MLB players begin to speak out against Arizona's police-state immigration law
MLB baseball players are slowly starting to weigh in on Arizona's attempt to get rid of probable cause to solve their immigration problem after Adrian Gonzalez went public and panned SB 1070. San Diego Padres catcher Yorvit Torrealba and pitcher Heath Bell can't wrap their heads around the new Arizona law.
“Baseball,” said Padres closer Heath Bell, “is part of the culture of Arizona.”
Hispanics are a huge part of baseball’s culture, a solid percentage of players in the big leagues, and it’s clear that Arizona’s controversial new ruling aimed at stemming illegal immigration has outraged ballplayers as well as people across the country who’ve been raining down condemnation since Gov. Jan Brewer signed the bill into law on April 23.
“For Arizona to do something like this?” Bell said. “Mind-boggling.”
Adrian Gonzalez, a star in the National League said this a few days ago:
It’s immoral,” Gonzalez said. “They’re violating human rights. In a way, it goes against what this country was built on. This is discrimination. Are they going to pass out a picture saying “You should look like this and you’re fine, but if you don’t, do people have the right to question you?’ That’s profiling.”
Governor Brewer says that “we have to trust our law enforcement,” but who can define "reasonable suspicion" clearly? I respect the police immensely, but this just adds to their arduous burden. And it only takes a few bad apples to tarnish them all.
Catcher Yorvit Torrealba wonders if he's in another crazy country.
Said catcher Yorvit Torrealba: “This is racist stuff. It’s not fair for a young guy who comes here from South America, and just because he has a strong accent, he has to prove on the spot if he’s illegal or not. I mean, I understand the need for security and the safety to people here, the question of legal and illegal. I get that. But I don’t see this being right.
“Why do I want to go play in a place where every time I go to a restaurant and they don’t understand what I’m trying to order, they’re going to ask me for ID first? That’s bull.
“I come from a crazy country (Venezuela). Now Arizona seems a little bit more crazy.”
And KC's Jose Guillen weighs in with this:
“I’ve never seen anything like that in the United States, and Arizona is part of the United States,” Kansas City Royals designated hitter Jose Guillen(notes) said. “I hope police aren’t going to stop every dark-skinned person. It’s kind of like, wow, what’s going on.
“I was 17, 18. I’d forget things. Kids do.”
Rod Barajas of the NY Mets says this to the NY Times.
New York Mets catcher Rod Barajas, who was born in the United States after his parents emigrated from Mexico, told The New York Times, “If they happen to pull someone over who looks like they are of Latin descent, even if they are a U.S. citizen, that is the first question that is going to be asked. But if a blond-haired, blue-eyed Canadian gets pulled over, do you think they are going to ask for their papers? No.”
And here's something else to consider:
In June, one month before the law goes into effect, about 140 young Hispanic baseball players will arrive in the state for the Arizona Rookie League. Some MLB officials are worried how these young men will be treated by local authorities.
I've been working with various Latino and immigrant-rights groups on baseball and SB 1070. I may have some interesting news very soon.
Tease :)
Corruption favors the wealthy.
I really hope people have a long memory about this and never forget what Arizona has tried to do.
The state should be ashamed.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
...people DON'T have long memories. Arizona has replaced South Carolina as the idiot state in the spotlight, and it's receiving a lot of scrutiny right now. A month or two from now, it will be morons in Alabama or Missouri or Michigan that do incredibly stupid things, and Arizona will be off the hook.
In the mean time, we all need to pummel them with bad press, boycotts, and hurt them financially. Unfortunately, there are good people that live in Arizona. People who disagree with all this crap, and who are being hurt by all this. They need to make their voices heard. They need to speak up against this stuff, and to vote out the idiots like Jan Brewer.
All of those who are boycotting Arizona need to keep it up. It will benefit us here. A lot of us Arizonans Hispanic or not welcome this and invite all to turn up the heat even more.
We are doing the best we can to vote these idiots out of office.
Thanks for your concern.
nothing has changed there. (shrug)
I agree, they should be ashamed for protecting their borders. Oh wait, I just read that the law they passed is almost identical to Fedreal Law that has been around for over 50 years. Oh shit, now I am confused. Who out there is going to tell me what to think now?
That does it. I'm boycotting the Diamondbacks for sure!! Oh wait... I don't give a rodent's rectum about baseball or any ball-chasing sports anyway.
"Basaball has been berry berry good fur me..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq3DhamGCMY
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
New Kansas state motto: Thank God for Arizona.
Louisiana - Not As Crazy As Arizona
Texas - Smile. At Least Your Not In Arizona
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
in the field of education (and most social services), the state's abysmal funding levels used to prompt those within the system to quip "well, thank God for Alabama!" (or whatever state it was that was always 50th in education spending, allowing us to escape notoriety as we hung around as #49).
