By: Grainne Rhuad
I am talking on the phone with an acquaintance who is telling me about a vegetable co-op they are heading up. When I ask where they are getting the vegetables they say Arizona.
“But why?” I ask, “When produce is fresh and cheap where you are?”
“Because,” they answer, “It is cheaper to get it from Arizona. They have more laborers.”
This person then goes on to extol the virtues of the new Arizona immigration laws and my head starts to spin.
We are living in a time when people are afraid. This fear has been nurtured by everyone from mums and dads who tell their kids to stay in sight to media that constantly warns us by video and ticker-tape that we must wash, tape, arm and be vigilant. The results of this kind of fear are myriad but in Arizona the result has come to fruition in persecution.
On April 23, 2010 Governor Jan Brewer (R) signed into law SB1070. The law would require the police “when practicable” to detain people they reasonably suspected were in the country without authorization. It would also allow the police to charge immigrants with a state crime for not carrying immigration documents. And it allows residents to sue cities if they believe the law is not being enforced.
The Arizona law is being passed in the context of federal programs, such as “Secure Communities,” which allow local and state law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law. They also serve to put Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) in charge of local law enforcement, with local and state agencies coming under their command in raids and other enforcement activities. The federal programs, like “Secure Communities” and “287g,” together with the ICE raids, have already unleashed the terrorizing and collective punishment of communities which a lot of people feel are themselves crimes by the government. They have also unleashed widespread racist government profiling, arrests and searches without probable cause, and mass deportations across the country. Indeed, while SB 1070 was being debated, a massive ICE raid using 800 agents terrorized four communities in Arizona, including Phoenix and Tucson.
The law specifically allows any Arizona resident to sue to force the police, or conceivably landlords, or school officials, to have people they “reasonably suspect” to be undocumented, arrested. It also forbids actions such as sanctuary cities. Out of state drivers are targeted as well. Officials in Phoenix, for example, say they will require out-of-state drivers to have a passport or visa or be subject to arrest.
This law addresses a range of issues relating to immigration. Some concerns are as follows:
• It Prohibits state, city or county officials from limiting or restricting “the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.” This means that local ordinances permitting sanctuary cities or towns are outlawed. The law also allows any person to “bring an action in Superior Court to challenge any official or agency” that “adopts or implements a policy that limits or restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws. This portion of the law is specifically directed at law enforcement agencies, as well as churches or others attempting to provide sanctuary. It anticipates that some police forces may attempt to simply not enforce the law. To counter this, anyone can bring suit demanding that police fully enforce SB1070.
• It Requires law enforcement to make a reasonable attempt “when practicable” to determine the immigration status of a person “where reasonable suspicion exists that the person” is “unlawfully present in the U.S.” The person does not have to be committing or even be suspicious of committing a crime. The term “reasonable suspicion” also requires even less than the usual “probable cause” to stop a person. Officers do not have to act “if the determination may hinder or obstruct an investigation.” The immigration status is to be verified by the federal government. Individuals determined to be in the country without documentation are turned over to the federal government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Local and state officials can also choose to take an individual to any federal facility in the state, including those outside of their jurisdiction.
• It Makes it a state crime to be an undocumented immigrant, by creating a state charge of “willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document.” The misdemeanor charge carries a $500 fine. A second offense automatically becomes a felony charge. For state residents, an Arizona driver’s license is considered proof of citizenship. A person without a license must carry their birth certificate or other government issued identification or immigration document, like a green card, to prove status. For people from out of state, a passport or visa is required. As Phoenix Vice Mayor Michael Nowakowski put it, police should request citizenship proof from everyone they stop in order to avoid charges of racial profiling. He added, “Anyone who drives in the city of Phoenix and gets pulled over better have a passport or a visa.”
• It Makes it a state crime of “trespassing” if a “person is present on any public or private land” in Arizona and is without documentation proving citizenship or residency. It is also a misdemeanor charge with a $500 fine that becomes a felony on a second offense.
• It Makes it a crime for undocumented immigrants to work or solicit work in Arizona.
