TIME magazine has a piece up about Russell Pearce's new brainchild, trying to outlaw children born in America.

"Anchor babies" isn't a very endearing term, but in Arizona those are the words being used to tag children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants. While not new, the term is increasingly part of the local vernacular because the primary authors of the nation's toughest and most controversial immigration law are targeting these tots - the legal weights that anchor many undocumented aliens in the U.S. - for their next move.

Buoyed by recent public opinion polls suggesting they're on the right track with illegal immigration, Arizona Republicans will likely introduce legislation this fall that would deny birth certificates to children born in Arizona - and thus American citizens according to the U.S. Constitution - to parents who are not legal U.S. citizens. The law largely is the brainchild of state Sen. Russell Pearce, a Republican whose suburban district, Mesa, is considered the conservative bastion of the Phoenix political scene. He is a leading architect of the Arizona law that sparked outrage throughout the country: Senate Bill 1070, which allows law enforcement officers to ask about someone's immigration status during a traffic stop, detainment or arrest if reasonable suspicion exists - things like poor English skills, acting nervous or avoiding eye contact during a traffic stop. (See the battle for Arizona: will a border crackdown work?) But the likely new bill is for the kids. While SB 1070 essentially requires of-age migrants to have the proper citizenship paperwork, the potential "anchor baby" bill blocks the next generation from ever being able to obtain it. The idea is to make the citizenship process so difficult that illegal immigrants pull up the "anchor" and leave.

Back on May 25th, David N. posted on this when Pearce went on Bill O'Reilly and admitted this is what he had in store as his next volley as he continues his attacks on the non-whites of America.

O'Reilly, of course, is not much help: He counters Pearce by observing that this is "federal law" -- though that is hardly the half of it, since this particular principle, of birthright citizenship, is embedded in the Constitution and is indeed a proud part of America's heritage as a nation of immigrants.

Pearce wants to claim that this only refers to people with "legal domicile" in the U.S. -- even though the words appear nowhere in the Constitution.

He complains that the concept of "illegal immigration" hadn't been conceived when the 14th Amendment was written -- which is true enough, but irrelevant to whether it remains in force. Indeed, a much stronger argument can be made that the nakedly racist/eugenicist/Nativist Immigration Act of 1924 -- which first created "illegal immigration" -- was grossly unconstitutional because it clearly violated the 14th Amendment.

Moreover, it's irrelevant because the law has always been interpreted to mean that, when a newborn is accorded automatic birthright citizenship based on birth on American soil, its status is generally unaffected by the legal status or citizenship of that individual's mother or father. This was true both before and after 1924...read on

I think Pearce knows that this will be struck down in the Supreme Court even with the right wing fringe running the place because it's firmly embedded in our Constitution and Scalia and his clones are supposed to be Originalists, right? You must understand something about movement conservatives. They pick fights not because they know they can win it in the end, losing is just as acceptable when it comes to immigration and the culture wars because *"backlash politics" is all about playing the victim. They get to stir the pot, create some outrage, make tons of cash and get themselves elected over issues that they never can win at. Remember creationism vs evolution? They knew that it would never pass with the scientific community, but as Thomas Frank puts it, they don't care. They can hold their noses high and attack the "elites" over and over again making the case that those snobby, latte sipping Frenchmen think they know better than all of the red blooded-red state Americans because they believe they are smarter than us.

Backlash Politics:

The backlash narrative is more powerful than mere facts, and according to this central mythology conservatives are always hardworking patriots who love their country and are persecuted for it, while liberals, who are either high-born weaklings or eggheads hypnotized by some fancy idea, are always ready to sell their nation out at a moment’s notice.7

Checking the box score, in the Major League Props: Hall & Oates hit a grand slam as they joined in on the "Sound Strike," tour, errr, I mean 'cancel tour' of musicians standing in solidarity and vocalizing their feelings against Kris Kobach's Arizona hate bill.

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced that Daryl Hall and John Oates have canceled their post-game concert at Chase Field that had been scheduled to follow a game against the Dodgers on July 2.

Hall and Oates issued the following statement:

"In addition to our personal convictions, we are standing in solidarity with the music community in our boycott of performing in Arizona at this time. We would like to emphasize that this has nothing to do with the management of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have been professional and cooperative throughout our dealings with them. This is our response to a very specific action of the state."

Since both of us have backgrounds in the music industry, Howie Klein and I have been trying to persuade artists not to perform in Arizona since SB1070 was passed. Zack de la Rocha is really a hero here.

