You’d think the National Football League would have learned that Arizona is not the place to hold a Super Bowl when the state’s policies are the object of nationwide scorn. In 1993, civil rights organizations forced the league to move the game after the state rescinded its recognition of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. But despite the fact that the Arizona is currently being boycotted due to its extreme anti-immigrant law, SB 1070, this week the NFL awarded the Grand Canyon state its 2015 championship.

It may be a coincidence, but in recent weeks there has been a concerted effort to give the impression that the boycott– which has cost the state $150 million dollars– has been called off. Grassroots groups around the state, who spearheaded the boycott, say it is still on, and will continue until the coalition’s demands have been met. Fortunately for the NFL, however, one prominent group has provided political cover: the Washington, D.C. based National Council of La Raza (NCLR), which calls itself the nation’s leading Latino Civil rights organization stated two weeks ago that it is no longer supporting the boycott.

To be clear, the NCLR was one of many national organizations that joined a boycott AFTER it had been initiated by several prominent local groups. Yet their decision to withdraw has been widely reported, and has created the impression that the boycott is over. In stating they no longer support the Arizona boycott, the NCLR has put the interests of its corporate sponsors ahead of the interests of the Latino Community it claims to represent. The effort to end the boycott is not new, as the state’s Chamber of Commerce has unsuccessfully tried to thwart it since it began. As former Arizona Senate President and boycott proponent Alfredo Gutierrez wrote, “The business community has been applying immense pressure to supporters of the boycott because [the boycott] works.”  

Last year, the NCLR urged people to “boycott intolerance in Arizona until this radical and unjust law is repealed, overturned by the courts, and/or superseded by comprehensive federal immigration reform.” None of these stated goals have been achieved. The law stands, and has inspired conservative lawmakers in states including Alabama and Georgia, spreading the climate of fear. In Arizona, there continues to be widespread abuse of migrants. In fact, most of the state’s deportations come from Maricopa County, where the infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio has compared his open air desert “Tent City” to a concentration camp, utilizes a volunteer “posse” with known white supremacist members and said on CNN it was “an honor” to be compared to the KKK.

The Council’s claim that the boycott is no longer needed contradicts their stated goals for joining in the first place.  So why call it off? There have long been allegations that the NCLR is in the pocket of its corporate donors and their friends– some of whom clearly have an interest in ending this grassroots initiative. Walmart donated over a million dollars to the NCLR, and also serves on the board of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. AT&T also has members on the boards of both organizations.

But the most interesting connection between the two boards comes via two financial institutions that have banked on private prisons and detention centers. Wells Fargo reportedly owns over 4 million shares in the two largest private prison firms in the Country, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), and the Geo group1 and also provides Sheriff Arpaio prime commercial office space for his Phoenix office free of charge.  Bank of America is also a member of both boards and of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which was exposed last year by National Public Radio as having drafted SB 1070.[1]