Latinos, Immigrant Communities Prepared to Voice Objections at Ballot Box.
(Langley Park, MD)—The Supreme Court today showed its conservative side by saying yes to racial profiling as it upheld Arizona’s vehemently anti-immigrant “show me your papers” law. Federal immigration reform is the only solution to this tragic and divisive court decision and the path forward is to make our voices heard everywhere, especially at the ballot box.
“Today’s decision of the Supreme Court sets back the advance of civil rights and will result in increased harassment and persecution,” said Gustavo Torres, Executive Director of CASA de Maryland. “We have already seen the damage to our community on the ground in Maryland through the discredited Secure Communities program which has resulted in widespread fear of the police in immigrant communities and this Saturday afternoon, in solidarity and defense of immigrant families from Arizona to Maryland, we will rally and march from Montgomery to Prince George’s County condemning racial profiling in Arizona and racial profiling in Maryland.”
CASA de Maryland, along with other advocates for comprehensive immigration reform in the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), will unite in an unprecedented effort to register Latinos to vote to make sure that candidates who champion racial profiling laws are defeated in 2012.
During the upcoming election season, CASA has planned an aggressive voter registration program that would enroll more than 20,000 new Latino voters across Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties and mobilize tens of thousands more to the polls.
“Although the Supreme Court’s decision upheld the ‘show me your papers’ provision, we will not stop fighting to protect our basic civil rights,” said Maria Bolaños, a CASA member and victim of the Prince George’s County Secure Communities program. “We will build more power to demand respect and equal treatment under the law.”
FIRM is a network of community-based immigrant advocacy organizations in 30 states. CASA’s rally this Saturday is thought to bring hundreds out and will start at 1:00pm at the corner of Piney Branch and Greenwood Avenues in Silver Spring.
