From USA TODAY:
Arizona‘s controversial immigration enforcement law was the target of fresh attacks Sunday as opponents, from national civil rights activists to Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, vowed to take their fight to the courts as soon as this week.
Gordon, a Democrat, joined some federal lawmakers, including Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., and about 3,500 protesters Sunday at the Arizona Capitol, assailing the measure signed Friday by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer as a “racist and unjust” attempt at achieving an overhaul of the USA’s immigration policies.
Joe Arpaio, the vocal Republican sheriff of metro Phoenix’s Maricopa County who urged passage of the law, said the measure provides another tool for officers to counter persistent illegal immigration.
Arpaio, whose department’s tactics already are the subject of a Justice Department investigation of allegations of racial profiling in past immigration enforcement actions, said he intends to enforce the new law.
“I will not back down,” said Arpaio who is considering a run for governor. “We’ve got plenty of room (at the jail). I’ll make room, if I have to.”
In New York, civil rights activist Al Sharpton and Lillian Rodríguez López, president of the Hispanic Federation, announced they would go to federal court this week to challenge the law, which Sharpton said effectively “sanctions” racial profiling.
The most divisive aspect of the law, which takes effect 90 days after the current state Legislature adjourns, requires local law enforcement officials to “determine the immigration status of a person during any legitimate contact made by an official or agency of the state … if reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the U.S.”
…snip…
Acknowledging the contentious nature of her decision, Brewer said she “prayed for strength and prayed for our state” and concluded that the law “represents what’s best for Arizona.”
…snip…
The new Arizona law has been particularly contentious within the national and local law enforcement community.
San Jose Police Chief Robert Davis, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said the group stands by its 2006 policy that “immigration enforcement by local police would likely negatively effect and undermine the level of trust and cooperation between local police and immigrant communities.”
From KGUN9:
Sen. John McCain was in Tucson Saturday as part of a round of town halls in southern Arizona. The Republican is campaigning for re-election to the U.S. Senate.
The question on many peoples’ minds was: “What does the senator think about Arizona’s new immigration law?
McCain’s message to the Obama administration and Homeland security chief Janet Napolitano – Arizona’s former governor – was: get the border secured.
Speaking at a town hall at Pima Community College’s east campus, McCain defended Gov. Jan Brewer’s decision to sign Senate Bill 1070 into law Friday. But he would not say if he supports the law as written.
…snip…
“That’s a state decision. I have not had a chance to take a look, but the fact is the state is acting because the federal government hasn’t,” McCain said.
McCain had his own 10-point plan to boost border security. He crafted the plan with fellow Republican Sen. Jon Kyl.
“Basically, we’ve got to get 3,000 troops to the border and hire 3,0000 more,” McCain said.
…snip…
McCain’s biggest opponent in the race for re-election is fellow Republican J.D. Hayworth. Hayworth is openly defending the Arizona immigration bill.
HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
Freakin’ McCain. What a weaselly response…and I expect nothing less these days. Arizona is the new Alabama. 😦
(Great look for Brewer!)
weaselly is the new mavericky, dont’cha know?
do you think ol’ jan looks okay? i borrowed the eyes from the original poster and just squinted them up a bit.
I thought she looked a little chestery, but I couldn’t quite place why. It’s the guy’s eyes. It fits with her half-baked Arizona pallor though.
here’s the original pic. she looks like a cross between a prune and an old briefcase.
My what big veneers you have, Grandma Brewer!
have you noticed that a lot of people have teeth the size of chiclets now? alyssa milano has a new show (it stinks, don’t bother watching), and i’m fascinated by how she can barely close her mouth over the stalactites in her mouth.
hey, melissa, you’re not the only one who feels that way. read this.
Damn. I was thinkin’ it last night, but didn’t say it until today. Missed first by that much. 😉
This is how we low brow states get to feelin’ good about ourselves. Look! Mississippi sucks more! Look! Arizona sucks more than us, too!
we do the same thing in floriduhhh. we live for elections that get screwed up in other states. 😉
Ha! Yeah, Floriduh’s elections sucks more than ours.
I think it was Blue Gal who made up Talibama. Maybe not. But it was a keeper.
if it makes you feel any better, i always read you before i read huffpo. in fact, i don’t read huffpo every day, but i stop by wcp a few times a day. 🙂
It does make me feel better! Makes me feel quite good. 😀
good. now pay it forward. 😉
I’m going to have to start reading writechic’s blog now.
you really should. tell melissa i sent you. 😉
Was anyone else confused by the swastika refried bean graffiti on the AZ capitol bldg.? With that sort of protest, protesters are going to have to phone in and claim responsibility. 😉
i think people should have swarmed into government offices and spoken with bad mexican accents while wearing sombreros and serapes. that would have been a fun protest.
Si! Y maracas!
Oh, and I decided it had to be a liberal. Only a liberal would make you ponder their graffiti. 😀
maybe state sen. russell pearce, one of the sponsors of the bill left it as an homage to his friends (from huffpo):
here he is with his buddies.
Yikes. That J.T. Ready looks scary.
you’d think that sen. pearce mighta noticed (the swastikas shoulda been a clue).
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Let’s face it … Joe Arpaio watches those movies in which KGB agents snatch someone’s papers, sort through them, and hand them back, snidely remarking, “Your papers seem to be in order,” knowing that they’ll find some other reason to arrest the hero later, and gets jealous.
Now, finally, he’ll get to use that line.
watches them? he uses them as training films!
The only thing missing from the photoshop art is a big steaming pile.
(McCan’t does not count, he’s not fresh!).
i was going to put a big steaming pile of poop behind the elephant, but there wasn’t a lot of room, and you know i don’t like when the posters are too busy! 😉
Seems odd that a state that is selling the capitol and other state buildings to raise money wants to now go into the concentration camp business. But then again, Sheriff Joe would be the perfect choice to run them.
maybe they plan on using some stimulus funds? 😉
I was listening to Diane Rehm this morning with my wife and her sister, who is married to a Hispanic man whose family has lived in what is now New Mexico for at least the past 300 years. He’s a computer engineer who was, up until recently, working on NASA-related projects in Alabama.
My sister-in-law was asking whether her US-born, government-employed husband would have to carry his birth certificate around with him to visit Arizona. She’s very angry about this whole thing … and I’m with her.
Somewhere along the way, people forgot that even illegal aliens are still people.
I recently read where someone said that we should just shoot anyone trying to cross the border and leave the bodies as a warning to others.
I believe that the term is “man’s inhumanity to man.” This is very, very sad.
you know, if it was only about illegal aliens, that would be okay with me. however, it’s not. it’s about one particular nationality, mexicans. if the cops were running around looking for everyone who is here illegally, then it would be a matter of policy. in this case, it’s a matter of bigotry. if the cops stop someone with blond hair, blue eyes, and a swedish accent for a traffic infraction, i highly doubt that the driver will be asked for proof that he’s here legally. on the other hand, if a cop with an agenda sees someone who appears to be hispanic in a car, the cop will look for any reason to stop that car. how can you prove that you made a complete stop at a stop sign if there are no witnesses or cameras around? how do you prove that you didn’t cross the median line?
That’s my one consolation in all of this … I can’t imagine that the Supreme Court will let this stand.
It’s plainly meant to target Mexicans, and that’s just beyond disgusting.
i couldn’t imagine that the supremes would allow corporations to give to political campaigns with no limits. forgive me if i don’t have a lot of faith in the current court, even though they recently ruled in favor of strengthening the 4th amendment, ironically in an arizona case.