Arizona Starts to See the Light...

[D_Martin van Burden]

This is a clipping of a larger web article on the state's senators and business community coming to grips with the negative effects of our anti-immigration bill.

"The Arizona Chamber of Commerce acknowledged the negative effects of the Latino-led boycott in a letter on its website yesterday. And in a St. Pat’s Day letter to Pearce, Arizona’s biggest employers said they’d felt the boycott sting, and they’d had enough.

“I don’t think this was an epiphany of justice and understanding, this was about economic impact.”

“Americans were “repulsed by the orgy of hate” in his home state. He notes that the state’s hospitality industry took a documented $150 million hit in cancelled convention and hotel reservations....Last year, boycotts were called against our state’s business community, adversely impacting our already-struggling economy and costing us jobs. Arizona-based businesses saw contracts cancelled or were turned away from bidding …Sales outside of the state declined…It is an undeniable fact that each of our companies and our employees were impacted by the boycotts and the coincident negative image,” the letter says.

Arizona Immigration Law: Why the Republicans are Retreating - The Daily Beast

This comes on the heels of the 9th Appeals Court refusing to lift the stay on the controversial parts of SB 1070.

Arizona Immigration Law Ruling Refuses To Lift Ban On Enforcing Major Aspects Of Measure

 

[SilverTrain]

As depressing as it is that it is only via their avarice that they might temper their hatred and oppression of "the other", I find it amazing that they did not foresee this development. "You mean if we enact cruel, inhuman legislation, other people might not want to deal with us? Gosh!"

Greedy AND lacking in intelligent foresight. These are our civic leaders.

Wow.

 

[Bbucko]

Boycotts work.

In a society where it's only ever always about the money, they are the one tool of leverage we have left.

 

[maxcok]

It reminds me of South Africa, where it was ultimately international sanctions, boycotts, and economic pressure from other nations that forced the end of apartheid. It's depressing living in a world where people are only motivated by their own greedy self-interest, rather than doing the right thing because it's moral and ethical.

 

[champ111]

yes its ok to break the law and come to this country illegally.

 

[B_VinylBoy]

yes its ok to break the law and come to this country illegally.

That's so not the point here.
Illegal immigration is one thing, however, the problem can be fixed without making those who just "fit the description" go through unnecessary strife. Many politicians in Arizona took extreme and completely wrong stances to try and solve a problem. They isolated and unfairly targeted an entire group of people, making them the bigoted, ideological visual of "public enemy #1" to frighten their base enough to go to the polls just to win elections. On top of that, due to the unethical moral contracts they draft with the ideological zealots they entice, they conduct themselves in unethical ways just to keep them happy regardless of how many others get hurt in the process. Hence the bullshit like the "Papers Please" legislation.

And like BBucko said, in a society where it's only ever always about the money boycotts are the one tool of leverage we have left.

I'm not sure if the entire state of Arizona is recognizing what is going on... but the unfairly targeted are starting to come to their senses and that's a good thing.