Photos by Sierra LaDuke and Ethan Fichtner
Protesters gathered to oppose Governor Doug Ducey’s call to block the placement of refugees in Arizona at the state Capitol Tuesday morning.
Carrying signs that read “Refugees Welcome!” and chanting, “Ducey, we reject your racism” outside of the Capitol, demonstrators denounced the governor, at one point even going to the lobby of Ducey’s office in hopes of speaking with him.
“Refuge means to seek safety, from death, from persecution, from racism, to seek better conditions,” said Francisca Porchas, the organizing director of Puente Human Rights Movement, which organized the protest. “So we say we welcome refugees.”
Ducey released a statement intending to block the placement of any refugees in Arizona on Monday. His statement follows the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, which killed at least 129 people and injured hundreds more.
“As governor, I am invoking our state’s right under 8 USC, Section 1522 (a), to receive immediate consultation by federal authorities per the United States Refugee Act, and that the federal government take into account the concerns and recommendations of the state of Arizona as they are required to under federal law, in our efforts to keep our homeland safe,” Ducey said in a statement.
Porchas said Ducey’s statement would breed racism across the state and called it part of a “political game.”
Video by Craig Johnson
The Rev. Reginald D. Walton, the senior pastor at Phillips Memorial CME Church, called Ducey’s actions “deplorable.”
“One of the things that was the founding of this country and is actually emblazed on the Statue of Liberty, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” Walton said. “That’s what Syrian refugees are looking for. And most importantly, not just our Syrian brothers and sisters, but this country, this great melting pot, this amalgamation, that is called America.”
Porchas led protesters to the lobby of the governor’s office in an attempt to speak with him, but were unable to do so. She said going forward, the organization would continue its human-rights work and be watchful of potential acts of violence or racism.
Protester Cynthia Nordstrom, who heard of the event through social media, said having national security and accepting refugees wasn’t an “either or” situation.
“They are not bringing the terror with them, they are fleeing the terror,” Nordstrom said.
More than 60,000 refugees have settled in the state since 1978 through the Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program, according to the Arizona Department of Economic Security.
Arizona has taken in 147 refugees from Syria since 1980, according to the Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program — 112 of those came in 2015.
Although Ducey’s statement intends to block refugees from settling in Arizona, the issue is a matter that is mostly handled by the federal government. States can prevent state funding and resources from helping refugee resettlement, but they have no constitutional power to prevent refugees from settling in their territories, according to USA Today.
Earlier this year President Barack Obama announced the United States would take in 10,000 refugees from Syria over the next year.
Contact the reporter at pkunthar@asu.edu