• It Makes it a crime to pick up a day laborer for work if the vehicle impedes traffic while doing so. Make it a crime to be picked up as a day laborer if the vehicle they get into is impeding traffic.
• It Makes it a crime to “conceal, harbor or shield an undocumented immigrant if the person knows or recklessly disregards the immigrant’s status.” This means anyone who lives with an undocumented person, including spouses or children or other family members, is guilty of a crime. There is a legal defense for someone providing emergency, public-safety or public health services to undocumented immigrants. However, it is the state that determines if such services are being provided. Many churches, social service and health organizations are concerned they and the people they serve will be targeted.
• It Allows law-enforcement officials to arrest a person without a warrant if they have “probable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense that makes him or her removable from the U.S.” The federal government requires deportation for any conviction for an “aggravated felony,” even one from years ago. It has also included minor non-violent offenses like shoplifting, DUI, and possession of any quantity of any illegal drugs, under the category of “aggravated felony.” Many documented immigrants living 10 years and more in the U.S., are already being deported, with more than half of all deportations made from people detained in Arizona.
• It Allows law enforcement to stop a driver if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the driver is in violation of human-smuggling and any civil traffic law. “Smuggling of human beings” is defined as “the transportation, procurement of transportation or use of property or real property by a person or an entity that knows or has reason to know that the person or persons transported or to be transported are not U.S. citizens, permanent residents or persons otherwise lawfully in this state or have attempted to enter, entered or remained in the U.S. in violation of law.” This means a citizen whose spouse or children are undocumented is guilty of “smuggling,” as is someone driving fellow workers to work. A carload of people that look like immigrants can be stopped for no reason, or for traffic tickets or similar violations. If the driver or others in the car cannot prove citizenship or residency, all can be jailed and the car impounded.
• It Requires employers to keep E-Verify records of employees’ eligibility. E-verify is notoriously wrong concerning verification, with many people wrongly identified as without documentation. Employers who knowingly employ undocumented workers do not face criminal charges but can lose their licenses.
All of this was immediately met with action from those in favor of and those opposing the bill. Boycotts on Arizona have been announced by truck drivers. Businesses have withdrawn plans to hold conferences in Arizona. Writers, artists and musicians who make annual pilgrimages to Arizona for inspiration have announced they will be staying away until this bill is reversed. People from all over the nation have cancelled reservations to vacation there. With Arizona depending in large part on tourism, this hits them especially hard. And, on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, Los Angeles became the largetst city yet to boycot the state of Arizona. With the city council voting 13-1 to bar L.A. from conducting buisiness with Arizona unless the law is overturned. It is estimated this boycott alone will cost Arizona approximately 8 million dollars in revenue.
President Obama strongly criticized it while speaking at a naturalization ceremony for 24 active-duty service members in the Rose Garden; he called for a federal overhaul of immigration laws, which Congressional leaders signaled they were preparing to take up soon, to avoid “irresponsibility by others.”
The Arizona law, he added, 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.”
The Mexican Embassy released the following statement:
“The Embassy of Mexico is deeply concerned by the potentially dire effects that the final enactment of legislative initiatives, such as SB 1070 currently under discussion in Arizona, may have for the civil rights of Mexican nationals. As it has been raised by national Latino and immigrant rights organizations, initiatives that exclusively criminalize immigration create opportunities for undue enforcement of the law through racial profiling.
Mexico also observes with concern the likelihood of negative effects that this measure, should it be approved, may have for the future development of tourism, commercial, friendship and cultural ties that have characterized the relationship between Mexico and Arizona for generations, particularly with the State of Sonora.
Through its vast consular network, the Government of Mexico will continue to provide any and all consular assistance required by our nationals in this country in order to guarantee the protection and full exercise of their fundamental rights regardless of their immigration status.”
The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police and several sheriffs have also come out against the law, calling it burdensome and an intrusion into a federal matter. With most police agencies already checking immigration status of those who come into custody, this new law seems unnecessary and indeed expands the powers of the police to the point that abuses are bound to occur.
