Arizona Immigration Law

[cormac]

So when I'm talking to someone and trying to explain how AZ SB1070 is unconstitutional because it violates 4th amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure, and they don't seem to understand, would it help if I repeat myself louder and slower?

Comments

[dieppe.livejournal.com]

I think the point is that by treating everybody as potential criminals, we'll be treating citizens as potential criminals. I couldn't produce my birth certificate were I stopped at a traffic stop, and I doubt that anyone reading this could.

The application of the law wouldn't be fair though, because if you are white-looking, speaking English-well without an accent person then you aren't likely to be harassed by the application of this law. If you're a brown skinned person (any shade) who speaks with an accent (Arnold Schwarzenegger might not count?), then you can be asked for your proof of citizenship or lack thereof.

In the minds of those people who want to kick out all the darkies THAT'S OKAY, because good white American citizens without accents aren't being asked for their papers!

...and the law is supposed to be color blind, applying the law fairly to all individuals. Or something like that. It's not a perfect world though. "Driving while black" is still a very real application of law in some parts of the country, and I don't think that a fair-skinned British national permanently visiting Phoenix illegally is going to be asked for his proof of papers, but a dark-skinned Mexican, even one in the US legally, would be.

Babbling here, but the fact that some people can consider that and not see the potential for injustice blows my mind.