Anti-immigration protestors display signs at rally Much of the anger of the protesters is directed at Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio, who said it was “an honor to be compared to the KKK” during an appearance on CNN’s Lou Dobbs show.

Tensions flared just over a week later, as immigrant rights groups and opponents clashed over a businessman’s reactions to day laborers near his business by asking police and security guards to keep them out of the area.

Both conflicts came just ahead of a new state law effective January 1, 2008 that punishes employers for knowingly hiring undocumented workers.

The Phoenix policy, known as Operations Order 1.4, has been on the books in Phoenix for 20 years. It prohibits officers from asking about immigration status in routine situations. However, in early December, Mayor Phil Gordon who originally backed Order 1.4, surprised many in the Latino community when he stated he could “no longer support” the policy.

Pro immigration supporters

Mayor Gordon introduced a four person panel consisting of two former U.S. Attorneys, a former Arizona attorney general and a former Maricopa County Attorney, to “draft a new Operations Order that will allow individual officers to notify ICE when any law has been violated by a person they have reason to believe is in the United States illegally.” Only one member of the four-person panel is Latino.

The mayor noted that all state and federal constitutional guarantees must be met and that there can be no racial or ethnic profiling. All four members of the panel were present at the forum, but there was no sign of Mayor Gordon. The mayor gave an original deadline of Dec. 31 for the panel to draft a new policy, but has since extended the deadline. As of yet, no new date has been made public.

Opponents of the policy change worry increased racial profiling of Latinos and increased distrust between the Latino community and local police could result from a new policy.

Mary Rose Garrido Wilcox, the Maricopa County District 5 Supervisor and the first Latina to serve on the Phoenix City Council, along with Arizona State Representative Steve Gallardo and other community activists, helped organize the town hall meeting for Latinos to express concerns.

“Allowing police to become immigration officials is bad public policy for Phoenix,” Ms. Wilcox told the crowd.

Mr. Gallardo added that immigration is a federal issue. “As the Latino community is growing in this city, it is only right that we have a forum for us to speak,” he said.

Francisco Gutierrez, an attorney, and one of several members in attendance from Los Aborgados, the Maricopa County Hispanic Bar Association, maintained crime would increase with police concentrating on immigration instead of protecting the city. “This immigration hysteria has turned into a tsunami,” he said.

Others said a change in policy could make Latinos more hesitant to report crimes and cooperate with local police because they would be afraid police would question them about their immigration status.

The climate and energy in the room was very tense at times due to constant interruptions by small groups of Caucasian protesters who continually interrupted the proceedings. Several had to be escorted from the room by police and security as shouts of “Si se puede! (Yes we can!)” echoed from the audience.

Community activist Salvador Reza warned the panel and the audience, “The climate of division is getting worse …. The city of Phoenix will become the center of the civil rights movement, the kind of which we have not seen since the 1960s.”

Mr. Reza’s predictions of protests came true Dec. 22 when nearly 250 demonstrators on both sides of the immigration debate continued weekly confrontations in front of M.D. Pruitt’s Home Furnishings store in East Phoenix.

Immigrant supporters and migrant rights activists accused store owner Roger Sensing of discrimination because he asked off duty law enforcement to patrol the area surrounding the store to prohibit day laborers and migrant workers from gathering.

The weekly protests began in October as immigration advocates accused law enforcement of “harassing and intimidating” migrant workers and day laborers who are simply looking for employment.

According to local media reports, several dozen laborers suspected of being undocumented have been arrested since the patrols. Mr. Sensing told local newspapers the day laborers “interfere with his business and intimidate his customers” by loitering.

Mr. Reza helped organize the weekly protests against Pruitt’s to boycott the store and increase support for day laborers. The increased presence of law enforcement in front of the store amounts to nothing more than “racial profiling” of Latinos and those with “brown skin,” according to Mr. Reza and supporters of the workers.

Much of the anger of the protesters is directed at Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio, who has had deputies patrol Pruitt’s parking lot and arrest day laborers.

Mr. Arpaio, who was on CNN’s Lou Dobbs show in November, said it was “an honor to be compared to the KKK,” and has also dispatched the sheriff’s office to monitor the weekly protests. The monitoring will continue in 2008, if the protests continue, he said.

Mr. Reza vows the protests will continue after Jan. 1, when a new employer sanctions law goes into effect. It prohibits businesses from knowingly hiring undocumented workers.

The weekly confrontations have been intense and heated. Several arrests have been made on both sides. Mayor Gordon extended an invitation to Mr. Sensing and Mr. Reza to meet with him at city hall to work toward a resolution of the dispute.