How is the SB1070 perceived by citizens throughout the country having in mind that it has caused a lot of stir and has sent people demonstrating on the streets? According to this law any alien who enters the U.S., eludes examination by immigration officers, or obtains entry to the U.S. by a willfully false or misleading representation is guilty of improper entry by an alien. As several hundred thousand people are estimated to have the status of illegal immigrants in Arizona, this may become a serious threat to the Legal Translator in a city like Phoenix. As most of these people have difficulties with using the English language this is their only way of surviving in this obviously hostile environment. It cannot be underestimated that It is considered a violation against the law not to have proper documentation. The problem may turn even worse, as major businesspeople call for boycotts of everything from conventions to doing business with any company that does business in Arizona. Probably a lot of Phoenix Translator employees will be on the verge of losing their jobs. The picture remains very dark and discouraging for citizens of the state of Arizona and of Phoenix in particular, as the U.S. is reputed to have always been hostile to immigrants.
Another city that has shown solidarity with Phoenix, Arizona is San Diego, California when a crowd of more than 1,000 people sang and beat drums while marching along the streets of San Diego from Chicano Park in Barrio Logan to the downtown federal building. While marching they were being observed by many employees, including San Diego Translator workers who interrupted their work in order to witness the demonstrators who were escorted by the police. It will not be exaggerated to say that a law like this is a threat to the translation business, which explains why those workers supported the protesters. One of the protesters was Angelica Hueso-Garcia - a 31-year-old Latina, who had come to Chicano Park to show her disapproval of the Arizona law. Her way of protesting against an unjust law that she described as “racial profiling at its worst” was to bring her children and the whole of her extended family of twelve. This is why a similar concern was expressed by translation and interpretation workers who thought that such sanctions could endanger their business of providing the immigrants with Birth Certificate Translation Services and Marriage Certificate Translation Services.
In some moments of tension outside the federal building, people on opposing sides of the immigration law collected across Front Street and from time to time shouted loudly and exchanged crude gestures, but the police had the situation under control. There were though no reports of violence despite the protesters trying to insult each other. As yellow tape was separating the two groups San Diego police had also moved them about fifty feet apart. Those who were in favor of the Arizona law sang, “We love Arizona” and “Build a Fence”, while immigration activists responded, “Stop racial profiling” and “What do we want Justice! When do we want it? Now!?” In order to support the immigrants in their aspiration to obtain legal status, many other people throughout the country gathered to demonstrate against the new law, thus expressing their disapproval with President Obama and Congress.