In Arizona, the Governor Jan Brewer signed an immigration law into effect on Friday April 23, 2010. This law has some major critics, such as President Obama. This immigration law makes it a crime to fail to carry valid immigration documents. It also gives the police broad powers to detain anyone suspected of being in Arizona illegally.
There has been a huge political debate on this issue. President Obama has strongly criticized the bill saying that it “threatens to undermine basic notions of equality that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so vital to keeping us safe.” The Mexican Foreign Ministry said that it is worried that this law will limit the rights of its citizens and relations with Arizona. The law goes into effect by August, and court challenges are expected immediately.
Mr. Russell Pearce, a state senator, has several provisions on the bill. It requires police officers to detain people “only when practicable”, like if it doesn’t hinder an investigation or emergency medical treatment. It also makes it a misdemeanor to fail to carry the proper immigration documents, and it also allows people to sue the state and local governments if they believe that the immigration law is not being enforced. 48 states have proposed or enacted hundreds of bills about immigration since 2007, which was the last time the federal government tried to reform the immigration law.
Immigration, normally a federal issue, has been taken into the hands of the states. Now the state of Arizona has enacted a law more harsh than any of the others, granting the police the ability to demand that immigrants show proper identification. This law blurs the line between state and federal power to enforce immigration restrictions. This law allows the state of Arizona the ability to do what only the federal government can do, limit immigration. This law came about because of the national governments inability to control illegal immigration. Does this mean that when the national government can’t fix a national issue that the states can take power into their own hands?
If a state can make a law discriminating against immigrants what can’t it do? If state doesn’t like a national law and they want to change it only within their state they can just make a law overriding the national law? What happened to NATIONAL SUPREMACY? How can the national government just stand by and allow immigrants to be discriminated against? Granted some immigrants are here illegally and they deserve to be thrown out until they can get enough money to come here legally. (Read: Quit devoting your life to hopping fences, crossing rivers and bridges, and get a job.) But I still think that the federal government should be the ones held responsible for kicking out Senor and Senora Fence Hoppers, not the states.
Arizona's Stringent law on Immigration.
The whole topic of this article is unsettling. Whatever happened to the American melting pot? Or what happened tp America being the land of opportunity? The Arizona law is very harsh towards anyone who is not a white American. People, no matter what race, color, or ethnicity, should never be forced to carry around proof that they are an American citizen. Illegal immigration is a ginormous problem. However, this is not the way to solve it. People that come here illegally are generally those who are too poor to be able to afford the costs of immigration. And those who are too poor may not be poor because they are "too lazy" to get a job. The case may be that there are just simply not enough jobs available for them to be able to be hired. So instead of coming down with a blazing iron fist, our national government should find a more peaceful and equal way to solve this issue, especially considering it is the national government's job to deal with foriegn matters.
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