Don’t get me wrong, it’s the natural obligation of any government to make sure all of it’s citizens are doing well before it begins any trend of permanently accepting outsiders. What I’m contesting here is a new law put forth by the state of Arizona. The title says it all: "The Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act," known otherwise as Senate Bill (SB) 1070. Consider it to be pretty much an amendment to their already existing anti-illegal immigration laws. My opposition to it is the same reason I opposed wire-tapping during the Bush era; at what point will the government stop targeting criminals and start targeting you or me?
Much of the concern with Arizona’s new law is the feared carte blanche it seems to give it’s law enforcement. The green light is given to AZ cops to single-out, question, search, arrest, and harass brown-skinned people for no other reason than, well... being brown. I imagine this is salivating news to many in that conservative state. White republicans get to root for Arizona’s finest to roust some undesirables. It’s legalized profiling. This law no doubt makes a lot of suburban-living white backyard barbeque cops bang their fists together. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to note the national climate from which this measure rose, something I call the MAO (Mad At Obama) Syndrome. If Bill Clinton’s actions produced the "Angry White Male," then Obama has garnered some angry white males and females.
Arizona’s MAO Syndrome is more than ironic. If you oppose this law, then you’re quite literally in the minority. According to a CBS/New York Times poll, only 36% of the people polled say the law goes too far, 51% say the law is pretty much on the mark and of course 9% say the 1070 doesn’t go far enough. The one question standing outside of Arizona’s "For Colored’s Only" window is will this bill reduce crime, as some of it’s proponents claim? According to the poll, just under half don’t even care.
I’ve wrote a few years ago that the only group in this country even qualified to discuss or enforce anti-immigration are the Native Americans. From what I’ve seen of SB 1070, it looks like the most concise pro-cop amendment since Mandatory Minimums, 16 pages of the slickest race-hate out there. Much of it reads pretty innocently: "The provisions of this act are intended to work together to discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens and economic activity by persons unlawfully present in the United States." In fact much of it seems like an ordinary anti-immigration bill, until you get to page 5 of section 4E, conspicuously lettered in caps: "NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER, A PEACE OFFICER MAY LAWFULLY STOP ANY PERSON WHO IS OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE THE OFFICER HAS REASONABLE SUSPICION TO BELIEVE THE PERSON IS IN VIOLATION OF ANY CIVIL TRAFFIC LAW AND THIS SECTION."
Illegal aliens have been successful not because of the lack of SB 1070, but due to deliberate lack of manpower at the border and/or lack of funding. It’s not the Mexicans or Obama, stupid. The President himself says the bill is "misguided" and irresponsible. The good news is that Senate Bill 1070 is not a done deal yet - it is due to take effect on July 28th. Lawsuits have been filed even by native Arizonians including the cities of Tucson and Flagstaff. Here’s a law that almost takes you back 940 years to the medieval times of 1070 A.D. Hence the need to shut it down.
