PHOENIX - April 29 - Today at 11:00 a.m. (MST), MALDEF, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona and the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) will hold a news conference on the House of Representatives Lawn of the Arizona State Capitol Building in Phoenix, Arizona to announce that they are preparing an upcoming legal challenge to Arizona's extreme racial profiling law. The new law essentially requires police to demand "papers" from anyone they suspect isn't authorized to be in the United States. The unconstitutional law, the groups say, encourages racial profiling, endangers public safety and betrays American values.

Speakers will include Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel; Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona; Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America; Richard Chavez, civil rights leader; and Linda Ronstadt, multi-Grammy winning artist and human rights advocate.

Fifteen years ago, MALDEF, ACLU and NILC successfully challenged Proposition 187 in the state of California, where a voter-approved initiative required proof of legal status to access virtually all public services. The enactment of Prop 187, as it was commonly referred to, tore apart schools and communities across the state as fear and suspicion became pervasive, and the state wasted tens of millions of dollars defending a law ultimately struck down as unconstitutional.

WHAT:
News Conference to Condemn SB1070, MALDEF, ACLU, ACLU of Arizona, and NILC Announce Upcoming Legal Challenge

WHO:
Richard Chavez, Civil Rights Leader (brother of Cesar Chavez); Dolores Huerta, Co-Founder of United Farm Workers of America and Founder of The Dolores Huerta Foundation; Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF; Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona; and Linda Ronstadt, Recording Artist and Human Rights Advocate

WHEN:
April 29, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. MST

WHERE:
House of Representatives Lawn of the Arizona State Capitol Building
1700 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890