Personally I have been on a waiting list for a timeshare in Arizona that is never available, this week I received a call with a tired sounding operator hoping that I would take the reservation. I had to decline, when giving my reasons why I was told that this is hurting Arizonians and it is.
But it should be. Arizonian voters passed this law, what they fail to recognize is the bulk of their income comes from migrant workers; in the fields, in the hotels and resorts, in the galleries and restaurants.
However what is less on people’s minds is how this law could affect all of us. The law calls for what is in effect a police state, in which anyone who is suspected of being an immigrant can be hauled in. Right now people are thinking in terms of Mexicans; however this could affect someone who seems Icelandic or Turkish. Have you been playing your Celtic music too loud? Your neighbor could sue to have the police come out and investigate if you are an illegal immigrant from Ireland. Yelling for your children in your native tongue of Portuguese? Someone could have you investigated for that.
The reality of this Bill is it sets precedence for harassment. You don’t have to be doing anything extraordinary or even look a certain way to be pulled in to the station and hassled. This is why even Texans have been speaking out against it. Or perhaps they remember the Alamo and what could happen if you push a Mexican too far.
It is this sentiment, the grey zone of harassment that people who are against this law are so concerned with. From civil rights groups to state senators there has been a general outcry against this law. Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson, stated, “This piece of legislation are tactics that were used in Nazi Germany,” Aboud said of the requirement that individuals be able to show paperwork.
But there are a lot of people who support this law. The Phoenix police department for one, But then they also rounded up 800 immigrants in one day following the Bill being signed into law. It is a huge income incentive for their county.
Hate groups are especially exuberant about this law. People operating radio stations all over the country have been praising the Governor’s “brave move.” However one wonders what will happen when the neo-Nazi practicing their new German phrases gets hauled in on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant.
But probably one of the scarier supporters of this law is the same group that helped write it. The Immigration Reform Law institute. (IRLI) This group feels that our nation is not taking immigration (and by immigration they mean Mexican immigration) seriously enough. To this end they have set about setting up an organization to promote, plan and help implement laws that are discriminatory and many feel unconstitutional. IRLI has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Immigration Reform Law Institute calls itself, “America’s only public interest law organization working exclusively to protect the legal rights, privileges, and property of U.S. citizens and their communities from injuries and damages caused by unlawful immigration.” However, the Center for New Community (CNC) has a different slant on what IRLI stands for. According to CNC, IRLI’s “primary purpose is to push legal causes that unfairly target immigrant communities.”
IRLI has been behind most, if not every, local legislative immigration crackdown over the past few years. IRLI has taken part in a class action suit against California educators for allowing immigrant students to attend school. They have been behind a series of initiatives to prohibit members of local communities from renting to undocumented immigrants and sued Secretary Michael Chertoff and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), despite his aggressive workplace raids. In California, the Immigration Reform Law Institute has also aligned itself with a state ballot initiative aimed at overturning the 14th Amendment citizenship requirements and ending pre-natal and non-emergency care and child welfare checks that benefit the U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants. IRLI lawyer Kris Kobach makes about $300 per hour to train Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s officers in immigration matters. Kobach is kept busy considering Arpaio is currently the subject of a racial profiling investigation by the Department of Justice and has 2,700 lawsuits sitting on his desk as a result of his immigration policing tactics. A recent documentary investigated the role IRLI played in an anti-immigrant ordinance proposed in Prince William County.
Back on the phone with my acquaintance when I find my words, I explain all this to them. They are not impressed. They spout the general rhetoric of “This is America” and “We need to police our borders.” Mixed in with this is a new sentiment. “Maybe now we can afford to move there.”
Ah, so the pioneering expansion emotion is never far from some of our minds.
New land, cheap.
Interesting.
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf
http://www.usmlo.org/arch2010/2010-04/VR100421.htm
http://www.irli.org/index.html
L. A. Breaux 
Subversify Staff
This new immigration “law” is merely blowback for failure on the part of the Federal government to control the nation’s borders – instead of investing assets in border security, we’ve been throwing them down a rabbit hole in the Middle East to appease the Zionist lobby and oil industries.