Well, about 10 years ago, we hit the bottom and now that saying doesn't work anymore. And given your new state mottos, it seems the problem is getting worse at an ever faster pace...
on efforts to get Arizona to stop their nonsense on MLK's birthday.
The MLB Players Association taking action which might effect the rookie league, spring training and the upcoming All Star game will be far more effective than an effort to get people around the country to boycott their own home teams when the Diamondbacks come to town.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
http://twitter.com/EdgeofSports
Steve Nash and gm Steve Kerr will be speaking out shortly against SB 1070.
I hope he is joined by them and the three stars of the Spurs, none of whom was born within the borders of a US state.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
on the previous thread, if they interupt the fans or the games in any way, they should be tasered.
I hope they don't have that many taser guns?
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ~ Abraham Lincoln
We wouldn't want to throw off the pitcher's precious timing now would we? Unless they are against SB1070, then hit 'em w/ the taser too.... wheeeeeeee!!! ;)
OK,I live in AZ ,a beautiful state with honest and decent people from every race. I am so sick and tired of hearing about people who are boycotting the state because a law that passed by our state government! NOT the residents who live here.we should all be working together as a country to make best of any situation, not condemning AZ as a whole by trying to take sporting events out, cutting tourism, and saying us as a state are racist and we need to be punished! Do we need to be reminded that we are in a recession once again! We should be able to trust in our Law Enforcement and have faith that they will do the right thing even under such a law as SB 1070,but since were not in crisis right now like 9/11, their out to get us. No one has to agree but we don't need to judge either!
try getting all your contacts more involved in your elections to make sure you don't have right wing zealots running your state. There is a solution and you have to be part of it.
I am so sick and tired of hearing about people who are boycotting the state because a law that passed by our state government! NOT the residents who live here.
Reeeally? I suggest you take a basic course on how democracy works.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
every basic course I've taken about democracy stated it was perfectly normal to have sizable conservative voting blocs live in the state part-time and vote for rabid neo-cons while they are here. Yep, that's COMPLETELY democratic.
It's not democracy here, it's demoCRAZY!
I seriously think if people want to nonchalantly suggest that we get "all your contacts more involved in your elections to make sure you don't have right wing zealots running your state. There is a solution and you have to be part of it." -Ron ... then how about you do you fair share as well?
Tell your damn racist, white-haired parents to stay home this winter and to leave our state the hell alone. Then the liberals here might only be outnumbered 1:2 instead of the more common 1:3 or 1:4 ratios were accustomed too.
Even without the snowbirds, people here are nutty reich-wingers. I will give you that. There are some sane people here, we are just vastly outnumbered. This place is considered a conservative stronghold for a reason, though. Since 1952, the state has gone Republican in every presidential election except for one: 1996 (Clinton).
And, while we are fucked and have all kinds of problems, to suggest that nothing has changed here in the 20 years since the MLK Jr. Day madness... okay, if you say so. I think the fact that the state went for Clinton is a change (minimal though it is) and from a person who has lived here my whole life, I can tell you that I have witnessed a LOT of change in the right direction.
But, as with so much in this country/state, it seems with every two steps forward we're taking six steps back, six steps back, six steps back, six steps back...
BIG JUMP FOR ME
who is 91 years old has never been to AZ and neither have I. I do get involved here in WA though. I don't know if she has a racsist bone in her body but she has athritus bad enough she doesn't need any more bones that ache.
tbh, I'm my grandmother's caregiver (stopped teaching after three years of it... taking classes online and just "taking care" of her, though she's still very independent). I'm sorry to hear about your mother's arthritis and I shouldn't have been such an asshole.
It is a more complicated problem than "the voters in AZ just need to pick better officials," though... because most people don't realize that the "voters of AZ" aren't necessarily the same people who live here ALL year. We literally have people who live here for a few months who vote, and they they are older and by and large, conservative. And while your mom, admirably, isn't a racist... I'm afraid that the older a person is, the higher the chances that they are racist. Unless you want to dispute that, but I think it's shown in plenty of surveys and the like.
So, I just really want people who are telling us to suck it up and fix our state to consider tricking their parents into staying home this year. ;P Hell, tell them to boycott the state too, whatever it takes to keep the snowbirds away. Then, like I said, progressives might actually have a fighting chance to elect a few sensible people to our state legislator. The way it is now, I'm shocked it isn't WORSE here in some respects. =/
Again, though, the snowbirds are a serious problem. Well, everything is, but they are just another tool that the neo-cons use to smother any real change here...
get all the people you have contact with involved. The real problem with most peoploe not being involved is the M$M and the right controls 95% of it. They don't get any other information to make good decisions from.
