Hi John,
Today marks 14 years since those who would now be considered AZ MAGA Republicans signed S.B. 1070, the notorious “show me your papers” bill, into law in Arizona.
It allowed law enforcement officers to demand ‘papers’ and investigate a person's immigration status if they suspected a person was undocumented. Immigrants who failed to carry federal registration papers were guilty of a state crime. We all knew what this meant in practice. If you had dark skin and looked like ‘you didn’t belong,’ they ensured you knew it and would pay. This led to numerous cases of racial profiling, unlawful arrest, and family separation.
My friend Liz’s family was directly impacted by this law when her father was arrested at a park for failure to provide identification and then spent months in a detention center.
But when S.B. 1070 was signed, we didn’t give up – we got to work.
We came together: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Latinos, People of Color, union members, educators, and youth activists. We spent countless nights and days outside the AZ State Capitol in protest, organizing, praying, hosting press conferences, fasting, marching, and strategizing to build political power so laws like this don’t happen again.
Since then, we have built strong and broad coalitions to fight back and have changed the political landscape of Arizona, with many of those youth activists now leading their own organizations.
I am proud to have been part of that change. I am proud to have led efforts to oust the author of SB 1070, Russell Pearce, and to have led the movement to oust the notorious Sheriff Arpaio, and I am proud that was the same coalition — growing larger each year — that came together to reject Donald Trump, Kari Lake, and extremists throughout our state in 2022 when I led the Arizona Democratic Party.
This same coalition needs to come together once again for us to win in Arizona’s third district and beyond. To elect Ruben Gallego to the U.S. Senate, re-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House, and pass an amendment to protect abortion rights in Arizona.
Will you join us by pitching in $20 or whatever you can afford today?
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