Some opponents called for a boycott of Arizona goods and of travel to Arizona. The immediate result, however, was an immediate increase in bookings at Arizona resorts as some travelers said they would be safer in a state that was eliminating illegal immigration and its concomitant problems.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said the law is discriminatory against Mexicans, central Americans and South Americans. He warned that enforcement of the law would lead Mexico to continue its restrictions on Americans and other foreigners who enter his country illegally.
"If Arizona does not rescind this law," he said, "we will be forced to stop exporting goods and services to the United States. That could force U.S. companies with factories in Mexico to relocate north of the border, where they would be forced to hire currently unemployed Americans at higher wages. I will immediately ban the shipment of any pirated DVDs and CDs to the U.S. as well as fake Rolex watches and phony designer sunglasses."
Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona said citizens who "look or sound foreign" will be subjected to "never-ending requests for police to confirm your identity and to confirm your citizenship."
"This is just as wrong and unconstitutional as requiring a driver who looks or sounds drunk to be subjected to questioning or testing," he said. "In fact, I would say this measure is almost as egregious as requiring school children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or airline passengers to allow their luggage to be searched for bombs."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he is working on a bill that criminalizes enforcement of immigration laws. The bill labels as illegal hate speech the term "illegal alien," which could be legally employed only in reference to undocumented life forms from other planets.
"When you don't enforce a law," Reid said, "eventually it becomes impossible to enforce. We who are proud to call ourselves liberals and progressives have succeeded for decades in stifling enforcement of federal immigration laws, which means that it is now politically impossible to enforce those laws. The power of our party is derived from the various minorities that make up the majority, and they are pleased when we choose to ignore immigration laws. I would not be in office today if it weren't for Democrat opposition to enforcement of immigration laws."
Reid said illegal immigration helps Democrats, whose goal is to eliminate federal income tax for more than 50 percent of the public.
"We're currently at 47 percent," Reid said. "That's pretty good, but the Democrat Party won't have a lifelong lock on political power until over 50 percent of people want those with good-paying jobs to pay for the entire federal
budget. Allowing good Mexican people to move up here and work for peanuts will help us attain our goal sooner."
Sharpton said he will travel to Arizona and march in protest against the law.
"We're gonna make this a new civil rights march," he said. "I'm not going to carry any proof of citizenship, and if they arrest me, thinking I'm an undocumented Mexican, that will make Arizonans look like fools."
Sharpton said he was considering dressing up in a zarape (serape) and sombrero and already had begun practicing a Mexican accent for his attempt to hoodwink Arizona sheriff's deputies.
