100 Treatises

Arizona Illegal Immigration Law

The new Arizona law intended to curb illegal immigration does not permit, but mandates police officers to inquire a person’s immigration status if they believe they might be illegal–irrespective of that person’s actions or behavior. As liberals have said, obviously this law opens the door to undue prejudice, stereotyping and favoritism on the part of the police. How is an average cop supposed to tell if a person might be illegal? Suppose he sees a white man with blond hair in a suit driving a Rolls Royce, and a brown man with black hair in dirty clothes driving a broken-down pickup truck on some Arizona highway. Image is everything in such a scenario. Indeed, image is the only thing. The officer will surely be compelled to pull the second driver over–to not do so would risk his job.

One thing that makes the Arizona law so extraordinary is that the police, who have always been compelled to act on the basis of a person’s actions, are now necessarily required to act on the basis of a person’s image. That is, required necessarily to act on one’s image. This is a colossal development in the role and responsibilities of the police. Perhaps for the first time ever in the US, a person might be stopped by the police for doing absolutely nothing. And it would be consistent with the law.

Proponents of the new law counter that it stipulates “a person’s race alone cannot be taken into account.” Ok, then use race plus clothing. Or race plus quality of vehicle. But does anyone honestly believe that skin color will not be a crucial factor in the execution of this law? It is inevitable. And if I’m wrong, I invite any proponent to point out to me ten blond and blue-eyed people who have been arrested under the auspices of illegal immigration in the American Southwest.

The response might come, “ok, you might be right–more attention will be placed on dark skin, but so what? They are more likely to be illegal, after all.” That is true, but insofar as the vast majority of people with dark skin are in Arizona legally, a massive and unprecedented burden will be placed on thousands upon thousands of people who have not done anything wrong. Extra police attention alone is cause for concern, because it creates a two-tiered situation where one class of citizens enjoys less scrutiny than another class–solely because of their physical traits. In time, like profiling at the airport, what seems like a common-sense approach to a simple problem will cause more problems than it solves, to say nothing of its constitutionality, which has been questioned.

The above analysis might be wrong. But until the law comes into effect, we simply do not know what its real impact will be–unintended consequences and all. Brown people should tread carefully in Arizona for the time being. Arizona certainly has an illegal immigration crisis, and something must be done. But this isn’t it.

On a separate but related note, the law was intended to curb illegal immigration. It will do nothing of the kind. From a potential illegal immigrant’s point of view, a United States where the police have excessive powers, and where racism and xenophobia are serious concerns, is still the United States. It is still a beacon of prosperity and comfort for those living in wretched conditions in Mexico and elsewhere, especially given the barbaric drug violence there.

All the law will do is (1) divert the flow that would have otherwise gone to Arizona into Texas, New Mexico and California, and (2) simply layer another obstacle–nevertheless surmountable–to the average illegal immigrant’s dream of a better life in “El Norte.” These people are willing to die in a desert. Ask yourself: is the threat of getting arrested likely to deter them? Before you answer, remember that the local jailhouse is probably better furnished and cleaner than most of their homes.

So the new law misses two birds with one stone: it doesn’t do anything to curtail illegal immigration, and it stokes social tensions by throwing civil rights in doubt. You’re 0 for 2, Arizona. And we haven’t even gotten to the birther bill.

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