This past week, Reform Immigration FOR America was at Netroots Nation, a conference that aims to “amplify progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate.”
On Friday, as attendees were streaming into a keynote speech on Civil Rights, a group of pro-immigrant advocates staged a mock Immigration and Customs Enforcement check point at the door, asking all “undocumented European immigrants” for their IDs. In short, the group flipped the script on the Arizona ‘papers please’ law and allowed people of color through the doors without questions, while stopping each “European immigrant” at the door and demanding ID.
While the action did ignite a few tempers (apparently people don’t like being asked for ID) it was a great conversation starter around exactly what laws like Arizona’s SB1070 mean.
With stories of U.S. Citizens being deported and with the Arizona law scheduled to take effect on Thursday, conversations like these are more important than ever. The immigration policies we set into place now will determine the character of our country in the future. I think the folks who were stopped by MockICE can now speak to the character of the Arizona law.
Check out the video from Sum of Change below:
(h/t Will Coley for organizing the action)
Tags: ice checkpoint, immigration and customs enforcement, netroots nation
