LA says no to racist law

I was driving through Downtown LA this week when all the cars around me started honking. I looked up and saw people standing on the bridge over the freeway holding signs that said things like “Stop racist Arizona law” and “Honk to end racist laws”. I started honking too.

The state of Arizona is trying to introduce a new law called SB 1070, which would allow police officers to ask people to prove they are in the US legally. About 11 million people are in the US illegally. Most of them came here from Latin American countries like Mexico to have a better life. They work hard, pay their taxes and have few rights. Everyone knows that if they all left, the country would be in big trouble.

Millions of people are against SB 1070 and have been protesting against it for months. Officials, sports teams and stars from all over the country have boycotted the state. Kanye West, Massive Attack and Cypress Hill have refused to play there, for example. Even the US president Barack Obama is against SB 1070. He plans to change the US laws to allow illegal immigrants to become legal.

The people I saw over the freeway are from a group called We Are All Arizona. They say that the law is racist because it discriminates against all people from Latin America. I agree with them. I hope this new law never goes into effect.