The Arizona Immigration Law:
Law
Topic:
The Arizona Immigration Law
Type of work:
Research Paper
Subtopic: Does the law create two classes of citizens?
Required Criteria:
In addition to fulfilling the specifics of the Assignment, a successful paper must also meet the following criteria:
Viewpoint and purpose should be clearly established and sustained.
Assignment should follow the conventions of Standard English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.).
Writing should be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful.
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Introduction
Immigration debate is an issue that has perpetually remained to be of significance importance within the American society. It continues to dictate major political perspective within the country and even forge the American foreign policy. Immigration attitudes in America, are shaped by major discourse that exist on racial integration, economic interest of American citizens and increase in scarcity of resources between different competing groups. The migration from Latin America particularly has greater significance into the American political discourse working to shape laws and regulations that help govern movement of people from countries in the Latin America into the United States of America. One of the most controversial laws in this effect is the Arizona Immigration Law that were introduce in to the Arizona State Assembly, to help curb immigration from Mexico and South America. The bill was enacted to help keep immigration in the state of Arizona at a minimum. The Arizona Immigration Law S.B 1070, significantly gave the state and federal police the ability and permission to judge whether or not a person is an illegal or US citizen.
The bill inadvertently compels all of Arizona residence to be required to carry federal registration documents to prove that they are American citizens or legally within the country. It also placed high fines and jail terms on people who failed to do so or prove that they are American citizens. The Republican Party dominated Bill passed with an overwhelming majority in the state’s senate house. National uproar was significantly registered within the United States, after the bill was passed particularly because of the dangers posed by the bill on people of color. Opposition to the bill was significant especially among the minority Latino community partly because of the potential impacts of the bills. The bill in its nature is unconstitutional since it allows for law enforcement to perpetuate racial profiling, the law also gave police too much power and created paranoia and panic within minority communities. In essence police were given the right to stop people based on the color of their skin or ethnicity when trying to enforce the law. As such the Arizona Immigration Law posed a great danger to Americans of ethnic Latin descent.
How Does the Arizona Immigration Bill Pose a Danger to People of Hispanic Descent?
Disregarding the reason for immigration into the United States, in any country mass migration of people from other territories into a central region presents many new threats and dynamics to the host country. Chan (2013) similarly states that the framework of migration and the unauthorized migration of people from Latin America into the United States, as an issue affecting the Hispanic community of the United States is a fairly rational issue. Over migration within a short period of time into a region poses its dangers to the host community such as destabilization of the local economy, political, cultural and social elements. Within America, immigration over the last few years has been predominantly shaped by one community- the Hispanic community. Researchers identify the effect of this trend is that many people associate immigration with the Latino community (Chan, 2013). As such, attitudes towards Hispanics in America, especially within the conservative circles has changed.
Hispanic have come to mostly be associated with immigrants despite the fact that many of them are American citizens. Being Americans, they have as much right to define the trajectory of America as any other American cultural or racial group. Although the American immigration frameworks are presented to people as facially colorblind, the focus on Latinos and Hispanic people, becomes key in shaping the fight against immigration in America. A similar case can be seen in the criminal justice system where black and brown people have overtime become associated with crime. Wright (2010) identifies that the outcomes of such a system is that although black men make up 6% of the national population, they also become 50% of the population of the incarcerated persons. The case for the African America incarceration works perfectly and comparatively, to show the dangers that the Arizona Immigration laws would have on Hispanic. It categorically works to create two classes of citizens in regard to immigration.
Creating Context: Arizona Relationship with Mexico
Arizona prior to the 1820s was part of the Mexican State of Sonora. The Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty of 1848, which came after the invasion and cessation of most of Southwestern United States from Mexico, saw Mexico cede off Arizona and many other territories permanently to the United States to halt further hostilities between the two neighbors (Cervantes, 2018). With this transfer, America gained a large number of indigenous Spanish speaking and other ethnic individuals from Mexico and their racial and identity struggles as Americans of Latin descent began to take shape under the new Anglo and Eurocentric American federal government. It would be dangerous to assume that Arizona after the cessation into the United States remained to be a wholly European populated state.
