This blog was written by Gerald Lenoir,
Director of the Black Alliance for
Just Immigration. If you agree with his opinion, please click
here and take Four Actions for Justice and against SB1070 in
Arizona. Thank you.In my opinion, the State of Arizona
should officially change its name to the State of Hate to reflect its
current and historical racist attitudes and actions toward Latinos and
African Americans.
On Thursday, April 15, over 800 federal, state
and local agents swooped into four Arizona communities - Nogales, Rio
Rico, Tucson and Phoenix - in an action described by Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) as “targeting human smuggling networks.” The
massive show of force netted only 47 suspects. The raid reinforced the
racist, anti-immigrant climate already prevalent in the state.
On
Friday, April 23, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law SB 1070,
legalizing racial profiling of Latinos in her state. Local law
enforcement is empowered to stop and question anyone they have
“reasonable suspicion” of being undocumented, which is not defined in
the bill. There is already rampant racial profiling in Arizona and now,
it will be done under the color of law. Legitimizing racial profiling
threatens the rights not just of Latino immigrants, but also all people
of color, including African Americans.
This is not the first time
that Arizona has showed its true colors. Currently, there is a bill
pending in the state legislature that would require presidential
candidates to prove that they were born in the United States. This
measure was introduced as a result of the patently false claim that
Barak Obama was not born in this country. Arizona legislators and
member of the “birther movement” will deny it but I say it’s one more
example of racist attitudes towards our first black president.
And
remember the fight over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday? In 1983,
Senator John McCain of Arizona voted against establishing a federal
holiday in Dr. King’s honor. In 1986, the Arizona state legislature
failed to pass a bill for a King holiday but the governor at the time,
Bruce Babbitt issued an executive order for the state holiday. In 1987,
newly elected Republican Governor Evan Mecham rescinded the executive
order, remarking, “I guess King did a lot for the colored people but I
don’t think he deserves a national holiday.”
The criminalization
of black and brown people has been happening for a long time in these
United States. One only has to look at the disproportionate
incarceration rates for our youth versus white youth. Now, immigrants
of color are being criminalized. So-called “illegal aliens” are being
demonized for the “crime” of crossing the border without legal papers,
which is a civil, not criminal, offense.
But who are the real
criminals? The U.S. government and U.S. corporations who are complicit
in forcing the flow of migration. Under the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), for example, Mexico opened its markets to subsidized
food crops from the United States. The result is that three million
Mexican farmers could not compete with cheap U.S. commodities and lost
their land and their livelihood. Many of them, along with their
families, have migrated to the U.S. looking for jobs.
So, let me
get this right, the United States invades the economy of another country
and the economic refugees that come here are labeled illegal? What’s
wrong with this picture?
I say that people have a right to stay
in their own country. U.S. intervention has deprived them of that
right. And now the State of Hate will punish the victims.
U.S.
Senator Charles Schumer promises to increase the hostility towards
immigrants and create the United States of Hate, if you will. Senator
Schumer stated on Monday, “We believe our blueprint is even stronger
than the Arizona senators’ proposal in stopping the flow of illegal
immigrants because our plan both increases border security and prevents
employers from hiring illegal immigrants.”
According to Coalicion
de Derechos Humanos, a Tucson-based immigrant rights group, “U.S.
Policy and Border Patrol and DHS [Department of Homeland Security]
actions have resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 migrants due
to environmental exposure since 1996… This area has become a ...
>> full... 
Rules
