With a stroke of her pen, Gov. Jan Brewer (AR-R) not only signed into existence the toughest immigration law in the country, she also reignited a polarizing debate. Protesters held dozens of marches in Los Angeles, New York, and other cities on Saturday to cap a chaotic week. And with congressional elections six months away, the Arizona law has put the contentious vocabulary of "amnesty" for illegal immigrants vs. "securing our borders" back on center stage.
Somebody say "racism". Somebody say ''racial profiling". The main point of contention in this law is the responsibility given to local police to verify immigration status if there is a "reasonable suspicion" that a person is in the country illegally. Brewer has said Arizona was "forced to pass the law" because the federal government has failed to act on a flood of illegal immigrants.
There was a time (and in some areas, still is) when I or someone who looked like me gave police officers reasonable suspicion to believe that a crime might have been committed. You know, like a stick up, a carjacking, etc., take your pick. I have been stopped and searched (when I was in my teens and twenties) several times because I didn't look like I belonged certain places... at 6'+1", 200 lbs., and an African-American male, obviously shifty and suspicious.
Now, any Mexican or person of Latin descent may be stopped and even worse, asked to prove that they are indeed an American citizen and face being escorted over the border if they can't prove it in Arizona. At least, nobody doubted that I was an American. The worst that ever happened to me is that I got dropped off in some God-forsaken neighborhood far from where I lived and was forced to make it home the best I could.
Such indignities is just par for the course of growing up male and of a certain race and economic class in this country. There are some people reading this who won't believe this, will think I'm lying, and can't conceive of this type of treatment. Yet, for many in this country, they know exactly what I'm talking about and have been through worse.
I feel for Mexicans and Americans of Latin descent in Arizona. Laws like this will open up a can of worms for abuse. Some civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say the law will mean racial profiling, unfairly targeting Latinos who are in the country legally or were born here.
Congress jumped back into the debate Thursday, when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid outlined a legislative proposal that would increase border security and give some of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a chance to earn citizenship. President Barack Obama has ordered a review by the Justice Department into whether the Arizona law, scheduled to go into effect in late July, is constitutional.
The first legal challenges were filed in Arizona last week. Civil rights groups, including the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund, are mounting a broader attack. They say the law infringes on federal responsibility and violates the 14th Amendment's equal-protection clause. Supporters of the law are comfortable that it will hold up.
Yes, supporters of this bill would be comfortable. They are comfortable because they will never be stopped by a policeman and asked if they are an American. They will never be stopped by a policeman because they are the wrong color or they don't look like they belong in a certain place... and that's why they can afford to be comfortable.
You know, Black people have yelled and screamed about racial profiling for years and for years, we were yelling alone. After September 11, 2oo1, Arabs and people who practiced the religion of Islam got a taste of it and now Latin Americans are getting a taste. At least, it's just not one race protesting against it now.
Funny thing, though... Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma Federal Building bomber, was a White American male with a crew cut. I didn't see White males with crew cuts or buzz cuts being pulled out of cars and searched after his crime was committed. I bet if that had happened, laws like the one in Arizona would not have passed or at least it would have been more difficult to pass.
I guess until "Real Americans" get it, all of us marginal Americans will continue to catch it.
Somebody say "racism". Somebody say ''racial profiling". The main point of contention in this law is the responsibility given to local police to verify immigration status if there is a "reasonable suspicion" that a person is in the country illegally. Brewer has said Arizona was "forced to pass the law" because the federal government has failed to act on a flood of illegal immigrants.
There was a time (and in some areas, still is) when I or someone who looked like me gave police officers reasonable suspicion to believe that a crime might have been committed. You know, like a stick up, a carjacking, etc., take your pick. I have been stopped and searched (when I was in my teens and twenties) several times because I didn't look like I belonged certain places... at 6'+1", 200 lbs., and an African-American male, obviously shifty and suspicious.
