Players urged to boycott all-star game

WASHINGTON, May 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., Monday called on Major League Baseball players to boycott the 2011 all-star game in Arizona.

Menendez, in a letter to Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Michael Weiner, urged players to stay away from the game, to be staged at Chase Field in Phoenix, to protest against a controversial new state law cracking down on illegal immigration.

Citing his own status as the only Latino in the U.S. Senate, Menendez praised the MLBPA for voicing opposition to the law, which would require police to ask anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally about their immigration status, including demanding proof of citizenship or legal residency.

But, he said, players should go a step further and boycott the all-star game.

"As you and I both know, (MLB) is truly a multicultural, international sport," Menendez wrote. "In fact, Latinos represent 27 percent of all MLB players and 28 percent of MLB players are foreign born. These players come to the United States legally and should not be subjected to the humiliation and harassment that (the Arizona law) would inflict."