Seven protesters were arrested Thursday outside the Sandra Day O’Conner Federal Courthouse in downtown Phoenix where lawsuits against Senate Bill 1070 were being heard.
Police arrested the protesters after they refused to leave the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Washington Street.
Almost 200 people gathered outside of the courthouse to protest Senate Bill 1070, the state’s new immigration law.
Police shutdown the intersection for about two hours while protesters marched, played drums, held up signs and occupied the middle of the street.
The protesters were asked to leave the intersection by police.
Most people complied with law enforcements’ request, but the seven who would not vacate the intersection were arrested without a struggle, police said.
Inside the courthouse, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton heard arguments against the law from civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and other individuals.
Judge Bolton did not make a ruling on the lawsuits filed against Senate Bill 1070, which takes effect July 29.
“It’s pretty apparent that Judge Bolton has a very good…grasp of the issues we’re undertaking in there today, and she certainly understands the dangers that Arizonans face,” Gov. Jan Brewer said at a press conference held outside the courthouse.
People on the streets shouted sayings like “Stop 1070; we will not comply” as they voiced their opinions over the law.
“You can get pulled over for looking brown” said Leighanna Hidalgo Newton, an ASU alumnus. “What does looking illegal look like?”
Newton said she does not want to live in a state where people she knows and loves are discriminated against based on the color of their skin.
People who favor the new law were also present to show their support.
“I am in favor of SB 1070” said Renee Taylor, a demonstrator. “The illegals need to come here legally.”
Individuals at the protest said they feared that if the law goes into effect, people would be “racial profiled” based on skin color.
“They cannot just stop a person because their skin is brown,” Taylor argued.
People should come to the country legally, she said, adding that the bill is not about race, but “about enforcing the law.”
People of all ages and backgrounds were in attendance at the protest.
Sunshine Watson, a young mother, was pushing the stroller of her bi-racial infant son outside the courthouse.
The stroller had a sign pinned on it that read “Do I look illegal? Stop SB 1070!”
“His skin tone kind of fits the profile of who they are going to stop if SB 1070 goes into place,” Watson said of her 1-year-old son.
She said she was protesting for her son and the people she thinks will be racially profiled when the law goes into effect next week.
“I am here to try to change things for my son,” Watson said.
Alex Cruz, a 20-year-old protester in the intersection where the seven were arrested, said some people in his family do not have “papers."
“It’s hard to be at the house waiting for your mom to get off work and you don’t know if she is even coming back,” Cruz said.
Reach the reporter at lpalmisa@asu.edu
