SB1070 treads new ground on immigration reform
Joseph Starkloff
On April 23, Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law Senate Bill 1070, which will provide officers greater power when dealing with suspected illegal immigrants.The bill is anticipated to grant police officials the ability to question any individual’s immigration status that they suspect within a “reasonable doubt” of being here illegally.
It would also require non-U.S. citizens to carry documentation of their status at all times.
The bill has been met with protests in Phoenix, Tucson and across the country.
Jason Filer, an ASU student, is an advocate of the bill.
“I’m of the opinion that this bill does not make racial profiling legal. I believe it just enables the police to do a job that is desperately needed. . This bill should not be enforced on the basis of race,” Filer said.
Filer stated that the bill would help curtail illegal movement through the Arizona border.
“I think that our situation over the past several years has clearly demonstrated that the border patrol alone . lack the man power and resources to effectively prevent any significant amount of illegal immigration,” Filer said.
Robert Soza, a residential faculty of Chicano studies and a MCC English teacher, stated his aversion toward the bill.
“For me, immigration is primarily a human rights issue. This is a profoundly inhumane bill,” Soza said.
Proponents of the bill have stated that illegal immigrants pose a threat to the Arizona economy and public safety. Soza disagreed with this assertion.
“They broke the law coming here, but once they get here they work, (and) they provide for their families. In many ways they’re chasing the American dream just like the pilgrims who left Europe a few centuries before them,” Soza said.
He stated that the bill created an inequality with its basic structure.
“I understand the bill expressly prohibits racial profiling . but I think if you look at the way the narrative of the . illegal (person) has been constructed in Arizona . I don’t see how there’s any way someone who is dark-skinned is going to experience the law in the same way (as) someone (who) is not,” Soza said.
Harold Cranswick, the MCC economics department chair, discussed the economic aspect of the situation.
“If the problem is strictly economic, I think you can sit down at the table and you can talk about possible solutions and resolve that economic problem. If what you’re talking about is a morality issue . that’s going to be a lot harder to resolve,” Cranswick said.
He stated that the financial reasons for illegal immigration could be seen in other areas of the economy.
“That’s what we’re doing when we offshore our companies, and we allow those companies to go over there, and build their products (in) China or India or any other country where the labor rate is lower,” Cranswick said. “We have people that are willing to come here for a lower labor cost, but we haven’t figured out how to take advantage of that.”
Information on the bill can be found at http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/summary/s.1070pshs.doc.htm
