Word: arizonaã
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This past week, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) unabashedly joined the jingoist wing of his party. Supplementing his earlier support for Arizona??s Senate Bill 1070, “The Maverick” launched a television advertisement shamelessly catering to militarists. In the video, McCain, accompanied by a local sheriff, argues that if we swell the ranks of the U.S. Border Patrol with 3,000 new agents, deploy the National Guard, and complete the 700 miles of “danged fence” between the U.S. and Mexico, trafficking, trespassing, and murder...
...Given Arizona??s current tensions, more enforcement-only legislation can only provoke violence. There’s something sinister going on: an unholy and unreasonable alliance between actual bigots and citizens understandably concerned about jobs and safety. When politicians like McCain generalize undocumented immigrants as violent threats, they cement the coalition. Tensions are high: McCain is fighting for his political future against a strong right-wing primary challenger, talk-show radio host J.D. Hayworth, a man who speaks of the undocumented immigration debate as a battle to “stand up for our culture?...
Last Friday, Arizona??s Republican governor Jan K. Brewer signed into law the nation’s strictest bill on illegal immigration to date in spite of concern expressed by President Obama. Under the legislation, police may now detain individuals whom they reasonably suspect entered the United States illegally and authorities can charge immigrants with state crimes if they fail to carry proper immigration papers at any given time. In addition, it even grants citizens the right to sue their cities should they feel that the law is not being enforced strongly enough. While we understand that Arizona...
...subject of such discrimination, there is no telling just what sort of effect this bill will have on Arizona??s Latino communities, as police are now likely to stop people simply for looking Hispanic. Will Latinos still feel comfortable speaking Spanish, even in the sanctuary of residential areas? Will they still be able to celebrate their cultural heritage in a society that is meant to be pluralistic...
What, then, is the point of this law? Regardless of its intended impact, it functions to enforce racial divisions already deeply entrenched in American society. Needless to say, Arizona??s new stance on illegal immigration does not constitute a constructive way to deal with the issue—an issue that certainly needs addressing. In the meantime, we can only hope that other states confronted with similar circumstances do not follow Arizona??s embarrassing lead...