The Los Angeles City Council just voted to engage in an economic boycott of Arizona, as the fallout from their harsh immigration law continues. This could amount to as much as $56 million in business moving away from Arizona and toward other states. And they are just one of the many California cities whose councils have voted to protest the law through an economic boycott.

One could argue that the Republican National Committee joined them today with their announcement of Tampa as the site of the 2012 RNC convention.

The operatives said Phoenix was eliminated, largely because Arizona in late August reminds Republicans of their sweltering 1992 convention in Houston. And the Grand Canyon State is facing boycotts because of its new immigration law, which would not present an inviting face for the party.

There may be support for the Arizona law or not; I don’t put a lot of stock in polling on complex issues based on one line of scrubbed text about what it does rather than the lived experience. But the boycotts have the potential to do lasting damage, and they will only grow. Later in the week I will be hopefully giving you the opportunity to talk with leaders at LULAC (The League of United Latin American Citizens) and the SEIU about the boycotts they’ve initiated.

Sadly, it doesn’t look like this energy and attention around our broken immigration system will lead to comprehensive legislation to fix it. But there is an opportunity to make Arizona a national pariah over this, and to show the muscle of groups wanting a more compassionate and sensible immigration policy.

UPDATE: The Washington Post takes a look at additional boycotts. Twenty-three groups and organizations have cancelled meetings across the state, at a cost of $6-10 million dollars.