This past Friday the bill for the "broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations" was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in Arizona, which will require, not just enable, police officers to stop people in public spaces and demand proof of legal residency based upon reasonable suspicion so to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants. Immediate and outraged responses protest the inevitable racist targeting of Latin@s, and even "Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was worried about the rights of its citizens and relations with Arizona." Here are some other quotations from the article that sticks out in my mind:
"It also makes it a state crime — a misdemeanor — to not carry immigration papers. In addition, it allows people to sue local government or agencies if they believe federal or state immigration law is not being enforced."
Not only will specific race groups be legally targeted and harassed by police officers, but they can also be charged for something as small as forgetting their papers in the wrong bag or wrong coat. These misdemeanor charges will then be put on their official records and future potential employers will see this information on background checks, making it harder for these people to get hired for jobs. What will this do? Well, it would probably push up crime and incarceration rates for Latin@s, and then perpetrate the system of race and class inequality because let's face it: these police officers will be much less likely to stop a white person for their documentations. What employers would want to hire people that are "reasonably suspect" of illegal residency because not only would they give their businesses a bad look, but also make them subject to police intervention?
"Ms. Brewer acknowledged critics’ concerns, saying she would work to ensure that the police have proper training to carry out the law. But she sided with arguments by the law’s sponsors that it provides an indispensable tool for the police in a border state that is a leading magnet of illegal immigration. She said racial profiling would not be tolerated, adding, 'We have to trust our law enforcement.'"
Does this mean that we are living in a world where racism does not exist and that police bureaucracies are not corrupt and subject to racist police brutality? Because if that's true, I missed that small detail. But I'm pretty sure we don't live in a colorblind society, and if racial profiling will not be tolerated, then who is this bill really for? Will equal effort and resources be exerted to check people of all races? I highly doubt it. Will white people ever look Mexican?
In another New York Times' article on the bill:
"In a nearby neighborhood, Ron White, 52, said he felt a sense of relief that something was finally being done about 'the illegals' — whom he blames for ills like congregating on the streets, breaking into homes in his neighborhood, draining tax dollars and taking jobs from Americans.
'I sure hope it does have an effect,' Mr. White said of the new law as he packed his car with groceries. 'I wouldn’t want to show proof of citizenship, but I also don’t feel it is racial profiling. You are going to look different if you are an alien, and cops know.'"
I wonder what are his standards of what aliens look like. Does he mean tiny people with green skin and antennas jumping off spaceships or does he mean people who look and are Mexican? Also, judging upon looks is very much akin to racial profiling.
"Alfredo Hernández-García, 22, who is not a legal resident but is married to a woman who is, already lies low, fearing he will be deported and separated from his wife, who will soon give birth."
It's striking to me that U.S. legislators can pass this kind of bill and still vigilantly deny that it will cause any sort of racism and racial profiling. It reinforces the insistence of this fake colorblind society that we currently live in where this type of legislation will not have racist implications and consequences. Who are we really kidding? I think it's more important than ever to realize that colorblindness does not exist and cannot exist because it will only further racism with arguments like "There's no such thing as racism anymore so any reasonable suspicion will be solely based upon justifiable logic."
What's also really interesting to me is this sentiment of nativism because I'm pretty sure that the first illegal immigrants in our glorious country were the Pilgrims that landed on Native American shores and appropriated their space. But this acknowledgement is so often ignored in conventional education, and honestly, for convenience's sake, must be ignored because otherwise everyone living on American soil today would be illegal immigrants. But that's not the point. The point is that Americans continuously ignore this piece of history and feel entitled to this space while criminalizing others for wanting the same things. Is the American Dream inherently racist?
I also want to acknowledge that in this post I do throw the term "white people" around. However, this is not to convey anti-white sentiment or to antagonize them, but to express the continuing power dynamic that exists between white people and people of color and the difference in perceptions between the two groups that are supported and enabled by political and social institutions. But please, let's keep the conversation flowing and tell us what you think!
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