Howie has much more:

Other artists who have joined suit include Cypress Hill, Pitbull, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West, Sonic Youth, Carlos Santana, Willie Nelson, Joe Satriani, Tenacious D, Shakira, Massive Attack and Hall & Oates (who were supposed to play at a July 2nd Diamondbacks game). Rage's Zack de la Rocha was organized an Arizona sound strike.

“Fans of our music, our stories, our films and our words can be pulled over and harassed every day because they are brown or black, or for the way they speak, or for the music they listen to,” de la Rocha said. “People who are poor like some of us used to be could be forced to live in a constant state of fear while just doing what they can to find work and survive. This law opens the door for them to be shaked down, or even worse, detained and deported while just trying to travel home from school, from home to work, or when they just roll out with their friends.”

The law-- SB 1070-- takes “racial profiling... to a whole new low,” the singer went on. “When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, they arrested her. As a result, people got together and said we are not going to ride the bus until they change the law... What if we got together, signed a collective letter saying, ‘We're not going to ride the bus,’ saying we are not going to comply. We are not going to play in Arizona.”

I'm not pushing for a strike against the Diamondbacks players, but Jerry Colangelo and their ownership has been complicit in helping pass SB 1070 and have been big-time Republican shills.

Howie Klein and I have been working the phones to try and persuade acts from performing in Arizona since they have contempt for a certain segment of their population. Kris Kobach, the notorious cage f*&ker, has paved the way to damnation for Brewer's state. And no matter what you hear, they are feeling it. Some of the musicians are locked at this point so they couldn't pull out, but others are stepping up to the plate.

Mad props to Los Lobos for their principled stand against SB 1070.

This just in from Los Lobos' camp: The band is canceling its performance at the Talking Stick Resort in Arizona's Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community on June 10 as a protest against the passing of the state's controversial new immigration bill, SB1070. The band issued the following statement via its management:

“We support the boycott of Arizona. The new law will inevitably lead to unfair racial profiling and possible abuse of people who just happen to look Latino. As a result, in good conscience, we could not see ourselves performing in Arizona. We regret the inconvenience this may have caused the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Casino Arizona, Talking Stick Resort and our fans, but we feel strongly that it is the right thing to do.”

Cypress Hill has already canceled their shows too.

And as Howie notes in his May 2nd post:

Meanwhile two industries that could suffer severely from Arizona's decision to go the police state route are tourism and sports. Frommers has already warned tourists to think twice before traveling to Arizona because of the self-righteous and violent nature of many of the inhabitants.

Conventions are pulling out of Phoenix, which has invested very heavily in that business. The Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association said six organizations had already canceled conventions. And now major league baseball is the next front in a growing war which is asking people who believe in American values to stay away from Arizona Diamondbacks games.

We're still working on Bud Selig behind the scenes, and I'll let you know when more actions are coming.

City after city is taking LA's lead on boycotting Arizona because of their draconian immigration law, so it was time for the xenophobes to respond.

An Arizona utility commissioner said he's willing to pull the plug on Los Angeles if the city goes through with a boycott of his state. In a letter to the city of LA, a member of Arizona's power commission said he would ask Arizona utility companies to cut off the power supply to Los Angeles. LA gets about 25 percent of its power from Arizona. "That is one commissioner who has that idea -- whether he can do that or not is another idea," said LA Councilman Dennis Zine. "They are the ones who have to make the move, not us." The commissioner's power grid play is in response to the city's approval of a resolution directing city staff to consider which contracts with Arizona can be terminated.

Here's part Arizona Corporation Commission member Gary Pierce's letter to the mayor:

If an economic boycott is truly what you desire, I will be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based generation. I am confident that Arizona’s utilities would be happy to take those electrons off your hands. If, however, you find that the City Council lacks the strength of its convictions to turn off the lights in Los Angeles and boycott Arizona power, please reconsider the wisdom of attempting to harm Arizona’s economy.

--

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is in Washington D.C., meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, but his deputy chief of staff issued the following statement: "The mayor stands strongly behind the city council and he will not respond to threats from the state that has isolated itself from an America that values freedom, liberty and basic civil rights."

Councilmember Tom LaBonge said he'd like to talk with Pierce. LaBonge said the city needs to look into its long standing utility agreements with Arizona.

LaBonge met Wednesday morning with LA Department of Water and Power officials.

"We have right of ownership of the power plants," LaBonge told NBCLA. "We partially own them."

