Arizona’s Immigration Law; What Were They Thinking?
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Apr 28, 2010
I don't often get into politics on this blog, but I feel I have to say something in this case because it's a major diversity issue.
Last Friday, the state of Arizona passed a law basically legalizing racial profiling in their state against Latino people. The actual law says that the police can pull over cars if they have a reason to believe there are illegal aliens in the car. This is because Arizona has a major issue with illegal aliens as it pertains to crime and, supposedly, jobs.
How easily this country forgets its history when it comes to minorities. The KKK was formed because some whites believed black people were getting too many rights. Japanese people were interred because the government decided it couldn't decide which Japanese were legitimate by looking at them and which ones might be supporting the war effort that they decided to lock everyone up.
And after September 2001, all sorts of people were being pulled over because the police and others couldn't tell the difference between people of Middle Eastern descent, people of lower Asian descent (i.e., Indian, Pakistanis), Latinos and black people with certain skin colors, and didn't want to take any chances.
I can understand the frustrations of trying to protect ones citizens from a problem; I really can. But there are some solutions that are just the wrong way to go. Most people see this as only a Latino issue; I think it's a broad issue that can be exploited in so many negative ways. Why couldn't the police decide to pull over a car of folks of Middle Eastern descent and decide to make them all prove citizenship? Why couldn't the police decide to pull over a car of black youth under the pretense that some of them looked like something they're not?
Until you've been pulled over for being something that doesn't conform to a certain standard in a neighborhood, you couldn't possibly know the slippery slope of a law such as the one Arizona just passed. My opinion is that it won't pass constitutional law once the first lawsuit has been filed, and the governor, who mistakenly said she doesn't believe it will harm her state's economy (ask South Carolina how they're flying the confederate flag is working for them), will be able to say to her constituency "hey, I tried", because I really believe she signed it more for political expediency than a belief that the law will work out. I say that because as soon as she signed the law, she issued an executive order that every law enforcement officer in the state had to get training to learn how to recognize "certain situations", while admitting that she couldn't tell anyone who was a legal or illegal alien.
This has already set race relations back in this country 150 years or more. Protests are already occurring, and many businesses are already poised to close. Many legal residents are thinking about leaving the state. Arizona might be thinking "good riddance", but one day they're going to wake up and wonder where all their workers went, along with many talented people who were born and raised in the state and decided they'd rather be elsewhere than take a chance on being pulled over in their own hometown and made to prove that they're legal residents.
Think about it; the last time people had to produce papers to prove who they were was under Nazi rule in Germany; what a nice thing to be compared to, eh?
This whole “law” is actually amusing because sure they say they’ll arrest any illegal immigrants, but then what? I know of one person in particular who was pulled over and arrested, and then nothing happened to him past that. His girlfriend , on the other hand (who didn’t know he was an illegal immigrant without a license) was fined $500 and lost her license because she let him drive her car. And the “best” part is he wasn’t deported – he’s been living here ever since.
The other thing that gets me is all the boycott this, boycott that. Now let’s consider that all of the protesting of this bill is supposed to be in support of these people. Isn’t boycotting Arizona businesses going to cost these same people jobs? How does that help anyone?
This whole situation is just crap for anyone living in this state, regardless of how they feel about the law.
My personal somewhat off political opinion is if the whole point is to “get rid of the criminal activity” why not deport criminals regardless of citizenship? If you don’t obey the laws of the country, you don’t deserve to live here. I’m sure that won’t fly, but it’s about as ridiculous as the upcoming racial profiling.
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It’s the racial profiling aspect of this law that’s sticking in people’s craw. Regardless of what the governor has to say, the police will be looking at certain peoples, based on skin color, and asking them to see their papers at some point. I was reading a story earlier today where they said it’s a convenient law because there are very few Latinos coming into the country illegally with blonde hair and blue eyes.
I’m a big one for protecting our borders, especially after 9/11/01, and I’ve always believed the military could be used for that with no problems from me; we just have to get them back into this country from Iraq & the like. But you’re right, if an illegal alien is discovered, they need to be sent back to wherever they came from, and if they’re working in factories and the like, those people need to be heavily fined also, instead of letting them off the hook because they’re providing other jobs. Unfortunately, real life doesn’t work that way, so it’s easier to pass a law like this than to go after the folks who are abusing is in the first place for profits.
As for boycotts… I figure they are what they are. Actually, the law will hurt anyone who’s legal in this country, but based on civil rights history, if you’re not out there working to help end a law that could potentially affect you, and it affects you in another way, that’s just kind of tough for you. The fight for civil rights doesn’t come without some collateral damage, unfortunately; history tells us that as well. Thanks for commenting Kristi! ๐