I’m not implying that I agree with the decisions made by the state of Arizona (I personally think it’s a poorly-conceived idea), but I understand why they feel the need to undo the economic damage done by this massive influx of cheap labor – that’s right, this whole immigration fiasco has very little do with things like “human rights” or some concept of “racial purity” (these causes merely ride the coattails of this lax border security we have): the purpose of the virtually non-existent border security is to ensure that there is a large supply of cheap, unskilled labor for special interests to exploit – giving them an alternative to hiring citizens (who demand fair wages and benefits for services rendered) so that their bottom lines benefit, whilst the immigrant laborers are exploited til the day they die.
The only reason there is any serious debate over border security in this country is that, should the borders actually be controlled by the nation that claims them as boundaries, the influx of cheap, unskilled, uneducated and desperate labor will stop – all this bullshit about “human rights” is just a cover for that fact. If there was any serious concern for “human rights” there would be plans to close the holes in the border to prevent further exploitation of immigrants, as well as finding some way to educate the exploited immigrants already here to give them a chance to compete in the labor market (like everyone else here). But alas, this is a pipe dream: nobody want to pay full price for labor anymore…
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Laura Ross, Music News. Music News said: Arizona's Folly: Subversify (blog) And, on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, Los Angeles became the largetst city yet to bo… http://bit.ly/9FSC0n […]
very interesting …. not unlike US citizens buying sneakers made by a 10 year old, 14 hour a day laborer in Indonesia .. we will not pay a fair wage, most Americans will not work in most of the jobs that these illegals now have, crops will rot on the vine …. this ideal of America being some kind of Utopia of fairness and opportunity is a literary dream that was never realized … when we needed gold we brought in the Chinese, when we needed plantations, we kidnapped blacks … we took the people who had been here since the last ice-age and tried our best to kill them all …. the problem is not those who come here for survival .. and their misguided dreams, it is in the corporate headquarters who use labor and think of human labor as a disposable resource …. PROFIT is the true heart of America, and now that it is obvious to the world .. we will pay a price that will isolate us for the next few centuries ….. I have no hope over all of this, Glenn Beck wants a race war in this country to clear out anyone not as anemic as he seems to be .. he will probably get it, can you imagine him picking carrots ????
As you pointed out, Grainne, the neo-nazi; the racist; the small minded haven’t won. Hitler fed off an ideal for ethnic cleansing, and that’s not really what this is all about. “Papers. Where’s your papers?” As chilling as it sounds, let’s notch up the visuals a bit. Hitler led a concentrated force that sought a superior race (Assyrian) society. The mongrel heritage of modern Americans make this a distinct (thankfully) impossibility. It doesn’t exclude, however, the cautionary tale of George Orwell’s “1984”.
Eternal little wars within wars, organizations claiming to promote love when in fact they foster hate, yesterday’s news shredded into the trash bins as today’s spin doctrines of “truth” is carefully crafted for the advantages of tomorrow’s ambition… and what could be the ambition?
What Hitler was not able to achieve and what the sly doctrines of a collective assembly working blindly to wield their clubs of power have successfully entailed, is the turning in of neighbor against neighbor, family member against family member, in an eager effort to control the actions of each other. Although charges might be dropped or minor fines employed for determined infractions; such as excessive noise, vagrancy, public drunk or minors out past curfew; a mark is placed within the conduct files of the law enforcement body. A profile is acquired. A few of these marks, indelible to the public, and the subject will have difficulties in obtaining a passport, getting a job, obtaining affordable insurance.
In the City of Anchorage, one must show state identification in order to buy alcohol or cigarettes, even if the person is obviously eighty years old. Ostensibly, this is to determine whether or not the person has a drunk driving record, which will show up in the color code of the person’s I.D., but in reality, it makes no sense to ask an eighty year old woman who doesn’t even go to the liquor side, but only wishes to buy a pack of cigarettes. Anchorage wishes to make its paper-proving law a mandatory policy for the state.
