Illegal Immigrants and Intolerable Ignorance
I’m sure this Arizona Sheriff is nothing but a ginormous bigot who wants to round up all the Mexicans and put them in cages suspended over tanks full of ravenous sharks but let’s take just a moment to examine one thing he had to say before we consign him to the Outer Hell of Racist Mexican-Haters.
Last month alone, just in one patrol region, we had sixty-four pursuits. That means people who were driving a vehicle, failed to yield, took off like a bat out of hell, running red lights, creating traffic wrecks, numerous people were killed in these wrecks over the last several months, and who are these people? Not one of them was a U.S. citizen.
There are two points here I want to make. First, this Sheriff, heartless purveyor of hate though he may be, made a factual assertion that shouldn’t be particularly difficult to verify. Now, if it turns out that he is correct, or even if he is mostly correct (say there weren’t 64 chases but 54 or two of them were legal residents instead of none), isn’t that indicative of a real problem we should address? More importantly, doesn’t a reasonable attempt to address that problem on the state level merit deeper consideration from the people whose job it is to enforce the immigration laws than the flippant dismissal we’ve gotten thus far?
My second point is a bit of a refutation to this ignorant piece of drivel written by Ruben Navarrette, Jr for Pajamas Media. According to Mr. Navarrette, the Arizona law allows police to ”prowl for illegal immigrants” ”by virtue of their skin color”. This, according to any version of the law, is complete and utter bilge. Under either version of the Arizona law, not a single one of those 64 criminals would have to “show their papers” unless the arresting officer was able to demonstrate a reasonable suspicion that they were here illegally. In other words, their traffic violations did not provide legal grounds on which to check their citizenship. The officer had to have other factors to confirm their status. This is a grossly underreported but critical fact that shows just how carefully the Arizona legislature crafted their law. They made sure there was a strong safeguard in place to prevent random immigrant-prowls like what keep Mr. Navarrette awake at night drenched in fear-sweat. Police officers can’t simply ask someone for their papers. They have to jump through two well-established legal hoops first.
This isn’t exactly rocket science; it’s written explicitly in the law. I suppose that’s why support for the law has been increasing steadily as more people educate themselves.
Other Posts of Interest:
- Oh Noes! It’s the Arizona Gestapo!
- Mexican Soldiers Hold an American Police Officer at Gunpoint…in Arizona (Updated: Just an Accident? Color me Unconvinced.)
- Obama: Police Officers are Terrorists
Category: Our Melting Pot
This whole skin color thing vis-a-vis AZ is just another one of those little mind games the usual suspects like to play. Make it a civil rights issue.
Earth to usual suspects: when it was a civil rights thing blacks couldn't eat in restaurants, sleep in hotels, get many jobs, go to many schools, have many occupations, and they couldn't change that by showing somebody their driver's license.
Earth to usual suspects: I grew up in Tucson, am anglo, and at any time I was asked for some ID and couldn't provide it I could be held until my identity could be established. This is also true in the other 56 states. And let me tell you, in Tucson in the 60's it was sufficient to be driving while teen-aged to get pulled over six times a night.
Whatever Nolan, You obviously didn't grow up Latino in America!
I was born and raised in Ill. and I have been racial profiled, growing up in a predominately "anglo" area; they pulled me over to ask "what was I doing in their neighborhood." Now if I want to go to travel to Arizona (which I have done in the past) I might be racial profiled, or even worse by either cops or even Arizonians, who might kill me. I've seen many comments by people who support this bill, and they have much to say about all Mexicans go home, forgetting some are legal. My parents where born in Texas in the early 30's and they also have witnessed much racism against Latinos in Texas, funny because my family goes back to U.S. history, when Texas was annexed, when my Great, Great, Great Grandfather, Arturo Abrego, decided to stay after the borders crossed his ranch. Earth to you Nolanimrod- I was told by my parents, there were signs "NO MEXICANS ALLOWED", many Mexicans were wrongfully lynched and discrimination was highly evident. So don't try to erase what really happened in America for early Latino-Americans or for that matter, people of color.