Los Angeles’ Boycott of Arizona Immigration Law Means Millions in Lost Business

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Los Angeles Councilman Ed Reyes, a Latino, was not joking when he said he needs to carry his passport when traveling across the California border into Arizona for fear of violent or extreme reprisals.

“If I come across an officer who’s had a bad day and feels the picture on my ID is not me, I could be summarily deported — no questions asked. That is not American,”  says.


Reyes’ fellow council members in L.A. agreed him, voting 13-1 to boycott the state of Arizona because of what they term unconstitutional immigration laws. The punitive measure means that Arizona could lose more than $8 million in contracts with Los Angeles. However, L.A. must tread this legal minefield carefully and only break agreements with the desert state that won’t trigger  breach of contract lawsuits.

Other major cities are considering resolutions against Arizona as well, most notably San Francisco and Saint Paul, Minn.


L.A. does not have the ability or the legal right to stop another $50 million in contracts, but the council mandated that city department chiefs refrain from doing any future business with Arizona or the companies that are headquartered there whenever and wherever possible.

Arizonians, not surprisingly, shot back quickly at L.A.’s bold stance. “An economic boycott against innocent people just adds to the massive economic burden Arizonans have sustained for years due to the federal government’s failure to secure our borders,” said Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the bill on April 23.

“It also appears that the L.A. City Council appears hopelessly out of touch with most of America on this issue,” adds spokesman Paul Senseman.

And true, the majority of Americans agree with Arizona’s tough stance, if you believe the nationwide study by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released on May 12. The study found that 59 percent of adults approve of Arizona’s new law, while 25 percent support President Barack Obama’s immigration policy. –terry shropshire


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