Yesterday, the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) voided 3 of the 4 challenged sections of Arizona’s Kris Kobach and ALEC‘s draconian anti-immigration law known as SB 1070.
Note: Check out how much influence ALEC actually has in Arizona. It’s scary. Link
The three sections that were voided were:
- Section 3 makes it a state crime for someone not in this country legally to fail to carry federally issued registration cards.
- Section 5(C) makes it a crime for an undocumented worker to apply for work in a public place or perform work as an employee or independent contractor in Arizona.
- Section 6 lets police make an arrest without a warrant if there is “probable cause” they committed an offense that makes them removable from the country.
The section that was upheld was:
Section 2(B) requires police to try to determine the immigration status of someone they have already stopped if there is “reasonable suspicion” that person is unlawfully in the country. It also requires determination of immigration status of anyone placed under arrest.
Within minutes, the pro-SB1070 faction were claiming this ruling as a victory because the “key component” (a phrase that was oft repeated in press releases and interviews) was upheld. While, in a general sense, yes it was upheld, upon further examination it was upheld only under an extremely narrow definition. The majority opinion stated that if Arizona applied this section outside that definition, opponents of the law could return to court to challenge it once it has been enforced and Arizona courts have a chance to interpret it.
The “key component”, section 2(b), is more commonly known as the “papers, please” section of SB1070.
The problem with 2(b) wasn’t necessarily with the section alone, but how it intermingled with the other sections of SB1070. The bill created new crimes, such as illegal presence and soliciting for work, which, when looked at broadly, allowed police to ask primarily Hispanic people for their immigration papers.
Now, proponents will say that there’s no mention of race in SB1070, and they’d be correct…. and naive beyond belief. I’ve yet to see a white person among the Hispanic people on the corners soliciting for work. I’ve yet to hear of a white person (or any other ethnicity, really) be detained on suspicion of “illegal presence”. All of Sheriff Joe Arpaio‘s “immigration raids” have involved either a business in which Hispanics are a significant employee demographic or a neighborhood where Hispanics are a significant population demographic.
Every. Single. One.
Yes, Arizona’s proximity to Mexico means that a significant majority of undocumented immigrants are Latino/Hispanic. However, if you look at the implementation of SB1070, along with Arpaio’s use of the 287(g) program, you’d think that ALL of the undocumented immigrants are Latino/Hispanic.
If you listened to them, you’d believe that Arizona’s Hispanic population was 145,874% “illegal” and cost the state four quadrillion dollars a month.
If you listened to them, you’d believe that headless bodies were being stacked up like firewood in the lower Sonoran deserts.
If you listened to them, you’d believe that the current administration has done nothing about border security despite that funding, the number of agents, and the number of deportations are higher than they’ve ever been while border crossings and crime rates are down in every single border state.
This is an interesting factoid. Proponents of SB1070 have told me personally in the last 24 hours that FBI Crime Statistics are “slanted” and they don’t believe them. Some of these same people will then quote statistics from nativist organizations such as FAIR, NumbersUSA, or CIS… all organizations founded on the philosophy of John Tanton, a notorious nativist and eugenecist with ties to both white supremacist organizations.
If you listen to the anti-immigrant nativist crowd, their frame of reference is Mexico and Mexicans. They’ll say they’re against all “illegal immigration”, but I’ve yet to hear any one of these nativist xenophobes rail against Southeast or Central Asian ethnicity or any Anglo demographic.
Why? Well, the dirty little secret was hidden within the Immigration bills that were thankfully defeated last session.
The purpose of these bills, according to their author, was to preserve Arizona’s “anglo-European cultural heritage”.
I s&*$ you not.
SB1070, and the bills that have come after, have nothing to do with immigration (as not a single one of them truly addresses the issue), but are simply to make sure that white folks remain predominant in Arizona.
When put all together, people who support this “key provision” are supporting legalized harassment of Arizona’s Latino population. Based on the actions of not only Joe Arpaio’s office (which would rather tilt at windmills than investigate sex abuse crimes in primarily Hispanic cities and neighborhoods), but those of other Police Departments, primarily in Maricopa County, it becomes abundantly clear that SB1070′s “attrition through enforcement” is simply code to hide the true nature of these laws.
If this weren’t true, then why is Sheriff Joe currently involved in a political stand-off with the US Department of Justice? The DoJ recently released a report detailing the results of a 5 year investigation into the MCSO’s regular abuse of the civil rights of Arizona’s latino community, both citizen and non-citizen.
The Ethnic Studies ban passed in Arizona outlawed curriculum that would “promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment of a particular race or class of people, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.”
So, I’m sorry non-white students. Studying your ethnic heritage is now illegal in the state of Arizona. The far-right, nutball politicians that the paranoid white folk elect year after year have determined that this sort of stealth cultural genocide is just fine and dandy.
Superintendent Tom Horne called the Ethnic Studies program “ethnic chauvinism” and equated the curriculum to “treason”.
Yes, he really said that studying anything other than, essentially, the approved white version of history is tantamount to treason.
Oh, let’s not forget the fact that these draconian anti-immigrant laws have an even more nefarious motivation.
Money.
Yep, Correction Corporation of America has a huge presence in Arizona, and the ear of Governor Leatherface through two of her high-level staffers, and they contract with the state to house not only out-of-state prisoners, but those arrested on immigration charges as well.
Why?
Well, because the last one showed that CCA and their prisons are less safe and actually cost more to run than state prisons. Oh, that and the fact that future contracts would be dependent on CCA showing they were safer and more cost efficient than state run prisons.
Over the years the private prison industry has had quite a run. Their funding has been stable or increased over the last few budgets while things like education, health care, and other public services have been victims of the budget axe. Arizona Republicans even raided the state’s mortgage fraud settlement funds and given the cash to CCA.
So..what does this all mean?
When viewed in totality, it becomes that there is a very moneyed, primarily white, corporate power structure pulling the legislative strings in a desperate attempt to maintain their control over Arizona.
The prosecution rests.
Now, on to some ground rules for comments:
- Supporting SB1070 does not automatically put one into the racist/bigot camp. This legislation is written in such a way as to cloud the true intent while making it palatable to enough of the citizenry to garner popular support.
- Opposing SB1070 does not automatically put one into the “pro-illegal” or “open borders” camp.
- Comments that either insinuate or outright make claim #1 or claim #2 will be deleted without discussion. Whining about such deletions will get one banned.
Just remember, if you bring facts, bring sources.
Let the fun begin.
Related articles
- SB 1070: An illegal immigration odyssey (thefutureamerican.wordpress.com)
- S.B. 1070: In Plain English (scotusblog.com)
- SB1070 and the fight over patriotism (csmonitor.com)
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