Wave of controversy

May 17, 2010 • Michelle Arnold  
Filed under Opinion

The recently passed SB 1070 has sparked a wave of controversy. Proponents claim that the law, scheduled to go into effect on July 28, 2010, does not infringe upon human rights, for illegal immigrants have no right to be in this country. However, this view ignores the dire side effects the law will have for Hispanic American citizens and Hispanics legally living in Arizona. Under the law, it will be a misdemeanor for immigrants to not have proof of legal residence; police will be obligated to check for identification if there is reasonable suspicion that a person is an illegal immigrant; and, if an arrest is made, a person cannot be released without proving their residence. These provisions will be cumbersome for perfectly legal residents, for how easy is it to simply forget a small card or slip of papers? And of course, the real spark of controversy is the fact that it is highly unlikely that any group except Hispanics will be affected. While the law forbids using race as a determining factor in the formation of reasonable suspicion, but the stigma against Hispanics as illegal immigrants pervades most of society. It would be ridiculous to claim that a Canadian immigrant would be equally requested to show their papers. Few people have innate understandings of a person’s immigration status. This puts police in the middle of a Catch 22: while they cannot arrest on basis of race, they also cannot not make an arrest. Ultimately, it is unlikely that the law will survive in courts, for it has too many inherent flaws. However, should the federal government sue the State of Arizona, subsequent budgets will probably have reduced money reserved for education.

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