Arizona since its acceptance (as a territory and later as a state) to the United States has not been a homogenous society. On the contrary, Arizona remains to be one of the most diverse state in the US, sharing a border with the Mexico where families and friends live on both side of the border and transverse on a regular basis between the border regardless of their race or ethnicity (Cervantes, 2018). Nonetheless, race has remained to be a key factor shaping policies and laws as well as a significant barrier to assimilation of people within the social organization (Cristina, 2018)To put this into perspective PEW (2020) research identifies that Arizona has a total of 7.2 million people of which 2.1 (31% of total population) million are Latin in ethnicity (making up 22% of all legible voters in Arizona). Nonetheless, these people are considered American by citizenship, further identifying that 3.7% of all Hispanic people in America come from Arizona. Essentially, their ethnic identity mirrors the population of the largely Hispanic Mexico to the south but they also identify as Americans. As such, they have their rights enshrined within the constitution and are to be accorded these rights regardless of their ethic, racial, religious, political or cultural beliefs.
Factors that Bring Immigration and Attitudes towards Immigration
Latin America’s history has been one of relative instability, poor economic development, and chaos. Its geographical proximity with the United States has created a very complicated and increasingly dependent relationship with the US. The United States has over the last two centuries risen from a colony to become one of the most advanced and economically successful countries in the world. As such, majority of people in the outlying regions have been gravitated towards the US for a dream of economic success (Chan, 2013). At the same time, the United States foreign policy has seen it expanded and taken over territories within the pacific, French and Spanish colonies to the south and as well from the independent state of Mexico. All this factors have worked to build and sustain a growth in number of Hispanics in American.
America is a largely Eurocentric and English speaking society. This factor tends to create a perspective that Americans are standardized and likely to have the same cultural perspective. This inadvertently targets others and has historically created laws and regulations aimed at minimizing their cultural expression with an aim of driving them towards extinction (Pieterse, 2012). Some of the more common laws enacted include legalization of slavery, expulsion of native Americans from their ancestral land in favor of white settlors and immigrants, exclusion of Chinese immigrants, internment of Japanese people into labor camps and more recently Trump blocking immigration from certain countries on the basis of race and religion.
These different ideological perspectives have been fundamental in creating political differences and trigger clashes between cultures in America. Pieterse (2012) identifies that it signifies a presentism and Eurocentric approach to globalization and in effect results in discrimination as minority communities in these regions become targeted for being different. This becomes especially problematic in regions such as Arizona where immigration from other Hispanic regions works to make Hispanic Americans (who are protected by the American constitution) a target of law enforcement and white majority population by sheer nature of their language, physical appearance and race.
A Case Against Arizona’s’ SB 1070: Racial Profiling of Hispanic People in America
The Arizona S.B 1070, give police officers the right to judge people based on their race. The bill states that police have the right to stop and ask an individual for their papers in the event that they have reasonable suspicion that they are not Americans. Already police departments across the country have identified that 78% and 92% of Hispanics and Black people in America were un-arbitrarily discriminated upon by police without cause, a far less number was registered for the white population (Cantu-Pawlik, 2019). This law enables police officers by encouraging them to intrude and curtail individual civil and human rights purely based on “reasonable suspicion” that is brought about by their different racial make-up.
As already established, majority of the American population deem most Hispanics as immigrant. This ignorantly perpetuates discrimination and creating a legally binding force that compels officers to require identification may end up placing more Hispanics to law enforcement discrimination, which may end up in random and unjust arrests, over policing, and state led violence against American citizens based on the fact that they are of a different race/ ethnicity. These creates two classes of Americans based on race and ethnicity. More dangers posed by the law are explained. Below is how Arizona SB 1070 creates a nation of two classes of citizens:
1. It encourages racial profiling: The focus of the law is primarily to curb illegal immigration from Mexico. Arizona SB 1070 categorically requires that all state and local enforcement official take it upon themselves to determine the immigration status of a person. It allows any officer with reasonable suspicion towards the immigration status of an individual to stop, detain or arrest a presumptive alien pending approval of their status in the case that they may not present their document (NCSL, 2016). Verification of the documents will only be done with the federal government for any individual who may be arrested. Failure to comply welcomes use of force by enforcement to detain and arraign the suspect in court. Further the law subjects the suspects to fines and even a jail sentence. Considering the current attitudes by the American population towards the Hispanic communities, this law gives any police officer permission to assume the role of a judge and as such, target people who do not fit their definition of American. As already established Hispanics constitute of the largest numbers of arrested minorities based on suspicion of crime and immigration. This law is likely to subject American Hispanic to illegal detentions and arrests curtailing their civil and human rights and freedom. It will also see police officers only concentrate their efforts in arresting people of Hispanic descent or minorities as such racially targeting one group of people.
