As many here have probably heard by now, Arizona had a new illegal immigration bill signed into law last week by their governor. As expected, there is plenty of protest going on around the state of Arizona, specially at the capital. Reading what I have on the bill, I don't know if it was the right bill but I think that in a way, it was definitely needed. I have a feeling that the law will be deemed unconstitutional, mostly on the basis that state governments can not make laws in regards to the borders (or something to that effect), only the federal government can do that. The federal government has long dragged its feet on the subject and may now finally be forced to do something about it.
I would kind of liked to see the law go into effect just so everyone could see exactly how the law is enforced. It's entirely possible that all the protest could be over reaction.... police officers for all anyone knows could be very responsible and fair when it comes to enforcement. To be fair, the people protesting and talking in the press are giving the impression that the police would simply be stopping anyone and everyone that even looked a little bit like they could be illegal. I would like to think that police officers would be acutely sensitive to this point and would go out of their way to avoid getting into situations where their reasons for stopping someone could be questioned. As far as i've been able to determine from the law, officers simply couldn't stop someone to ask for their ID's, they have to have probably cause to stop someone.... basically like when getting pulled over, a officer that pulls you over has reason to believe that something illegal has taken place.
Myself, i'm all for anyone and everyone immigrating to the USA.... I only ask that they go through the proper channels. I do think that the government needs to make it a bit easier, less time consuming and more affordable for people to do so... and also to increase the number of people that would be allowed into the country on a yearly basis. The one main thing that I think should be and might already be required is to know basic english. I really think that if more of the illegals bothered to learn the language, they would probably adapt better. Nothing is more irritating when working retail when you have someone that doesn't speak a lick of english trying to tell you what they want and you can't understand anything they are saying. Anyhow, I have a hard time having sympathy for people that decide to come here illegally. If you decide to make the decision to come then you and you alone are responsible for anything that happens to you, like a person drinking at a bar who decides to drive home and kills someone.... the only one responsible for what happened is the person that did it. I've made plenty of mistakes in my life but did my best to make sure that any decision that I did make was legal.
Here is one of many stories you can find on the web in regards to the story... this one is from Bloomberg Businessweek:
Mexicans Are ‘Angered’ by Arizona Law, Calderon Says
By Crayton Harrison and Thomas Black
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Mexicans are “angered and saddened” by an Arizona law making it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally, President Felipe Calderon said.
“The legislation doesn’t adequately guarantee respect for people’s fundamental rights, not only of Mexicans but of Mexican-Americans who will also be the object of persecution and injustice,” Calderon said today in a speech in Mexico City.
About one-quarter of Arizona’s population is of Hispanic descent, according to Census Bureau figures. Calderon’s comments today follow a statement from his office last week that said the Arizona law was an “obstacle” to finding solutions to common problems along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law last week a bill that would require local police to check the immigration status of anyone suspected of not having proper documentation. The southwestern state is a frequent transit route for drugs and people smuggled across the border from Mexico.
President Barack Obama on April 23 called the law “misguided” and said it highlighted the need to overhaul federal immigration laws. Obama said there are 11 million people living illegally in the U.S. According to the Department of Homeland Security, there are 460,000 residents living illegally in Arizona, the seventh-highest amount among U.S. states.
Calderon called the legislation “opportunistic” and based on election-year politics. He expressed concern for the human rights of Mexicans, both legal and illegal, because of the new law.
“The commercial, tourism and cultural ties between Mexico and Arizona are severely affected by this type of legislation,” Calderon said.