There is a current law that was enacted in Arizona that allows local police to hold and question any illegal immigrants. Because of this, it is scaring away many workers whether they are legal or not, because they do not want to be taken in and questioned just because of the inconvenience. This has made local business owners that have immigrant employees lose money because their employees have been leaving. The businesses then have been left under-staffed and in turn have crops that go unpicked and work left undone.
This law also makes it so police officers can ask immigration status to anyone who is stopped. I think that this should not be legal, because it makes it so the police can stop anyone and question their immigration status without any prior notice, or people can just get asked or stopped just by prejudice. This case is going to be heard by the Supreme Court, and most people think that it will make a more fine line between immigration laws done by state and by federal government.
Here is a link to a relevant article from the New York Times.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/us/states-await-supreme-court-hearing-on-arizona-immigration-law.html?_r=1&hp
What do you think the law should be on immigration? Do you think that state police officers should be able to have the right to stop anyone and hold them based on immigration status, or should it be left to the federal government? Should there be standards other than stereotyping to question and detain anyone about whether they are a legal or illegal immigrant?
I think that the line between stereotyping and profiling is a thin one, as evidenced by the body checks at airports that were mentioned at the beginning of the year. When people immigrate (legally or not) to the US, there is an expectation of freedom and justice that is preached to the entire world. The sad truth is that stigma and thinly-veiled racism is still prevalent today, and is considered a normal basis for police questioning. It has become such an issue that people are deserting their jobs to avoid questioning/persecution. It's true that illegal immigration is an issue in this country, but differentiating between legal and illegal is a vital factor that is currently being ignored. Police officers, or federal ones for that matter, shouldn't be able to detain someone just because they look suspicious. They should gather substantial evidence of some wrongdoing before jumping into action.
ReplyDeleteI agree is gracie! The police can stop someone is they are speeding or their registration tags are expired because those are what people call petty crimes. Stopping someone because they "look" illegal will lead to a lot of hispanic prejudice because they are the majority of the immigrants in Arizona. This is not right and should not be allowed from a moral standpoint. Immigration illegally is a major problem but when it scares off the legal people and loses business it is not worth the law. They are not going to benefit that much from this law. Most of the results will be negative. State governments have the right to question legality of a citizen if they commit a crime they can be charged for in U.S. court. If they have done nothing wrong they should be left alone. It is a fine line but a crime must be created before an identity is checked.
ReplyDeleteThe question Stanford law professor Lucas Guttentag is asking is “Will immigration law continue to be governed by national interest, or will the court allow every state and locality to intrude in immigration policy and assert local biases and prejudices?” The answer to this question will be a huge landmark in the history of American law. The thing is, America was created as people emigrated from various countries. Immigrants from Mexico today are doing the same medial jobs as many early Americans did. If we don't have people who are going to do these jobs, regardless of their nationality, the people and economy are going to suffer. Farmer Eason isn't the only one who would have benefitted from having someone to harvest his berries. I think each state should be able to manage how they want to monitor immigration, but the federal government should set some regulations. I do believe it was right that the Obama administration stepped in on this issue of questioning innocent people only in hopes of having someone deported.
ReplyDeleteI agree gracie that there is a thin line between Racial profiling and stereotyping, but i do think that is something that needs to be defined by a court and have a legal standard in which everyone can abide by.
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