The greatest conflict i had when i began domestic violence counseling, was a law that intruded on our confidentiality statement. In its great wisdom, (under the guidance of then, Mayor Palin, i might add) a law was enacted that made it obligatory for a counselor to report any suspicions of infractions of the law, including possible drug, mental or physical abuses, harboring a child with a parent in question during a custody battle, the activities of harbored teen run-away’s, and violent episodes, which can be classified as no more than fits of anger. I failed to see how turning these victims of abuse cycles could benefit from a law enforcement body that uses force and violence as a means of control. It lies directly contrary to what my counselor guidance was trying to teach.
The rudiments of teaching families to use the courts to settle their disagreements instead of inner-family counsel,of teaching public service citizens to ask for a demonstration of papers, of turning in your neighbor for annoying but not unlawful activity, is the process of indoctrination through re-enforcement. Arizona’s new immigration laws are the next step in this process of obligatory watch dog over each other. Should we accept such blatant expressions of control over our every day lives to continue, we might as well surrender ourselves to Orwell’s nightmare of the future; the giant foot of tyranny crushing down on the head of humanity forever.
In India, we are swamped with illegal Bangladeshi immigrants – so many that Bangladesh is virtually solving its population problem by exporting the excess to India. The borders have recently partially been fenced, but all that has achieved is that the illegal immigrants bribe the border guards, at som many rupees per head.
The Bangladeshi immigrant is chameleon-like and able to merge into almost any environment. He works cheaper than the local, works harder, and because of his sheer numbers son displaces the local from the lower-end workforce. And then, suddenly, you find you can’t expel him even if you want, because the labour-intensive society will collapse on its face.
“Out of state drivers are targeted as well. Officials in Phoenix, for example, say they will require out-of-state drivers to have a passport or visa or be subject to arrest.”
Yes, that about does it for us long haired hippies. I guess we’d be arrested and deported for not having a passport even if we ARE law abiding taxpayers and American citizens? I can hear it now.
“You’re in a heap o’ trouble, there, boy! You look like a troublemaker ta’ me! Gid outta thuh CAR!”
In areas like that, having long hair is “reasonable suspicion for being a lawbreaker.”
These laws and actions are against the very liberties this country was founded upon. They’ve tried to force a particular religion, limit their part of the country to only the white race (unless their crops need pickin’), limit speech to what appeals to them, and use bulldog cops to enforce their regulations. On top of that, they’ve supported the party that made it possible for the oil companies to destroy the environment. If we can’t get laws like this overturned, the future of the United States of America doesn’t look bright.
Oh damn! I have Cherokee and Irish blood in me TOO! I’d better start lookin’ fer a new country and FAST!
Signs
Cal, my ancestors even lived till 1947 in what is now Bangladesh. In some peoples’ eyes that makes me literally a foreigner.
“IRLI has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.”
There is no legal definition for “hate groups”, which is why even the FBI does not track “hate groups”. If there is no legal definition, what exactly is this “law center” tracking? (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-A)
The SPLC is a self-proclaimed “watchdog” group that has no mandate and is subject to no external oversight or review. It hides behind the meaningless smear “hate group” in order to render groups with which it disagrees as “radioactive” in the public arena, thereby stifling all civil discussion and debate.
Professional journalists and legitimate news organizations should not use the spurious and deliberately misleading term “hate groups.”
Incidentally, NOT ONE of the SPLC’s top ten, highest paid executives is a minority. (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-3r)
If these are your “experts” you can probably find better ones.
@Richard Keefe- thanks for that. I had not sited the SPLC as experts, merely quoted them in their listing. Neither did I refer to IRLI as a “hate group” but rather pointed to the fact that others were using that language. It is however a fact that IRLI has been behind numerous lawsuits regarding immigrants both legal and illegal mainly from Mexico.
I do however find it interesting and useful information to know that not one of thier executives are minorities. However, many minority empowering groups start out this way, with concerned citizens who are caucasian, the NAACP being one.
It is also my understanding that the FBI does in fact track “hate groups” although the language around this has changed to terrorist cells in recent times. If you have more information regarding this I would love to have you share it.
