a grassroots, all-volunteer organization with chapters in Flagstaff and Phoenix has been organizing with the immigrant community for the past two years. Fighting for the right to “live, love and work wherever you please,” Repeal is committed to fighting S.B. 1070 and all anti-immigrant laws in Arizona. Its literature states, “We demand the repeal of all laws—federal, state, and local—that degrade and discriminate against undocumented individuals and that deny U.S. citizens their lawful rights.” In addition, “We demand that all human beings—with papers or without—be guaranteed access to work, housing, health care, education, legal protection, and other public benefits, as well as the right to organize.”
The Repeal Coalition and over 100 community members in opposition to S.B.1070 attended and gave testimonies at the Flagstaff City Council meeting last Tuesday. The City Council stood in solidarity with the community as one council member called the bill “horrible” and “racist.” In response, Rush Limbaugh called the Flagstaff City Council “turncoats” and urged people to express voices of racism and hate. The City Council afterward received 100 calls in two days, all against the injunction. They even received death threats. This did not stop the 500 people who came out on May 1 or the hundreds who packed into the meeting and spilled into the streets. Even the last minute threat of a Tea Party presence didn’t stop people willing to fight racism in their community. Tea party supporters were hugely outnumbered and Rush Limbaugh failed to mobilize an anti-immigrant base. The immigrant community and The Repeal Coalition have a backbone and it looks like the opposing Tea Partiers and Rush Limbaugh are backed by nothing but hate.
This video captures the community response and mobilization against S.B 1070 and racial profiling on May 1 in Flagstaff, Arizona. Please go to Repeal’s website to learn more, support and help sustain community opposition to S.B. 1070 and all anti-immigrant laws that promote racism.