No…just straight up no, Stars. Jane could not have stated my own personal viewpoint anymore clearly
jane821  |   Posted on Apr 30th 

  +1

I completely support you and your band doing what all of you think is right; it’s admirable. I don’t, however, particularly enjoy overtly partisan politics that do nothing but demonize the opposition in the most cynical ways. Accusations of racism are the new Godwin’s Law.

Discretion is always in the hands of the police. This doesn’t change that whatsoever. Police are trained specifically in determining reasonable suspicion on any crime. This didn’t originate with this law.

With this law, and they’ve just clarified it further btw (see link below) to make it more specific, cops are only going to check immigration status if they’ve already legally detained, arrested or stopped you, which is nothing new. Anytime you’re stopped here, the first thing they do is ask you to identify yourself. If you have any of the four documents they list in the bill (DL, military card, state ID, reservation card), they will automatically assume you are legal and won’t check any further.

What this law does change is that it forces police to check immigration status when arresting someone, which simply isn’t being done today. This country has many people in prison who don’t legally belong in the country, and many will even serve their time and then be released as any other prisoner. I’m not using the word many to incite fear of “brown criminals” or anything but just because there are enough that we’re not just talking about one or two random exceptions but rather enough that this law isn’t simply re-enforcing a standard procedure.

This law also opens up communication between different cities (I believe only within Arizona, but I’m not 100% on that) on the immigration status of those who have been legally detained, arrested, etc., something else that wasn’t done before.

Finally, it was written to pressure the federal government into doing something rather than pretend there isn’t a problem. Whether you’re for amnesty or for deporting everyone who doesn’t have legal papers, it’s undeniable that having tens of millions of undocumented people in this country, who can be exploited at levels well below minimum wage among other issues, is a problem.

Basically, the law changes nothing except how the local government of Arizona reacts to those found illegally in the country, and they explicitly list someone’s race, ethnicity, country of origin, etc. as being an invalid reason for suspecting someone of being here illegally.

Are there racist cops in Arizona? I don’t know, and I’d rather not assume the worst of people I don’t know and tar all Arizona cops by association, but even assuming there are (I’m sure it’s statistically likely), the law is expressly written to punish people like that, not help them. If a racist cop decides a person who looks like a Mexican is in this country illegally and has no other reason to harass him, then that cop, barring some conspiracy, will be prosecuted. It’s the same thing we have with airport security. If a disproportionate number of Muslim men are searched, those doing and authorizing the searching are opened up for serious lawsuits.

That’s the best any law can do. It can’t force anyone not to be a racist (nothing can force a change that personal, though I suppose some religious people might disagree with claims their deity can, but that’s a much longer discussion). If that’s your beef, then it’s misapplied.

http://www.azleg.gov/search/oop/qfullhit.asp?CiWebHitsFile=/legtext/49leg/2r/summary/h.hb2162_ccmemo.doc.htm&CiRestriction=%22lawful+stop%22

Once again: police will not be able to check for validity of citizenship of anyone unless that person is being questioned or arrested in relation to their violation of a law. This law does not give local and state police the authority to solely ask for documents that prove citizenship from anybody.
The original bill was worded in a confusing manner, and has since been corrected to make this point very clearly.
At first I thought your band was well-educated about this issue, but the more I read about your knowledge and interpretation of this matter, the more I realize I was wrong.

Much discussion has been focused on the Arizona law. It’s a shame that Arizona feels the need to do this. I believe the root of the current controversy is due to the fact that immigration reform at the federal level has been needed for a very long time. I am a supporter of granting amnesty to the millions of undocumented immigrants who now make the United States their home. This action seems the most logical step to settle this issue, and in effect ensure that states such as Arizona will not feel the need to arrest and deport people who have made that great state their and their families’ home. Hopefully Obama can garner the support needed to get immigration reform passed in the Senate and House. As a side note, I find that quite a few people assume that all conservatives-Republicans are opposed to amnesty and immigration reform. Generally, this is a true statement. Many conservatives want to deport whom they deem “illegal aliens”, such as Mitt Romney. Bush was a pretty bad president, but one redeeming quality is that he made an attempt at granting amnesty and immigration reform. As well as McCain. Quite a few republicans and many democrats as well stood in opposition.
http://us.mobile.reuters.com/mobile/m/AnyArticle/p.rdt?URL=http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2742643820070629