The good news is that the ACLU and our partners are suing to stop Arizona's new law requiring law enforcement to demand "papers" from anyone who appears unauthorized to be in the country. The bad news is legislators in three other states have already announced their intentions to pursue similar legislation.
Please join us tomorrow to march in support of comprehensive immigration reform that preserves fundamental American values of fairness and equality.
When: 2:30 pm, Saturday, May 1
Where: You choose. Marches will start from Union Station Plaza and Kennedy Park.
What: March to Congress Square on High Street for a concert and inspirational speakers including our very own Brianna Twofoot
Tomorrow's march is to support changes to our immigration system that respect civil liberties and due process rights for everyone, including immigrants. Laws like Arizona's law are essentially the enactment of a police state where racial profiling and "your papers, please" will become the norm. We can't let that happen in Maine, and we can't let that happen federally. At the federal level, officials are already discussing a national identity card and other harsh enforcement tactics as "reform." Racial profling and "show me your papers" policies are not reform. We can preserve American values of fairness and equality while reforming our broken immigration system.
The march is our way of taking action locally. The New York Times has a great "to-do" list for President Obama too.