SF City Attorney, Supes Call For Arizona Boycott

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrerra -- along with many on the Board of Supervisors -- called for an end of all business with the state of Arizona itself as well as an end to all city business with Arizona-based companies in response to the state's controversial new immigration law.

“It is similar to an effort twenty years ago when Arizona refused to acknowledge the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday,” said Herrerra. “There were boycotts that took place. In fact, the NFL said it was not going to award Super Bowls to Arizona.”

The new law that San Francisco officials were upset about was signed by that state's governor on Friday. It called for Arizona law enforcement to stop and question anyone even suspected of being in the U.S. illegally and potentially incarcerate them if they are.

Herrerra offered the services of his office to help terminate contracts between San Francisco and Arizona or businesses based there, and to assist in any legal challenges to the law.

"Arizona has charted an ominous legal course that puts extremist politics before public safety and betrays our most deeply held American values," Herrera said.

Herrera, whose father immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia, noted that civil rights groups have assailed the legislation as inviting harassment and discrimination against Latinos, whether they are U.S. citizens or not.

“I think the only way to spur folks to appreciate how draconian this law is for there to be a tangible price to pay for instituting what is no doubt a draconian and discriminatory law,” argued Herrerra.

San Francisco city officials and immigrant's rights activists who were protesting at a city hall rally Monday said the law is racist and will lead to profiling.

“If this law goes through -- if implementation happens -- it will essentially be a crime to be Latino in that state,” said San Francisco Supervisor David Campos, who sponsored the resolution for a boycott.

Campos also introduced a second piece of legislation that called for the U.S. Congress and President Obama to pass immigration reform granting permanent resident status to undocumented immigrants living and working in the U.S. and cracking down on businesses that violate immigration and labor laws. It also calls for an end to federal immigration audits of San Francisco businesses.

Immigrants’ rights activist Rosa Penate agreed that the new law amounted to enforcing discrimination.

“I don't think that is fair to treat anyone who comes here to work to be treated like trash,” said Penate.

For the boycott to become official, the Board of Supervisors would have to approve it and Mayor Gavin Newsom would have to sign it.

“I think we should unanimously condemn what happened in Arizona,” said Newsom about the new law. “It is only going to breed more distrust, more bigotry.”

But the mayor told KTVU he hasn't seen the boycott proposal yet, so he couldn't say if he would sign it.

The new Arizona law also threatens to become an election issue, even in California. It could especially impact the California governor's race.

Republican Steve Poizner said he would study the new Arizona law and was open to copying it in California if it works. Republican Meg Whitman didn't rule that out, but said she wanted to tighten the borders and end sanctuary cities first.

Democrat Jerry Brown calls the Arizona law problematic. He said it was up to the federal government to change immigration laws.

Mayor Newsom faces a dilemma in his running for lieutenant governor. While signing the boycott ordinance might help him in liberal San Francisco, it could hurt Newsom in other more conservative parts of the state.