States often find themselves trying to battle illegal immigration. The federal government just doesn’t cut it. Last week, Arizona made into law what is likely the toughest state immigration legislation yet. Signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona, the bill aims to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants.
The first problem with this bill is identification. This new immigration policy, which goes into effect in 90 days, allows local law enforcement to “determine the immigration status of a person during any legitimate contact made by an official or agency of the state … if reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States.” That means that in certain cases police officers can stop anyone living in Arizona and check their legal status.
This identification process is, simply put, racial profiling. How the hell do police officers determine whom to stop? Gov. Brewer says, “[W]ithout regard to skin color, accent or social status.” We say, yeah right.
When most Americans think of immigration, they are quick to think of Hispanics — police officers won’t be any different. Illegal immigrants are not just Latinos. There are Africans, Europeans and even Canadians that are here illegally. The thing is though, Canadians, let’s say, aren’t as easily targeted as Mexicans.
Arizona is also the first state to follow a federal mandate requiring immigrants to carry legal identification documents that account for their presence in the U.S.
Objections from immigrants, immigration activists, civil rights activists and President Barack Obama have been heard. Rev. Al Sharpton may have put it best, “The only way you enforce this law is by racial profiling.”
According to the 2005-07 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 30 percent of Arizona’s population is Latino. This bill will affect all Latinos in Arizona now — as well as in the future.
According to The Economist while 30 percent of Arizona’s population is Latino, only 12 percent are part of the electorate. This is in stark contrast to Latinos in California and Texas who, the magazine said, are more concerned with “the new arrivals.”
Arizonians as well as Californians need to fight political power with political power. California Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D- Sacramento) has suggested boycotting Arizona goods. Steinberg recently sent a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger requesting an inventory of Arizona businesses and government agencies engaged in commerce with California.
We are the world’s only developed country that shares such an expansive border with a developing country. It is our federal government’s refusal to control its borders that forces Arizonians to share resources with about 460,000 illegal immigrants.
Sluggish immigration reform within the U.S. is the reason why we have more than, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, 11.2 million illegal immigrants nationwide. No one is saying we should close our borders but, we shouldn’t open them up either.
Proponents of the law praise it because they feel it is necessary for states to start taking action. They claim the Obama administration has not acted on immigration. While these proponents are wrong for supporting such a racially insensitive law, they are right in that the Obama administration is to blame for the stupidity in Arizona. If the federal government handled immigration properly, idiots in Arizona would not have passed this bill.
Things don’t just fix themselves. If the Democrats in Washington keep stalling on immigration reform we may never get it. Let’s just hope we get something positive out of Arizona’s monstrosity. Our federal government needs to wake up.
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