....Do I look illegal !?....

What does an illegal immigrant look like? …does he wear “huaraches”?... does he mow your lawn?.... is he brown? A lot of people are flabbergasted by the SB1070 turned law in Arizona by Gov. Jan Brewer. Pictured here.

Article 8 Section B states “WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS..UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE, WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON” In other words, part of the law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and police are to question people if there is a reason to “suspect” they’re illegally in the country. I call bullshit ! Who is trained to spot an illegal immigrant on the streets of Arizona?...I’m so peeved by the racial profiling this will cause. YOU KNOW they’re going to go after the people that look a little more humble, work construction, work gardening, clean your homes. What if I said I was one? What if I took my little cousins, who mind you are all blonde blue eyed Mexicans, to get ice cream and was stopped by the popo because I looked “suspicious”…ugh I would die. How distressing!

I had the opportunity to interview an Arizona resident and friend Nick about the new law. “Overall, I like the bill…it addresses some real problems that are rampant in AZ. It is harsher on human smugglers and day laborers in front of Home Depot who are impeding commerce...” said Nick. Great point...there are definitely some issues that AZ deals with that are not as prevalent in other states and a lot of people on both sides support the bill for those reasons.

Watch this video…particularly the moment when Gov Brewer was asked that same question I ask you.. “What does an illegal immigrant look like…does he look like me?” Her answer “I do not know”…then why are you passing a law that asks the police to look for them if you don’t know yourself?! The Gov. then proceeded to say that she assumes “there are people in Arizona that assume they know what an illegal immigrant looks like”. Well while you are “assuming” I have to carry around my documents to prove I’m legal? Talk about a violation of my civil rights.

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Also, you KNOW this targets the Latino community. I doubt they’ll be stopping the blue eyed tall illegal Europeans, the Asians, etc etc. For those readers that don’t know what racial profiling is…according to Wikipedia it “is the inclusion of racial or ethnic characteristics in determining whether a person is considered likely to commit a particular type of crime or an illegal act or to behave in a predictable manner”. I asked Nick if he worried about racial profiling and he said… “I and a lot of others (including some pretty conservative republicans I know) have a problem within this bill is the language at the beginning that grants law enforcement the right to question anyone who looks reasonably suspicious as being illegal”. …I think we all harmonize on this point... “in AZ I think that basically equates to being brown because we are a border state and being an illegal immigrant is synonymous with being Mexican or of Hispanic origin and that is where the potential for racial profiling stems from”-Nick. I don’t think I could have put it better myself….enough said.

Unfortunately…this is a result of a problem that should be taken care of at the federal level…and according to President Obama it is a “misguided” solution. Agreed. Immigration is definitely a problem…and there is a need for change. Arizona is taking a stand and basically telling the federal government to do something about it. To read the bill in full --> SENATE BILL 1070




The entire country is finally listening and we can only hope that we move in the right direction.

Do something about it.