LOS ANGELES - April 15 - On the heels of the passage of SB1070 in the Arizona House of Representatives, a bill which apparently mandates racial profiling, ICE director John Morton today announced a massive ICE operation in Arizona.

The following is a reaction of Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network:

"We hope John Morton will re-assert federal control of immigration policy, restore the rule of law, and take appropriate action to defend people's civil rights while he is in Arizona. We are very eager to hear his comments on the new Arizona bill because he has the ability to stop the bill's implementation with the stroke of a pen.

While we applaud honest law enforcement work to rid our neighborhoods of smugglers, drug dealers, and other dangerous elements, we are concerned about the timing of an ICE operation that seems to be as much designed for media consumption as anything else. SB 1070 is quite literally intended to terrorize immigrant families. We are worried ICE Director Morton's intense media campaign to publicize this action will only contribute to a climate of fear that is already sending shockwaves across the state and country.

It is worth noting that the policies the Arizona legislature hopes to codifiy could be stopped immediately by John Morton, Janet Napolitano, and President Obama. Indeed, Secretary Napolitano has the power to end the dangerous experiment she started in her home state by terminating the flawed 287g and Secure Communities programs. The Secretary knows full well that the rights of Arizonans are in peril, and she has the moral obligation and legal responsibility to take swift action to immediately make things right."