Column: New bill insults immigrants
Published April 30, 2010
Regardless of opinions on the state of immigration in this country, illegal immigrants should not be the target of racial profiling.
The controversy regarding Arizona's SB 1070, a bill that puts racial profiling into law, rages on. The bill not only gives police officers the power to ask for citizenship documentation from those they suspect to be illegal immigrants, but it also requires them to do so.
The grounds for suspicion are not clearly defined, nor are what qualifies as adequate proof of citizenship. You need not be a citizen for a driver's license, so that can't work. How many Americans do you know who go about their day-to-day schedules with their passports? How many Americans do you know that have a passport?
Obama immediately made a statement denouncing this horror of a bill, saying the bill threatened "to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe."
Because of the constant racialization of illegal immigration as a "Mexican thing," because of the inability of many people to even differentiate between Latin American nationalities, because of the fact illegal immigration comes in all colors — rent "In America," a drama about an illegal Irish family's struggles, if you don't believe me — this bill is an atrocity. And it is emblematic of our relationship with immigration in this nation.
We have built an economy dependent on the existence of horrendously cheap labor sources here and abroad. Labor so cheap that it is often criminal, yet we are surprised when this system breeds a dependency on labor sources that are often in the country illegally. Walls and citizenship papers would probably do little to curb the tide of immigration into this country because there is still a demand for labor. If we want to slow immigration from Central American countries, shouldn't the focus be on healing the antagonistic relationship our countries have with each other?
It seems the debate surrounding immigration has delved into so much political ravings and racism it is unrecognizable. We have stripped those who immigrate to this country illegally of so much of their humanity. We call them illegal immigrants or illegal aliens, but we rarely call them people. Whether you agree with what they did, they are still people. In 2009, volunteers were arrested for littering. Their crime? Leaving water jugs in the desert for lost immigrants to survive on. I am not making this up. The act of having some humanitarian concern for others has become a crime. You might want to prosecute them, you might want to send them home, but surely you don't want them to die of thirst?
And so into this mess comes SB 1070, a bill that chips a little bit more away from the veneer of human rights, a bill that will surely cause many Latinos — illegal, legal and American, unwarranted stress and pain. Where does this bill take us? Raids have already been occurring for years on places assumed to employ people not legally in the country. What now? Raids on people speaking Spanish at the gas station? Those who merely look like illegal immigrants, that is, look Latino? If the Tea Party and Arizona law makers have their way, probably. And to be honest, if you were to stop me on the street right now, I doubt I could prove I am a citizen. Could you?
Comments (8)
3:07 p.m., April 30, 2010
Anthony said:
First off, your student ID proves that you're either an American citizen or else here legally, but that's just a minor point. Now to my actual comment. I am saying now and will repeat at the end that I DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS BILL. That being said, I hardly think every time a policeman sees someone of Latino descent he's going to demand identification. I'm from Atlanta, which is a pretty big hotspot for illegal immigrants. Let me tell you there is a huge difference between most illegal immigrants and most other Latinos. In Atlanta, there are places where you see large groups (usually 20-30) Latino men hanging around gas stations or other places waiting for people to hire them for the day for odd jobs. These are usually located next to dirt cheap, rundown apartment complexes with high crime rates (my high school was near one of these, I know what I'm talking about; it's where everyone went to buy pot). I assume that's the sort of thing policemen are going to be looking for in Arizona. That being said, I still don't support the bill, but I think you're exaggerating its consequences.
10:24 p.m., April 30, 2010
Brandon said:
There's a lot of hot air being blown about this bill, but have you ever noticed how slippery slope scenarios rarely come to pass? I mean, I'm no immigration hawk, and I'm quite liberal on the issue, but I think we should give SB 1070 a chance. Unless a bunch of people are unlawfully being stopped and detained and/or deported b/c of appearance at random, we shouldn't be too worried. As long as the bill does its job of detaining illegal aliens, I wouldn't worry too much. However, I think the Federal gov't needs to step up and DO ITS JOB. This is why Arizona took matters into its own hands! The feds need to secure the border and come up with a fair path to citizenship for those here illegally who are committed to becoming Americans, paying taxes and learning English. And a guest-worker program wouldn't hurt, either.
