Twenty Unitarian Universalist ministers from around the country were among the 83 people arrested Thursday in Phoenix, protesting the implementation of Arizona’s immigration law. The law took effect yesterday, a day after a federal judge stripped SB 1070 of some of its most controversial provisions.
Among those arrested were Peter Morales, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA); Rev. Ian Maher of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens; and Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray of the UU Congregation of Phoenix. The ministers and others blocked a main downtown street and the entrance to the Fourth Avenue Jail in a show of civil disobedience. Riot police responded with arrests.
In an op-ed piece in the Huffington Post Wednesday, Morales said he would be in Phoenix out of concern that the law, however well intentioned in trying to address illegal immigration, would lead to “ethnic cleansing” in Arizona. “Ironically, SB 1070 will undermine the very goals it purports to defend, particularly public safety, health, and education. Crime victims and witnesses will be afraid to speak to police for fear they will be detained and separated from their families,” he wrote.
“I am standing for human rights,” Frederick-Gray told the Arizona Republic before her arrest in front of the jail. “In the face of fear that is assaulting our community, we must not be silent. We must make it clear which side we stand on. We stand on the side of love.”
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio replied, “I got news for them. Their little plan didn't work. They are not going to hold this sheriff and this jail hostage.”
The Unitarian Universalist involvement was coordinated by Standing on the Side of Love, a UUA initiative that grew out of the 2008 shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville.
Protests similar to that in Phoenix played out across the country. In New Jersey, rallies in Elizabeth and Paterson produced about 100 people.
As many as 18 states have introduced or are considering introducing legislation similar to that enacted in Arizona. No such legislation has been filed in New Jersey, though calls for a measure deputizing local law enforcement officials to check immigration status made the rounds in 2007 after a Peruvian man who was in the country illegally shot three young adults execution-style in front of a Newark school.
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Comments
This is so bizarre. To get a driver's license in the US I have to prove my citizenship and I'm pale with blue eyes (4 pieces of id). If I'm in trouble the first thing they ask for is my drivers license. How on earth can asking anyone for citizenship papers be racial profiling- we're all getting asked? It's so sad we can't protect our nation's borders anymore. When I went to college in Phoenix in the 70's the crime rate was so high women weren't permitted to leave campus without an escort. I believe the states have a right to protect their citizens. Actually the US gov should be doing that as well... oh well. A sad day in America.
I think where people get lost in this is that the state is asking to give police officers authorization to check identification of people who appear to be committing crimes. In other words if a group of people are exchanging money and drugs on a corner, the police can ask for id. The crime they are addressing is drug cartels bringing drugs and violence across the border. I seriously doubt the police have time to go and look for everyone in the state who is here illegally. What has come from all this is the larger issue of "Hey what are people doing here illegally?" which is another issue entirely than what Arizona is trying to address. The 2nd issue is raising concerns about unemployment in other states as well. Another issue is the Mexican Americans who immigrate here legally, and pay taxes- they must feel this is a slap in the face.
No, what's been happening is that law-abiding, NON-criminal drivers are getting asked not only for their drivers' licenses but also for their *birth certificates* (as proof of citizenship), and locked up if they don't have those papers on them, until a family member can bring them from home. Naturally, only Hispanic-looking drivers get demanded this level of proof, not Anglo-looking drivers: that's the "racial profiling" aspect. All this has been published news for months now. "We" are *not* "all" getting asked, and this *doesn't* just occur "when committing crimes" -- so enough with the false naivety and sham shock, already!
You may remember all the way back in April Jan Brewer signed a similar law into effect. One Latino truck driver (US citizen, born in the USA) stopped at a weigh station to have his truck looked at. He was asked for ID; showed his commercial driver's license. He was asked for more; gave his social security number. That still wasn't enough; he was handcuffed and held until his wife came in with his physical social security card and birth certificate. His name was Abdon, if you want to look up the story. The funny thing was, who jerked Abdon around was the ICE, the Feds, not the state; but now Arizona *emulates* that jerkiness.
I'm sorry Raven don't mean to be rude but I can't see these articles. It's definitely not coming in the NY or NJ news. Do you have a link? I even looked at Phoenix news. All we're getting is the protests are taking place and the police are preparing. Again it's not *sham* shock. We just aren't hearing that people who are Mexican are required to carry a birth certificate when they drive. My apologies. I didn't intend to offend anyone.
Michael- this is a very well done article and you have handled this topic very professionally. You are very brave to write about it. I need to get back to work- freelancing has it's temptations lol.
Rev. Susan (and the rest) Incredibly proud of you!
Hi everyone,
Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. This is a tough issue. You would hope that it was borne of good intent and not racism, but its implementation is frought with a _lot_ of potential for abuse. As Raven points out, that potential is all too real. Karen's point about the drug cartels reminds me of what we saw in NJ a few years ago, with the state troopers trying to stop drug smuggling from Florida to NY but getting caught up in "racial profiling." As a result, NJ seems to have swung very far in the other direction, and now in my own town there are renewed calls to "do something" in the wake of rising rates of arrest among illegal populations. How do you do it without trampling the rights of those who are here legally? Tough, tough issue, and in the case of Arizona, I think we are going to see a very interesting test of states' rights in the Supreme Court.
Karen, thanks for your nice comments about the way I handled this story. Do you freelance, too?
Yes I do freelance in art, writing and photography. I write Monmouth County Life in Photos and Monmouth County Headlines (which I floundered on a bit). Tough is a good description of this issue. I'm leery of writing about our local illegal aliens. Afraid of the minority of lynch mob people, and my heart goes out to those that are stuck between 2 nations. I can only imagine how they feel. Also, those living in fear because of crime- we definitely have some high crime areas in NJ. Tough, tough, tough.
As for those 20 ministers...do you think that ANY of them feel that they are in any remote danger of losing their jobs to illegal immigrants? If they did, they might feel more love and sympathy for their displaced fellow Americans...they way we TRUE liberals do.
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