Rivera to Call on Yankees and Mets to Take Action Against Arizona Discriminatory Immigration Law

Assembly Speaker Pro Temp Peter M. Rivera will be joined by the Latino Sportswriters & Broadcasters Association to demand that Yankee and Met players boycott June and July games scheduled with Arizona Diamondbacks and the 2011 All Star Game Scheduled in A

ALBANY, NY (05/19/2010)(readMedia)-- Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) went to federal court to block the State of Arizona from implementing an immigration law that is in all sense a racial profiling policy which is an attack on the civil and human rights of 40% of the Arizona population which is Latino and Native America.

National organizations, faith based organizations and some Major League players have already announced their decisions to boycott Arizona if SB 1070 is enacted this summer. However, New York baseball teams have been silent on this issue.

New York State has the third largest Latino population of all 50 states (3.2 million based on 2006 Census data) and there are over 670 Latino baseball players in Major League Baseball. The racial profiling measured signed into law in Arizona is an offense to the American values of justice and fairness.

As the "All-American" sport, baseball team owners and baseball players, especially those playing in New York, should be leading the way to stop the legalization of racial profiling.

Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri are some of the states considering enacting immigration laws like Arizona. This is a dangerous situation that could prove to be deadly as hate speech have filled the blogs and call-in radio programs.

WHO:

Peter M. Rivera, Speaker Pro Temp of the New York State Assembly and Chair of the Bronx Legislative Delegation;

Julio Pabon, President of the Latino Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association;

Representatives of Bronx Little League Teams

Bronx Civic Leaders
WHAT:

Community leaders will unveil letters to the New York baseball team owners to take action against the Arizona immigration law and call on Latino baseball players to disassociate themselves from playing the Arizona Diamondbacks in the upcoming June and July away games scheduled for the New York Yankees and New York Mets.
WHEN: Wednesday May 19, 2010 at 03:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
WHERE: Yankee Stadium Offices, Gate 2 on Jerome Ave near the corner of E164th Street.
The Bronx, New York