Other California cities, including Oakland and San Francisco, have passed similar measures.

On Tuesday, Berkeley became the latest California city to boycott Arizona. The City Council voted unanimously to restrict staff from traveling to the state on city business.

There is no "Power Play," really, because after reading the letter from Commissioner Pierce, he's talking about renegotiating power agreements and not just shutting off those electrons. The letter is a PR ploy. Does Arizona want to lose even more valuable revenue since they've lost so much business already because of SB 1070? And if they really could cut off the sales, and yet didn't have a buyer, it would fall into that old "who would they sell it to" mode. That's called "cutting off your nose to spite your face."

Meanwhile, Gov. Brewer is in serious panic mode and transfered 250K from her Dept. of Commerce to Arizona's Office of Tourism to try and rebrand the state's image.

Acknowledging that Arizona has developed a serious image problem because of its tough new immigration law, Gov. Jan Brewer and tourism-industry leaders said Thursday that they will launch a new effort to stanch the flow of lost trade and convention business in the state.

The legislation and firestorm of negative publicity that followed brought calls for boycotts, moved groups to back out of local conventions and led several cities to cut business ties with Arizona companies.

Continue reading »

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Can I have a number, please? OK, Seattle has become the eleventh city to decide to boycott Arizona and their draconian immigration law.

Yesterday, the Seattle City Council unanimously voted to boycott Arizona by ending official city travel there and resolving, when practical, to cut off future contracts with Arizona-based businesses. That makes Seattle the 11th city to endorse a boycott of the state in opposition to its controversial immigration law. Five of the boycotting cities are in California: Los Angeles tops the list as the biggest, and its boycott could deliver the most painful blow to Arizona's economy, as the city has $58 million in existing contracts with Arizona companies, according to the L.A. Times.

In pending city votes, some members of Dallas's city council are considering a boycott, along with the municipal governments in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Berkeley, California.

--

Legal challenges to the Arizona easure could well render the boycott campaign moot, however. Since the law, which makes it a state crime to be an illegal immigrant, is already facing five legal challenges, it may be overturned before it can go into effect July 23. Here's a list of the cities that have announced travel and/or city contracts boycotts so far:

- Seattle, Washington

- El Paso, Texas

- Austin, Texas

- Boston, Massachusetts

- St. Paul, Minnesota

- Boulder, Colorado

- San Diego, California

- West Hollywood, California

- San Francisco, California

- Los Angeles, California

- Oakland, California

And it's only going to get worse and worse for the Sheriff Joe Arpaio-led Arizona.

The FBI is looking into accusations that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is using his position to settle political vendettas.

Over the past year, 5 Investigates examined more than two dozen complaints against the sheriff from business owners, government workers, mayors and law-enforcement officials.

They claim they spoke out against Arpaio, and shortly after, deputies paid them unwelcome visits.

I think I've been covering this issue pretty good since Arizona has decided to lead the way for racial profiling to ravage our land.

(h/t to my friend Murshed)

As soon as Phil Jackson's morally insipid statements supporting Arizona's hateful immigration law came to light, it didn't take long for opposition to come pouring in. I was told that a friend of mine had to go through a gauntlet of protesters to get into the Lakers game last night. Good job guys.

But an unlikely source of discontent stood tall last night at the game and it wasn't a player or a coach or our "Activist Coalition." It was someone I didn't see coming and I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but Vanessa Bryant sent a powerful message to Kobe's coach and to the rest of the country.

She wore a T-shirt that said: "Do I Look Illegal?"

OC Weekly:

Los Angeles Lakers fan are abuzz with news that Vanessa Laine Bryant, wife of Kobe, wore a blinged-out T-shirt with the words, "Do I Look Illegal?" to tonight's game.

ProBasketballTalk:

Phil Jackson isn't going to talk about it. Kobe Bryant won't go near it. The Lakers aren't going to talk about it or wear their Los Lakers jerseys. While there was a small protest outside, inside Staples Center the Arizona Immigration law discussion was dead.

Except for Kobe Bryant's wife. Vanessa Bryant is part Hispanic and she wore a shirt that said, "Do I look illegal?" to the game.

The reference was clear.

She -- and often the couple's daughters -- are regulars at Lakers games. They tend to stay out of the limelight, as much as that is possible for a high-profile family. But she gets noticed, and used that to make a statement at Game 1 against Arizona.

Keep coming out for the Los Suns series and protesting. The MSM sports establishment is trying to stay away from this as much as possible. We can't let them.

