SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.

* indicates required
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Ali Jost, ali.jost@seiu.org
202-730-7159

SEIU Launches Arizona Travel Advisory Hotline as Part of Broader "It Stops In Arizona" Campaign

Hotline Targets “Reasonably Suspicious” Summer Travelers Who Risk Detainment if they Visit Arizona -- 800-958-5068

WASHINGTON

Today, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) escalated
its national campaign against costly, anti-immigrant legislation like
SB 1070 recently signed by Gov. Jan Brewer, R-Ariz., by
releasing a new travel advisory hotline for would-be travelers to the
state. The online ads launched today [image and full hotline script
below]
offer travel advisories for those who may risk detainment if
they visit Arizona, after the extreme law goes into effect.

The online ads are part of SEIU's broader "It Stops
in Arizona" campaign to raise awareness about how extreme
legislation like Arizona's SB1070 fails to fix our nation's broken
immigration system, while costing taxpayers and creating several new
problems. It also urges people to ask Congress and President Obama
to focus on comprehensive solutions to solve our immigration problems
once and for all.

"America
wants serious solutions to our immigration problems-not frivolous
policies, like Arizona's SB 1070 that undermine public safety, waste
millions of taxpayer funds, and imperil our most basic civil rights,"
said SEIU Immigration Campaign Director Javier Morillo. "On behalf of
working families in Arizona and on behalf of American values of fairness
and equality, SEIU is pushing back online, in the courts, in the field
and through a union-wide boycott to stop this harmful law before it goes
into effect and before it spreads to other states."

SEIU's "It Stops in
Arizona" campaign is folded into SEIU's national efforts to urge
Congress to fix our broken immigration system by passing comprehensive,
federal reform. Since launching, SEIU members have held events in
protest of SB1070 and in support of comprehensive reform across the
country. This week events are scheduled Thursday, June 3
outside the White House, where Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer will be visiting
with President Obama; at ICE offices in Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose
and San Francisco; and in Boston where a march from the Massachusetts
Statehouse will end with a rally outside the office of Sen.
Scott Brown
, R-Mass.

The online ads launched today are part of
SEIU's broader array of online, field, and legislative tactics that
include:

  • A union-wide boycott of major events in the state of
    Arizona;
  • An active field and online campaign demanding
    that major league baseball move its All-Star Game scheduled for Phoenix
    in 2010;
  • A federal lawsuit challenging constitutionality of
    Arizona's SB1070;
  • An active grassroots campaign of thousands of SEIU members who have responded with direct action outside baseball stadiums,
    statehouses and ICE offices across the country. Thousands of SEIU janitors,
    security officers, healthcare and state workers rallied this Memorial
    Day recess in Ariz., Calif., Fla., Mass., Minn., N.Y. and Texas.; and
  • A website https://www.ItStopsInArizona.org that includes an online petition
    asking people to "Boycott Intolerance," as well as video, legislative
    updates and an analysis of
    Arizona and immigration reform polling data.

# # #

SEIU TRAVEL ADVISORY
HOTLINE SCRIPT

800-958-5068

OPERATOR: Thank you for calling the Arizona travel advisory hotline. If
you're planning a trip to Arizona, beware of an important travel
warning. An overly stringent law on immigration has made it difficult
for anyone who looks even remotely suspicious, resulting in detainment.
Please check the following options to understand the implications of
your actions. And remember to carry your citizenship and immigration
papers at all times.

If you plan to wear jeans, press 1.
If your skin is even remotely tanned, yellow, brown or blue in hue,
press 2. If you tend to eat fast foods, drink bright
colored juices or eat fresh vegetables in lieu of meat products, press 3.

If 1: Jeans are worn by many working people
targeted by the new Arizona immigration law. Please wear slacks or
khakis to avoid appearing suspicious. For more information, please press
4.

If 2: Working
people come in many shapes and sizes, but anyone who doesn't resemble a
J. Crew or Ralph Lauren model, should be very, very careful. Consider
wearing conservative or preppy clothing to avoid getting noticed. For
more information, please press 4.

If 3: Many working people targeted by the new
immigration Arizona immigration law eat fast foods and drink bright
colored juices. Avoid these foods while traveling in Arizona to avoid
undue attention from law enforcement officials. For more information,
please press 4

If 4: To learn more about this Arizona campaign
visit www (dot) it stops in Arizona (dot) com. Or press 1 from your cell
phone to receive text message updates about Arizona travel warnings,
boycotts and other breaking news on immigration reform. SEIU will never
charge for these alerts but your carrier's message and data rates may
apply.

With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy.