SB1070: Decoded.

After several people (ok, two) asked my opinion about the Arizona immigration law SB1070 I have dedicated my evening to breaking it down so that it makes sense to me, and hopefully to you. What you decide from it is up to you. Last Sunday, the Arizona Daily Star ran a big article on the law broken down by their lawyers. I will be referencing their interpretations, the text from the actual law, and my own wild opinion.

*As I wrote this, and I realized that this law is not as Nazi crazy as people make it out to be, I start to defend some of the points. If you are against this law, please keep reading and don’t hold it against me.

To begin, the law is precursored by a paragraph summing up the supposed Intent of this law. It states:
“The legislature finds that there is a compelling interest in the cooperative enforcement of federal immigration laws throughout all of Arizona. The legislature declares that the intent of this act is to make attrition through enforcement the public policy of all state and local government agencies in Arizona. The provisions of this act are intended to work together to discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens and economic activity by persons unlawfully present in the United States.”
Alright, that sounds simple enough. They wanted to create a law that helps discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens in the U.S. (No specific mention of Mexicans or Hispanics here, but somehow I don’t think they were trying to discourage all the illegal French Canadians.)

Lets move on to the 7 main points in this law. First off:

1. This law requires police officers to determine the immigration status of everyone they arrest before they are released.

My first thought is “They don’t do that already?” I have never been arrested before, but I would assume that they have to properly identify you when you are arrested. It seems your legal status would come up somewhere in that conversation. This sounds like it could pile on to an officer’s workload if now they have to confirm through Federal Immigration records your legal status.

2. During any stop, detention or arrest, a police officer must try to determine a person’s immigration status if the officer has reason to suspect the person is here illegally. An exception exists if making that determination might obstruct another part of the investigation.

This part of the law’s wording was changed after the initial backlash and reactions. The most important part to notice is that the police officer must have already stopped you for something else first. They cannot just pull you over and ask your legal status. Obviously, people will now pipe in with “But an officer will just pull you over on a bogus charge when he suspects you are illegal.” Yes, that is entirely possible, but it shows little faith in the training and duty of the men and women who choose to protect us daily. Also, they ALREADY can pull us over and give us tickets by making up just about ANYTHING. But before you start hyperventilating that you have to carry around your mother, your birth certificate, and the doctor who delivered you in this country, let’s read point 3.

3. People can show one of four approved identification cards to prove they are in this country legally.

Guess what I.D. card is first on the list? YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE. What is the first thing an officer asks for when you get pulled over? License and registration, right? If you produce that for the officer, the conversation will NEVER move toward “Soooo, where were YOU born?” If you don’t have your license, I don’t care why you are in our country, WHY ARE YOU DRIVING A CAR??? Police obviously can stop you while you are walking, on your bike, or even come to your house, but again, it is because you are suspected of another wrongdoing first. If you are here from another country, you just have to make sure you have your Green Card, Work Visa, Passport, or other federally issued I.D. on you at all times. That seems harsh, until you remember the first rule any American is told when they go to visit another country, “Always carry your Passport with you!” If we have to prove that we are in your country legally or suffer your hell hole of a jail, I think others can “suffer” the pain of keeping your passport in your pocket.

4. The law prohibits police from using race to establish reasonable suspicion that someone is here illegally.

You may not know this, but 90% of the illegal immigrants in this country are from Mexico or Latin America. Because of the way our minds work, we start to envision illegals as being brown or darker skinned. That is NOT a racist thought. Our mind is designed to make reasonable assumptions based on past experiences. You can say the factual statement “Most illegals are brown.” (Note: I am married to a Hispanic woman, I do not use brown derogatorily, but rather for brevity sake) Ignorant people will then assume that the opposite can be true “Most browns are illegal.” That is the same flawed logic as saying “Since all children poop, all poop comes from children.” I know, even I got a little lost on all that logic. The point is, officers are not suppose to, and will receive training for, not using race to create suspicion for legality. And, if you feel that you HAVE been discriminated against by some racist backwater highway patrolman, do what Americans have been doing for the past 200 years; sue his socks off.

The final 3 points can be summed up together.

5. It is illegal to transport, hide, or hire an illegal immigrant. It is against the law for an illegal immigrant to work in AZ.

These laws are just reiterations from existing federal immigration laws. I don’t even know why they added them to this, other than show that they are trying to support federal law.


Ok look, as I was writing this I think I finally convinced myself that this law isn’t so bad. Police CANNOT pull you over just because you are “brown” and ask if you are a citizen. Do I think some jerk officer will abuse his power with this law? Yes, it is almost inevitable, but remember, jerk cops are abusing their power already.


Any facts I used in this analysis I got from the article by Brady McCombs in the Arizona Daily Star on Sunday, May 2nd.


http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf -The actual SB1070 text, if you want to read it for yourself.


*Ok, so it is the next morning, and I have had time to think about it more. I see this law as having more actual bark than bite. Look at what it has done already. People across the country are freaking out about it. I am curious what the reaction is in Mexico or an other country with large populations that want to migrate to the U.S. Gainly the ability to enter the U.S. legally is a LONG and costly process. It is true that many people do not have the money nor the time to wait it out, and there is still the possibilty of them being denied and having to go back to thier own country. What I want to know is, what every happend to the days when you could just get on a boat bound for America, sail past the Statue of Liberty, and bang, you are here. When did we change that policy? It seems to me that we should start by reforming THOSE laws, if indeed you still want America to be an open land full of oportunity.

The great melting pot, or the great stink pot?

We had to define diversity and talk about diversity in America. I got a little off topic.

Diversity means a great variety of the same kind of thing. You could say that a supermarket has a diverse selection of soups. Diversity can also refer to different kinds of people. Many people would say that New York City is the most diverse city in the world. I believe our society is becoming too diverse. With the internet, television, and ease of travel, I think every culture is becoming more and more diluted. At its root, American culture is the most susceptible it being overrun or replaced because it doesn’t have the hundreds or thousands of years or tradition behind it. Sharing and mixing cultures does have its advantages, as it brings greater knowledge and understanding of other people. You must be careful however not to let the weaker culture be squashed out by the dominant culture.

To continue with the soup analogy, if you mix every kind of soup together it does not create the greatest soup in the world, it in fact makes a really yucky soup. For American Culture to be a real culture all of the "flavors" and "ingredients" can't overpower or cancel each other out. I am NOT saying that we should deport everyone I am more saying we need to change the image of what it is like to live in America. This is not a place where you can have all your old customs and traditions (like a caste system or marrying 12 year olds) and have a big house with 2 cars in the garage. But that is the image that people outside of the U.S. think it is like here. I can live exactly how I was in my home country, except I can also have all the material possesions I could dream of!

I look at it this way. Imagine an island and it has only six inhabitants. A native and someone from Egypt, India, China, England, and France. Each person continued to live they way they had in thier home country. Some interacted and were friendly to a few, and some refused to talk with anyone. This island could be described as very diverse, but what culture could you say it had? No one works together for common goals, no one worships the same way, no one even teaches thier children the same way. It is in fact a clashing of cultures.