Arizona’s new law is not the model we need

Linda Turner, Henderson

Thursday, April 29, 2010 | 2:02 a.m.

Thanks to the Las Vegas Sun for its coverage of Arizona’s anti-immigrant legislation.

For those who claim this law is not about racial profiling but about “illegals,” I’d like to know how they propose to decide who to stop. Do “illegals” have some stigmata to differentiate them from a fifth-generation Hispanic American citizen or a light-skinned black person?

And will Arizona also stop possible “illegals” from Sweden, Canada or Germany? If so, how will they make that decision?

And let’s be real, this isn’t just about “illegals” or racial profiling.

Republicans are desperate for a red Arizona, and more Hispanics vote Democratic (especially after the enactment of this law). They’re hoping the law has a chilling effect on all Hispanics, and that they leave Arizona for elsewhere (Nevada, maybe).

I put the word “illegals” in quotes because no human being is illegal. Remember whose land this was before the white invaders grabbed it. This law is no different than Jim Crow in Mississippi (which also hung onto segregation as a states’ rights issue). I’m waiting for the first legal challenge to it.

Should there be a national immigration policy? Of course. But the Arizona law is not the model for what we need. The Arizona law is spurring Democrats in Washington to accelerate immigration reform legislation, as soon as Republicans stop filibustering even putting financial reform up for debate.