ROB HALFORD Says New Immigration Law In Arizona Is 'Racist'

May 11, 2010

JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford — who is a part-time Phoenix resident — spoke to CNN about a new immigration law in Arizona which requires police to determine if people are in the country illegally, previously a function carried out by U.S. federal immigration police and some local forces.

According to Reuters, critics of the law argue it is unconstitutional and a mandate for racial profiling, and fear it will destroy trust between Hispanic communities and law enforcement in Arizona.

Supporters say the law is needed to curb crime in the state, home to 460,000 illegal immigrants and a major corridor for drug and migrant smugglers from Mexico.

"It's a really, really difficult time for a lot of people," said Halford.

"We [the members of JUDAS PRIEST] try and stay out of politics — that's not our job — but I think for something as volatile as this...

"There's Latino metalheads, and there's all kinds of metalheads...

"From my heart, I think it's a racist law, I really do. I mean, I've thought about it and I've looked at everybody's point of view, and it's a terrible thing that's going on there, so I'm a little bit upset about the whole thing. I hope it gets resolved."

He added, "All I wanna do is rock and roll. I think that's what rock and roll's main job is.

"There's enough trouble going on in the world and we give people a moment to forget about all that and just kind of escape it and so forth. But I think it's valuable to get a person's point of view, whether it's right or wrong. That's America."

Video footage of Rob Halford talking to CNN about the new immigration law in Arizona can be viewed below.

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).