Arizona state legislators are once again positioning themselves to be the most hate-based state in the union. Arizona State Senator Russell K. Pearce (R) is a perfect example of hate mongering and overt racism. I realize that terms like "hate monger" and "racist" are strong accusations but I can find no better terms to describe the current attempt to curb illegal immigration in the state of Arizona.
From Senator Pearce's own website:
"Republicans and Democrats in DC are terrified to oppose illegal immigration out of fear that they will be labeled racist. This assertion is ridiculous. There is nothing racist about upholding the law."
Senator Pearce's proposed legislation (SB1070) has nothing to do with upholding the law and everything to do with racial discrimination. According to Jennifer Allen, executive director of Arizona based Border Action Network who is working to defeat the bill, local law enforcement must make the eradication of undocumented immigrants a priority over other public safety responsibilities. Without any form of training, local law enforcement will be given authority to arrest someone if they have probable cause to believe they are undocumented. Who do you think they will suspect? This construct sets up a blatant system for racial profiling. The nearly 2 million Latinos in the state of Arizona will become prime suspects solely based on ethnicity. The bill's discriminatory tactics include attacks on day laborers and individuals that hire them as well as anyone who may transport, know, harbor, shield or protect undocumented immigrants. The bill represents nothing short of a witch-hunt with impunity. It sets up a system of law enforcement abuse that will drive immigrants, legal or not, deeper into the shadows of society.
When I was a child, I was out for a walk with my mother in a rural part of south San Diego County. We lived within walking distance of the U.S. Mexico border. This particular morning, like many others, I ran ahead to investigate the seasonal creek several hundred yards away. When I came back to meet up with my mother she was nowhere in sight. I looked everywhere and quickly ran home to tell my father. My family spent 24 hours searching for her -- calling everyone we knew including law enforcement. The next morning we received a telephone call from Tijuana, MX. My mother had been picked up by U.S. Border Patrol and deported. When I ran ahead of her, a Border Patrol agent suspected my mother was in the U.S. illegally. She tried to convince the officer that she was "legal" but he didn't believe her. My mother had deep brown skin and spoke poor English but had lived in the U.S. as a legal resident for 25 years. She had raised four children but was deported because of her ethnicity. It was a horrible case of racial profiling that scarred my mother and family for life.
State Senator Russell Pearce has been pushing racially motivated, anti-immigrant legislation in Arizona for years. He is endorsed by and has direct associations with known white supremacists Buffalo Rick Galeener and J.T. Ready amongst others. Rick Galeener was cited for publicly urinating in front of a Latino mother and her child. 
J.T. Ready has publicly campaigned for Senator Pearce and has close ties to Neo-Nazi organizations. J.T. Ready has publicly stated, "I firmly believe in having a minefield across the border, this is 100% effective." Senator Pearce did not return calls to comment on these associations nor has he denounced them publicly. Both Galeener and Ready have been monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League and are classified as nativists, extremists and white supremacists but Senator Pearce remains silent.
Jennifer Allen of Border Action Network has collected and sent over 20,000 postcards to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer opposing the legislation, yet the governor continues to support the bill. The bill is opposed by the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police and dozens of Latino organizations and civil rights groups, yet the bill continues to make progress in the legislature. Scholars, lawyers, and fellow legislators believe Pearce's push to rid the state of undocumented immigrants violates basic civil rights and constitutional law, yet the bill has strong Republican support. Hate crimes against Latinos are up 40 percent, yet John McCain and his primary challenger JD Hayworth claim they are tough on undocumented immigrants and neither of them have the courage to denounce the racially motivated legislation.
If Arizona lawmakers were interested in resolving the complex dilemma of immigration they would address poverty, trade imbalances, work visas, corporate greed and family reunification. Instead, leaders of the great state of Arizona have grabbed their pitch forks and nooses and are continuing to scapegoat the voiceless and vulnerable for cheap political victories. Hate begets hate and hate solves nothing.
Follow John Carlos Frey on Twitter: www.twitter.com/johncarlosfrey
I cannot imagine how anyone can tell the difference between a Foreign national who entered the country as a visitor or tourist, and one who entered with the intent of making a home. IMMIGRATION is permanent. Tourism is temporary. I did talk to one Iranian national who is an immigrant, looks Latino, has an accent and carries a permanent resident visa on his person when he is out of his home. I want one of those visa things, I want the state of Arizona to provide it, and I WANT IT BEFORE THAT LAW GOES INTO EFFECT.
That great Idea of Ronald Reagan and then George H. W. Bush and ultimately by that DLC Bill Clinton, NAFTA, has been a disaster for the farmers and small businessmen in Mexico. NAFTA institutionalized neoliberal capitalism in Mexico, ravishing the working class. Our subsidized farm crops lowered the price of the exports to Mexico, which Mexico could no longer put a tariff on to compensate for the subsidizes. So all the small farmers went went bankrupt. With no one to buy their products all the small, rural businessmen went bankrupt, also. They were damn well going to feed their families, one way or another. So they have come north. I guess you just need to relax and enjoy all the benefits that free trade and neoliberal capitalism have brought you.
Not only is that enough, but it is a badge of honor. There are some oasises of tolerance, most notibly in my opinion, the city of Tucson; however, they are far and few in between.
The Mexican illegal alien makes the perfect scapegoat for all of Arizona's social and economic failures for they are a population with no recourse or forum.
Arizona leaders are quick to take advantage of this fact.
As long as they continue to espouse their rhetoric laced with racial overtones and enact such stupid laws( oh yeah, you now can carry a non-concealed weapon without a permit), the majority of Arizonans will gobble it up.Never mind that schools are permanently closing.
