Immigration Advocates Split Over Arizona Boycott

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

PHOENIX — The boycott of Arizona is on. No, the boycott of Arizona is off. Deciding whether to visit this state, which may or may not be boycotted, is as disorienting as peering into the depths of the Grand Canyon.

After Arizona’s passage of controversial immigration legislation in April 2010, musicians canceled Arizona concerts, tourists canceled Arizona vacations and convention organizers bypassed Arizona in favor of less politically toxic states. But the very activists who put the boycott in place, hurting the state’s pocketbook in the process, are now divided over whether it ought to continue.

Some called for the boycott’s end last year, after a federal judge blocked the most contentious elements of the immigration law. Others have peeled off more recently, with the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy group, announcing last week that it no longer backed the boycott. Still other activists have dug in their heels, insisting that Arizona ought to remain off limits for the foreseeable future.

“There’s been confusion surrounding every aspect of this issue from the start,” said Kristen Jarnagin, the spokeswoman for the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association, whose members were battered by the boycott and want it officially and completely kaput. “We’re glad some say it’s over. To the others, we’d hope they’d be as quick to retract the boycott as they were to get in line at the start.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/us/immigration-advocates-are-split-over-arizona-boycott.html?pagewanted=all

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Look. SB 1070 has NEVER had the chance to be in the law because of federal court ruling about pre-empting federal laws about immigration, just like Georgia's and Alabama's versions. Instead, why not boycott Wal-Mart and other businesses that exploit undocumented labor? In 2005, over such accusations.

[Pterodactyl]

1. The boycott is a dumb idea. It hits the poor the hardest.

[ChazII]

2. Exactly. n/t

[emilyg]

3. +1

[EFerrari]

4. The boycott was effective and was supported by many low wage workers

who would rather support a temporary boycott than suffer racial profiling long term.