TKC EXCLUSIVE AND BREAKING NEWS!!! KANSAS CITY STANDS AGAINST ARIZONA RACIAL PROFILING!!! CITY COUNCIL SOON TO REBUKE ARIZONA SB 1070!!!

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This week the City Council in Kansas City is set to make nationwide news by standing up to racial profiling law currently creating controversy in Arizona and across the nation.

This initiative has been put forth by some of the bravest Council people and hopefully will earn the support of the entire body. If the Mayor's seemingly meaningless statements about Diversity are for real then he should sign on as well despite his recent GOP affiliations.

This is history in the making in Kansas City.

There's talk this thing could turn into an all out Kansas City Boycott of Arizona.

Read the PRELIMINARY language of the upcoming resolution after the jump:



CALLING FOR THE STATE OF ARIZONA TO REPEAL OF ARIZONA SENATE BILL 1070 AND DEVELOP REASONABLE CONSTITUTIONAL MEASURES TO IMMIGRATION REFORM

Whereas, the State of Arizona enacted SB 1070, which was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer on the 23rd day of April 2010, requiring all Arizona local law enforcement to investigate a person’s immigration status when there is suspicion that the person is in the Country unlawfully, regardless of whether that person is suspected of a crime; and

Whereas, Arizona SB 1070 requires Arizona local law enforcement to question those they suspect are illegal immigrants, whether or not they have cause to believe an illegal act has been committed; and

Whereas, Arizona SB 1070 requires Arizona local law enforcement “when practicable” to detain people who they “reasonably suspect” are in the county without authorization; compels Arizona local law enforcement to charge immigrants with a state crime for not carrying immigration documents, and creates a private right of action to sue cities upon belief that the local Arizona government has a policy or practice that restricts Arizona local law enforcement from implementing immigration law; and

Whereas, Arizona SB 1070 seriously undermines the United States Constitution which grants Congress the exclusive power over immigration matters; and

Whereas Arizona SB 1070 encourages racial and ethnic profiling and violates Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of due process and equal protection for US citizens, legal residents and visitors from being detained for being in the County unlawfully; and

Whereas, Arizona SB 1070 does not prohibit Arizona law enforcement officers from relying on race, ethnicity, national origin or language to determine who to investigate; and

Whereas, the United States is facing a recession, which has impacted municipal revenues and significantly reduced funding for local law enforcement; and

Whereas, Arizona SB 1070 creates an unfunded mandate for Arizona local law enforcement officials; and

Whereas, Arizona SB 1070 unfairly targets members of the Latino community and other minority communities in Arizona; and

Whereas; Arizona SB 1070 will jeopardize public safety and drive a wedge between law enforcement and ethnic communities; and

Whereas, numerous United States municipalities have condemned the State of Arizona for adopting Arizona SB 1070, including the City of Austin, Texas, the City of Berkley, California, the City of Boston Massachusetts, the City of Boulder, Colorado, the City of Brownsville, Texas, the City of Chicago, Illinois, the City of Columbus, Ohio, the City of El Paso, Texas, the City of Flagstaff, Arizona, the City of Hartford Connecticut, the City of Inwood, New York, the City of Los Angeles, California, the City of Oakland, California, the City of Pasedena, California, the City of Santa Ana, California, the City of San Francisco, California, the City of San Jose, California, the City of Seattle, Washington, the City of St. Paul, Minnesota and the Denver Public School District; and

Whereas, Arizona cities such as Flagstaff, Phoenix and Tucson are determining how to legally challenge Arizona SB 1070; and

Whereas, Arizona SB 1070 removes the American legal virtue that assumes innocence, placing a burden on Arizona local law enforcement to discriminate on the basis of race and ethnicity, and

Whereas, Arizona SB 1070 challenges the cherished civil liberties of all citizens residing in and traveling to the state of Arizona.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

Declares its opposition to Arizona SB 1070; and

Urges the State of Arizona to immediately repeal this law; and

Calls for the National League of Cities to support those Arizona cities opposing Arizona SB 1070 in devising reasonable, constitutional alternatives to SB 1070, alternatives that recognize the need for federal level reform that assists struggling border communities while respecting the humanity of all people living and working in these communities; and

Calls for the the National Conference of State Legislatures to oppose Arizona SB 1070 and assist the State of Arizona in devising reasonable, constitutional alternatives to SB 1070, alternatives that recognize the need for federal level reform that assists struggling border communities while respecting the humanity of all people living and working in these communities; and

Calls for a United States Department of Justice investigation as to whether SB 1070 is unconstitutional and lawsuit to stop its implementation; and

Directs the City Clerk to send copies of this resolution to Attorney General Eric Holder, the local division of the US Attorney’s office, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, US Senators Claire McCaskill and Christopher Bond, Congressmen Rev. Emanuel Cleaver, Sam Graves and Ike Skelton, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, the Kansas City state delegation, and to the chief executive officers of the National Conference of State Legislatures and National League of Cities.