I think Arizona is the perfect place to get vegetables. There seem to be a lot of them there.
LOL! I just found this blog while looking for something else. I have NEVER seen such a bunch of trash in my life. I’m ashamed to even be on the internet, knowing that this ignorant crap is there, too. You may be the one of the biggest idiots/liars that I’ve ever seen. Apparently, you’ve got a couple of little followers here, too. Well, good for you! Every moron needs some sidekicks, just ask Moe and Larry.
1) You say, “It requires law enforcement to make a reasonable attempt ‘when practicable’ to determine the immigration status of a person ‘where reasonable suspicion exists that the person’ is ‘unlawfully present in the U.S.'”
That’s 100% correct. However, you follow it with this nugget (and by “nugget” I mean “butt nugget” as in bullshit):
“The person does not have to be committing or even be suspicious of committing a crime.”
That’s just a downright, disgusting ignorant lie. The original bill (SB1070) required “reasonable suspicion” AFTER “lawful contact.” You and the other little whiney ‘tards cried and moaned long enough for Arizona to make it perfectly clear. AZ amended the Senate bill with HB2162, which specifically states that “lawful contact” as it regards SB1070 must be in the enforcement of any other law or ordinance of a county, city or town or this state.
That clearly means (for even the completely brain-dead – which excludes you, obviously) that you can’t just enforce SB1070 unless there’s another “lawful stop, detention, or arrest… in the enforcement of any other law or ordinance of a county, city, or town or this state.” (Those quotes are the ACTUAL words from the ACTUAL bill. Not the ignorant rantings of the village idiot.)
2) You say, “Many documented immigrants living 10 years and more in the U.S., are already being deported, with more than half of all deportations made from people detained in Arizona.” First, that’s an incredibly unclear sentence. Actually, stunningly unclear. Did you mean UNdocumented immigrants (i.e., illegal aliens) or actual legal immigrants? Either way, you stupidly mixed two topics – illegal aliens (or legal, whatever the hell you meant) “living 10 years and more” and “more than half of deportations… Arizona.” Are you saying that more than half of all deportations of legal (or illegal, who knows with you) immigrants occurs from Arizona? If so, what the heck does that have to do with ANYTHING?!?!? Legal (documented) immigrants deported from Arizona are done so BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AFTER A LEGAL PROCESS?!?!?!? Your article is titled “Arizona’s Folly” and you give a list of “some concerns” about the Arizona law! How can FEDERAL deportations of illegal or legal aliens be a concern for ARIZONA’S FOLLY, you schmuck?!?!?!
By the way, just ’cause you’re too ignorant to KNOW it, more than half the illegals in the country come through ARIZONA. Guess it makes sense to everyone but YOU that ARIZONA deports half ’cause they’re the freaking source!
3) You say, “A carload of people that look like immigrants can be stopped for no reason,” but I say you’re a damned LIAR!!! I quote from the amended bill, “For any lawful contact stop, detention or arrest made by a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency of this state or a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency of a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state in the enforcement of any other law or ordinance of a county, city or town or this state where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who and is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person, except if the determination may hinder or obstruct an investigation.” But don’t let the facts or the language stand in the way of your idiocy please.
I am stunned at your stupidity. Stunned.
4) You say, “It Requires employers to keep E-Verify records of employees’ eligibility. E-verify is notoriously wrong concerning verification, with many people wrongly identified as without documentation. Employers who knowingly employ undocumented workers do not face criminal charges but can lose their licenses.”
Arizona has been working with eVerify for YEARS!!!! YEARS!!!!! YEARS!!!!! YEARS!!!!! Works just fine, moron. In fact, some a-holes like yourself sued the state over it ’cause they just LOVE giving criminals jobs. Guess what! They lost! In federal court! L-O-S-T!!!! eVerify WORKS and will continue to WORK in Arizona.
Sigh. I have no more time for this, but one more “gem” from your shite, I mean, site.
