Arizona's Law SR1070 Creates Outrage Among Citizens and Celebrities

Living here in Tucson, Arizona I am touched by the new law that was passed, SR1070. What I don't understand, however is why, if the law was voted on by so many people, are there so many people, including celebrities, who are now opposing it? So I did some research.

What's wrong with the bill?

The complete bill, which can be seen at: www.azleg.gov [search SB1070], contains some very unclear language, which could be open to interpretation. One of the most debated terms is "reasonable suspicion". This bill gives Arizona law officers the right to ask any person who is reasonably suspicious to show legal identification, proving that they are in the US legally, or it becomes the responsibility of the officer to detain the subject. Furthermore, if the person is determined to have entered the country illegally, they will be charged with a misdemeanor and could be fined as much as $5,000. They will then of course be deported.

There are other provisions included which pertain to the impoundment of vehicles, trespassing charges for those who are caught on public or private property, and charges against those who are suspected of aiding illegal immigrants, as well as tough punishments for anyone hiring illegal immigrants, even for day labor jobs. These provisions worry many people because they believe that this law will cause peoples' civil rights to be violated, and that it promotes racial profiling.

However a new provisional bill that is designed to curb the possibility of racial profiling is in the process of being passed. This new bill, HB 2162, is possibly just a ploy by supporters to help their case against the three lawsuits that have been filed, claiming that the law is unconstitutional. These claims state that this law will promote racial profiling by police and racism in general.

In a post on the Arizona Daily Star website, posted on April 30^th by Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services says:

"HB 2162, approved by the House and Senate, changes the law to specify that when deciding whom to question about immigration status; police may not use race, ethnicity or national origin as a factor."

The article also states:

"That is a significant change from SB 1070 as it was approved by lawmakers and signed less than a week ago by Gov. Jan Brewer. That version of the law permits police to consider any of those factors when deciding if there is "reasonable suspicion" someone is not in this country legally, as long as it is not the only reason for investigating further."

What is "Reasonable Suspicion"?

Reasonable suspicion is defined by www.dictionary.getlegal.com as:

(n): an objectively justifiable suspicion that is based on specific facts or circumstances and that justifies stopping and sometimes searching (as by frisking) a person thought to be involved in criminal activity at the time

The problem many people have with this definition is that it is still open to interpretation, and the fear is that people of Hispanic origin may be harassed because of their obvious heritage. This would be considered racial profiling. Although officers have been instructed not to engage in racial profiling, many people believe that this law is a doorway to possible abuse.

What is "Racial Profiling"?

Racial profiling is defined by Encarta World English Dictionary [North American Edition] as:

(v): assumption of criminality among ethnic groups: the alleged policy of some police to attribute criminal intentions to members of some ethnic groups and to stop and question them in disproportionate numbers without probable cause

This is what concerns many Arizona citizens, and celebrities; they worry that people will start being stopped, pulled over, and harassed simply because of their racial heritage, which is, in essence, unconstitutional. Although the new amendment is designed to curb this kind of behavior by law enforcement, many are doubtful. Many people site the behavior of such well know law enforcement officers as Sherriff Joe Arpaio who is known to be relentless when it comes to illegal immigrants. Another article on the Arizona Daily Star website, posted on April 30^th by Jonathan J. Cooper and Paul Davenport repots:

"In Phoenix, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio launched his latest crime and immigration sweep Thursday, arresting 60 people, with 39 suspected of being illegal immigrants.

Arpaio, whose tough crackdowns have made him a hero in the anti-illegal immigration community, has conducted 14 of the sweeps since 2008. Critics allege Arpaio's deputies racially profiled Hispanics during the sweeps, but Arpaio says people were approached because deputies had probable cause to believe they had committed crimes. Arpaio has lauded the new law, saying it gives him new authority to detain undocumented migrants who aren't accused of committing any other crimes."

What do Supporters Say?

Many supporters believe that this bill is long over-due. They site statistics related to violent criminals who are illegal immigrants, jobs that are lost to illegals, and those who are taking advantage of our Welfare system. They believe that these people do not have any right to be here, because they crossed the border without legal documentation, and therefore have broken the law. It is no surprise that most proponents of this bill are Republicans. It was further reported in the aforementioned article by Jonathan J. Cooper and Paul Davenport that:

"The law's sponsor, Republican Sen. Russell Pearce, characterized those changes as clarifications "just to take away the silly arguments and the games, the dishonesty that's been played."

In the article posted by Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services, it was also reported that:

"Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, defended the original provision as being relevant, saying 90 percent of those in this country illegally are from Mexico and points south."

I would like to know where he gets his statistics. I personally grew up in Florida and it is reported that there are estimated 350,000 illegal immigrants in the state who are from such other countries as Canada, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Poland, and Pakistan, besides the usual Latin American countries. According to the research I found, only about 42%, estimated, illegal immigrants come from Mexico. (See this PDF from www.DHS.gov)

Other obvious proponents are Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the law, Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio, and Janet Napolitano.

What Celebrities are saying:

Many celebrities are speaking out against this law as well. Such names as Shakira, Linda Ronstadt, and Ricky Martin have much to say about this new law, according to Lawsuits target AZ law amid calls for boycotts by Jonathan J. Cooper and Paul Davenport:

Shakira: "It goes against all human dignity."

Linda Ronstadt: "Mexican-Americans are not going to take this lying down,"

Ricky Martin: "makes no sense."

It seems that this will be a battle beyond anything we have seen in Arizona. It's another political tennis match pitting the left against the right.