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.