Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on April 26, 2010 at 7:04pm

Behind The Arizona Immigration Law: GOP Game to Swipe the November Election

Don't be fooled. The way the media plays the story, it was a wave of racist, anti-immigrant hysteria that moved Arizona Republicans to pass a sick little law, signed last week, requiring every person in the state to carry papers proving they are US citizens.

I don't buy it. Anti-Hispanic hysteria has always been as much a part of Arizona as the saguaro cactus and excessive air-conditioning.

What's new here is not the politicians' fear of a xenophobic "Teabag" uprising.

What moved GOP Governor Jan Brewer to sign the Soviet-style show-me-your-papers law is the exploding number of legal Hispanics, US citizens all, who are daring to vote - and daring to vote Democratic by more than two-to-one. Unless this demographic locomotive is halted, Arizona Republicans know their party will soon be electoral toast. Or, if you like, tortillas.

Interesting article, and well worth the read. Read the rest here.

Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on April 27, 2010 at 8:38am

I hadn't thought about it that way. Thanks for posting this article.

Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on April 28, 2010 at 10:11am

Saw that article this morning Dallas. And it's more than plausible.

I moved to AZ in 2003. Registered as Democrat so I could vote in primaries. Both the '04 and '08 presidential elections, I've checked my voter registration status ahead of time only to find they have no record of me having ever registered. Both elections I had to re-register from scratch.

So now, in theory, they could just grab me at the polls under suspicion of being an illegal Canadian, and decide I'm legal and release me just after the polls close.

One more reason I always do early voting.

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on April 26, 2010 at 7:10pm

Arizona's Act of Vengeance

Washington - Arizona's draconian new immigration law is an abomination -- racist, arbitrary, oppressive, mean-spirited, unjust. About the only hopeful thing that can be said is that the legislation, which Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed Friday, goes so outrageously far that it may well be unconstitutional.

Brewer, who caved to xenophobic pressures that previous governors had the backbone to resist, should be ashamed of herself. The law requires police to question anyone they "reasonably suspect" of being an undocumented immigrant -- a mandate for racial profiling on a massive scale. Legal immigrants will be required to carry papers proving they have a right to be in the United States. Those without documentation can be charged with the crime of trespassing and jailed for up to six months.

Activists for Latino and immigrant rights -- and supporters of sane governance -- held weekend rallies denouncing the new law and vowing to do everything they can to overturn it. But where was the tea party crowd? Isn't the whole premise of the tea party movement that overreaching government poses a grave threat to individual freedom? It seems to me that a law allowing individuals to be detained and interrogated on a whim -- and requiring legal residents to carry identification documents, as in a police state -- would send the tea partiers into apoplexy. Or is there some kind of exception if the people whose freedoms are being taken away happen to have brown skin and might speak Spanish?

Read the rest here.

Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on April 28, 2010 at 10:07am

The law requires police to question anyone they "reasonably suspect" of being an undocumented immigrant

And therein lies the crux of it. What is 'reasonable suspicion?' Fact: Most illegal immigrants, for fear of being deported, are law-abiding (except for the obvious), quiet, aren't trying to attract attention to themselves.

And since illegals come from all over the world, in every color, can we expect the police to start pulling over every quiet, law-abiding, minding-their-own-business white person for suspicion of being an illegal Brit or Aussie?

Permalink Reply by Glenn Sogge on April 27, 2010 at 9:16am

Thanks, Don. Have posted to FB.

Permalink Reply by Glenn Sogge on April 27, 2010 at 9:10am

Permalink Reply by Moe Jones on April 27, 2010 at 10:53am

This racial profiling is getting out of hand. I can't even rob a liquor store anymore without the cops pulling me over. But seriously folks, is the Arizona law -- racist? Darn right it is. That's the whole point. Some politicians deliberately choose to alienate one group to ingratiate themselves to another. This law will eventually go away. But those responsible hope to score "brownie" points during the interim. BTW, the labor laws are seldom enforced because of the market. We want to have our cake and eat it too.

Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on April 27, 2010 at 5:00pm

Moe,

"is the Arizona law -- racist? Darn right it is. That's the whole point"

those responsible hope to score "brownie" points

You hit the nail on the head.

Now with McCain supporting the law as well, to try and get his tired old ass reelected again, I'm sure glad I lost respect for him for his Palin fuckup. Now I don't have to lose respect for him for this, I already don't have any.

Permalink Reply by Ralph Dumain on April 28, 2010 at 10:52am

This is like the Fugitive Slave Act. Now for the Civil War.

Permalink Reply by Jason Spicer on April 28, 2010 at 7:35pm

Well, revisiting the 1860s seems to be what the Teabaggers are all about.

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on April 28, 2010 at 11:10am

Ask Eric Holder to block Arizona's racist law

The state of Arizona has enacted a law that is the greatest threat to civil rights in America in a generation.

Even though it's 2010 and not 1963, federal action is necessary once again to protect civil rights in a state where the governor and legislature are writing racial discrimination into the law.

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits unreasonable government search and seizure. But Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has signed into law SB 1070, legislation that that effectively mandates racial profiling and police harassment of Latinos.

Not only does SB 1070 require the police to investigate and detain anyone who could reasonably be suspected of being an undocumented immigrant, it actually makes it a crime not to have papers providing your immigration status.

Sign our petition to Attorney General Holder asking him to file suit to prevent this blatantly unjust and unconstitutional law from ever going into effect.

If no injunction is obtained by the Department of Justice, the bill will go into effect in August, creating a unique and frightening situation within Arizona's borders where anyone who forgets to carry identification or papers proving immigration status could be picked up by police. Arizona will become a place where someone who appears to be a Latino or speaks English with an accent will be at constant risk of being stopped and interrogated by law enforcement.

The Arizona bill is so extreme that even Tom Tancredo--a rabid anti-immigrant zealot--opposes this law.

The federal government has a special role to play in situations like this. When states pass unconstitutional laws that clearly violate the civil rights of its citizens, the federal government must step in to protect those rights.

This deeply wrong-headed legislation is not only unconstitutional, but it demonizes and dehumanizes immigrants and puts them at risk. Undocumented immigrants who are victims of or witnesses to violent crime will be afraid to cooperate with authorities -- which is why the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police opposes the bill.

The Attorney General has taken an oath to defend the Constitution. He cannot let this anti-American, unconstitutional attack on the civil rights of immigrants and Latinos stand.

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