The highly contentious Arizona Senate Bill 1070 is stirring both ends of the political spectrum into action this summer.
Daniela Maria Ugaz, a creative writing graduate student, is one of many members of the UAgainst SB 1070 group who is working to get the bill placed on the November ballot for Arizona voters to decide on.
“”Even if we don’t succeed … at least other politicians, other states, people can see what kind of a ruckus people can cause,”” she said.
A collective formed after passage of the original bill, UAgainst SB 1070 pushed for President Robert Shelton to renounce of the bill and the University of Arizona Police Department to promise to civilly disobey the law through non-enforcement.
In addition, it called for the UA to be a legal “”sanctuary campus,”” allowing the law to be void on school grounds.
“”It was never protesting for the sake of protesting,”” Ugaz said. “”I really feel like it’s for humanity and (since) summer is in and students are out, we really need to get this thing moving.””
Francisco Baires, one of the co-founders of UAgainst SB 1070, shares her sentiment.
“”We can’t just focus on campus. This is an issue that affects the entire state and the entire nation,”” Baires said. “”I’m an American citizen and to be quite frank, it pisses me off.””
More than 150,000 signatures are needed to get SB 1070 placed on the November ballot.
If upheld, the law will stay active. However, if struck down, a three-year moratorium will be placed on the law, making way for a whole new set of legislation.
Many others in Tucson are in support of the new law, however. Brian Miller, a Republican candidate for the local Congressional seat, expressed support for the bill, but more importantly support for immigration reform as a whole.
A national study by Quinnipiac University shows 51 percent of Americans approving the bill, bolstering Miller’s observations of support for the measure.
“”The feedback (I’ve gotten) is all positive regarding the law. I think that people are surprised a little bit at the firestorm that it caused considering … that it doesn’t change the way police do their work.””
Calling the bill an “”unfortunate necessity,”” Miller noted that the legislation seemed to be Arizona’s reaction to the security of the border currently provided by the federal government.
The constitutionality of the new Arizona immigration law has been questioned, with some opponents likening it to a similar California law, Penal Code 834b, previously overturned on the basis of unconstitutionality.
According to Miller, he and his constituents simply see the bill as an extension of the 287(g) program in the U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement where federal, state and local governments work in tandem to enforce immigration laws.
The debate over SB 1070 is not confined to the United States.
Julio Cardenas, a Mexican national and a graduate studentat the UA, spends his semesters in the United States and his summers back home in Mexico City and personally witnessed a change since the bill’s passage more than one month ago.
“”All across (Mexico), there’s animosity towards Arizona,”” Cardenas said.