12:46 a.m., May 3, 2010
Shane S. said:
You doubt you could prove you're a citizen? Do you have a state driver's license? Do your research so you can appear somewhat versed on s subject before you apply your liberal lipstick to any and everything you don't agree with.
12:48 a.m., May 3, 2010
Kris said:
Did you read the bill? Most likely not. If you had, you'd know that Section 2 provides that a law enforcement official “may not solely consider race, color or national origin” in making any stops or determining immigration status. In addition, all normal Fourth Amendment protections against profiling will continue to apply. In fact, the Arizona law actually reduces the likelihood of race-based harassment by compelling police officers to contact the federal government as soon as is practicable when they suspect a person is an illegal alien, as opposed to letting them make arrests on their own assessment.
12:13 a.m., May 6, 2010
Yantezia said:
You do realize that a driver's license is not synonymous with CITIZENSHIP and citizenship is NOT synonymous with RESIDENCY. Those are two distinctly different things. And there are people who are not citizens that have driver's licenses. Ever heard of Webster? He's a good friend of mine. Quite the extensive vocabulary, pretty well versed. Look him up!
12:44 a.m., May 10, 2010
Shane S. said:
Yantezia - you do realize that in order to obtain a valid driver's license in Arizona, you need to produce proper documentation of your citizenship? Obviously you do not, since you've posted incorrect and nonfactual information.
3:22 p.m., May 10, 2010
Sudie said:
So I could be wrong, but isn't the point of the article to point out that this bill is criminalizing a race? It defines suspects of illegal immigration with physical traits characteristic of members in the Latino community. That's racial profiling, by definition, despite what the governor said in her speeches.
12:06 p.m., April 30, 2010
Benton R. said:
Obama is a blowhard. If he doesn't like this bill, then he should look to pro-actively curb illegal immigration, and not let our director of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, come out and say that entering America illegally is not a crime. Dispatch National Guards to Arizona and other similar states to patrol the border. Arizona is the hottest gateway for human and drug smuggling and a lot of that has to do with the illegal immigrants moving from one side of the border to the other. The bill makes it a crime to be in the state illegally. Not exactly a novel or "misguided" idea. Mexico's Senate passed a bill urging Brewer to veto the law. Of course they did. It makes it harder to illegally enter the country. If you were committing a crime, wouldn't you like the government to make it easier for you to get away with? I know I would. I haven't heard much about the provision for new and harsher punishment of businessmen who knowingly hire illegal aliens. This author certainly didn't mention it in her "woe-is-me" atrocity. 60 days into Obama's presidency, he sent sent his Justice Department down to the Phoenix area to investigate AZ sheriff Joe Arpaio for alleged racial profiling. It's been a year-and-a-half and nothing has happened. Since Obama's people couldn't come up with anything, I think the Arizona law enforcement know how to enforce the illegal immigration laws without racial profiling, making this author's claims ridiculous and baseless. A lot of criticism of this bill is baseless and unfounded—done without the proper research or knowledge of the situation. I can't say for sure, but this girl probably has never been to Arizona or experienced a community with high illegal immigration problems. The criticism stems from a complete lack of faith in a system to do the job it is supposed to do. As to Sewell's question if Spanish speaking gas station customers would be targeted, and here's Joe Arpaio's answer to if people would be targeted simply due to being Hispanic looking, which Sewell could have easily found and would have, if it suited her one-sided argument. "Well, first of all, that's not going to happen. I know them, pursuant to their duties. They're not gonna go on a street corner and grab people because they look like they're from another country. We haven't been doing that for the past three years, and I know law enforcement officers will not do that. That's hype. Those are the critics. Some politicians use that as an excuse because they don't like law enforcement enforcing illegal immigration laws." All crimes should be (and are) punishable by law. There are legal channels to enter America, and those people who choose to follow other, criminal paths, should be subject to persecution by our justice system. When AZ citizens like Rob Krentz are gunned down by illegal immigrants operating a drug cartel, measures need to be taken to protect American citizens, and not Mexican citizens.