As most of you know, the state of Arizona passed a bill requiring federal officers to check the ID of any reasonably suspected illegal alien. And by “illegal alien,” they mean any person who fits the Latino stereotype. Furthermore, this means that and person fitting of this stereotype is subject to racial profiling.
I happen to come from Bohemian decent, so I am “white,” and the only issues I would ever encounter with the law would most likely involve my Brillo hair. But a majority of the population of Tucson has emigrated from Mexico.
All of these people, regardless of their history, are subject to racial discrimination. In my personal opinion, this is the most regressive legislation since before the civil rights movement.
Here is my stance on Arizona’s security at the Mexican border: I understand that this is a national security issue, but the catalyst for this issue’s high rank in political issues was the murder of a rancher in Southern Arizona.This murder, while tragic, is one of many similar stories and a part of a steady decrease in crime rates in Arizona.
Terrorism? If a terrorist were to invade the US, my guess would be that they wouldn’t go through Mexico, where the security is chaotic and the bordering states aren’t effective threats to our country. Besides, aren’t immigrants the foundation of America? It’s not like we all come from America. The argument for the bill is unconstitutional and ineffective.
There needs to be a crack-down on border control. We need to know who is living and/or working here for the benefit of everyone. However, building cinder block walls, increased government enforcement, and trying to catch illegal immigrants on the streets is obviously about as effective as putting a band-aid on cancer.
The US government should start to target businesses who hire illegal immigrants. Accessing permission and documentation to move to the US should be more organized, be more time-efficient, and less expensive.
While we are trying to figure it out, people are dying in the desert trying to cross the border. No one should be dying because of this. It is ridiculous and tragic. We are ALL citizens of the world. We are ALL unique. I have been personally discriminated against as a lesbian and I don’t see any difference between bigotry towards race, sexual orientation, gender, social class, etc.
For those of you who would like to publicly decry the misguided law SB1070, University of Arizona students and faculty are meeting on the mall this Friday 30th to brainstorm and next Wednesday at noon to gather for the protest. Please come join us and fight for equal rights!
Tony Ray Baker
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Tony Ray
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