5) You say, “The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police and several sheriffs have also come out against the law, calling it burdensome and an intrusion into a federal matter. With most police agencies already checking immigration status of those who come into custody, this new law seems unnecessary and indeed expands the powers of the police to the point that abuses are bound to occur.”
Where to start on the retardation here? If “most police agencies already checking immigration status of those who come into custody” (a big, fat lie by you, by the way), then how is it that REQUIRING it will be “burdensome” and “an intrusion into a federal matter.” If they’re already DOING it then they’re already intruding into a federal matter and it apparently AIN’T burdensome. If “most police agencies already check immigration status of those who come into custody,” how can codify this procedure for ALL (not MOST, ALL) “expand the powers of the police to the point that abuses are bound to occur.” I mean, how can requiring all agencies to do what you say MOST already do be an expansion of power to the point of abuse? Is it your contention that the ones who DON’T do this are so incompetent as to abuse the requirement?
he ACTUAL fact of the matter is that SOME do it (Maricopa Sheriff’s Department) and SOME don’t (Phoenix PD).
No more time. You’re ridiculous.
Well, ah think ya done got Bubba all stirred up with this one. Of course, the author DID fail to point out that the law just covered whut all them good ol’ police ociffers has been doin’ all along. Now theys kin a do it legully. It ain’t no burden. It’s been a bona-fide commitmunt of all gud Arizona ociffers what loves his country ta ask people what seems suspicious like havin’ darker skin or bein’ a guy with long hare ta show thar papers. That’s hows us good ol’ Southern boys keep the white shinin’ an free from hippies an’ faggots. God bless Arizona.
Now lookie here all you sidewindin’ Yankee libural faggots. We know what’s best for America. As long as they kin read good enough to learn how to turn them valves, drill them rigs, an light them furnaces at the refineries, that’s all they NEED ta know. You fancy pants know it alls ain’t got sense God gave a maggot. All them hairbrained idears ya git from yer book learning ain’t worth two cents when it comes ta oil production or coal minin’. How are ya gonna git to yer fancy shmancy faggot lovin’ meetins without no gas fer yer car. Without the coal, you Yankees would freeze in the Winter, which would probably be best fer ya anyway. Ah’m tired a heerin’ you bleeded hearted liburals carryin’ on about whose rights got violated ’cause what ya said ain’t politicul correct. You’ll be sorry when the South rises agin an kicks your lilly white asses back up to Canada where your draft dodgin’ butts belong!
@ Walter- I certainly approve of the gusto with which you defend your opinion. It is always my intention to bring out emotion in readers-just check my bio on our “about us” page.
You may be surpised to know that I actually agree with you on some of your points. Such as I am aware that Arizona is one of the states with the highest Mexican Immigration crossovers. However, as Jack White pointed out in his song “Icky Stomp”- “You can’t be a pimp and a prostitute too.” meaning, we cross-over at a high rate there to partake of all the alluring cheap and less than socially approved goods we can’t get here without being called to task. We also are more than happy to hire cheap labour especially in economically hard times, but we seemingly want to make sure that the labor removes themselves to the other side of the fence at quitting time.
In all honesty I understand the need to police our borders. It is a part of what it means to be a country. My feeling is there has to be a better way to do this than to pull over anybody with a broken tail-light and drag them in. And requiring all citizens regardless of whom they are or the colour of their skin to carry papers, passports, etc. is down right fascist. Not that very many Norwegian immigrants are going to be hassled. But, how on earth is an already taxed police system supposed to deal with all that?
As for the The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police you would have to take their statement and position up with them, they made it not me. I did however take the time to refrence everything so you can find out where these groups are, what they are saying and how to contact them with your statements regarding their “bullshit” however I kinda think they won’t give a damn what you say, they have to make a staggering budget stretch for an already overtasked police force.
If I had to pick one thing that concerned me the most about this law it would be the fact that a citizen can sue the police, state and local government to “check out” the status of anyone. That’s ANYONE. What that amounts to blatant harrassment and this type of reporting your neighbors leads down a slippery slope of antilocution that could go very very badly both sociologically and fiscally.
