In Defense of AZ
If you've read a number of my post you'll see that I'm am not normally on the side of Beck/Palin/Fox News, etc. However, I decide my views for myself, and I don't look to what "my side" is saying. For that reason, I resist labeling myself a Liberal or Conservative. I find that these terms are often defined as having a certain view on a range of unrelated issues. Therefore, I have what is viewed as the "left" view on some issues, and the "right" view of others.
One issue where I find myself not jumping to the left is Arizona's new illegal immigration law. At first, I found myself siding with the opposition, after all, we're all against racial profiling aren't we? But as the debate unfolded, I found myself realizing the supporters arguments were basically sound, while the opposition was motivated by mostly speculative fears and hidden agendas.
First what does the law do? It allows Arizona law enforcement to enforce immigration laws. It doesn't make anything illegal that isn't already illegal in all fifty states already. You may not agree all immigration laws, regulations and procedures, but if you don't, work to change those.
The primary opposition argument against the Arizona law is that Arizona citizens and legal residents of Hispanic will be racially profiled and needlessly harassed. But there is nothing in the law that specially targets Hispanics or any other racial group, so it is not inherently racist. Next, about 30 percent of Arizona's population is Hispanic, and they are no doubt the majority in some communities. So Arizona police have an awful lot of people to harass, and many AZ police officers are Hispanic themselves.
I'm not saying that racial profiling or harassment won't happen, but at this point it is a theoretical problem with how the law might be applied, not a problem with the law itself. Arizona can address the application issues once is becomes apparent there is really a problem.
The hidden agenda is among citizens and legal residents who have relatives who are illegal aliens, or who have relatives in Mexico and other Latin American countries who want to live in the US. Imagine if you had brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles in other countries who could have a better life if they lived here. And if the legal immigration process for them took 5-10 years, wouldn't you be tempted to help them, or at least be supportive of, their circumvention of immigration laws? Who wants to see family members involuntarily returned the poverty of the old country?
Of course, no one in this position will say this publicly, but I feel this a huge motivation to the opposition of immigration laws, and those motivated use fears of racial profiling & harassment and the good intentions of those who don't want to see others profiles & harassed to garner support against the Arizona law.
The reason this is such an issue is that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has a quota for legal immigration for each country. Since Mexico is just south of the US and the economic opportunities in the US are much greater than Mexico, the number of Mexicans who want to emigrate is much larger than the annual quota for emigration from Mexico, the wait is 5-10 years. It's a lot hard to get from Madagascar to the US, so fewer people from that country arrive here and their wait is shorter. That's just geography & math.
So if you oppose the Arizona Illegal Immigration enforcement law, please be honest about your reasons, and be realistic about the validity of your objections to it. And don't be dupped into solidarity with others who have a hidden agenda they aren't being forward about.
One issue where I find myself not jumping to the left is Arizona's new illegal immigration law. At first, I found myself siding with the opposition, after all, we're all against racial profiling aren't we? But as the debate unfolded, I found myself realizing the supporters arguments were basically sound, while the opposition was motivated by mostly speculative fears and hidden agendas.
First what does the law do? It allows Arizona law enforcement to enforce immigration laws. It doesn't make anything illegal that isn't already illegal in all fifty states already. You may not agree all immigration laws, regulations and procedures, but if you don't, work to change those.
The primary opposition argument against the Arizona law is that Arizona citizens and legal residents of Hispanic will be racially profiled and needlessly harassed. But there is nothing in the law that specially targets Hispanics or any other racial group, so it is not inherently racist. Next, about 30 percent of Arizona's population is Hispanic, and they are no doubt the majority in some communities. So Arizona police have an awful lot of people to harass, and many AZ police officers are Hispanic themselves.
I'm not saying that racial profiling or harassment won't happen, but at this point it is a theoretical problem with how the law might be applied, not a problem with the law itself. Arizona can address the application issues once is becomes apparent there is really a problem.
The hidden agenda is among citizens and legal residents who have relatives who are illegal aliens, or who have relatives in Mexico and other Latin American countries who want to live in the US. Imagine if you had brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles in other countries who could have a better life if they lived here. And if the legal immigration process for them took 5-10 years, wouldn't you be tempted to help them, or at least be supportive of, their circumvention of immigration laws? Who wants to see family members involuntarily returned the poverty of the old country?
Of course, no one in this position will say this publicly, but I feel this a huge motivation to the opposition of immigration laws, and those motivated use fears of racial profiling & harassment and the good intentions of those who don't want to see others profiles & harassed to garner support against the Arizona law.
The reason this is such an issue is that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has a quota for legal immigration for each country. Since Mexico is just south of the US and the economic opportunities in the US are much greater than Mexico, the number of Mexicans who want to emigrate is much larger than the annual quota for emigration from Mexico, the wait is 5-10 years. It's a lot hard to get from Madagascar to the US, so fewer people from that country arrive here and their wait is shorter. That's just geography & math.
So if you oppose the Arizona Illegal Immigration enforcement law, please be honest about your reasons, and be realistic about the validity of your objections to it. And don't be dupped into solidarity with others who have a hidden agenda they aren't being forward about.
posted by Dancar | 5:00 PM
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