Mayors Bloomberg and Gordon Condemn Arizona Bill—Plus, New York Will Welcome AZ’s Business!

America's Voice Blog

Posted 04/26/10 at 04:46pm

Phoenix Mayor, Phil Gordon, and Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, are condemning Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s move on Friday to sign the controversial SB 1070 into law.

Gordon’s primary focus is on the adverse implications this bill will have on community safety. By diverting police attention from dangerous criminals to harmless undocumented immigrants, this bill has the alarming ability to alienate a population that would otherwise be helpful in reporting and reducing real crime. Watch his interview on Fox News:

"allowFullScreen":"true","allowscriptaccess":"always","src":"http://www.youtube.com/v/swJoov2dgsk&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0","allowfullscreen":"true"

Gordon, in his interview with Fox News, touches upon the disastrous effects such a bill would have on the economy, claiming that the city “is now getting calls of boycotts of conventions, of businesses, of visitors and stakeholder groups….”

Mayor Bloomberg also made the economy the focus of his statement condemning the law today, saying that New York would be more than happy to have Arizona’s business:

The Arizona immigration bill signed into law today could have a chilling effect on international business travel, investment, and tourism in that state, as many people from around the world may think twice before visiting Arizona and subjecting themselves to potential run-ins with the police. As a city, New York may well benefit from another state undermining its own international competitiveness – we’re happy to have those businesses and tourists come here. But as a country, America will be badly hurt if more states follow Arizona ’s lead. Foreign investment and tourism are critical to our national economy, and this new law sends exactly the wrong message to international companies and travelers. It will adversely affect America ’s international reputation as a place to do business, and it will cost America jobs at exactly the time we should be doing everything possible to create them. Instead of misguided efforts by states, we need Washington to lead the way with comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders, promotes economic growth, and honors our American heritage.