One of the hot topics in our great country is Arizona Senate Bill 1070, which is designed to “discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens and economic activity by persons unlawfully present in the United States.”
In other words, the state of Arizona, through state and local law enforcement agencies, will attempt to regulate and enforce federal immigration laws.
The sticky portion of the bill will be the enforcement portion.
The text reads that “FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE, WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON. THE PERSON’S IMMIGRATION STATUS SHALL BE VERIFIED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PURSUANT TO 8 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1373(c).”
Basically, if a law enforcement agent, such as a city police officer, stops a person speeding down the street, and that officer suspects that the person may be an illegal immigrant, then that officer has the right to ask the person driving the car for identification, which would then be verified with federal officials.
This scares some opponents of the bill, because they make the argument that an officer would be able to stop anyone under the guise of a “routine traffic stop” and ask for their identification.
This has been an especially hot button in baseball as of late, because of the large amount of Latino players. Some have suggested not playing baseball in Arizona, and others have even called for either a boycott of the 2011 MLB All-Star game, or relocating the game altogether to another city.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are a team with players from Latin America. Free agents may not want to sign and/or re-sign due to the potential of racial profiling.
But if this were to become a continuous issue, it could creep into other major sporting events as well. Currently, the Fiesta Bowl is designated to host the college football BCS national championship game.
What if the ACLU and/or other groups decide to protest? Could ESPN lose advertising revenue from companies not wanting to be associated with the game?
The NFL is scheduled to select a host cities for Super Bowls in 2014 and 2015. Phoenix is one of the cities vying to host the Super Bowl one of those years. New York City is probably going to get the 2014 bid, but what about 2015?
Could the NFL not select Phoenix based on avoiding bad press to their emerging Latino market?
At the end of the day, the issue could be a moot point. Other states have already begun discussions on crafting similar laws based on the Arizona statute.
Also, Attorney General Eric Holder has said that the federal government is looking at a possible lawsuit against Arizona.
Even the city councils of Tucson and Flagstaff have voted to challenge the law in court.
Things could get interesting.
So the hell what? This country has to be protected. ILLEGAL + CRIMINAL. Shoot, they should militarize the Southern Border, activate the National Guards of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to reinforce the border and the Border Patrol/INS with orders to shoot first and ask questions later of ANYONE who tries to cross the border illegally because they are potential terrorists and enemy combatants.
LOCK AND LOAD ARIZONA! WE”RE WITH YOU!