Immigration protest in downtown Tucson

KVOA

UPDATE - The demonstration in downtown Tucson is over. Nearly 100 demonstrators gathered around 11 a.m., to protest Arizona's new immigration law and Ethnic Studies law.

The protest wrapped up just after 1 p.m.

The group, Native and Indigenous Peoples Against SB 1070, contends immigration bills such as SB 1070 rest on the "securing" of the borders in order to manage the flow of migration.

They say, the passage of HB 2281, the Ethnics Studies law, further contributes to the cultural genocide of Indigenous peoples by criminalizing the histories of Indigenous peoples in our own lands within the Arizona public school system.

Watch News 4 at 5 for the latest.

TUCSON - More than 60 people are protesting Arizona's new immigration law and Ethnics Studies law.

The group, Native and Indigenous Peoples Against SB 1070, are gathering downtown from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Friday.

According to the group, anti-illegal immigration bills such as SB 1070 rest on the "securing" of the borders in order to manage the flow of migration.

This securing includes and is not limited to a physical wall to be made on Indigenous land (Tohono O'odham/Lipan Apache to name a few).

They say, the passage of HB 2281, the Ethnics Studies law, further contributes to the cultural genocide of Indigenous peoples by criminalizing the histories of Indigenous peoples in our own lands within the Arizona public school system.

The immigration struggle is also an Indigenous struggle.

The Tohono O'odham Nation is speaking about the issue.

Its concern is that some members of the O'Odham nation will be questioned often because of their inability to document their citizenship because there is no official United States record of their births.