Arizona Immigration Law Pros and Cons – The Unavoidable Outcome of SB 1070
What are Arizona's immigration law pros and cons?
Just like other major issues in the United States, the ongoing debate concerning the Arizona immigration law pros and cons has inevitably taken a social turn where it spawned a lot of supporters on both ends.
The Issue
Pew Hispanic Research estimated that there are 11,200,000 illegal aliens residing in the US as of March 2010, with unauthorized immigrants from Mexico making up 58% of the total. For decades, all border states have been afflicted by the influx of undocumented immigrants but it was Arizona that actually brought the hammer down. Various efforts have been made to lower the number of illegal entries since 2007, but all have been unsuccessful because no federal law has been passed until today.
Since no agreement in judgment has been reached on a national level, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer decided it was time to make a move. She signed Senate Bill 1070, America’s toughest illegal immigration bill, into law which makes it a criminal act to break federal immigration ordinances and authorizes local law enforcement units to check the legal status of individuals suspected of entering the country illegally. SB 1070 went into effect on July 28, 2010, 90 days after it was signed. It generated an instantaneous barrage of protests and rekindled the sensitive issue of immigration reform in the country.
Randal C. Archibold wrote in his New York Times column:
The law, which proponents and critics alike said was the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status.
The Pros
While many people across the country, including local residents of Arizona, think that the SB 1070 is too harsh, racist, and has a lot of flaws, other people think that certain benefits can be derived from its passage. Lawyer Michael J. Gurfinkel of the Asian Journal wrote:
Despite the harshness of Arizona’s recent law, it has at least sparked a national debate on immigration reform. For so many years, comprehensive immigration reform has been ignored or put on the back burner by President Obama and the federal government. The excuse was that there were so many other “priorities,” that comprehensive immigration reform would have to wait. There were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, the financial meltdown on Wall Street, healthcare reform, etc., all of which President Obama said needed to be handled first, before he would even consider dealing with any kind of immigration reform.
The passage of Arizona’s harsh immigration law has somewhat forced the federal government to deal with immigration reform. In fact, President Obama recently stated he wanted to pursue “comprehensive immigration reform” this year, vs. “next year” or “later,” as was his previous position.
There are about 460,000 illegal immigrants residing in the state of Arizona. Supporters of the state’s new immigration law say that most of these undocumented aliens are in the country for jobs, not citizenship, and will work for very low wages so jobs that US citizens should be getting are already taken.
If illegal aliens were deported, then employers will hire legit American citizens at a decent wage. There will be more taxpayers as they will be working legally and not accepting payments under the table. Overcrowded schools attended by illegal immigrants’ children will save millions of dollars on ESL training, free breakfasts and free lunches.
Supporters also point out that the new immigration law can deter the entry of millions of dollars worth of drugs smuggled into the country by drug gangs and couriers, as well as the issue of human trafficking. The incidence of murders, rape, kidnappings, car accidents caused by unlicensed illegal immigrants, drop houses, and medical facilities closing down due to cost of their free treatment of undocumented aliens can also be significantly lowered if a strict deterrent can be set into place. Virtually everyone agrees that a solution is required to manage the out-of-control situation in the US-Mexico border.
The Cons
People who are against Arizona’s immigration law insist that it violates the very core of what has made America great for over two centuries. The law infringes on the rights of US citizens of not being stopped or detained by law enforcers for suspicion of being illegal through racial profiling, or other intrusive methods. Most white Americans won’t encounter this problem as they can be easily identified as Americans by the color of the skin. This can be a big concern, though, for American citizens of Mexican origins.
Arizona’s strict immigration law is a fertile ground for abuse, as what happened to a US citizen only a few hours before the state’s Senate Bill 1070 was signed into law. Richard Adams wrote in his blog:
The man, a truck driver, was arrested and handcuffed in Phoenix after he was asked to produce identification.
Here’s the coverage from Arizona television channel 3TV:
Abdon was told he did not have enough paperwork on him when he pulled into a weigh station to have his commercial truck checked. He provided his commercial driver’s license and a social security number but ended up handcuffed.
An agent called his wife and she had to leave work to drive home and grab other documents like his birth certificate.
Jackie explains, “I have his social security card as well and mine. He’s legit. It’s the first time it’s ever happened.”
Both were born in the United States and say they are now both infuriated that keeping important documents safely at home is no longer an option.
Since the issue on immigration reforms have reached nation-wide proportions, even extremists, racists, and ultra nationalist groups like the National Socialist Movement (NSM) can not only express their anti-illegal immigration sentiments, but also their dislike for all immigrants as a race. Members of this neo-Nazi group has marched and rallied outside California’s Pomona City Hall because the town has been tagged as a “sanctuary” city that harbors illegal aliens. Andrew O’Reilly wrote on Fox News Latino:
“Pomona was selected for this event because it’s turned itself into a sanctuary city for all these illegal aliens who are flooding into this area,” NSM member Butch Urban said, according to the Southwest Riverside News Network.
The harsh provisions of Arizona’s SB 1070 have also caused thousands of migrant workers to abandon the work area and find employment in other states, leaving many farmers, hotel, restaurant, and other business owners paralyzed.
The Move to Repeal SB 1070
Nearly two years after its passage, Arizona’s embattled and controversial anti-immigrant law has failed to provide benefit to the state. It certainly has failed to help Arizona’s economy, with its unemployment rate at a high 9.6%. Arresting, detaining, or deporting undocumented aliens who are business owners, laborers, and consumers surely won’t help in the state’s economic recovery.
The repressive SB 1070 has struck a raw nerve in many states, among Arizona’s local residents, and within the Hispanic community, generating emotions from frustration to outright anger. Individuals and human rights groups took to the streets in marches and rallies, stressing how the SB 1070 basically promotes the maltreatment and harassment of the Latino population through the use of racial profiling.
After the SB 1070 was signed into law, an upsurge of Latino activism on social networks was created, with participants mobilizing online in great numbers. The “Do I Look Illegal?” campaign was launched on the Latino page Cuéntame on Facebook and has received tremendous response within 24 hours, with thousands of people adopting the slogan and prepared to take action.
It would also be interesting to note that Arizona , which passed the draconian SB 1070, is also the same state that successfully booted state Senate President Russell Pearce, the sponsor of the controversial bill, out of office this month. The Citizens for a Better Arizona, the group who promoted Pearce’s recall now seek to oppose the re-election bid of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. With 2012 just around the corner, would the group also try to recall Arizona Governor Jan Brewer in next year’s election?
Alabama, Georgia, and Indiana have already passed laws similar to Arizona’s. However, 16 states turned down anti-immigration bills that rang like SB 1070. Their leaders have understood Arizona immigration law pros and cons and are in no rush to make the move without weighing their strategy well.
Filed Under: Arizona Immigration Laws
