Arizona passed a law that criminalizes illegal immigration by defining it as trespassing. The law empowers the police to question anyone they have a “reasonable suspicion” is an illegal immigrant. Reasonable suspicion? What exactly constitutes reasonable suspicion? Living while under the influence of brown skin? Getting caught speaking a language other than English? I’m pretty sure that a light-skinned, blue-eyed person won’t raise too much suspicion, even if they are an illegal immigrant, but a legal brown-skinned person might.
WTF? Supposedly the law spells out that police cannot question someone on their immigration status based “solely on race, color, or national origin”. Does that mean that as long as race, color. or national origin is combined with some other reasonably suspicious illegal immigrant behavior like eating corn tortillas instead of flour then it’s okay? I’m sorry, but this is some kind of bullsh$t and it terrifies me.
I am not the only one who is upset by this law. Some are calling for boycotts of Arizona. In Phoenix there have been swastikas drawn on windows with refried beans. I rarely speak of politics here, but some things are too important to ignore. This affects all of us, not just some of us.
First they came for the socialists,
And I did not speak out-
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
And I did not speak out –
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
And I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me –
And there was no one left to speak for me.Martin Niemoller (1892-1984)
Click HERE to view the language of the actual bill.
I've heard lots about this, and as a Canadian, I guess I just have no concept of how this can happen today! Unless you are Native American, we are ALL immigrants of other nations.
If it makes you feel any better at all, the border agents at the Canada/US border make EVERYONE feel like a criminal, and I'm whiter than white bread.
This is terrifying me all the way up in Canada.
These laws already exist and are not being enforced by the federal government. There are many law enforcement personnel in Arizona saying they won't enforce the state laws, either. Now Texas is talking about passing a similar law. I think I hate all career politicians. They care more about getting votes than doing what's right for the country…or even just doing what's right.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't America made of all immigrant at one time or another. Didn't all our ancestors come over via boat? I feel like we keep stepping backwards instead of forward.
I feel the same way and it really bums me out. It is our diversity that makes us strong.
I am equally outraged by this. How insane?! Maybe, since they aren't targeting people by “solely on race, color, or national origin”…they are only stopping people wearing tee shirts that say “I Am an Illegal Immigrant”?!
Thank you for sharing that poem, btw.
I kicked a politician off my doorstep last year that is an Immigrant Hater, hope he forgets and comes by again this year!
Thank you for making me laugh about something that really upsets me. The idea of the T-shirt really cracked me up. It would make for a great skit on Saturday Night Live.
You should have put a paper bag over your head and we could have been twins.
Posting a political view on a non political blog takes some bravery and I applaud for doing it. You do run the risk of getting some readers turned off. But I suspect if they support such a dumb ill-thought out law then you might not miss them anyway. I don't like getting political much on my blog but sometimes events do really piss you off and it's hard not to speak up.
I just read today that the Arizona baseball team will be playing the Chicago Cubs today and there is a planned protest.
Also, there's a good chance I'll be visiting relatives in AZ this year and I'm wondering if I should bring my passport along in case I tan too much before the trip.
all the best to you
What is the answer to the illegal immigration problem? It affects us all. I'm glad we open our doors to people who wish to come here from other countries, but they need to go through the proper channels.
The people who cross the border illegally do so to work, and guess what, they find work. It is strange and sad that states like AZ have so very many people working without proper paperwork, but somebody is hiring them. Why aren't the employers arrested if the lawmakers are all about things being on the up and up and totally legal. Anyone with half a pea brain knows the people who signed this law into effect are after one thing only. I fear so many bad things are going to happen because of this insanity in AZ.
I agree. I am not debating that there is an illegal immigration problem, but this is not the answer. It was not very long ago that Latinos is California were rounded up and deported regardless of whether they were citizens or not. People who were born and raised here ended up on trains being shipped to Mexico.
Also, historically in this country whenever we have financial problems we tend to become xenophobic and focus on illegal immigration, it is an attempt to place blame. Yes, we need to work on our issues with illegal immigration, but this is not right.