If you like that kind of stuff move to AZ , but if you" look ethnic", bring your visa along.
Finally, my question is," why did Katiedee from Canada of all places move here?"
P.S. Arizona is proud to be an embarassment, trust me-it's that twisted badge of honor thing.
Death Row
Demographics
Total Inmates in Death Row: 132
Ethnic Origin
BLACK 17
CAUCASIAN 88
MEXICAN AMERICAN 21
NATIVE INDIAN 5
OTHER 1
# of Inmates Gender
130 Males
2 Females
http://www.azcorrections.gov/inmate_datasearch/Minh_NewDeathRow.aspx
As I heard Dennis Miller say, our border "looks like the Boston Marathon with sombreros" every night and Arizona is being overrun with drugs, crime and violence.
It's easy to accuse Arizona of being filled with hate...but a lot of those illegals are running all the way through this state to get to yours.
Why would the author blow it up by saying it would be the most hated state in the union? Because saying it's the most hated of the four border states doesn't sound so impressive?
I don't agree with about ninty percent of what the republicans in the
AZ senate do, however as a resident of Arizona, I am very tired of seeing
the problems illegal immigration has brought to Arizona. The crime rate
is soaring with murders and kidnapping happening every day. Every other
day or so, another drop house is found, or there is a major police chase
involving illegal aliens. Unlicensed, uninsured illegal aliens are a constant
menace on our roads.
Russel Pierce, Joe Arpio, and friends, whatever their motivation, are at least
doing something about the problem. Illegal immigration is a crime. So is
driving without a license, insurance. Forging documents to appear legal is a crime too.
Let's not forget that the majority of all illegal drugs are coming across our southern
border and all the crime associated with that.
Why is it that when our officials write these laws and try to enforce
them, activists like yourself are so quick to call it racism? The laws apply to illegal aliens
of all races and nationalities. We need more laws across the nation to make it a crime
to do anything which encourages more illegal immigration. Maybe then it will slow down
the flow across the borders.
Thank you for your comments. I understand that illegal immigration is a problem. I have been documenting and working on this issue for years and have seen the devastation you speak about. I also know from experience that further criminalizing the issue does nothing. I do not believe that Russell Pearce and Joe Arpaio are doing anything constructive about it. Arizona is one of the most punitive states in the nation when it comes to this issue. There are more border patrol in the state than any other. There is more technology and fencing than any other and the problem is worse than ever before. The resolution lies with the federal government and comprehensive immigration reform. The reason these people are coming is because there are jobs in the U.S. and lack or opportunity in their own countries. Someone here is hiring them. I would come if I were in the same situation. We need to address the root causes of migration and then and only then will there be resolution. Dehumanizing a population of people can have no benefit and it will solve nothing. The lack of success from Joe Arpaio and Russell Pearce should be all that is necessary to asses whether or not their strategies are working. The situation has gotten worse on their watch. They have failed miserably and more of the same is not the answer.
Enforcing our laws and arresting them is not dehumanizing, it is law enforcement. If every state in the country passed the same employer sanction laws, and fully enforced them
maybe Arizona wouldn't need to continue to pass even tougher laws.
I don't believe that any comprehensive immigration reform will solve the problem either. The past attempts have worked so well haven't they? Yet, when Arizona attempts to
pass and enforce laws to address the problem, you say Arizona is a state with hate. You say passing laws to protect legal residents is a witch hunt. It sounds like you don't want
any law enforcement which target illegal aliens.
Your arguments in favor of comprehensive immigration reform is flawed. We both know that any such legislation will be written to reward the criminals already in the country,
and will do nothing to slow or stop the flow of illegals into the country. Joe Arpaio and Pierce have been successful in lowering the numbers of illegals in Arizona. Now the problem is people transiting through Arizona.
A far as root causes, we are not responsible for the problems in mexico, or any of the other countries these people are coming from. If they don't like their governments let them rise up and change them. The root causes in this country are simple, greed. The illegal aliens are willing to break the law to get more money. The employers that hire them want cheap labor. The politicians in favor of comprehensive reform want their votes. The Catholic church wants their donations.
The only way to stop illegal immigration is to make it less desirable and not financially viable. We need to start throwing people in jail who transport them, hire them, and offer them any support. We need to stop giving citizenship to their children if the parents are here illegally. We need to make the employer fines so large that no sane employer would risk hiring them. We need to deny all federal funds to any locality that refuses to enforce these laws. And finally, we need the legal immigrants and the Hispanic community to take a stand in favor of enforcement of our laws, instead of working like you did in this article, to fight against enforcing our laws.
Assuming that racism is gone is something popular among right-wingers. They assume that since the civil rights movement is over and a black man is president, racism packed up its stuff and left. This isn't true, obviously. It's important to not focus fully on racism, but still know that its a factor. The fact that accusing someone of being racist is immediately shot down is what gives power to those who really are racist.
Thanks for writing this blog.
Quit living in the past about your childhood so these sob stories like yours will gain sympathy.
The people of Arizona are fed up with being overrun with people who break our laws and the killing of the rancher was the last straw.
This law will pass because we the people want our laws obeyed and if you don't like it I suggest in the name of family unification illegals go back where they came from in unite with their families.
This isn't a rational issue. It's all emotion.
Some people--like our lawmakers here in Arizona--just can't stand seeing Mexicans in the US. They concoct theories why it's bad--taking jobs, or causing crime, or not paying taxes--but the truth is they just don't like it. They just don't.
It's as if undocumented immigrants are cheating at some cosmic game, and it drives them nuts.