A tourist-magazine publisher is pushing back against nationwide Arizona boycotts with a "BUY-cott" campaign.
Tony Venuti, who publishes AZ Tourist News in print and online, is rounding up businesses and consumers to express their support of SB 1070, which requires police, as part of any stop, detention or arrest, to check peoples' immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" the person is in the country illegally.
Venuti, 59, says he aims to help businesses that could be hurt by calls to boycott the state.
Concerned that the law will lead to racial profiling, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva called for a boycott of the state, and several cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, have voted to stop business travel to Arizona.
Kimberly Schmitz of the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau said it's too soon to determine how the boycott has affected the tourism industry.
Venuti says the boycotts are unreasonable and launched Arizonabuycott.com, which lists nine Arizona businesses that support the effort, including three Tucson companies: his own news organization, landscaping company Man of the Soil, and archery equipment manufacturer Precision Shooting Equipment.
Ben Astenius, who has owned and operated Man of the Soil for a decade, says he joined the "buycott" in order to help Arizona businesses hurt by political rhetoric.
He says his business has been down 90 percent in three years, mostly due to the economy. Astenius doesn't like having to compete with illegal immigrants who do the same work he does but charge lower rates.
'Buycott' site fights back vs. SB 1070 boycotters
Tony Venuti, who publishes AZ Tourist News in print and online, is rounding up businesses and consumers to express their support of SB 1070, which requires police, as part of any stop, detention or arrest, to check peoples' immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" the person is in the country illegally.
Venuti, 59, says he aims to help businesses that could be hurt by calls to boycott the state.
Concerned that the law will lead to racial profiling, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva called for a boycott of the state, and several cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, have voted to stop business travel to Arizona.
Kimberly Schmitz of the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau said it's too soon to determine how the boycott has affected the tourism industry.
Venuti says the boycotts are unreasonable and launched Arizonabuycott.com, which lists nine Arizona businesses that support the effort, including three Tucson companies: his own news organization, landscaping company Man of the Soil, and archery equipment manufacturer Precision Shooting Equipment.
Ben Astenius, who has owned and operated Man of the Soil for a decade, says he joined the "buycott" in order to help Arizona businesses hurt by political rhetoric.
He says his business has been down 90 percent in three years, mostly due to the economy. Astenius doesn't like having to compete with illegal immigrants who do the same work he does but charge lower rates.
'Buycott' site fights back vs. SB 1070 boycotters
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