Thank you, Vanessa!

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(The above video is from an NBC News report which opened up the show, so it's big news in LA)

Phil Jackson caused a pretty big controversy by saying that he agrees with Arizona's new draconian immigration law and it's hitting the news pretty hard right before they begin their playoff series against Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns. I can't tell you how sad it is to see Phil act like a pompous jackass and diss the entire Phoenix Suns organization. He's entitled to his opinion on the issue of course, but not only does he support the law, he seems to be channeling Kris Kobach in the process.

ABC7 reports:

Immigration activists plan to picket outside Monday's Lakers-Phoenix NBA playoff game at Staples Center because Lakers coach Phil Jackson declined to criticize Arizona's recently adopted illegal immigration law.

"Am I crazy, or am I the only one that heard when the legislators said that `we just took United States immigration law and adapted it to our state?"' Jackson said during his pregame news conference May 4.

Jackson made his comments in response to a question from ESPN.com columnist J.A. Adande about his thoughts on Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver having his team wear its "Los Suns" jerseys for their May 5 game partly in response to the law and partly because of the Cinco de Mayo celebration. Jackson then asked Adande if his interpretation of the law was correct. Adande said Arizona "usurped the federal law."

Jackson disagreed, saying "it's not usurping, they just copied it, is what they said they did, the legislators. Then they give it some teeth to be able to enforce it."

Protests are planned on Monday at the Staples Center.

It was unclear if that was a factor in his comments, which prompted the Mexican-American Political Association and Southern California Immigration Coalition to decide to picket Monday's game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Suns.

"We are not happy with the position that Phil Jackson took," Nativo Lopez, the national president of the Mexican-American Political Association said. "We want to call on Jackson and the Lakers to put on their Los Lakers jerseys, especially considering the tremendous support that the Lakers have enjoyed from the communities specifically targeted by the misguided and racist Arizona law."

The groups also "want to welcome Los Suns of Arizona and thank them for the symbolic support," Lopez said.

C&L readers know how I feel about sports. It's a getaway for myself and a lot of us, but this has become a real moral issue, and remaining silent or ignoring it is not an option for me. If owners of teams can pump millions of dollars into extreme right-wing policies and candidates -- which is happening in Arizona right now -- then we can speak out against them.

Up to this point, I've focused largely on Bud Selig and the MLB and I helped form a broad activist coalition that sent out a letter demanding Selig join with the MLBPA (Players Union) and denounce the law and pull the 2011 All Star Game from Arizona, along with pushing protests of Arizona Diamondbacks games because of their ownership's involvement in Arizona Republican politics.

I've also praised the Suns and Steve Nash for showing real courage to lead the way against SB 1070 and stayed away from the Lakers. Phil brought me in.

If you're in LA and can get to Staples, please do.

UPDATE: The Zen Master was being a super hypocrite in this ESPN piece because in the middle of the article he says that "teams" shouldn't be involved in political stuff and then he gets involved in political stuff and defends Kobach's Arizona law to justify his support for SB1070. If he wanted no part of this debate he could have said that he's just worried about beating the Suns, but he didn't.

"I don't think teams should get involved in the political stuff," Jackson said. "I think this one is still kind of coming out to balance as to how it is going to favorably looked upon by ... the public.

"If I heard right, the American people are really for stronger immigration laws, if I'm not mistaken. Where we stand as basketball teams, we should let that kind of play out and let the political end of that go where it's going to go."

Here's a great takedown of Kris Kochach's lie that all Arizona is doing is enforcing laws already on the books.

Subsequently, even U.S. citizens could be held until someone from Immigration and Customs Enforcement is called to sort them out. Keep in mind that a cop can stop someone and begin the process during the "enforcement of any other law or ordinance of a county, city or town or this state." That's so broad as to include weed abatement and barking dogs.(I should mention that none of this claptrap is "mirrored" in federal law, nor are the provisions dealing with day laborers and traffic, nor -- more importantly -- is allowing a state the privilege of writing its own immigration statutes.)

If there's a crime or ordinance being broken nearby where you are, and a cop stops you to question you about it, it opens the door for this process to begin. Even if you are a U.S. citizen, you will be presumed to be an alien "unlawfully present" unless you have one of the above stated IDs -- assuming a cop has "reasonable suspicion" to think you're undocumented.

Kobach and his pawns in the state legislature later changed the law, which originally stated that a cop cannot "solely consider race, color or national origin." They've since taken the "solely" out, and they claim this means there will be no racial profiling.