But who knows maybe Arizona will make it easier for this law to be enforced by, I don’t know, requiring documented immigrants to wear some sort of patch on their clothing.
**as a side note for anyone who truly wants to suss out the particulars of the law I posted a link to the actual bill so readers can study it and form their own opinions which is truly what I personally think is best.
@Sam Hill- Now why would you want to kick our “lilly white asses” to Canada, I was under the impression that you liked lilly white asses.
Also my “book learnin'” taught me that Arizona was not a Southern nor Confederate state but rather a frontier addition. I guess that’s what I get for belivin’ on them books. Damn books, I guess Texas has the right of it, rewritin’ them and all.
Walter, there is one thing i’ve learned about people who name call; they are bullies. Fearful that their position isn’t strong enough in a debate, they resort to names meant to shame, ridicule and humiliate the opposition. You were not able to complete a single paragraph, and scarcely a single sentence without referring to the author of this article as an idiot. The tactics are the same as those of a bully. A bully beats up anyone who doesn’t agree with his statements or actions. By calling the author an idiot, you imply that anyone who is in agreement with any part of the article is also an idiot and deserves shame, ridicule and humiliation; a psychological beating.
You are obviously a whitey. This is not name calling, but observation. If you were a person of a darker color or often seen in public with a group of dark skinned people, you would know from experience that law enforcement agencies already discriminate greatly in their perception of illegal activity. You are far more likely to be targeted out as a suspicious person, possibly involved in drug trafficking, prostitution or theft if you happen to be out on the streets late at night, when your skin is brown and your eyes are black, than if you are clearly white. From traffic violations to suspicion of murder, a brown skinned person is far more likely to receive the maximum fine or sentence than a white person. You would know this intimately, without the needs of files and statistics if you didn’t live in an elitist group of Colonial White considerations, because you would be a witness.
While the white superiority groups are teeth gnashing over illegal immigration, perhaps you should contemplate the dozens; perhaps hundreds; of American colonies in Mexico. People go there, vacation there, live there, trundling in their beloved dollars that stretch farther in these towns with a lowered cost of living; taking advantage of the balmy weather, the beautiful beaches, the mind boggling archeological sites; but their dollars do not benefit the Mexican citizens. They benefit the wealthy land owners, the businessmen and American enterprises that invested into the creation of these colonies. On the outskirts and beyond, the citizens toil in poverty. They look at the fine homes, the well-nourished bodies, the wonderful toys of the American visitors and envy their wealth. Their poverty, communally shared, is suddenly more intense and pitiful in comparison. Is it any wonder they dream and aspire to go to the United States, when the rewards are so obviously tempting? If the United States so diligently wishes to build a wall that will keep immigrants out, perhaps Mexico should begin removing these pampered American Colonialists who do absolutely nothing to improve the well-being of the society they invaded. Send them back to the United States where their dollars will do the most good.
Incidentally, i live in a state that is thirty-seven percent indigenous. We also have a large Asian population and a cross-cultural community that is astonishingly blind to distinctions of color. Because of the advent of the New Alaskan, a rather distasteful society whose bloodhound nose only sniffs for profit and never once loved the aspects of the territory they have decided to pimp, a great many of the native Alaskans have been tossing around the rather questionable legality of the Alaskan Constitution, wondering if we should secede from the Union. If Arizona’s brilliant immigration laws become a National pastime, i say, yes we should. Then we could pass out green cards for any US citizens hoping to settle in Alaska, deciding for ourselves whether or not we want them here. It would give me enormous pleasure to walk up to a whitey and ask him, “where’s your papers?”
Deport all illegal aliens. I’ll grow my own veggies, thank you.
Illegal aliens are illegal aliens and do not belong in the United States sucking up social services, education, and law enforcement dollars. Adios bendejos!
wow, awesome article post.Thanks Again. Really Cool.
Ok seriously, I need to get some sleep as its almost 4am here, just wanted to comment with my appreciation for reading your posts. G’nite all!
Illegal immigrants were causing an increase in crime, taking jobs that would once have gone to longtime residents, and changing the character of their quiet city.