POSTED: Saturday, April 24, 2010 - 8:02pm
UPDATED: Monday, April 26, 2010 - 5:38pm
EL PASO, TX - Hundreds of people marched downtown today to honor Cesar Chavez and protest the new Arizona law that some are calling the most strict immigration measure in generations.
The law is set to take effect in August and it will give law enforcement the authority to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.
Some in El Paso say even though the law is in Arizona, it sets a dangerous precedent.
"Well it turns the clock back to the ancient times when the migrant worker, the migrant person, didn't have the legal right that (everybody else) had, including our parents who came from Mexico," protester Fernie Permudez said.
Senator John Cornyn, who was in El Paso Friday to discuss border issues, worries that such a law advocates racial profiling.
"I worry that if people can be stopped because they fit a particular profile and they may be American citizens, that demonstrates that we failed to meet the first responsibiiity, which is protect our borders," Cornyn said.