I have been fuming about the new immigration law in Arizona for days now......well, when thinking of Arizona and immigration, I think I've been fuming for years.
Now, don't get me wrong.....illegal immigration is most definitely an issue that our country needs to deal with. I'm not denying the many cons associated with illegal immigration.
However, creating a law in which local police officials, as opposed to federal agents, are given the responsibility of enforcing a federal law is just plain foolish. I know that there are many more urgent local issues that I want my police to attend to, as opposed to the almost all law-abiding (albeit the illegal crossing of the border) person who is walking down the street.
The idea that racial-profiling will not be used in a state that is mostly Caucasian and where most of the illegal immigrants are of Mexican-descent, is hard to believe. Though I often state being Latino is not a race (it's an ethnicity), I am not naive enough to think that brown-skinned individuals will not be targeted by this new law.
And how exactly are law officials going to verify documents? If employers haven't had the chance to do it when hiring individuals with fake documentation, how is joe-schmo cop on the street going to do it? Businesses have been trying to figure out how to deal with illegal immigration for years with no real answer.
I can only begin to imagine the number of people who are going to be incarcerated unfairly.
Today....I'm happy to say that I do not live in Arizona. I'll keep my snowy Illinois winters.
Amen to that! This new law is a disgrace.
ReplyDeletei remember when mode and i walked in fear in kazakhstan - worrying we'd be stopped by the police there even though we were legally there. was a scary feeling.
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