This is highly disingenuous to say the least, when the "intent" of the law is to make "attrition through enforcement" the policy of the state. As the nativist Center for Immigration Studies has defined this loaded term, it means making life so difficult for illegal immigrants that they will self-deport. Since the vast majority of Arizona's estimated 500,000 unauthorized aliens are from Mexico or Central America, it is reasonable to conclude that Latinos in Arizona will bear the brunt of police scrutiny. So when someone slaps the "ethnic cleansing" label on the law, a label Nowicki is uncomfortable with, they are essentially correct... read on.

The Wrigley Field protest of the Diamondbacks was very cool on such short notice and now it's expanding.

There's a new Facebook page called Baseball Fans of Florida and they are asking for you to sign a petition to move the Cubs' spring-training facilities out of Arizona and over to Florida.

We are petitioning for the Cubs to move Spring Training to Florida!

Illinois is NOT Arizona. Go Cubs GO!

My pals at ICIRR write:

Cubs fans want a winning team that shows its values and respects all fans. That's why ICIRR is partnering with Cubs fans across the country to have the Chicago Cubs move their spring training from Mesa, Arizona to Naples, Florida.

The Cubs have been considering moving Spring training, and evidence shows that Florida would be better for building a winning team. Now the Arizona legislature’s failure to provide funding to keep the Cubs, choosing instead to pass the most radical anti-immigrant law in the country, is the final proof that Florida is the better choice for our team.

More than half the players on the Cubs are foreign born, and Latinos are well represented on most teams. Like immigrants and people of color across the country, baseball players are outraged at how this law violates their rights and opens them up to harassment—with some threatening to boycott the All-Star game if it is held in Arizona.

Keep the pressure up.

(Follow me on Twitter@ JohnAmato

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Here's the audio from our activist coalition that sent a letter signed by all parties to Bud Selig and Major League Baseball, and we're demanding that they denounce Arizona's SB 1070 and relocate the 2011 All Star Game from Arizona.

Our incredible coalition is making waves everywhere. Here's what the NY Daily News said:

A coalition of labor unions, progressive organizations and immigrant advocacy groups issued an open letter today asking Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig to cancel the 2011 All-Star Game in Phoenix, urge teams to move spring training facilities from Arizona and denounce the state's controversial immigration law.

"Major League Baseball has a strong history of supporting minorities and civil rights in America, which began when Jackie Robinson became the first African-American baseball player in 1947," the letter says.

"As you are well aware, over a quarter of all Major League Baseball players are Latino, and almost 40% of your players are people of color. In this moment of crisis, these players - and baseball's millions of Latino and immigrant fans - deserve a loud and clear message that the League finds this law unacceptable. We strongly urge you to relocate the 2011 All-Star Game from Phoenix and to pressure teams to pull all winter and spring training games from Arizona while this un-American law is in effect."

The letter notes that the Players Association has already condemned the new law.

Selig didn't comment when asked by Milwaukee's WISN-TV about the calls for MLB to cancel the Phoenix All-Star Game.

"We're a social institution, and I'll rest my case on the fact that baseball has been remarkably socially active over the last 50 years," Selig said.

Signatories include John Amato, the founder and president of CrooksandLiars.com, Markos Moulitsas Zúñiga, founder and publisher of Daily Kos, Julio Pabon of the Bronx-based LatinoSports.com, People for the American Way president Michael Keegan, Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, Eliseo Medina, international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

How do I know it's rocking? The Diamondbacks' CEO says he's not worried about Bud Selig pulling the 2011 All Star Game from Arizona.

Protesters have urged Major League Baseball to move the 2011 All-Star Game from Phoenix in the wake of Arizona's controversial new immigration law, but Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall sounds as confident as ever that the game isn't going anywhere.

"I've had absolutely no indication that we'd lose the game," Hall said. "In fact, I'm confident that it will stay here. I think it's a difficult precedent for any league to set, making decisions based upon controversial state bills."

The 2011 All-Star Game sign painted on the left field wall disappeared before this homestand and was replaced by an ad for Dial soap. Hall said he received several e-mails from panicking fans assuming the worst, but he said there's no reason to worry.

"We just sold the deal with Dial during the road trip," Hall said.

Hall said the club plans to put up a new All-Star sign, perhaps hanging one from the rafters behind home plate.

