If Bud Selig thought we were going to go away he was dead wrong. The good people of Boston showed up at a Red Sox game when the Diamondbacks showed up during an interleague game and voiced their outrage at the hate bill SB 1070.
Boston Globe:
The team has become mired in the vitriolic national debate over illegal immigration, a symbol of a state under fire for recently passing the most restrictive immigration law in the country. Protests have dogged them in Houston and Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami, and yesterday in Boston, where scores of demonstrators gathered behind the Green Monster before game time to rally against the law.
“It’s been happening everywhere we go,’’ said Miguel Montero, a 26-year-old catcher from Venezuela. “We don’t talk about it.’’
Yesterday’s demonstrators — about 200 people from labor unions, church groups, and immigrant advocates — crowded the sidewalk behind sausage stands to assail the law, which was passed in April and takes effect next month. The law makes it a state crime to be in the United States illegally and allows police to question those they suspect of being in the country without papers.
The protesters also spoke out against a proposed crackdown in Massachusetts, where lawmakers are debating budget amendments that would restrict illegal immigrants’ access to government services.
They said they fear that the Arizona law creates a climate for racial profiling, and they urged politicians to instead create a path to legal residency for the millions of immigrants in the United States illegally. They chanted and carried signs saying “We are all Arizona,’’ saying they were protesting the legislation, not the players.
“We’re not going to let a law like Arizona’s happen in Massachusetts,’’ said Yessenia Alfaro, director of organizing for the Chelsea Collaborative and a US citizen originally from El Salvador. “I believe in the American dream. This is my country and my children’s country. We came here for a better life.’’
I don't expect many Latino players to speak out like Adrian Gonzalez or Jorge Cantu did because they must be terrified what might happen to them so it's up to us to be their voice for them. Great job Boston. Our Big Coalition have made plans for our next phase in trying to get the 2011 All Star game moved out of Arizona and I'll let you know soon enough.
