For Immediate Release
Arizona Recall Election: A Cautionary Tale for Anti-Immigrant Politicians
Washington D.C. – Yesterday, Russell Pearce, champion of Arizona’s SB1070 anti-immigrant legislation, saw his 10-year career as an Arizona legislator come to end after losing a recall election to a fellow Republican Jerry Lewis. It is the first time in the state’s 199-year history that a sitting legislator has been removed by a recall vote. The stage for this historic recall effort was set by a backlash against SB1070 and national outrage over Pearce's efforts to challenge the definition of citizenship under the 14th amendment, as well as other extreme measures. The following is a statement from Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council:
"Arizona’s business, faith, and immigrant rights communities came together to organize a successful recall election against one of the nation’s most notorious anti-immigrant legislators, State Senate President Russell Pearce. The recall election highlighted Pearce’s extremist agenda and anti-immigrant demagoguery, which have damaged the state’s reputation and economy, and the voters spoke clearly in rejecting it.
As an Arizona native, I am encouraged to hear more and more voices of reason coming out of Arizona rejecting politicians and pundits who stoke fear and anger with anti-immigrant policies that imperil the lives and livelihoods of all who live in the state while doing nothing to actually address the need to fix our broken immigration system.
Politicians like Jerry Lewis and the newly elected Mayor of Phoenix, Greg Stanton, who chose to move the tone of the debate on immigration from demagoguery to constructive solutions, are examples of successful candidates who are charting a new course on the politics of immigration. Politicians in Arizona and around the nation would be smart to take notice."
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For more information contact Wendy Sefsaf at wsefsaf@immcouncil.org or 202-507-7524.
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