After Arizona passed its controversial (only to liberals) immigration law reaction by some on the left has been asinine. President Barack Obama called it misguided. Attorney General Eric Holder expresses concern and he hasn’t even read it. People have cried to boycott Arizona, and AriZona Iced Tea feels like they have to come out and say they are made in New York.
San Diego is boycotting. San Francisco is boycotting the Grand Canyon State. Los Angeles’ city council also voted to boycott Arizona which is not a huge shocker since they also in violation (along with San Francisco) of California law. The L.A. Times had an online poll that asked “was the L.A. City Council right to pass a boycott of Arizona” - 92% said no. One person pointed out that it’s constitutionality is questionable.
Then you have Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) who is calling for Major League Baseball Players Association to boycott the All-Star game that will be played in Phoenix next year. Austin, TX just joined the boycott bandwagon.
Probably the most ridiculous move was made by the Superintendent of District 113 in Illinois that oversees Highland Park High School. No Arizona tournament play for their girls basketball team because the Arizona law doesn’t reflect their values according to the Assistant District Superintendent, Susan Hebson, and because, in the words of their superintendent, George Fornero:
Under long standing constitutional law, all school districts are required to provide an education to all children within the District’s borders regardless of immigration status. District 113 boasts a diverse student population and, as a school district, we believe in equal opportunity for each of our students. The selection of a girls’ varsity basketball team for the 2010-2011 winter athletic season will take place in November, 2010. The team has yet to be selected. When our students travel, the school district is responsible, both legally and ethically, for their safety, security and liberty. We cannot commit at this time to playing at a venue where some of our students’ safety or liberty might be placed at risk because of state immigration law.
This explanation is not washing with those who are outraged by the decision.
The girls’ parents said there was no vote or consultation regarding Hebson’s decision, which they called confusing — especially, they said, because none of the players on the team are illegal immigrants.
"I’m not sure whose values and what values and what beliefs they’re talking about. We were just going to Arizona to play basketball and our daughters were very disappointed to find out the trip had been canceled," Michael Evans, a father of one of the players, told Fox News.
If a player was worried about her safety, Evans said, she could always opt to stay home from the tournament without forcing the entire team to do the same.
"This tournament was voluntary, so students could decide not to go if they thought they were at some sort of risk of some sort of harm to themselves, but to penalize all the other girls because of some potential risk? I don’t understand it," he said.
Evans said he also failed to understand why the school allowed so many other trips, but not this one.
"The school has sent children to China, they’ve sent children to South America, they’ve sent children to the Czech Republic, but somehow Arizona is more unsafe for them than those places," he said. "The beliefs and values of China are apparently aligned, since they approved that trip."
Former Governor Sarah Palin, a former girls’ basketball standout, is encouraging the girls to go rogue and find a way to get to Arizona without school district help. She also weighed on this particular boycott, as well as, all of the boycotts in general yesterday on Facebook.
These boycotts of Arizona will not help the state or lead to positive change. Economic and political boycotts of our nation’s 48th state will hurt all Arizonans – including all members of the Hispanic community. If people really want to help, they should tell President Obama to do his job: secure the border. If he were to do his job, the good people of Arizona, who have been overwhelmed by violence on their border, would not feel compelled to do it for him.
She is spot on. If the federal government were doing its job this law would have never been passed. These boycotts do nothing to solve the problem. Certainly using a high school girls basketball team for a political statement will do nothing to remedy our current illegal immigration crisis.
You would think that with all of these calls for boycotts that Arizona is out-of-touch of the mainstream and under fire. Anderson Cooper of CNN, says hardly. There is widespread support for measures in this shown by recent Pew Poll:
Fully 73% say they approve of requiring people to produce documents verifying their legal status if police ask for them. Two-thirds (67%) approve of allowing police to detain anyone who cannot verify their legal status, while 62% approve of allowing police to question people they think may be in the country illegally.
After being asked about the law’s provisions, 59% say that, considering everything, they approve of Arizona’s new illegal immigration law while 32% disapprove.
Even a majority of Democrats are supportive of “two of the law’s principal provisions: requiring people to produce documents verifying legal status (65%) and allowing police to detain them if they are unable to verify their legal status (55%).”
Which tells me those who are calling for boycotts are out of touch and not representative of the people they were elected to represent. Perhaps these city council members, Senator Menendez, and any District 113 school board member supportive of their Superintendent’s decision should be boycotted when their name is on the ballot.
One boycott that Arizona I’m sure hopes is effective is terrorists boycotting their state.
