Do you agree?
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Arizona Immigration Law
I personally was pretty disgusted by the Immigration Law that was passed in Arizona recently because in my opinion in violates all of a person's civil liberties in the fact that they can be judged by other people. This law gives far too much authority to the cops when it comes to racial profiling and being able to demand papers off of anyone at any time is quite disturbing to me. This whole situation resembles Nazi Germany to me, because a particular group of people is being targeted for their supposed affect of the economy. Many people believe that the immigrants from Latin America are a burden on the economy and are stealing jobs away from the Americans who live here legally. These stereotypes are not true because this class of immigrants works a job that is not and never will be held by an American.
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I agree to some extent. I think the important thing to remember regarding this issue deals with legalities. Although many Americans are angry with the fact that ANY immigrants are moving into the US, this law is specifically targeting illegal immigrants. At least I understood the law as attempting to decrease the number of illegal immigrants. Although, the issue is highly racial, I think the foundation of the law aims at addressing legal issues. Perhaps, there is a better way of addressing the issue, but it has not yet been uncovered.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I definitely agree with your point about racial profiling. The law leaves open the possibility to increased racial profiling by law enforcement. It is unfair to subject all minorities to racial profiling to eliminate the issue of illegal immigration. These individuals have every right to which every other American is entitled.
Do you know of a better way to crack down on illegal immigrants? One that does not affect the lives of minorities that reside in the US legally?
I think this is a difficult topic because I too understand the reasoning behind the law. Trying to decrease the number of illegal immigrants in the country is an important thing, yet like Christine said, what is a good way to do this without some sort of racialized approach?
ReplyDeleteWhat is a good thing is that any cop cannot just ask any person they pass on the street to see their papers. They have to first have pulled an individual over or stopped them for an actual offense first. So, while it will not prevent racial profiling by any stretch of the imagination, it does seem like an attempt to work against it.
Like I said, though, it is a difficult situation to navigate.