Protesters arrive at a rally at the Arizona Capitol on Sunday, April, 25, 2010. Activists called on President Barack Obama to fight a tough new Arizona law targeting illegal immigrants, promising Sunday to march in the streets and invite arrest by refusing to comply if the measure goes into effect. U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona told about 3,500 protesters gathered at the state Capitol that the Obama administration can help defeat the law by refusing to cooperate. The law requires Arizona police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally, saying it would undoubtedly lead to racial profiling. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

PHOENIX (AP) — Civil rights activists called on President Barack Obama to fight a tough new Arizona law targeting illegal immigrants Sunday, promising to march in the streets and invite arrest by refusing to comply if the measure goes into effect.

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona told about 3,500 protesters gathered at the state Capitol that the Obama administration can help defeat the law by refusing to cooperate when illegal immigrants are picked up by local police and turned over to federal immigration officers.

“We’re going to overturn this unjust and racist law, and then we’re going to overturn the power structure that created this unjust, racist law,” said Grijalva, a Democrat.

Obama has called the new law “misguided” and instructed the Justice Department to examine it to see if it’s legal. It requires police to question people about their immigration status — including asking for identification — if they suspect someone is in the country illegally. Opponents say it would undoubtedly lead to racial profiling, because officers would be more likely to ask people who look Hispanic.

Supporters have dismissed concerns of racial profiling, saying the law prohibits the use of race or nationality as the sole basis for an immigration check. Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the bill into law Friday, has ordered state officials to develop a training course for officers to learn what constitutes reasonable suspicion someone is in the U.S. illegally.

Current law in Arizona and most states doesn’t require police to ask about the immigration status of those they encounter, and many police departments prohibit officers from inquiring out of fear immigrants won’t cooperate in other investigations.

The new law makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. Immigrants unable to produce documents showing they are allowed to be in the U.S. could be arrested, jailed for up to six months and fined $2,500. It also allows lawsuits against government agencies that hinder enforcement of immigration laws.

Arizona officers would arrest people found to be undocumented and turn them over to federal immigration officers. Opponents said the federal government can block the law by refusing to accept them.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, speaking Sunday in New York, said that just as freedom riders battled segregation in the 1960s, he would organize “freedom walkers” to challenge the Arizona law.

“We will go to Arizona when this bill goes into effect and walk the streets with people who refuse to give identification and force arrest,” Sharpton said.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s office said in a statement Saturday that “the Mexican government condemns the approval of the law” and “the criminalization of migration, far from contributing to collaboration and cooperation between Mexico and the state of Arizona, represents an obstacle to solving the shared problems of the border region.”

Arizona has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants and is the state with the most illegal border crossings, with the harsh, remote desert serving as the gateway for thousands of Mexicans and Central Americans.

Associated Press writers Karen Matthews in New York and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

This Jan. 30, 2008, file photo shows Democratic Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, left, clapping for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as he holds a "Stand for Change" rally at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)

PHOENIX (AP) – When Democrat Janet Napolitano resigned as Arizona governor to become U.S. Homeland Security secretary, it meant big changes for her senior advisers and other top appointees.

The scramble for new jobs when the boss leaves comes with public service at that level of government. Some members of her administration had retired or left for new jobs before the end, but many followed her to Washington. Others have found landing spots in Arizona.

In addition to several Napolitano associates who didn’t serve in her gubernatorial administration, at least nine people from the gubernatorial staff went with her to Homeland Security.

Those include Noah Kroloff, who in Arizona was a senior policy adviser and deputy chief of staff and who ran her 2006 re-election campaign. He’s now Napolitano’s chief of staff for policy at Homeland Security.

Jan Lesher, Napolitano’s final gubernatorial chief of staff and before that Commerce Department director and head of the governor’s office for southern Arizona, also is at Homeland Security, serving as chief of staff for operations.

Chris Cummiskey, a former legislator who headed the state’s information technology agency under Napolitano, also has a senior staff post at the department.

Another former state Cabinet member, former Corrections Department Director Dora Schriro, also went to Homeland Security with Napolitano but since left to head the New York City jail system.

Napolitano has kept “a close cadre” of formal and informal advisers from her years as U.S. attorney and then attorney general and governor, so it’s not surprising she would take trusted people with her to Washington, said Doug Cole, a Republican who has held senior posts in several Arizona congressional offices and in ex-Gov. Fife Symington’s administration.

