Don’t Back Down, Arizona! You’ve got Pelotas Gigantes!!

With the passage of SB1070 on Friday, it is now a crime in the State of Arizona to be in the state illegally. I’m going to ask everyone to read that sentence again and again and again if you need to. Plain and simple, it says that in the State of Arizona it is a crime to commit a crime. So, why would anyone ever have a problem with that? Do you have laws in your state saying anything different? What don’t people understand about the word “illegal?” Merriam-Webster defines illegal as “against the law.”

This is not something the state wanted to do, but years and years (going all the way back and including the golden boy, Reagan) of federal government inaction have caused this to occur. The crisis has risen to such a dangerous and unacceptable level that it was time to act.

The bill is not aimed at Hispanics. It is aimed at all people who are in the state illegally, most of whom happen to be Hispanic. Hispanics are the first to admit they look, dress and sound distinctively different than other nationalities and will be singled out.  That's not my fault or the fault of the legislators in Arizona.  Be here legally, be proud to be here, and you are welcomed with open arms.  We have a good size population of Asians (Thais, Vietnamese, Chinese) here in Phoenix and they are not worried.  They are not worried because when they arrived by plane or boat, they needed to produce the proper credentials and they are here legally.  They did not sneak across the border under the cover of darkness and then protest when they are asked to conform to the law. 

Arizona has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants and is the state with the most illegal border crossings, with the harsh, remote desert serving as the gateway for thousands of Mexicans and Central Americans.

Equally frustrating is the fact that the person in charge of securing our national borders, Director of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, is the former Governor of Arizona, who was quite vocal about the immigration problem when she was in office in Phoenix. It is her successor, Jan Brewer, who signed the bill into law on Friday, and Napolitano kept a very low profile during the process.

Arizona schools are overburdened, our hospitals overtaxed, and social services are broke. We do not refuse services to the undocumented. If truth be known, they receive the same services that you or I would receive, and many times at little or no cost. That's right taxpayer dollars... local and federal.  So, you are paying also..does that change anything knowing illegals are using up monies that could be spent on bona fide American citizens, veterans, elderly, after school programs, etc?

One third of all inmates in Arizona jails are illegals, who are there for crimes other than being here without the proper documentation. Criminals we do deport, return to the state quite easily and quite quickly through borders that are woefully and inadequately protected.

Police are being trained in the correct way to enforce the new law without violating civil rights or racial profiling. The law prohibits them from stopping a car because the driver looks Hispanic or Japanese or Chinese, or whwtever.  However, if the car is speeding and is stopped, and the driver cannot produce any ID (a “reasonable” indication that they may not be a citizen), then they can be detained. The new law requires the police to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally. Sure, on occasion it may cause a citizen to be asked if they are here legally. It's unfortunate, but too bad. It's not your Grandpa's world anymore.

I’m required to show ID for different reasons every day, but it never bothers me. It’s the reality of living in a post 9-11 world.

Finally, I’m a faithful watcher of Saturday Night Live. I’m also very proud of my State of Arizona. Last night during the Weekend Update segment with Seth Meyers, I watched and listened to him use “comedy” to compare the passage of this bill with Hitler’s Nazis and their demands to “see everyone’s papers” as they menaced Jewish neighborhoods during the Holocaust.  Seth, I’m not sure where you’ve been for the past 10 years, but everyday we’re all asked to show our papers. And, you may want to ask your grandparents, or anyone of Jewish descent if they find anything Hitler ever did funny enough to be on SNL…