Is Arizona's SB 1070 measuring up?

Article by Shelley Williams

Owner of Real 2 Net Media

What is SB 1070 anyway? Some say it's legalized racial profiling, others say it's a law that sets our country back about 100 years to slavery times. Then there are those who say it's about time someone did something to stop the rising number of illegal immigrants crossing the border. As a former victim of a Mexican National who was in our country illegally, I agree. This isn't about race, or racial profiling, as many would make it out to be, but rather, it's about legal status of nationality and the right to be occupying the country you are living in. It has always been a practice of the United States to enforce this law and deport individuals who are found to be in this country without the proper papers. so this is nothing new. I believe our country has been much more lenient where Mexico and Canada are concerned because our borders neighbor their countries and it is a given that there will be travel between the countries. But immigration is not travel, it is relocation.   Arizona has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants, and that number has increased fivefold since 1990. The state of Arizona is on record for having the most illegal crossings of the Mexico – United States border of any other state in our country. In spite of its remote and dangerous deserts, they are the entry point for thousands of illegal Mexicans and Central Americans. SB 1070 makes it a state misdemeanor crime for an alien to be in Arizona without carrying the required documents and obligates police to make an attempt, when practicable during a "lawful stop, detention or arrest", to determine a person's immigration status if there is reasonable suspicion that the person is an illegal alien. Some find it offensive and suggest that law enforcement officials could use this a an excuse to stop vehicles simply because the occupants of the vehicle appear to be of a nationality other than American. However, Arizona has been making laws similar to this for a few years now. In fact, in 2004 Arizona Proposition 200 sought to restrict illegal immigrants' use of social services. In more specific terms, it means they wanted to prevent them from being able to go to the Welfare office and file for medical, food, and cash assistance, drawing from our tax funded programs paid for out of our pockets. But hold onto your bootstraps America, because Alabama has now set into a motion a law that will make SB 1070 look like a wilting flower! That's right my fellow Americans, just this last week Alabama's Gov. Robert Bentley signed into law a bill described on all sides of the immigration debate as the toughest enforcement measure in the country to date. And they aren't alone. In spite of protests and threats of boycotts, Utah, Indiana and Georgia have also enacted versions of immigration laws in recent months, and South Carolina is expected to follow suit before the end of its current legislative session. Seems to me like that snowball is picking up some speed on the downhill roll. And I, for one, am happy. But before you nay sayers get all up in arms about my opinion, let me share with you why I believe this is a good measure. A little less than 6 years ago I was the victim of a drunk driver who turned out to be living in Arizona illegally, driving a vehicle he had just purchased without having a driver license or insurance, and was allowed to drive it off a used car lot in Colorado. There was child seat in the back of this family van, and other items which indicated he had a family. However, in spite of having a young family, this man had been out drinking and chose to drive his vehicle while extremely intoxicated. He said he went to a friends house after he got off work, and had been drinking with several other individuals there who did not stop this friend from driving while under the influence. He left their residence and proceeded to get on the 101 freeway heading north into Scottsdale, AZ where he exited and passed out at the wheel just before hitting my vehicle from behind while I was at a stop light waiting for the green signal. The investigating officer said that based on the forensics investigation, they estimated he was traveling at approximately 70 mph and there were not any skid marks matching his tires to indicate that he had used his breaks before impacting the rear end of my vehicle. Apparently his blood alcohol level was .214 and when the officers arrived on the scene, he was attempting to start his vehicle so he could leave. The officer said it took 2 officers to get him to the patrol car, because he was too intoxicated to walk on his own. Within a months time, the offending driver had been deported back to Mexico, without any restitution ordered, and no lengthy jail time. The investigating officer informed me that Mexico would most likely not be detaining him once he got there, and he would be free to leave and once again, attempt crossing the border. In light of the assumption that he had a wife and children still living in the Phoenix area, he most likely would return and obtain new identification, which means this offending drunk driver could potentially harm or kill someone else on another drunken jaunt from a friends house after working a job that should not be employing him, due to his status as an illegal resident. As I hung up the phone after receiving this disturbing news, I began to cry. There would be no compensation for me, no restitution, and I was left with multiple fractures and long term injuries that would affect me the rest of my life. Yet all he would suffer is a few short weeks in jail, deportation, and the inconvenience of having to get across the border again. How was this fair? So when I heard that Arizona set SB 1070 into motion, I was relieved. I knew that at some point, this man might end up having to serve more time in jail and be forced to pay a fine of some kind, and be sent back again. I knew that it would make it more difficult for individuals like him to harm hard working Americans like me without suffering some kind of repercussion for their actions. I knew that in the end, justice would be served and then I exhaled. I am happy to see that other states are taking the same stand. And I know several legal Mexican Americans who feel the same way. Many of those who worked hard to get legal status feel strongly about this as well. and support efforts to reduce the number of illegal aliens in our country attempting to utilize our resources and draw on government funds which they have not paid into. I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate it if thousands of people from other countries came into Mexico and started drawing funds from their government claiming they deserved to be supported because they were indigent if it meant that the hard working Mexican people would suffer more as a result. So why do they feel it is acceptable to do this to our country? Bottom line is that they aren't thinking about the bigger picture, all they want is to get away from a corrupt government and go somewhere they can be safe and claim welfare to feed their family. SB 1070, a necessary evil to protect and serve our own communities. And any other bill or law that is signed which makes similar provisions needs to be supported by the people of this country. We may not be able to stop our government from spending our tax dollars on their fancy parties and extravagant homes, but we can prevent them from giving our money away to people who haven't paid into those funds by being a working American citizen. This August will be 6 years since my accident, which happened only days before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

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