Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against SB 1070, the controversial immigration law passed by the Arizona General Assembly and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer earlier this year. 

Today, members of the Labor Committee on Immigrant Workers Rights -- including SEIU Local 1 (whose state council sponsors this website) -- applauded the Obama adminsitration for taking action against the discriminatory law.  Check out their statements below:

“The Department of Justice is stepping up just in time. A 50 state piecemeal of ineffective immigration policies that Arizona and other Republican lawmakers are pushing doesn’t solve anything,” said SEIU Local 1 Vice President Laura Garza. “Americans need real solutions to fix our immigration problems—not just political maneuvers that will devastate communities, waste hard-earned taxpayer dollars, and violate basic civil rights of hard working people who come here to achieve the American Dream.” [...]

“Arizona’s SB 1070, and similar copycat laws being proposed in other states is not in line with our nation’s best values – if you come to here and work hard, your family can achieve the American Dream,“ said Carl Rosen, President of the Western Region of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE) “We cannot allow ourselves to move backward; we need humane, federal immigration policies that uphold our nation’s values and move us forward together.

“We are calling on Republicans to pass a bipartisan Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill this year,” said Moises Zavala, Director of Organizing for UFCW Local 881 “This should be attainable because there are many Republicans who supported Comprehensive Immigration Reform during the Bush Administration. These Republicans must decide if they want to deliver a real solution. The choice is to either to uphold our nation’s values and make us stronger together or to score political points with their base to divide us because it’s an election year.”

The Labor Committee on Immigrant Workers Rights is a project of Chicago Jobs with Justice.

Below is the response from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights:

ICIRR applauds President Barack Obama for recognizing the need to block SB 1070, the anti-immigrant Arizona law that promotes racial profiling and is fueling fear and distrust in immigrant communities. Unfortunately, despite opposition from all over the country, this law remains on the books and poised to take effect later this month.
 
This lawsuit, coupled with President Obama's address on immigration last week, shows that this administration is stepping up to meet the challenge of enacting immigration reform. We urge Congress--and Congressional Republicans in particular--to support real reform that would end the explosion of local anti-immigrant policies that are leading to confusion and chaos all over the country.