Day Laborers in Arizona Fight Back

CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS ASK COURT TO STOP IMPLEMENTATION OF DAY LABOR PROVISIONS OF ARIZONA’S RACIAL PROFILING LAW DURING LEGAL BATTLEMotion Filed to Prevent SB 1070 from Unconstitutionally Curtailing Day Laborers’ 1st Amendment Rights01.07.2011– FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2011

CONTACT:

– B. Loewe, NDLON, (773) 791-4668 bloewe@onpointconsortium.org
– Adela de la Torre, NILC, (213) 400-7822 or (213) 674-2832; delatorre@nilc.org
– Rachel Myers, ACLU, (212) 549-2689 or 2666; media@aclu.org
– Alessandra Soler Meetze, ACLU of Arizona, (602) 418-5499 ameetze@acluaz.org
– Laura Rodriguez, MALDEF, (310) 956-2425; lrodriguez@maldef.org
– Karin Wang, APALC, (213) 241-0234; kwang@apalc.org
– Leila McDowell, NAACP, (202) 463-2940

PHOENIX – The National Day Laborer Organizing Network and a coalition of civil rights organizations today asked a federal court to prohibit Arizona from enforcing two key sections of SB 1070 targeting day labor, pending a final court ruling on the these provisions’ constitutionality. The law creates new criminal offenses, ostensibly relating to traffic safety, that apply only to individuals engaging in or receiving employment solicitation speech. According to the coalition, these provisions cause irreparable harm to day laborers and those who seek to employ them by curtailing their First Amendment rights.

The civil rights coalition includes the American Civil Liberties Union, MALDEF, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) (a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice), ACLU of Arizona, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The law firms of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Altshuler Berzon LLP, and Roush, McCracken, Guerrero, Miller & Orgtega are acting as co-counsel in the case.

The following statements can be attributed to members of the coalition, as listed below.

Chris Newman, Legal Director and General Counsel for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network: “Free speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment are vital to our democracy, and they belong as much to day laborers as they do to authors, corporations, and politicians. Other federal judges that have examined similar anti-day labor laws have found them to be unconstitutional, and we are confident these sections of SB 1070 will be enjoined and ultimately struck down as well.”

Linton Joaquin, general counsel for the National Immigration Law Center: “Arizona’s attempt to prohibit peaceful efforts to seek day labor employment throughout the state is not only illegal, but also immoral during an economic downturn. Because of these unconstitutional restrictions on free speech, the families and communities that rely on day laborers’ economic contributions suffer enormous and unnecessary hardship.”

Omar Jadwat, ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project: “”These provisions of Arizona’s racial profiling law improperly single out and punish employment solicitation speech in
violation of the First Amendment. The state law’s violation of fundamental constitutional principles in order to express hostility to day laborers and immigrants is both shortsighted
and doomed to legal failure.””

Victor Viramontes, MALDEF National Senior Counsel:”Day Laborers have a right to peacefully seek work in order to feed their families and themselves. The First Amendment guarantees them the right to express their desire for work without fear of being harassed or arrested.”

Daniel Pochoda, ACLU of Arizona legal director: “This provision is an unconstitutional attempt to further the agendas of anti-immigrant legislators in Arizona. Singling out work solicitation speech from all other types of speech belies the stated concern with traffic problems and demonstrates an intent to target Latino day laborers.”

Julie Su, litigation director for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center: “All workers have a First Amendment right to seek work, particularly in public areas. The unconstitutional provisions of SB 1070 have severely violated workers’ free speech rights and restricted their ability to earn a living.”

Organizations and attorneys on the case, Friendly House et al. v. Whiting et al., include:

· ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project: Omar Jadwat, Lucas Guttentag, Cecillia Wang, and Tanaz Moghadam

· MALDEF: Thomas A. Saenz, Nina Perales, Cynthia Valenzuela Dixon, Victor Viramontes, Gladys Limón, Nicholás Espiritu, and Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal

· NILC: Karen Tumlin, Linton Joaquin, Nora A. Preciado, Melissa S. Keaney, and Vivek Mittal

· ACLU of Arizona: Dan Pochoda and Annie Lai

· APALC: Julie Su, Yungsuhn Park, Connie Choi and Carmina Ocampo

· NDLON: Chris Newman, Lisa Kung

· NAACP: Laura Blackburne

· Munger Tolles & Olson LLP: Bradley S. Phillips, Paul J. Watford, Joseph J. Ybarra, Susan T. Boyd, Yuval Miller, Elisabeth J. Neubauer, and Benjamin Maro

· Altshuler Berzon LLP: Stephen P. Berzon and Jonathan Weissglass

· Roush, McCracken, Guerrero, Miller & Ortega: Daniel R. Ortega, Jr.

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