Hotline Targets Reasonably Suspicious" Summer Travelers Who Risk Detainment if they Visit Arizona -- 800-958-5068

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Today, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) escalated its national campaign against costly, anti-immigrant legislation like SB 1070 recently signed by Gov. Jan Brewer, R-Ariz., by releasing a new travel advisory hotline for would-be travelers to the state. The online ads launched today [image and full hotline script below] offer travel advisories for those who may risk detainment if they visit Arizona, after the extreme law goes into effect.

The online ads are part of SEIU's broader "It Stops in Arizona" campaign to raise awareness about how extreme legislation like Arizona's SB1070 fails to fix our nation's broken immigration system, while costing taxpayers and creating several new problems. It also urges people to ask Congress and President Obama to focus on comprehensive solutions to solve our immigration problems once and for all.

"America wants serious solutions to our immigration problems--not frivolous policies, like Arizona's SB 1070 that undermine public safety, waste millions of taxpayer funds, and imperil our most basic civil rights," said SEIU Immigration Campaign Director Javier Morillo. "On behalf of working families in Arizona and on behalf of American values of fairness and equality, SEIU is pushing back online, in the courts, in the field and through a union-wide boycott to stop this harmful law before it goes into effect and before it spreads to other states."

SEIU's "It Stops in Arizona" campaign is folded into SEIU's national efforts to urge Congress to fix our broken immigration system by passing comprehensive, federal reform. Since launching, SEIU members have held events in protest of SB1070 and in support of comprehensive reform across the country. This week events are scheduled Thursday, June 3 outside the White House, where Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer will be visiting with President Obama; at ICE offices in Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose and San Francisco; and in Boston where a march from the Massachusetts Statehouse will end with a rally outside the office of Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass.

The online ads launched today are part of SEIU's broader array of online, field, and legislative tactics that include:

• A union-wide boycott of major events in the state of Arizona;
• An active field and online campaign demanding that major league baseball move its All-Star Game scheduled for Phoenix in 2010;
• A federal lawsuit challenging constitutionality of Arizona's SB1070;
• An active grassroots campaign of thousands of SEIU members who have responded with direct action outside baseball stadiums, statehouses and ICE offices across the country. Thousands of SEIU janitors, security officers, healthcare and state workers rallied this Memorial Day recess in Ariz., Calif., Fla., Mass., Minn., N.Y. and Texas.; and
• A website, http://www.ItStopsInArizona.org, that includes an online petition asking people to "Boycott Intolerance," as well as video, legislative updates and an analysis of Arizona and immigration reform polling data.

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SEIU TRAVEL ADVISORY HOTLINE SCRIPT

800-958-5068

OPERATOR: Thank you for calling the Arizona travel advisory hotline. If you're planning a trip to Arizona, beware of an important travel warning. An overly stringent law on immigration has made it difficult for anyone who looks even remotely suspicious, resulting in detainment. Please check the following options to understand the implications of your actions. And remember to carry your citizenship and immigration papers at all times.

If you plan to wear jeans, press 1. If your skin is even remotely tanned, yellow, brown or blue in hue, press 2. If you tend to eat fast foods, drink bright colored juices or eat fresh vegetables in lieu of meat products, press 3.

If 1: Jeans are worn by many working people targeted by the new Arizona immigration law. Please wear slacks or khakis to avoid appearing suspicious. For more information, please press 4.
If 2: Working people come in many shapes and sizes, but anyone who doesn't resemble a J. Crew or Ralph Lauren model, should be very, very careful. Consider wearing conservative or preppy clothing to avoid getting noticed. For more information, please press 4.
If 3: Many working people targeted by the new immigration Arizona immigration law eat fast foods and drink bright colored juices. Avoid these foods while traveling in Arizona to avoid undue attention from law enforcement officials. For more information, please press 4
If 4: To learn more about this Arizona campaign visit www (dot) it stops in Arizona (dot) com. Or press 1 from your cell phone to receive text message updates about Arizona travel warnings, boycotts and other breaking news on immigration reform. SEIU will never charge for these alerts but your carrier's message and data rates may apply.

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