Since I live in AZ, I've been planning on doing my next post on this subject. In a nutshell, both Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Russell Pearce, a Mormon state legislator, are racist and rightist to the core. Why did the govenor sign the bill? We inherited Jan Brewer and her Republican butt when Janet Napolitano got tagged for Obama's cabinet and Brewer doesn't know s**t from shinola.
First of all, the problem of illegals rightly belongs to the federal Border Patrol, but they're ineffective (hold the front page). So now the racists have taken matters into their own hands—browns out, Mormon whites in.
There are a WHOLE lot of us who are sick about this—whites and browns who have been legal citizens for generations. The cops aren't too happy, either—many of them are brown and they aren't about to stop cars for “driving while brown.” They are, however, already in “training”.
As an aside, our esteemed governor,also signed into law the concealed weapons in bars without a Federal check or training if the weapon is not purchased from a licensed dealer. In the meantime, healthcare for uninsured kids has been cut off.
WTF, you say?
Hahaha…I'm picturing you wearing your passport as a necklace while sporting a tan.
Did you see SNL last week? They had a car with the back window soaped (or painted): Pull me over. I am in illegal immigrant.
PS – it's me, Mommakin – I can't sign in to your comments, so I rarely leave one anymore, but this issue makes me so furious I can't stay quiet. Also – have you heard about the guy running for office in Alabama who wants to not offer the test for your drivers license in anything other than English? This is getting real big real quick – and you're right – we need to speak up.
Actually, the combination of this and the guy in Alabama is what made me have to write this post. I felt so crushed yesterday and disappointed. You know the thing is that on a personal level, I can read and speak English better than Spanish, I am also light-skinned and would not arouse “reasonable suspicion”, BUT COME ON!!! This is just wrong. No one should have to go through these things. No one.
Let me guess – that one thing – the vote of the people with less than half a pea brain
Your comment alone would make an interesting post. Seriously, WTF?!
glad you commented – I never thought of the conflicted cops that now get blamed for a law they would not of passed.
Similarly scary stuff is being proposed here. It really makes me worry…
P.S. I'm sorry that you can't log in anymore. You know I love you and your comments. You are one of my favorite bloggers out there and I'm not afraid to shout it from the blogtops.
I haven't stopped reading, as the feeling is mutual. Plus – it looked
like it was gonna be hard today, but then it was easy – so maybe I'll be
able to get back in the groove.
How supporters of this law can argue that it doesn't permit racial profiling is completely beyond me.
That is WOW indeed. I am hoping that they mean anyone who is caught for other criminal behavior and upon discovering they were illegal immigrants, tack this on top of the original charges. That might make it more fair, because everyone gets pulled over, not just the minority groups. You know like cell phone laws– police cannot pull you over if they SEE you use a cell phone only, but they can pull you over for speeding or running a red light or whatever, and if you are using a cell phone, they can then charge you for it on top of the original charge.
I hope they don't mean to pull people over because of their skin color. I don't know what this world is coming to. It is not right. Swastakas in refried bean? EXCUSE ME?!
I don't support illegal immigrants if they refuse to work towards legalizing themselves (all it takes is a visa?), but I do recognize they're still human beings. That swastaka was totally uncalled for! Makes me sick!
It's scary that a country has not learned from it's past, right?
You know, as a Euro-American (white) it's really hard for me to connect at an experiential level with what's going on in Arizona, but it just sounds so very, very wrong. The sad thing is that some well-meaning people sitting in an office somewhere probably were trying to do something helpful for the economy or crime prevention or something. But yeah, it's like one step forward and 5 miles back.
On a lighter note, yesterday I was wearing a super-cute top with a similar neckline as the one in your profile picture and as I took the girls out for a walk all I could think about was “Sweet, I look just like Unknown Mami!” LOL. 🙂
Oh geez. I'm gonna get lambasted here.