However, the number accompanying Napolitano to DHS is noticeably larger than when ex-Gov. Bruce Babbitt became Interior secretary in the Clinton administration and when former Arizona Transportation Director Mary Peters served in President George W. Bush’s administration in top transportation posts, Cole said.

Former Napolitano spokeswoman Jeanine L’Ecuyer said she didn’t hear a lot of talk among fellow staffers about their futures in the run-up to Napolitano’s Jan. 20 resignation.

“Things were so hectic in those last few days,” L’Ecuyer said. “Some people had a pretty good notion they would be invited to go with her.”

However, uncertainty goes with public service at that level of government, without any expectation that there’d be another job, L’Ecuyer said. “You take that job understanding that it stops at some point – that you have completed your service.”

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

President Obama arrives at Grand Canyon (NAZ Today/Brandon Neuman)

President Obama and his family completed their tour of the Grand Canyon today, starting with the family’s arrival at the Grand Canyon Airport at 10:05 AM MST this morning. The President and his family exited Air Force One and immediately jumped into one of the black suburbans waiting for them on the tarmac.  The First Family, dressed in casual clothing, spent about three and a half hours touring the canyon, escorted by a park ranger.  Traffic closures affected the airport for 15 minutes before and after the motorcade moved around the airport.

A GNCP official said that the delays were minimal around the park during the visit.  Air Force One took off with the family this afternoon at about 1:55 PM MST, returning to Phoenix a short time later.

The President and his family are in Arizona for two days, with Mr. Obama speaking tomorrow at the Phoenix Convention Center to war veterans at the 110th Veterans of Foreign Wars convention.  The stop in Arizona is the tail end of a western trip, which has included several visits to National Parks and town hall meetings across the western United States.  The President has seen his approval ratings dip since taking office eight months ago, so he is using this trip try to right the ship in the region, which has historically been a conservative stronghold.

VIDEO REPORT:

For additional pictures and videos, click here.

The First Family leaving Air Force One at the Grand Canyon Airport (NAZ Today/Brandon Neuman)

President Obama prepares to step out of the door. (NAZ Today/Brandon Neuman)

Mrs. Obama leaving Air Force One and immediately moving to a Suburban. (NAZ Today/Brandon Neuman)

The Obamas boarding Air Force One after touring the Grand Canyon (NAZ Today/Brandon Neuman)

President Obama waves to reporters at the airport before leaving (NAZ Today/Brandon Neuman)

Air Force One taxiing towards the runway to take off (NAZ Today/Brandon Neuman)

Air Force One landing at Grand Canyon National Park Airport:

Air Force One taking off from Grand Canyon National Park Airport:

With Vice President Joe Biden by his side, and White House aids close at hand, the massive spending bill was launched forward.   From Denver Colorado, where the stimulus plan was signed, the president flew to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.

The next day, President Obama, escorted by motorcade, visited none other than Dobson High School, where he discussed his plans to reverse the nation’s housing crisis.  He spoke for just over half an hour and eager onlookers waited for hours on end just to see the president.  Many people inside the school came rushing out of the building in excitement after having shook the presidents hand, but no one on the street got more than a moment’s glimpse of the presidents limousine as it passed by the school.

Some were gathered to cheer on President Obama, but others, like Angela Roy of Prescott, were there to protest his policies.  “The first 700 billion didn’t work.  This trillion wont work.  What about the next trillion?  That ain’t going to work either,” said Roy.

The stimulus plan devotes $50 million to stem the foreclosure issues facing many Americans.  The plan also pledges large tax refunds for first time home buyers.

According to Windermere Real Estate Broker Mike Bianchi, the bill will be a positive step in the right direction.  “Every time they pass a bill like this, it’s like bricks building a foundation for the housing market,” Bianchi said.

The housing crisis is a matter of having too many sellers and not enough buyers, said Bianchi. “It’s simply supply and demand.”

The goal of the $50 million is to help prevent more homes from being put on the market as a result of foreclosures, while at the same time, increase the number of buyers through tax incentives. Officials are hoping the market will balance and property values will begin to rise.

Many in the audience at Dobson High were happy with what Obama had to say.  “Its about time the people who need help are finaly getting it,” said Aru Anula of Phoenix.

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