Now, any Mexican or person of Latin descent may be stopped and even worse, asked to prove that they are indeed an American citizen and face being escorted over the border if they can't prove it in Arizona. At least, nobody doubted that I was an American. The worst that ever happened to me is that I got dropped off in some God-forsaken neighborhood far from where I lived and was forced to make it home the best I could.
Such indignities is just par for the course of growing up male and of a certain race and economic class in this country. There are some people reading this who won't believe this, will think I'm lying, and can't conceive of this type of treatment. Yet, for many in this country, they know exactly what I'm talking about and have been through worse.
I feel for Mexicans and Americans of Latin descent in Arizona. Laws like this will open up a can of worms for abuse. Some civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say the law will mean racial profiling, unfairly targeting Latinos who are in the country legally or were born here.
Congress jumped back into the debate Thursday, when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid outlined a legislative proposal that would increase border security and give some of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a chance to earn citizenship. President Barack Obama has ordered a review by the Justice Department into whether the Arizona law, scheduled to go into effect in late July, is constitutional.
The first legal challenges were filed in Arizona last week. Civil rights groups, including the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund, are mounting a broader attack. They say the law infringes on federal responsibility and violates the 14th Amendment's equal-protection clause. Supporters of the law are comfortable that it will hold up.
Yes, supporters of this bill would be comfortable. They are comfortable because they will never be stopped by a policeman and asked if they are an American. They will never be stopped by a policeman because they are the wrong color or they don't look like they belong in a certain place... and that's why they can afford to be comfortable.
You know, Black people have yelled and screamed about racial profiling for years and for years, we were yelling alone. After September 11, 2oo1, Arabs and people who practiced the religion of Islam got a taste of it and now Latin Americans are getting a taste. At least, it's just not one race protesting against it now.
Funny thing, though... Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma Federal Building bomber, was a White American male with a crew cut. I didn't see White males with crew cuts or buzz cuts being pulled out of cars and searched after his crime was committed. I bet if that had happened, laws like the one in Arizona would not have passed or at least it would have been more difficult to pass.
I guess until "Real Americans" get it, all of us marginal Americans will continue to catch it.
5 comments:
the following quote is the best part of this post.... I love it and it's soooo true.... one day they will understand that racial profiling isn't the way to go......"You know, Black people have yelled and screamed about racial profiling for years and for years, we were yelling alone. After September 11, 2oo1, Arabs and people who practiced the religion of Islam got a taste of it and now Latin Americans are getting a taste. At least, it's just not one race protesting against it now."
Keith,
You can't believe their is a problem with this legislation. Like she said, something had to be done.
On another note a crime was comitted in North Carolina and the perp is headed North on I 95 and may be headed towards Philly after they get through Maryland.
If you see a black male between
5' 9" and 6' 2" weighing between 180 and 220 lbs, driving and SUV, don't try to stop him, call the cops.
This excludes the following,
Rich Fitzgerals, SLC, Keith, Don, 25Champ, 12Kyle, Moaner, All Mi T, Carey Carey, Zack, my cousins Robert, Lorenzo, Lonell, John, Clarence, and Fitzgerald.
Anybody else, might be him!
This law gives the police the ability to enforce even MORE of their power. I'd be leary of laws like this. Today it's Latinos...tomorrow it's the bruthas. Even tho we are American's you never know how this law could be a "springboard" for another law.
The Patriot Act was put into place to "combat terrorism". That law strips us of some basic civil liberties.
Until this country, the government, the police, and people in general can learn from individual experience to love or hate democratically, there will always be a racial problem in this grand ole Land of Milk and Honey.
Accent on the MILK.
This legislation serves as another grim reminder at those of us who are HONEY-colored or darker... best beware!
One.
I concur with: "You know, Black people have yelled and screamed about racial profiling for years and for years, we were yelling alone. After September 11, 2001, Arabs and people who practiced the religion of Islam got a taste of it and now Latin Americans are getting a taste...."
Thanks for knowing ...
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