See, I don't want to boycott AZ. And I think that being “illegal” immigrants, is, in itself, illegal. I don't think it's “trespassing”.
Anyway, I don't know that this is gonna fix the problem either…I just think they didn't know what else to do and got desparate.
I'm thinking that most police officers will be UBER careful about this new law because they don't want to get sued.
Now there's another post…how illegal people can SUE and win. Strange, but it happens. Which is sad, I think.
this law is amazingly bad on so many levels. some scary crap!
I don't think you will get lambasted because you didn't do any lambasting. I think it is important that we realize that we have different opinions and that we be able to state them openly and respectfully. Too many times we close ourselves off to dissenting opinions and only surround ourselves with like-minded people.
I do not know how to solve the problem of illegal immigration, I just think this is not a solution as much as it is a reactionary measure. As far as someone who is illegal being able to sue and win, just because someone is not here legally does not mean that illegal acts should be perpetrated against them. We should all have “human rights” regardless of where we are. Two wrongs do not make a right and the fact that our country would allow for the protection of all in the face of injustice, is one of the things that makes it great.
.
What I don't understand is, why do the people who are living in the United States 'illegally' continue to remain 'illegal'. Why can't they just go and file for citizenship? I remember back in high school, doing a report on what it takes to become a citizen of the U.S. and what I learned is that, the United States is one of the easiest countries to gain citizenship in. (I was in high school a really long time ago…maybe things have changed) I think that Australia was one of the toughest countries to gain citizenship in.
I think it is horrible what is going on in AZ and has been going on in general for “illegal immigrants”. I hate the phrase, illegal alien, too. My husband is Mexican from Mexico. His parents worked their butts off to get greencards for themselves and for all their children, they had 10 total and 8 are now in CA. They are all over here LEGALLY….but it cost his parents thousands of dollars to do it. I think they need to make it easier for people to come here legally. They come for a better life, for work, for their families, right??? SO, why make it hard on them and almost force them to do it illegally. Just my 2 cents, for what it's worth.
I think it's worth more than 2 cents.
Sometimes I think the reasons are financial. Fear is another big reason. Once you expose yourself, if you are not successful, you are screwed and how. Also, sometimes people don't know how to go about it and they are afraid to ask. It's easy to look at it as a simple process because for you and me it would be. We are used to having rights, knowing how to function within the system and we are not afraid. We also don't have as much to lose.
I don't know what it's like to live in a country illegally and I can't pretend to know the reasons why people do what they do. All I can say is that I am related to both people who are here legally and illegally. The ones who were able to be here legally did so and enjoy the privileges. My mother became a citizen so she could vote. Other members of my family have not been able to come here legally, but they've come because they've needed to. They are still working on becoming legal, but sometimes they are asked
to leave the country and that isn't an option financially. The ones that could make a life for themselves in their country of origin, happily stay there and work and live and only come here to visit legally.
Also, things have really changed since that fateful event in September a few years back. It's harder.
Anyway, I could go on and on about it, but it's still an outsider's perspective.
I saw this, I can't believe they did this. Apparently people learned nothing from Nazi Germany/WWII. This is racism, plain and simple.
Well, thanks! I just am not one to get into it regarding politics or religious views, ya know? But, I do feel strongly about this. I was just talking to my husband the other day about it, and I even told him they should make it easier for people to come over to America, because they want a better life. They work hard at the jobs they get here, harder then us white Americans…hate to say it, but it is true.
I don't think they are “steeling” our jobs, we are just lazy and want easy work for tons of money…just my thoughts. I know others wouldn't agree with that last statement and that is ok.
This can be a touchy subject for some.
