Democrats View of the Immigration Law in Arizona

As with any legislation there are both Democrats and Republicans who back the new immigration law in Arizona. However, the law is more or less a Republican supported one; the tea party specifically. Democrats are largely rejecting the law, calling it racist and unnecessary. At best, they admit that something had to be done about immigration, but that this wasn't it.

I tend to side with the democrats on this issue because, frankly, this law is unconstitutional. The law allows for police to ask anyone who appears to have entered the country illegally to show their papers, based on reasonable suspicion. But what would the reasonable suspicion possibly be? Oh that's right, that they look mexican. This law is flat out racist.

In one instance, a man was incarcerated on "reasonable suspicion" that the man was an illegal immigrant, despite the fact that the man had a driver's license and his social security number. So basically, if you don't have your birth certificate and you look mexican, you can be arrested.

Activists are not going to let this law pass without a fight, and there have been protests going on since before the law was officially a law. Juan Jose Gutierrez had this to say:

"We will not accept a new policy disguised as enforcement of laws that essentially reinstitionalizes the "separate but equal" policies for which we have already fought, spilled our blood in America to end racism, to end the separation of races. That's what's happening in Arizona."

I really had to think about that quote when I first read it. I had to wonder how one can connect "separate but equal" to this new immigration law. I realized, however, that it is very simple. When "separate but equal" institutions were still permissible in this country, men and women of color were denied equal protection under the law, because, lets face it, separate is inherently unequal. Essentially, blacks did not have the same rights. In the case of the Arizona law, white people have no reason to worry about being asked for their birth certificate, the officer would have no "reasonable suspicion" that they were illegal immigrants. Someone with darker skin however, would be forced to show his papers, or else be incarcerated. Quite simply, people's rights being denied on the basis of race, and it's wrong.

This law needs to be overturned until better immigration reform is drafted.