SB 1070.

The recent law passed in Arizona that makes it a criminal act under state law to be an illegal immigrant makes me sick. The deep-seeded racisim not only underlies the bill, but champions it as well. It is disconcerting. Not only is it a high cause of concern to individuals that are Latino or of Latino descent, but the bill criminalizes activities of those helping illegal immigrants. I guess this makes being a social worker in Arizona illegal too!!

Racially profiling Latino people (especially in a state where there is a large portion of people with latino heritage) who may or may not be in the US illegally is no answer to an immigration system that is completely broken.

Racial profiling is illegal. You cannot stop a person based on looks, appearance, or race. Who do you think police are going to suspect are in the US illegally? Who are they going to stop and ask for documentation? Some white lady (nevermind that she's from Canada and has overstayed her visa)?

Yeah right! Not to mention, only authoritarian regimes begin with asking people to carry around some form of identification. The nazi regime forced jews to wear the star or david. The Franco dictatorship in Spain forced people to carry around ID papers & if caught without them you were jailed or worse.

What this law does is change the role of state & local police. Their primary goal is no longer protection of civilians, but weeding out illegal immigrants. This is of major concern. Crimes against immigrants are already heavily underreported & this law will only exasperate fear in victims. Is that what we want? To push a population further into invisability?! To deny them the most basic of protection? To even in some ways encourage crime? To make it ok to rape, rob, or beat an illegal immigrant, because the perpetrator knows they cannot go to the police!

From my experience working with Latina immigrants, a law like this is detrimental to fostering healthy relations between marginalized populations & the police. This law is not an answer to the numerous consequences associated with high rates of illegal immigration. It is not even a quick fix, & it will not act as a deterrent. I think the policy ideology of "let's do something just to be doing something" leads us down paths that are harmful to all, mainly because they do not have enough foresight to see their own ramifications.