Sound: Aztec music

NARR:

It’s Cinco de Mayo, or May 5^th, the day Mexicans celebrate their independence from the French.Traditional Aztec dancers perform at this celebration in the East Village. It's not hard to find criticism of Arizona’s tough new immigration law.

ACT: Alicia Arana (4:30): “I think it goes against the fiber of what the Unites States was built upon.”

NARR:

Alicia Arana is an attorney with the American Immigration Lawyers Association. After the Arizona Governor signed the bill into law, her group decided it would no longer host its fall conference in the state.

ACT: Alicia Arana (7:10): “Because it would be a direct support. We’re totally against this law.”

NARR:

The Arizona Office of Tourism says that hundreds of guests have cancelled hotel reservations. Leaders in Oakland, Denver, San Francisco, and other cities are promoting a boycott of all business with Arizona. New York City Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito says it’s a good idea.

ACT: Mark-Viverito (2:00): “We encourage disinvestment as a way of expressing how we feel; something that is very unjust, unconstitutional, I believe. (3:23) The power of the purse is really, really important in expressing a point of view. 

NARR:

But boycotts can backfire. Byron Schlomach is an economist at the Goldwater Institute in Arizona. He says that when you fight with economic warfare, the other side may end up pushing back just as hard...or harder.

ACT: Schlomach: “That's happened before. What you find out over time is which group takes the issue more seriously and which group is maybe even larger. ”

NARR:

The Rev. Steven Maness certainly takes the issue seriously. This Tea Party organizer from Middlesex, New Jersey supports Arizona’s new immigration law. He's defending it with his own fiscal weapon.

ACT: Rev. Maness (8:17): “We’re going to do a BUY-cott.”

NARR:

That’s b-U-y cott

ACT: Rev. Maness (8:17): “We’re going to buy Arizona goods, anything that’s manufactured in Arizona, over the states and cities that boycott Arizona, striking back that way at their pocket book.”

NARR:

Maness wants sympathizers with the law to support businesses that are based in Arizona, such as U-Haul, USAirways, and PetSmart.

ACT: Rev. Maness (8:53): “Don’t buy stuff from California, or Colorado, or New York. Buy from Arizona."

NARR:

This seems to be a growing sentiment within the Tea Party Movement. The websiteTeapartyPatriots.org has a petition to support Arizona's immigration policy. So far, over 45,000 people have signed.

It’s too soon to tell what affect the boycotts and buycotts will ultimately have.

Arizona already went through one boycott in the 90s when it was the only state in the country thatdidn’t recognize Martin Luther King Day. After four years of holding out, and hundreds of millions in lost revenue, Arizona finally adopted the holiday.

SOC: Christopher Livesay, Columbia Radio News.