By JULIA PRESTON, New York Times 5/15/10
Several large Latino and civil rights organizations on Thursday announced a business boycott of Arizona, saying that a tough anti-illegal immigration law there would lead to racial profiling and wrongful arrests.
The boycott call was led by the National Council of La Raza, or N.C.L.R., one of the nation’s biggest Latino groups, and was joined by the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Puerto Rican Coalition. The groups said they would ask members and supporters to refrain from planning conventions or conferences in Arizona and from buying goods produced in the state.
“The law is so extreme, and its proponents appear so immune to an appeal to reason, nothing short of these extraordinary measures is required,†Janet MurguÃa, the president of N.C.L.R., said Thursday at a news conference in Washington.
The organizations said they would collect signatures on a pledge committing supporters to pressure corporations to stop doing business with Arizona. Also participating were the Service Employees International Union, the United Food and Commercial Workers union, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of about 200 groups including African-American and Jewish organizations.
The Arizona law would require the state and local police to question people about their immigration status based on a “reasonable suspicion†that they might be illegal immigrants. Adopted on April 23, the law has not yet taken effect and is facing legal challenges.