New Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. April 27, 2012: This June, U.S. Supreme Court justices are set to deliver their ruling on whether Arizona’s controversial immigration law, SB 1070, can be upheld and enforced after listening to arguments from both sides on Wednesday, April 25th.
So far, the justices, with the possible exception of Hispanic Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, reportedly seemed ready to agree with Arizona and allow them to enforce the most controversial part of this law – the requirement that police officers check the immigration status of people they suspect are in the country illegally.
Such a ruling would be utter madness on the part of the justices and would certainly point to their interpretation of the constitution as regards racial profiling, a factor that this law leaves the door open to and cannot be ignored.
It would also codify the type of local enforcement that some local authorities in Arizona have carried out over the last six years and open the door to such enforcement in states with similar laws, such as Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah and be utterly frightening for every immigrant in the United States, whether legal or illegal.
The Obama administration has stupidly ignored the racial profiling aspects of the law to date and instead argued that it conflicts with a more nuanced federal immigration policy that seeks to balance national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, human rights and the rights of law-abiding citizens and immigrants. In other words, they are sticking to their guns that only the feds. have the right to enforce immigration laws.
Yet, even the President, in a recent interview with Univision Television in Cartagena, has slammed the law, saying it “potentially allow (s) a person to be stopped and be asked for their documents based on an assumption.”
Amnesty International, in a new report, ‘In Hostile Terrain: Human Rights Violations In Immigration Enforcement In The US Southwest,’ also posits that “recent legislation enacted or proposed in several states targets immigrant communities and places them, indigenous communities and other minority communities at risk of discrimination.”
The report clearly highlights instances where immigrant-born naturalized U.S. citizens are facing discrimination by law enforcement who assume because they are foreign, they are illegal.
Alfredo G., a U.S. citizen of Dominican descent featured in the report, encountered this bias first hand. He said when he went to assist three of his father’s employees who had been involved in a car accident, a Texas State Trooper continually delayed completing the accident report and three hours, four sheriff’s deputies arrived and surrounded Alfredo and the rest of the group with their vehicles.
Minutes later an unmarked silver pick-up truck pulled up and a man got out who was dressed in khaki – Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents often wear khaki uniforms. According to Alfredo: “He was very disrespectful.
“He asked, ‘How are you in the United States?’ and said ‘Sit down or I’ll hit you’ to everyone. Initially he didn’t believe that I was a US citizen. When he found out that I was, he just said, ‘I’m sorry’ and identified himself as an ICE officer by showing me his badge… He tried to intimidate everyone. He made comments that we were all illegal. He treated us worse than animals.”
For the Justices to not see this reality and to make such a comment that gives Arizona the feeling it can win at the Supreme Court, is utter insanity. As Justice Sotomayor posited, should this law be upheld, a person stopped for an offense and held on suspicion of unlawful residence could wind up in custody for long periods of time. Of course this could mean anyone – even a U.S. citizen. Let’s all pray and hope the esteemed justices get in touch with reality and see this law for what it is – a clear attempt to legalize racial profiling and undoubtedly a violation of an individual’s constitutional and human rights.
The writer is founder of NewsAmericasNow, CaribPR Wire and Hard Beat Communications.
