Senator Jose Peralta , The Working Families Party and Make the Road New York Call on Mets to Boycott of 2011 All-Star Game in Arizona – Deliver Petitions Before Subway Series

Jose Peralta, The Working Families Party and Make the Road New York were at Citi Field, on Friday for the Yankees and Mets urging both teams to boycott the 2011 All-Star Game in protest of Arizona's harsh new immigration law.

10,000 of New Yorkers , and hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country, have signed a petition urging baseball teams to take a stand against un-American extremism, profiling and harassment by boycotting the Arizona All-Star Game.

Just before the Subway Series started, State Senator Jose Peralta of Queens delivered the Working Families letter, signed by thousands of New Yorkers, calling on our home teams to skip next year's All-Star Game unless it is moved out of Arizona or the state rolls back its extreme anti-immigrant measures.

Peralta said “As a Dominican American who represents one of the most diverse communities in this country, I find Arizona’s recent actions anti-immigrant, anti-American and unconstitutional,” said Senator Jose Peralta. He continued “First Gov Brewer signed a bill that legalized racial profiling and then not week later she signed a law targeting Ethnic Studies which legalized intolerance in schools. Her actions are a nod to right-winged hatemongering that we will not tolerate in New York.”

Roberto Lovato of Presente.org said “Presente.org and the more than 100,000 people who've signed our national petition demanding Major League Baseball move the All Star Game out of Arizona are inspired by the almost 10,000 New Yorkers speaking out today. We hope that the Yankees, Mets and MLB commissioner Bud Selig hear the community's pleas and join our fight to end the racial profiling of Arizona's BS1070.”

Daisy Munoz, Colombian immigrant and member of Make the Road New York spoke at the event saying

“As an immigrant in New York Arizona’s new law makes me feel discriminated against. I feel like our rights are being violated. We must all stand up against this injustice.

Wilfredo Larancuent, New York City Co-Chair of the Working Families Party added:

"New York is home to millions of baseball fans and millions of immigrants. The Mets and Yankees have a chance to make civil rights history by being the first teams to declare they won't participate in the All-Star game unless Arizona changes it's terrible law or the game is moved."

Peralta concluded “As a diehard Mets fan, of course I would like to see every Mets on the 2011 All Star team, I just don’t want them playing in a state that legislates intolerance and hatred.

Let’s have the 2011 All Star Game in Queens, the most ethnically diverse and celebrated community in the nation.”