Like any other person in the country I too have an opinion on Arizona's SB1070. As soon as Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill into law, you quickly began to see opinions from every end of the spectrum coming about. This is an issue that people are going to talk about, simply because it's so polarizing. There is no middle ground here. You are either for it or against it and, let's be honest, you are either really for it or really against it.
I'm not going to lie, as a Latino, and the son of two immigrants, it is hard to detach anything anytime it involves my community. So even though I try to look at this through a lens that doesn't involve race or ethnicity, my experiences don't necessarily allow that. You always hear how some people say they are "colorblind." Bullshit. That doesn't exist, those that claim "not to see color" choose not to see it. And more often than not, those who choose not to see color are also the people that have never been treated differently because of it. They go along happy as can be, never admitting the privilege that allows them to be "colorblind." (For example, I am not lost on the fact that while I am Latino, my skin color gives me advantages over darker-skinned Latinos, unearned advantages called privileges).
Ok, ok let's not get too off-track talking about race and privilege. Although that pretty much sums up what we're talking about...
Even though I was already heavily leaning towards one side of the debate long before the bill was ever signed, I still tried to hear both sides of the argument. Look, we do need to do something about our immigration policies in this country. The system has been broken for some time now, and I think everyone can agree with this. Add the fact that things on the Mexican side of the border aren't exactly safe, and haven't been for some time now. The drug war continues to ravage Mexico, with most of the action happening in its border towns. I can completely understand why Americans (especially those living in border states) fear for their safety as the drug war inevitably spills over to this side of the border (actually it has already).
Proponents of SB1070 point to an Arizona Rancher who was found dead on his property recently, the murderer is believed to have been an undocumented immigrant involved in the drug trade. This is no doubt, very disturbing and my heart goes out to the family and friends of Mr. Robert Krentz. So apparently a bill that makes racial profiling legal (that’s what this bill says, essentially) is supposed to help deter this from ever happening again right? Well, maybe, but maybe not. If people are concerned about the safety of ranchers who live along the Arizona border, then maybe the bill’s purpose should concern itself with border security, not looking at someone’s skin color. Let me be very clear: something needs to be done to ensure that what happened to this Arizona rancher never happens again. But you can’t use his murder as legitimate justification that SB1070 is needed. If the citizens of Arizona feel so strongly about deporting all undocumented immigrants, there are more humane ways to do so.
The people that killed Robert Krentz are exactly that type of people that have absolutely no regard for the law. So, assume you deport every undocumented person from Arizona. The only way to guarantee drug cartels from crossing our border and potentially committing more crimes is to somehow shut the border down completely. I wish there were a more realistic way to do this, but that’s the truth. Deporting Juan Doe from Phoenix or Flagstaff does nothing to deter your average gang member from crossing our border illegally (obviously I am not ok with this, but that’s a separate issue).
People also need to understand that as a proponent of immigration reform I am not saying that we need to open up our borders and allow just anyone naturalized status. In fact, almost every person on my side of the debate has never pushed for anything like that. Yes, you do have that small minority on the left that would love to have no borders at all (not realistic), just like you have that small minority on the right that would probably love to deport all Latinos, citizen or not (blatantly racist). But for the most part, you have everyone else who recognizes that we must do something to fix our current system.
I’d like to believe that most citizens of Arizona who favor some kind of immigration reform aren’t 100% behind this law. At the same time, our federal government has repeatedly failed to do something concrete to aid our border states, leaving Arizonans with few options. Still, two wrongs don’t make a right. The fact that someone, based solely on their physical appearance, can be assumed a criminal goes against everything our country stands for.
An undocumented immigrant from Serbia would fit in perfectly in Arizona, maybe would never even be questioned. I mean, what probable cause would a law enforcement official have to question someone that looks white? Well, as long as they don’t say anything. In the new Arizona an accent, aka probable cause, will get you questioned too. But if you are here in this country legally, you have nothing to worry about right? I mean if you look undocumented but have proper documentation it’s all good. So they stop you in the street because you are brown. But you have a valid driver’s license, so why are you complaining? If you’re here legally it shouldn’t bother you! Just like it shouldn’t bother Arabs and Muslims when they get stopped at the airport for a “random search.” If they don’t have a bomb in their suitcase why should they be angry that they were searched? Sorry but no group of people should be ever be targeted and inconvenienced just so that another group of people (who surprise, are never targeted or inconvenienced) can feel “safer.” If you’re going to inconvenience one person, you have to be prepared to do the same for everyone else.
Again, not mad at people that want to shore up the multiple cracks that the federal government failed to seal long ago. But the people in Arizona want one thing and keep doing things that don’t necessarily fit into what they say they want. Remember how we wanted to make our country “safer” during WWII so our government detained all Japanese-Americans, just for being Japanese-Americans? Looks like history is repeating itself again (to a lesser degree, of course) with SB1050, but in 10 years Arizonans might not know that. Why you ask? Arizona passed a measure last week that prohibits public school districts from offering classes that "are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group," "promote the overthrow of the United States government," "promote resentment toward a race or class of people," or "advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.” Way to go Arizona. Keep fighting the good fight.
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