Seattle council votes to boycott Arizona, with 1 exception

The Seattle City Council voted Monday to boycott Arizona as much as possible because of a new, stricter immigration law there.

Arizona legislators voted in April to give police power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally and makes the "willful failure" to carry immigration documents a crime.

Seattle joins several other cities in approving restrictions. Boston, New York City and Los Angeles, Oakland, West Hollywood and San Diego, Calif., have adopted similar resolutions condemning the law and promising to spend less money in the state.

San Francisco; St. Paul, Minn.; and Denver's school system have banned employee travel to Arizona using public funds.

A large coalition including labor groups and advocates for immigrants showed up at Monday's council meeting to show support for the boycott. They said the Arizona law is one proof of the need for immigration changes nationally.

"Seattle would today, with this vote, join with a host of other cities that are trying to get the federal government's attention," said Councilmember Sally Clark, the resolution's sponsor.

Public weighs in

Several people opposed the resolution. Craig Keller, of Respect Washington, brought a small cactus to remind council members what they would be missing if they boycott Arizona.

"What you're trying to do here is grandstanding in support of an amnesty [for illegal immigrants]."

Keller and others with him said a crackdown on illegal immigrants would help protect American jobs.

Supporters of the boycott from OneAmerica, El Centro de la Raza and other groups said the resolution was a chance to stand with Hispanics in Arizona who might fear being targeted under the law.

"This law is a direct attack on all Latino day laborers," said Mario Garcia, a day laborer who has been in the country about five years.

"We are just hardworking people who want to be legal in this country because it is our dream," said Maria Arana, another supporter of the council's resolution.

The City Council got a standing ovation when it voted, 7-0, with two members absent, to approve the resolution.

But in truth, it won't have much practical effect. The resolution was written to protect the only substantial contract Seattle has with an Arizona company. That's a $106,000-a-month contract with Scottsdale-based American Traffic Solutions, which operates the city's 29 red-light cameras.

New lawsuit in Arizona

In Arizona, the battle over the new law escalated Monday as some of the nation's leading civil-rights groups filed the latest lawsuit over the legislation, arguing it is unconstitutional and would lead to widespread racial profiling.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, said the Arizona law violates the Constitution's supremacy clause, which says federal law trumps state statutes.

Immigration enforcement, the lawsuit argues, is an area of "exclusive federal authority."

"This is the most extreme and dangerous of all the recent state and local laws purporting to deal with immigration issues," said Lucas Guttentag, director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, which filed the lawsuit along with other groups. "This law turns 'show me your papers' into the Arizona state motto and racial profiling into the Arizona state plan," Guttentag said.

Paul Senseman, a spokesman for Arizona's Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the law last month, said the state "has not had an opportunity to review the details of the filing. The governor was certainly prepared that there was a likelihood of lawsuits being filed."

He added that the law "merely enforces what has been a federal requirement for many, many years."

The lawsuit, which names as defendants county attorneys and local sheriffs in Arizona, is at least the fifth lawsuit filed in federal court over the Arizona law.

The Justice Department is also considering filing its own lawsuit.

Information from The Washington Post was used in this report.

News researcher David Turim contributed. Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com