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Lady Gaga Protests Arizona Immigration Law at Phoenix Concert

by Monica Herrera, N.Y.  |   August 02, 2010 1:43 EDT
George Pimentel/WireImage

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Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga spoke out against SB 1070, Arizona's controversial immigration law, at her Monster Ball tour stop in Phoenix this weekend, mincing no words as she told thousands of her screaming fans to "actively protest prejudice and injustice."  

 

"I got a phone call from a couple really big rock'n'rollers, big pop stars, big rappers, and they said, 'We'd like you to boycott Arizona...because of SB 1070,' " Gaga shared with the crowd. "And I said, 'You really think that us dumb fucking pop stars are going to collapse the economy of Arizona?'

 

 

Video: Lady Gaga Talks SB1070 in Phoenix

 

"I'll tell you what we have to do about SB 1070," Gaga continued. "We have to be active. We have to actively protest, and the nature of the Monster Ball is to actively protest prejudice and injustice, and the bullshit that is put on our society." 

 

Gaga's stance against SB1070 contrasts with that of The Sound Strike, a boycott organized by Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha. Dozens of artists -- including Nine Inch Nails, Maroon 5, Ben Harper, Pitbull, Gogol Bordello and My Morning Jacket -- have signed on in support of The Sound Strike and refused to perform in Arizona until SB1070 is repealed. On July 23, Rage Against the Machine played its first Los Angeles concert in 10 years to raise money for organizations taking action against the law.

 

"I will not cancel my show," Gaga told her Phoenix fans. "I will yell, and I will scream louder, and I will hold you, and we will hold each other, and we will peacibly protest this state. Do not be afraid, because if it wasn't for all of you immigrants, this country wouldn't have shit." 

 

SB1070 requires authorities to determine the immigration status of any person who is suspected of being undocumented. On July 28, one day before the law was enacted, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton issued a injuction that blocked some of its most controversial provisions, including one that allowed police offers to arrest undocumented immigrants without a warrant.

 

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