Date Published: 5/22/2010
Planners Network calls on planners to resist the odious Arizona Immigration Law
As progressive planners who are committed to opposing social injustice and discrimination, we strongly condemn the Arizona immigration law (SB 1070). The law, which requires police officers to establish the resident status or citizenship of individuals deemed “reasonably suspicious” opens the door to racial profiling and threatens the basic civil liberties of all ethnic minorities in Arizona. As already noted by President Obama and other public officials, the law will breed mistrust between local law enforcement officials and local communities and it will instill fear and insecurity among the hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who reside and work in the state.
Furthermore, by making it illegal to provide sanctuary to immigrants or to hire and transport day workers, this law is an affront to the extraordinary contributions and sacrifices that immigrants have made – and continue to make – to the social, cultural and economic fabric of
the country.
We call on all urban and regional planners to protest this law as an attack on the human rights and dignity of immigrants and people of color and to argue instead for passing comprehensive immigration reform measures that extend basic civil liberties and services to all individuals who reside and/or work in the state, irrespective of status. Planners should also be at the forefront in supporting local efforts to plan inclusive communities and public spaces that enable people of diverse backgrounds to live and work together.
Since other states may follow Arizona’s lead, it is critical that we actively oppose the law. We call on citizens at large to join in economic boycotts of the state in order to send a clear message that an attack on immigrants is an attack on an all of us.
Planners Network Steering Committee
Young Planners Network
The Planning in the Black Community Division, American Planning Association
Planners of Colour Interest Group, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning