So how about that Arizona Immigration Law?
I’m surprised no one has brought this up yet. As it’s the single most sweeping and aggressive immigration bill to date (and seeing as we have more than a few immigrants here on this site), I thought it worth bringing up. I’ve only heard a smattering of what this bill actually legislates, but what I do know is…
- Illegal immigration is now a state felony.
- Police are now required by law to interrogate anyone suspicious of being an illegal immigrant. Legal immigrants and citizens alike must carry papers on them at all times proving immigration status.
- Citizens are allowed to sue the police for not properly enforcing this new law.
It is within any US Citizen’s right to refuse to show identification, which would seem to be a rather large loophole. However several Arizona politicians have claimed this would be a non-issue because the police find other reasons to arrest someone who didn’t show papers.
So what do you guys make of all this? How long do we give this law before it’s challenged and struck down by a higher court? Or is this thing here to stay? Does anyone like this bill or care to defend it?
Comments
I think it’s pretty obvious on so many top-line and easy levels why the whole thing is ridiculous so that’s probably why nobody posted anything about it.
That being said, I eagerly await the coming onslaught of condemnations of this law from the Tea Party crowd who are so vehemently anti government-over-stepping their bounds, anti intruding on citizen’s freedoms/liberties, and so virulently anti-fascism, and who assure us none of their beliefs have ANYTHING to do with racism. I mean all of those patriotic sons and daughters of freedom and liberty and the constitution must just be totally offended by this law. Right?
Kevin said:That being said, I eagerly await the coming onslaught of condemnations of this law from the Tea Party crowd who are so vehemently anti government-over-stepping their bounds, anti intruding on citizen’s freedoms/liberties, and so virulently anti-fascism, and who assure us none of their beliefs have ANYTHING to do with racism. I mean all of those patriotic sons and daughters of freedom and liberty and the constitution must just be totally offended by this law. Right?
hahahahahah well played, sir.
I mean fucking seriously. All kidding aside….we have these mentally unhinged twits screaming day in and day out about fascism and totalitarianism because some politicians voted to extend health benefits and reasonable care to sick people, but when other politicians actually enact laws and policies which are by their very definition and similarity “facist” and nazi-like, these jerk offs seem to be (mostly and so far, admittedly) completely silent.
Time will tell I suppose but this legislation is the perfect opportunity to weed this shit out and get to the bottom of it. So unless some goofy hat wearing motherfuckers start condemning this law with equal fervor and post haste then they better just pack up those misspelled signs and shut the fuck up and go home.
I work with mostly Mexican immigrants in California and they are worried about the law spreading. I think the majority of them are legal now but they don’t care for the idea of being profiled more than they already are. I don’t think any of them are interested in ever having to sue a police officer.
I gotta say that I’m interested to see what comes of this. Personally I think its everything unAmerican and a bald faced violation of civil rights. Though I think this will be quite the lab test for the state of our nation.
My first inclination would be that there will be a voter backlash and it will be repealed after the next round of elections, but according to NPR, the majority of voters in the state support it.
Obviously there will be court challenges, and I can only assume it will make it to the supremes. I very much would like to see how they rule on what seems to be a blatantly obvious violation of civil rights and yet is a major conservative cause. Mostly, I really want to hear that they are actually just very conservative, but still principled jurists, versus the partisan hacks a few decisions have suggested.
Thirdly, this may have a large economic front. The same people that are the target of this law make up a significant portion of Arizona’s economy, and Mexico, who I learned today is Arizona’s largest trading partner, is understandably pissed and is already issuing travel warnings, which sounds more like the kind of thing you hear for Burma or the Congo, not the US. I wonder if this will have a huge impact and be repealed by necessity, or if the sudden flight of illegal workers will alleviate the unemployment faced by citizens.
No matter what, it’s bullshit, but at least it looks like it will be teachable bullshit.
I think people in Arizona are supporting this bill out of fear. Not a day goes by without another news story about ten people being murdered in Ciudad Juarez.
I think the only way to get people against this bill is to scare them with how much things will cost if all the illegals do leave and citizens start doing those jobs for a decent wage.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the republicans handle this politically. On one hand, they need to pander to the bottom feeding, straight up racist/fear monger element. But they also need to keep the corporate benefactors happy, and they like cheap labor. And that’s not even getting into how big a demographic at this point the Latino vote is. So they are truly in a tough spot.
You can see it with McCain who has always been pro-immigration reform and amnesty and a more “liberal” way. But since he’s being challenged on his right, he came out and praised the law locally in Arizona. But when asked to discuss it nationally, he hedged again. I’m sure you’re going to see a lot of that type of thing.
And it will be interesting to see what happens with the Arizona economy. Like Evan said, will the flight of illegal workers increase legal employment? Or will the flight of legal Latino workers drain business and the economy to the point where it gets worse? Going to be interesting to see.