Immigrants' rights activists plan to march in central Phoenix this morning to protest plans to change the city's police policy on dealing with illegal immigrants.
The leader of the activists, Salvatore Reza, said he expects about 100 people to march the six miles from Pruitt's Furniture, at 36th Street and Thomas, to City Hall downtown, beginning at 9 a.m. A group favoring a crackdown on illegal immigrants said it would send about 20 people to City Hall.
Pruitt's has become the lightning rod for a battle over immigrants' rights since the owner asked the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office earlier this year to disperse day laborers who gather in the area. Reza has led protests outside the furniture store every Saturday.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio assigned deputies to today's march.
``We'll have our SWAT team standing by because of this march, and we'll have a bigger force out there than we usually do." Arpaio said. ``We're not going out there and arrest the protesters unless they violate the law. We're going out there to enforce the law, to protect businesses in that neighborhood, especially Pruitts that has been intimidated and has a rought time because of all these demonstrations and this immigration situation."
He said the immigrants' rights activists are not accomplishing anything.
``They're not going to get anything done. What have they proven? They've been in front of Pruitts trying to destroy a private business. All they've done is agitate people."
Arpaio said Reza has said the protesters will hang around until the sheriff leaves the Pruitts area.
``Well, the sheriff is not going, he's not going to tell me how to enforce the law," Arpaio said.
Today's march is not expected to affect traffic. Marchers told police they plan to stick to the sidewalk. Police said they will be on hand to make sure everything stays peaceful.
Today's march stems from Mayor Phil Gordon's action early this month, appointing a four-member panel to consider changes in Phoenix Police policy which currently bans officers from questioning people they stop about their citizenship status. Reza and others claim that authorizing such questions would lead to racial profiling.
Meanwhile, the head the police union is questioning a comment that Police Chief Jack Harris made to The Arizona Republic. Harris, who says his officers do not have time to make immigration enforcement their top priority, was quoted as saying, ``Do you want me to take the people that were working the Goudeau (Baseline Killer suspect) case and have them chase corn vendors?" Union lead Mark Spencer said the use of ``corn vendor" was reprehensible and only serevs to agitate and inflame the issue. http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=678240
2007-12-19
03:21:06
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