2. Affects in-state socio-cultural relations: In a state as diversified as Arizona, this law is likely to harbor resentment and encourage conflict between different groups of people based on race. As one group will likely feel targeted and considered less American based on the fact that law enforcement will massively target them. The result of such resentment is worse interracial relation which may culminate in race riots and other aspects of civil disobedience. A great example can be fetched from the El-Paso shootings at a Walmart in 2019, where the perpetrator only targeted Hispanic victims based on their race. The law further justifies extremist views that discourages better racial relations by encouraging the targeting one community on the basis of race. Public perception plays a great role in how policing works (Chan, 2013). Public attitude becomes a shaper of police actions as the police are also members of the public and gain majority of their perspective from the said public. Racial attitudes in America has shaped policies and laws and the resulting police force. As already established in the massive protest against law enforcement since the 20th centuries, American police propagate discrimination and this is fuelled by social attitudes they gain from their communities.
3. Arizona SB 1070 Institutionalizes Racism: Institutional racism is acts of racial discrimination that become normal behavior in organizations. The law allows the police to judge someone based on their race and as such propels them to target people on the basis of their race. It’s an ethnic divisive social policy that will require people of color to always carry their identification. It works to cause unnecessary paranoia, dissuade trust from the role of law enforcement and gives the police too much discretion in use of power, which might provoke extraordinary circumstances likely to cause greater discrimination of the minorities from equal provision of police and government essential services.
4. Compromises public health and safety: Empirical research identifies that many people of ethnic origin are already discriminated and marginalized when trying to access health services (Toomey et al., 2016). The Arizona SB 1070 features a clause that defines transportation and harboring of illegal aliens as unlawful and criminal (NCSL, 2016). As such compels health practitioners and other hospital worker to report suspicious people to law enforcement or risk fines. This makes it harder for legitimately ill people to access healthcare services as they risk being deported or subjected to illegal treatment in the case that they do not harbor documents with them. It also may work to make hospitals less welcoming to all based on race as they fear fines and other losses by becoming open to treating people they suspect not to be American.
Conclusion
The Arizona SB 1070 failed to pass before the Supreme Court due to the facts that the implications of the law were likely to bring more harm than good. The law in itself does not seek to solve immigration but places the burden on innocent minorities to prove that they are American. While it states that the law will not target people based on their race, the law does allow police officers based on reasonable assumptions to target certain people they suspect to be aliens. In this case, Hispanics in America constitute the largest and continuously growing immigrant groups. At the same time, the US is a diversified territory and there is no one single group in charge of shaping the American identity. There are Hispanics are Americans and they too can be as American as any other group. But based on recent immigration trends, there is no limitation that may hinder police officer from overwhelmingly targeting Hispanics in their enforcement of the Arizona SB 1070 creating the implication that indeed there is two classes of citizens in America.
References
Cantu-Pawlik. (2019). Latinos are more likely to face police discrimination while driving. Retrieved from https://salud-america.org/latinos-are-more-likely-to-face-police-discrimination-while-driving/
Cervantes, R. (2018). Untold Arizona: Mexico’s sweet and sour history with Arizona. Retrieved from https://kjzz.org/content/10974/untold-arizona-mexicos-sweet-and-sour-history-arizona
Chan, D. (2013). An Invisibility Cloak: The Model Minority Myth and Unauthorized Asian Immigrants. Reigniting Community: Strengthening the Asian Pacific American Identity UC Irvine School of Law, 3(4), 1281-1301. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.uci.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1114&context=ucilr
Cristina L. Lash. (2018). Making Americans: Schooling, Diversity, and Assimilation in the
Twenty-First Century. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 4(5), 99-117. doi:10.7758/rsf.2018.4.5.05
NCSL. (2016). Analysis of Arizona’s immigration law. Retrieved from
https://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/analysis-of-arizonas-immigration-law.aspx
PEW. (2020). Latinos in the 2016 Election: Arizona. Retrieved from
https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/fact-sheet/latinos-in-the-2016-election-arizona/#:~:text=The%20Hispanic%20population%20in%20Arizona,Hispanic%20statewide%20population%20share%20nationally
Pieterse, J. N. (2012). Ethnicities and Global Multiculture. Print.
Toomey, R. B., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Williams, D. R., Harvey-Mendoza, E., Jahromi, L. B., & Updegraff, K. A. (2014). Impact of Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law on utilization of health care and public Helpance among Mexican-origin adolescent mothers and their mother figures. American Journal of Public Health, 104(S1), S28-S34. doi:10.2105/ajph.2013.301655
Wright, P. (2010). The crime of being poor: Class and criminal justice in America. Retrieved from https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/crime-of-being-poor-class-and-criminal-justice-in-america/
