From The South Carolina Immigration Coalition:
December 8, 2011
Contact: Tammy Besherse – Tammy@scjustice.org
An alliance of churches and civil and human rights advocacy groups across the South Carolina is asking all South Carolinians who oppose discrimination, racial profiling, and family separation to wear an orange ribbon to express their concern for the anti-immigrant law, SB 20. This anti-immigrant law encourages racial profiling by allowing law enforcement to investigate the immigration status of anyone they pull over whom they suspect may be in the state illegally. Civil and human rights groups have filed suit against the law.
The slogan, “Show Me Your Ribbon,” is in contrast to the state asking its residents to “Show Me Your Papers.” The orange ribbon has historically represented various causes, including racial tolerance and cultural diversity. Individuals across the state are encouraged to wear the ribbon to ask the state legislature of South Carolina and the U.S. Congress to solve the problems with our immigration system with humane and fair policies. The group is asking South Carolinians to use social media to show why they are wearing their orange ribbons.
Rich Robinson, director of Nuevos Caminos said, “We are also concerned about the detention, deportation, and separation of parents from their children. How can we morally justify sending a mother away from her children because of a minor traffic violation? Police should not be the entry point to complex immigration law. There has to be a more humane way to solve our immigration issues.”
Greg Torrales, president of the South Carolina Hispanic Leadership Council said, “This law essentially allows police to detain people because they look foreign. This is the definition of racial profiling. The state needs to find fair and just solutions for its immigration problems instead of unconstitutional ones.”
The alliance of civil and human rights groups support the lawsuit against SB 20 and hope to see it overturned in court. The South Carolina community can visit www.sc-coalition.org for more information.
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Filed under: Arizona-copycat laws, immigrant community, S.B. 20, South Carolina | Tagged: anti-immigrant, churches, Civil Rights, deportation, detention, Greg Torrales, Hispanic Leadership Council, human rights, Nuevos Caminos, racial profiling, Rich Robinson, show me your papers, Show Me Your Ribbon | Leave a Comment »