I'm not sure how I feel about this one probably because I'm one of those white middle aged middle classed women who's never run up against authority for something I was “suspected of”. I am frightened at times of the road we seem to be heading down. And you are correct about this slippery slope. I love the quote you ended with. And it is so true. I miss the sense of freedom that used to be there. Not just this instance either. That family that sued because the school district had the cameras activated in the laptops. Creepy. I follow my kid around everywhere just in case he comes across the “wrong” person and they try to run off with him. Sad. I'm afraid our kids won't be able to take care of themselves. Why not just give us the freedom back. If anyone is doing anything wrong, they'll give themselves enough rope to hang themselves. We don't need to watch them 24 / 7 through their computers, suspect them of something before we even know them or card them constantly. So now that I've given it some serious thought, I'm on your side.
i agree with the slippery slop comment…so what are they to base it on then…i think this leaves a door wide open for interpretation and corruption…scary world we live in…
Why am I not surprised? Maybe because I'm of Color.
I heard about this and i am still trying to wrap my head around it…
does NOT make sense.
You go girl…and I'll go with you! 🙂
I think it's appalling that this passed. What happened to bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free???
Our governor just stated he does not support a similar law in Texas. I'm so happy I can be proud of my state.
“Texas has a rich history with Mexico, our largest trading partner, and we share more than 1,200 miles of border, more than any other state,” Perry said Thursday. —from Fox News
This makes me so angry! You are absolutely right!
This is totally disgusting and reprehensible.
Oh sweetie, I have been reading all about this law and it makes me sick! It's so freakin ridiculous. To define what is NOT a reason to be suspicious of someone? What IS a reason then? I want to know THAT? What is a reason to be suspiscious that someone is here illegally if you are not looking at race or color. Because seriously, you know that by looking? So unless you are asking peopel to whip out their SSN numbers….which you are NOT allowed to do, I want them to define the reasons.
And that is one of my favorite poems. I had it on my corkboard in college.
Hugs,
Tina
I think your statement in the comments that this isn't a solution, it's reactionary, is dead on. This isn't going to solve any problems, and I can see it creating a host of new issues.
I agree that this is absolutely outrageous – and should not be allowed in this country. Ever. We are ALL the descendants of immigrants, unless you're native american. No one should have the power to keep others from making the same leap of faith that our own ancestors did.
I'm happy to hear that.
As an AZ native, I am so appalled, but not surprised. AZ politics has been stupid as long as I can remember…we didn't have a MLK holiday. A governor used the word “pickaninny” Public Enemy wrote a song about coming to AZ and wrecking havoc…I can see where that rage comes from.
Good thing I live in MD now, where people just hang testicles from their bumpers.
I agree with you 100%
I agree – WTF?? How can a law that discriminates against people because of the colour of their skin even be legal?
You're absolutely right!
That makes me angry.
Seriously! This whole AZ thing is shameful.
oooh i'm so sorry i didnt get in on this discussin earlier. THIS MAKES ME SICK. sick totally sick and embarrassed by our own nation. not that they wouldnt try to put me out and send me back to Africa, if they could. argh!
Ah, this one. I see. Wow, how could you write this stuff? Just kidding. 🙂 It's a tough problem – you get to the point where your own problems are bad enough and you don't want people sneaking in creating more. Emotionally I totally get that. Also illegal immigrants tend to bring their problems with them, although I know that sounds harsh. Illegal immegration from Africa has created big problems with crime in Amsterdam, for example – I know people who have been mugged at knifepoint on a main street. LA has also both benefited and suffered from illegal immigration. The people who immigrate may be lovely people who just want to work hard and escape poverty, then their sons become teenagers and start shooting each other. Maybe only teenage immigrants should be outlawed… I am a bit surprised about Pheonix, however, since they have a pretty big American Indian and Mexican population. I went to school there and I felt pretty white, especially when we played the other schools' varsity teams. If the Phoenicians are feeling squozed maybe they should consider alternatives to asphalting the entire desert and building golf courses where nature never intended them instead of worrying about people with darker skin. I'm just saying.
How did I miss this post?! Ugh. I ranted about it too. But Mami, this has got to be hitting too close to home. I totally agree with you: Immigrants is a code word for people of color. And the ban on ethic studies? saying that they are divisive? WTF?!