Appalling Arizona

So I’m sure many of us are familiar with the bill that the state of Arizona attempted to pass as law almost a year ago, in April 2010. This bill, Arizona Senate Bill 1070, sought to make it a misdemeanor for an immigrant to be in the state without constantly carrying proper identity documents, prevents officials from restricting enforcement of the state’s immigration laws, and adds an extra measure to suppress those housing, hiring, or transporting illegal immigrants.

The biggest issue with this bill was the alleged consent to and encouragement of racial profiling, which many believed would target legal and illegal citizens alike. The bill has since been declared unconstitutional, and faces lawsuits from several sources, including the United States government, initiated by President Obama.

Apparently this wasn’t enough, because just this past week, Arizona has come out with a new set of restrictions to further ostracize immigrants. These new controls will prevent illegal immigrants from driving in the state, place restrictions on schooling for children as well as most public services, and will go to the lengths of creating special birth certificates for children born to illegal immigrants, emphasizing the fact that they will not be considered citizens of the state.

In discussing this with one of the immigration lawyers that I work with, she said that restricting public school access to children of immigrants was declared unconstitutional in 1982, making it questionable as to what that portion of the law seeks to achieve.

Thinking back to Obama’s State of the Union address earlier this month, he stressed the importance of education, not only of our own citizens, but also those from outside our nation’s borders. He said that our country is made stronger by welcoming minds and workers from elsewhere. But legislators in Arizona, and other right-leaning states as well, are trying to impede what should be a basic right. Given, their parents have “broke the law” to a certain degree, but does that mean that the children must pay by not having access to a basic education and, by default, a brighter future?

There are other issues that I see with this law, but personally, the education part is most important to me. I’m angered by the moves made to prevent immigrants from entering the United States, especially focused on Latin American immigrants, and I think Arizona is a disgrace to our country and what it’s supposed to stand for.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/us/24arizona.html?_r=1&ref=us

_Diana