Palin: Let Illinois High School Girls' Basketball Team Play in Arizona
A girls' high school basketball team from Illinois had their plans to attend an Arizona tournament cut short when school administrators decided the team shouldn't play in the state because of its new immigration law -- and the decision doesn't sit well with former high school basketball star Sarah Palin.
The former Alaska governor took to her Facebook page to call the decision "ridiculous and totally unfair to the girls who just want to play ball."
The Highland Park High School Giants girls basketball team was slated to play in the tournament after winning its first conference championship in 26 years, the Chicago Tribune reports, but the school decided that Arizona's new law could present safety concerns for the students. Furthermore, Assistant Superintendent Suzan Hebson told the Tribune, the trip "would not be aligned with our beliefs and values."
The law in question requires immigrants in Arizona to carry documents verifying their immigration status. It also requires police officers to question a person about his or her immigration status during a "lawful stop" if there is "reasonable suspicion" that person may be in the country illegally.
Palin points to comments a parent from the school gave to Fox News, remarking that the school sends its students to other places with questionable values, like China.
"Apparently the school has no problem sending kids on trips to China, which has a population control policy that is anti-girl in practice - contributing to female infanticide and abandonment and sex-selective abortions," Palin writes. "So, is China - with its many serious human rights violations (too many to list here) - 'aligned' with the 'values and beliefs' of the school? But our sister-state of Arizona is not? Really?"
A number of cities, most recently, Los Angeles, have moved to cut off their economic ties to Arizona to protest the law. There are also calls for professional sports teams to take a stand against the law.
Palin said if others want to help, "they should tell President Obama to do his job: secure the border."
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