Read the bill, then decide

May 17, 2010 • Josh Robbins  
Filed under Opinion

The local and national news has been filled with news about the new Arizona Immigration bill without much knowledge on just exactly what the bill says. They believe that the bill encourages police officers in the state of Arizona to question everyone they believe to be an illegal immigrant leading to racism. The new legislature does not do that at all. It gives officers probable suspicion rather than probable cause to question anyone they see fit. Now, granted, the bill has gone through a few changes this past week and has given restrictions on what officers can do. They cannot merely step up to a random person on the street and say, “Prove you are a citizen.” Only during a regular stop that an officer makes can he question an individual on their citizenship. The bill also states that one cannot be stopped because of race, color or national origin. Seeing as we live near Mexico, the majority of the illegal immigrants in Mexico will come from there but that does not mean that every officer will stop every person they suspect of having Mexican decent. In no way does the bill permit racial profiling. In fact, it states that an officer can only enforce this bill so far as the United States and Arizona constitutions are not violated. Those that oppose the bill state that it is going to be used to discriminate against the Mexican population and that it will incite crimes that were seen during the 1960’s during the major civil rights movements. Their claims do not hold water. Those that are being deported and are detained because of failed representation of citizenship are in this country illegally. Now, if one is detained because they do not have the proper form of identification, their background will be checked by the proper authorities and the individual will be released once their legal status is verified. In all cases, citizenship can be verified by showing a) a driver’s license b) a non-operating identification license or c) proof of a legal presence in the United States as issued by the government. The bill does not give the authority to deport any person they choose due to their race without first making sure they are here legally. If they are here illegally, they should be deported. This is not because Arizona should close its borders forever; this is because tax money is being spent to provide care for those that are not citizens yet use the facilities we provide. I do not believe that racism is right but I do believe that we need to do everything in order to keep our nation safe.

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