Derick Hall is getting quizzed about the protest and is trying to portray an air of confidence while being forced to explain why a paid ad replaced an All Star Game billboard. And The Nation found out that while team owner Ken Kendricks, a Republican bank-roller, is expressing skepticism about SB 1070, he's slyly holding a fundraiser in Arizona's publicly funded stadium for a man who supports their hateful immigration law.

On May 20th, the Nation has learned, Ken Kendrick is holding a private fundraiser inside his owners box at Chase Field for SB 1070 supporter State Senator Jonathan Paton. The fundraiser will be taking place during the D-backs game against the San Francisco Giants. Paton is attempting to make the leap from the state house to the US Congress, and he is depending upon the deep pockets of Kendrick to make it happen.

Leave aside for a moment the ethical and perhaps legal ramifications that Ken Kendrick is using a stadium built with $250 million in public dollars to raise money for his pet candidates. The fact is that while Kendrick publicly distances himself from the bill, he is using the home of the supposedly "apolitical" Diamondbacks organization as a fund raising center for SB 1070 supporting politicians. As Paton says on his campaign website, "We need to secure the border, and we need to secure it now. That's why I voted for SB 1070, and that's why I urge the governor to sign it."

The Nation continues:

Jonathan Paton trumpets the support he receives from Russell Pearce. This is who Jonathan Paton is. This is who Ken Kendrick is using his publicly-funded stadium to support.

Favianna Rodriguez, co-founder of Presente.org, and leader of the All Star Game boycott campaign MoveTheGame.org said to me, "Latinos and their allies across the country are targeting Major League Baseball to show that laws like SB 1070 will have dire economic consequences. Mr. Kendrick's continued support of the politicians behind SB 1070 will only further inspire that movement."

And their conclusion is exactly like mine, our coalition and millions of Americans: If politics should be left out of sports, then why is it OK for Wall Street-like rich people to be allowed to fund and support draconian laws and politicians that serve no purpose but to make this country less of a free society and to help line their pants with pockets full of gold and expand their political ideology throughout our country.

There is only one conclusion. The Arizona Diamondbacks should continue to be boycotted and protested until Ken Kendrick stops supporting these politicians and using his publicly funded stadium to do so. The All Star game should be moved, and anyone who says that sports and politics don't mix, should first aim that cliche in the direction of the Arizona Diamondbacks owner's box. Keep the protests going. Keep calling to have the All Star game moved. Any other strategy would truly be "misguided."

(Don't forget to Twitter-me-up http://twitter.com/JohnAmato)

Hip-hip-hooray! Our Bud Selig demand to move the All Star game is really taking off and there are boycotts being set up whenever the Diamondbacks show up to a visiting ball park. Our efforts are having a serious impact?

Viva Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted 13-1 in favor of an economic boycott of Arizona, becoming the largest city yet to boycott the state over its new anti-illegal immigration law.

The list of $56 million in Arizona-related investments the city could boycott includes airline service into Arizona and the harbor's clean truck incentive program. Officials recommended that the City Council suspend travel to the state, refrain from entering new contracts and review current ones for possible termination.

Los Angeles officials joined with other cities across the country in calling for an economic boycott of Arizona after lawmakers there passed a tough immigration law that critics say will lead to racial profiling.

The Arizona law, set to take effect July 23, makes it a crime for unauthorized migrants to be in Arizona and requires police to check the immigration papers of those they suspect may be in the country illegally.

Digby has more:

And it's not alone.

Several cities across California and the country have already passed resolutions or boycotts to protest the law, including Oakland and San Diego.

"We want to stand back and say that we're against it," Hahn said. "We're hoping that Arizona will be the last state to do this instead of just the first state to do it."

Esperamos que sí.

The great travel man Arthur Frommer issued a boycott of Arizona a while ago because of all the Patriot movement freaks walking around with their AK-47's to intimidate anyone that's not John Birch.

I want to learn more about Arizona's gun laws and how they compare with those of other states. But I am shocked beyond measure by reports that earlier this week, nearly a dozen persons, including one with an assault rifle strapped about his shoulders and others with pistols in their hands or holsters, were openly congregating outside a hall at which President Obama was speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

For myself, without yet suggesting that others follow me in an open boycott, I will not personally travel in a state where civilians carry loaded weapons onto the sidewalks and as a means of political protest. I not only believe such practices are a threat to the future of our democracy, but I am firmly convinced that they would also endanger my own personal safety there. And therefore I will cancel any plans to vacation or otherwise visit in Arizona until I learn more....read on

We are all travel guru's now.