America is a unique place where citizens often take pride in a second heritage besides the one they were born into. Not only are we Americans, but Irish-Americans, Haitian-Americans, Italian-Americans, Japanese-Americans, and so on and so forth. Often, we identify with our heritage as a badge of honor, remembering how our ancestors didn’t have it so easy when they first came to this country, how they worked hard to make the lives of their children and grandchildren better. Well, history repeats itself, because immigrants in Arizona are about to find their lives becoming a lot more difficult.
The Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, better known as SB 1070, was signed into Arizona state law on April 23, 2010. The law includes provision for, among other things, a requirement that police check a person’s immigration status during traffic stops, detentions, and arrests; a requirement that legal immigrants carry papers on them at all times; and stiff penalties involved for those harboring illegal immigrants. The law was meant to take effect on July 29, but the more controversial measures were blocked by a federal judge one day prior, and the outcome is expected to play out in federal court.
Illegal immigration is a problem that the United States, like many industrialized nations, has dealt with for some time. Illegal immigration has been said to drive down the price of labor, cost taxpayers billions of dollars, present a threat to national security and contribute to human trafficking. With all the detrimental effects of illegal immigration, it’s no wonder that polls show a majority of Americans support Arizona’s controversial new reform.
But that doesn’t make SB1070 a good idea. The law is, on its surface, a blatant violation of civil liberties. Having citizens produce papers to identify themselves based on their ethnicity or immigration status is not a symptom of a healthy democracy; in fact, it was a common practice in Nazi Germany, and South African Apartheid. Living in a democracy means the freedom to go about your life without having to constantly identify your national origin to authority figures. It’s also blatantly racist. How many white people in Arizona are going to be stopped on the suspicion they are illegal aliens? How many people that aren’t Latino are going to be stopped?
Another factor that shows the law isn’t the right approach to handling Arizona’s illegal immigrant problem is the outpouring of opposition to it on behalf of law enforcement. Part of being an effective police officer is establishing good long-term relationships within the community you are patrolling, and this will not be possible in Arizona if police officers are forced to do the job of the INS. If people in Arizona’s Hispanic communities are terrified of being deported every time they have to deal with police, how will they assist them effectively in fighting crime?
Another effect of SB1070 is already being felt: negative impacts on the economy. The state of Arizona is already $3 billion in the red, and a mass exodus of immigrants means a flight of jobs, goods, services, businesses and purchasing power. In fact, according to one estimate, undocumented workers are responsible for $26.4 billion of Arizona’s economic activity. The money lost by those who are boycotting the state because of the law is also not to be ignored.
The United States of America was a country that was built on the blood and labor of immigrants. They didn’t always come here legally, or speak the language, or assimilate without difficulty. But it is the millions of immigrants that have come here throughout our history that makes this country special; a nation founded not on the traditional ties of common ethnicity, or religion, or culture, but on the pursuit of liberty, prosperity, and the protection of inalienable human rights. The challenges posed by illegal immigration are not ones that will be met easily. But to attempt to meet them by casting aside civil liberties that so many have died to protect, strikes at the soul of what made our country great in the first place.
Image courtesy of Dan Shouse
