Arizona in my mind

I was reading this article from the AP about the new law in Arizona dealing with illegal immigrants. As you know, I have had a soft spot in my heart for illegal immigrants after my time in Georgia this past June and because of my friend Jamin (haha... just kidding, Jamin). I’ve tried not to have much of an opinion on the subject of illegal immigrants because I honestly have no idea what all is involved in becoming a US citizen. I do know that my Uncle George was able to pull off becoming a citizen (as was Ziva on NCIS) so I have to think it can be done. It’s a hard thing being an open, yet secure country. I don’t envy people who have to make decisions regarding this topic. Having said that, I’m not sure there is any other illegal activity that has such mainstream support. I mean, we’re talking about illegal immigrants. Not legal immigrants (if there is such a thing anymore).

Anyway, back to the article. I was reading it when I came across this little gem:

“Opponents say the law will lead to racial profiling and trample on the rights of the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants in Arizona”

My hope is that there was a typo and they meant to say legal immigrants, not illegal immigrants. But I have a feeling it wasn’t a typo. I have a feeling there are people concerned with hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants having their rights trampled. What rights are we talking about? The right to go back home and try to come back in the legal way? I don’t know... Are their rights different from the rights of US citizens? If not, why bother becoming a citizen?

I understand legal citizens (who look similar to most of the illegal immigrants in AZ) being rather skeptical of this new law. I get it. I don’t really think this is the best law... I don’t really think that the AZ leaders think this is the best law... I think it’s just the best idea they had for dealing with this problem. I haven’t heard anyone come up with a better idea yet.

From this same article, it seems that the new law:

“requires officers, while enforcing other laws, to check a person's immigration status if there's a reasonable suspicion that the person is here illegally. It also bans people from blocking traffic when they seek or offer day-labor services on streets and prohibits illegal immigrants from soliciting work in public places”.

I don’t think that’s the worst thing in the world. I’m not sure what’s involved in checking a person’s immigration status, but I assume it isn’t that hard to do. If it is hard to check, then I could see where it would be an issue. Maybe this will help solve the problem... maybe it won’t. But at least it’s something, and that’s more than what the Fed’s seem to be doing to help AZ with this problem.

Maybe my favorite quote:

“ACLU attorney Omar Jadwat said the law's provisions are supposed to work together to achieve a goal of prodding illegal immigrants to leave the state, calling it unconstitutional and dangerous”.

Um, yeah. Actually, I think the law’s provisions (as I understand them) are supposed to work together to achieve a goal of prodding illegal immigrants to leave the state AND keep other illegal immigrants from coming into the state. I don’t really see how it’s unconstitutional, as I thought the constitution was for US citizens (though I could be wrong).

So that’s my take on it. I don’t see any reason to protest what Arizona is doing. I see no reason to boycott the state. I would love to visit it (as soon as I have enough time to drive there and back... or as soon as it moves closer to SC... whichever happens first).