All our gains , we the people , the middle and lower working class have struggled for , have been taken and are being taken from us , while we who are aware just complain and bitch , the others are either completely oblivious or take the the right wing propaganda and bullshit down ... hook line and sinker , all do nothing , we just let it happen . Unfortunately a one man jihad isn't going to change anything but my life style , land me in jail or six feet under .
at home I feel like a tourist... at home I feel like a tourist... I fill my head with culture... I give myself an ulcer ;P
I admit it. It pissed me off and I'm not proud of it. Who says boycotting a state is a bad thing? I'd love for Florida to be boycotted. There are too many people here already.
But aren't most Floridians only 3/5ths of a person? (Or was that just non-whites back in 1776?)
you're coming from but the only thing available to us is ourselves and our friends who stand firm for boycotting. What else is available?
And why should we not judge these elected officials?
I'm in AZ too, native, 62 years.
Of all of the major league sports I didn't think MLB would keep quiet , lay down and accept this gestapo stuff , many Hispanic and foreign born players among them .
People who blithely throw around terms like Gestapo and Nazi should read what the actual law states. It's amazing the amount of hysterical shrieking the uninformed can produce.
I'll make it easy.
4th Amendment of the United States Constitution:
That general warrants, whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offense is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are grievous and oppressive and ought not to be granted.
Why this law is unconstitutional:
S.B. 1070 Section 2:
"A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, WITHOUT A WARRANT, MAY ARREST A PERSON IF THE OFFICER HAS PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE PERSON HAS COMMITTED ANY PUBLIC OFFENSE THAT MAKES THE PERSON REMOVABLE FROM THE UNITED STATES."
Arresting someone, without a warrant, based off probably cause because someone is allegedly looking like, dressing like, or speaking like what a person perceives as an immigrant is illegal. It's in violation of the law, and unconstitutional.
But don't let those pesky facts get in your way.
And cops DO make shit up 1967sox:
Echoes of Arizona: Illinois Congressional Candidate Stopped and Searched for Driving-While-Looking-Latino
Which makes them, yes very "Gestapo and Nazi-like" only worse, because THEY'LL LIE to break the law, as set forth in the Constitution. At least the Gestapo were only following orders.
me-oww!
Let's take a look at your language again:
----------------------------------------------------
A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, WITHOUT A WARRANT, MAY ARREST A PERSON IF THE OFFICER HAS PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE PERSON HAS COMMITTED ANY PUBLIC OFFENSE THAT MAKES THE PERSON REMOVABLE FROM THE UNITED STATES."
Arresting someone, without a warrant, based off probably cause because someone is allegedly looking like, dressing like, or speaking like what a person perceives as an immigrant is illegal. It's in violation of the law, and unconstitutional.
----------------------------------------------------
Dressing like or speaking like what a person perceives as an immigrant is NOT committing a public offense!
Make sure you actually have some "pesky facts" before spouting off about them.
You can bold my stuff and try and call me out.
Public offenses are what the cops want them to be. I know that might be hard for you to understand, you know, in the real world. Do try and keep up.
while a post on tasering and baseball draw 335 +. Racial priorities of C&L readers on display?
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
I've been posting all over C&L today. And, I happen to think the racist law and tasering are related. After all, they both relate to questions of police authority and society's compliance with authoritarian measures for maintaining law and order.
Trust me, if a bunch of people here were posting in support of the expansion of police authority vis a vis SB1070, I would have been over here rambling on and on to them about how wrong they were too. Instead, it seemed the pro-authoritarians were only interested in exposing themselves as the State-loving goons that they are in the baseball post (and not here). In either case (SB1070 and taser post), the fundamental reality remains the same: society must not permit the expansion of police powers at the expense of individual rights and liberty. I felt most of the comments on the baseball post were completely relevant to the pervasiveness of police authority in ALL aspects of life in AmeriKKKa.
Honestly, we should be riled by abuses of power both extreme (SB1070) and everyday (like the 17 y/o being tasered). Sometimes the commonplace wrong, the day-to-day overreach deserve our scrutiny just as much. I wish more had commented on SB1070, but honestly, it's been a persistent topic for awhile now and I'm sure many people are running out of things to say about it...
Both topics and more are very serious examples of what the state believes it is entitled to with regard to how far its authority and right to use power goes. We are right to question SB1070, as are we correct in decrying the tasering of a goofball kid who interrupted a baseball game. They are not equivalent, not even remotely on the same plane of the injustice and seriousness of the issues... but, they are symptoms of a broader problem. Plus, the taser topic had a better video ;P
What happens when their wives and children are jailed because they don't have their 'papers' on them and some racist at the grocery store calls the police?
The Reslug party has always been made up of ignorant, dicriminite, racist pigs.
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