Arizona’s immigration law, SB 1070, has been a big controversy for some time now. The law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration cards at all times so that police may easily check their status if they suspect that they are not U.S. citizens. A judge ruled on the law yesterday and found some parts of it unconstitutional, but upheld the majority of SB 1070.
Some claim this law encourages racial profiling in order to be effective, and I agree. The first question that a police officer would have to ask themselves upon acting in accordance with the law is, “Does this person look like an immigrant?” There is something very wrong with that, seeing as the U.S. prides itself with its acceptance of all of its citizens and residents. There are many immigrants in the U.S., who acquire their citizenship after a certain amount of time spent working in the country. Those immigrants don’t get rid of their accents or their looks upon receiving their new citizenship. They, therefore, become targets under this new law, and they are U.S. citizens. The generations that follow them, generations of U.S. born citizens, may not have the accents, but will retain the looks, making them targets as well. Will those U.S. born citizens have to carry their documents with them at all time because of their skin?
Supporters of the law claim that many jobs in Arizona are given to illegal immigrants, and not to unemployed U.S. citizens. The jobs that are given away though, are not jobs most people would like to have. Working conditions are usually not up to par and most U.S. citizens will not be willing to perform the jobs illegal immigrants perform.
Amongst other things states don’t have the power to take immigration enforcement into their own hands. That’s the job of the federal government. This law undermines and takes away power from the federal government, which may prove to be even more controversial in the long run, after the debate for this law has passed.
Illegal immigration has always been an issue in this country, but dealing with it in an unconstitutional way is not how we should go about resolving that issue.
"Amongst other things states don’t have the power to take immigration enforcement into their own hands. That’s the job of the federal government." I don't recall this type of immigration law being delegated as a federal right in the US Constitution. According to the 10th amendment, any rights not delegated to the federal government are reserved for the states, so, actually, Arizona does have the right to impose their own set of immigration laws. The first clause of the SB even states that, "NO OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE MAY ADOPT A POLICY THAT LIMITS OR RESTRICTS THE ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS TO LESS THAN THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY FEDERAL LAW." This is a common misconception and the federal government loves it. They want you to think they have a lot more power than they actually do. An example of this is the healthcare bill passed by president Obama. He mandated that by 2014 all Americans must have some form of healthcare or pay a fine. He has no authority to do this. Texas, among other states, sued the federal government for this unconstitutional law.
ReplyDeleteAnother point of yours that didn't quite settle with me is that you seem to think that Arizona police officers are going to become Mexican hunters. This is not the case. Quoted from SB 1070, "FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE, WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON." Officers will not seek out brown people and demand to see proof of citizenship. The minute they did that to a high-powered Hispanic, the state of Arizona would see a multi-million dollar lawsuit. What the SB 1070 law allows for is requesting proof of citizenship when a crime, such as a robbery, has been committed or, when applying for a job. I wonder if you've even read the SB 1070 or just take what you hear about it for truth.
Carrying around proof of citizenship doesn't seem a the nightmare you paint it out to be. I carry my drivers license on me all the times and never once has it bothered me or seemed inconvenient. Pulling out a piece of paper every once and awhile seems like a small price to pay to reduce the number of illegal immigrants. Millions of American tax dollars are going towards putting illegal immigrants through school. I don't see why, if someone want to be in America so badly, that they wouldn't fill out the application and pay the fees. What if they can't afford the fees? I hope they're not moving to America to become a homeless bum, so, if they aren't, their going to have an income which means they can pay the fee and pay taxes.
If people want to come to America, they need to do it the right way.
I've provided a link to SB 1070, in case you want to read it.
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf