New Arizona law and discrimination blog post

With the signing of a new immigration law in Arizona on Friday, April 23, 2010, immigration was pushed back into the forefront of American politics. Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer authorized the bill, which “requires police to determine whether a person is in the United States legally (CNN.com).” Previously, requiring someone to provide proof of being in the country legally was only allowed when some other crime was suspected. The bill has since created a whirlwind of controversy fueled by disagreements on every side of the argument. Despite strong support from many U.S citizens, the new law is a violation of human rights because it encourages racial profiling and fails to grant immigrants asylum from dangerous situations abroad.

According to the bill, immigrants must carry their alien registration documents with them at all times, and police are required to question them if there is any reason to suspect that they are in the United States illegally (CNN.com). In response to those who feared the law might encourage racial profiling, Governor Brewer also issued an executive order requiring training on how to implement the law without engaging in racial profiling. Said Governor Brewer, “Racial profiling is illegal. It is illegal in America, and it’s certainly illegal in Arizona (CNN.com).”

It is clear that Governor Brewer recognized the criticism the state would soon be receiving as a result of the passage of their new law. It is unrealistic, though, to believe that the new law can be effectively practiced without using racial profiling. It is unlikely that any Canadian in the country illegally will be stopped and questioned about their immigration status while walking their dog mid-afternoon. It is unlikely that any white illegal immigrant, even if they were from Mexico, would be stopped for questioning. Instead, it is the people of Hispanic decent who will fear being stopped for no other reason than looking suspiciously like someone who may be in the country illegally. With Arizona’s large Hispanic and Spanish speaking population, this seems like it may be a huge waste of time and resources.

Along with the time and money taken away from fighting actual crime, Arizona is also facing boycotts and economic consequences from all over the United States as well as Hispanic countries. In an odd role reversal for most Americans, On Wednesday, April 27, 2010, Mexico issued a travel warning to citizens asking them to, “use extreme caution if visiting Arizona (USAToday.com).” Mexico’s government affiliated agency also urged the boycotting of Arizona based companies such as US Airways, and sports teams Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Suns (USAToday.com).

The economic consequences on tourism, which provide a large portion of the state’s income, are not feared to have any major impact according to Governor Brewer. Already, conventions and other events planned to take place in Arizona have been cancelled. Governor Brewer, though, defends the law by emphasizing that she has consulted with business who are seeking to establish themselves in Arizona and were looking for assurance that their businesses would be protected from the crime that is accompanied by illegal immigration (CNN.com).

Sadly, the focus of the issue has been mostly economical. Even the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who is considering challenging the constitutionality of the law, stopped short of saying that the law was wrong. Instead he referred to the law as being subject to potential abuse (CNN.com). For the most part, it is only those who will primarily be affected by the law that are making human rights claims while most other concerned citizens are worried about crime and the economical impact of the law.

As a result of this, the human rights of both immigrants and citizens who appear suspiciously illegal are being violated. Many, if not most, illegal immigrants are seeking some type of asylum either from dangerous areas ruled by drug cartels, or economic conditions that make scraping up a living nearly impossible.

Americans are hugely responsible for the problems occurring in Mexico. It is Americans who are effectively creating much of the violence the immigrants are seeking to escape. The American demand is what is driving the drug cartels to get their drugs within our borders, while we are also directly and indirectly financing, training, and supporting the Mexican military forces that are responsible for curtailing the drug trade. It is also American corporations and companies who seek out the cheap labor in Mexico and other Hispanic countries in order to keep manufacturing prices down.

Clearly there is no simple solution to the immigration problem, but enacting laws that encourage discrimination is a step in the wrong direction. Articles six and seven of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights state, “Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law,” and, “All are equal before the law and are entitled without discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination,” respectively (Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The new Arizona law is indirectly stating that there are different types of people. There are those types of people who are legal, and there are those types of people who are illegal simply for being in a place without proper documentation. The way in which people who are illegal are identified, is by discriminating based on factors such as skin color or language. There is absolutely no other way to know whether a person is a citizen if there is no discrimination. It is impossible to determine someone’s immigration status by any of his or her actions. Instead, other discriminating factors are used in order to identify anyone that has a remote possibility of being an illegal alien.

Discrimination in the United States has already had a long and ugly history. There is no need to add to this history, especially when America prides itself on being the land of equal opportunity. Instead of devoting funds and training to stopping innocent people on the streets, perhaps our time, money, and effort would be more effectively spent on implementing policies both domestically and abroad that do not make our citizens so eager to discriminate and foreign citizens so eager to escape.

Governor signs immigration law here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/23/obama.immigration/index.html

Challenge to constitutionality here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/27/napolitano.immigration.act/index.html?hpt=T1

Boycott articles here: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2010-04-27-arizonaboycott27_ST_N.htm?csp=usat.me

Economical issues here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/26/arizona.governor.immigration/index.html?iref=allsearch

Travel alert here: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2010-04-27-mexico-travel-alert-arizona-immigration-law_N.htm

Universal Declaration of Human Rights here: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/