AZ Immigration Instigation

I wasn't really surprised with the latest piece of legislation to roll off the Arizona legislation press. With the amount of undocumented workers ever-increasing, there was bound to be some form of rebuttal from the right-wing.

This bill seemed to start off innocently enough, but we all knew it wasn't going to be passed quietly. Any given piece of legislation having to do with immigration opens up a variable shit-storm of controversy. There are just too many issues tied to this one national problem. I say "national" problem because that's what it is. The Constitution of the United States dictates the responsibility of immigration to the congress, i.e. the federal government. Arizona taking this issue into it's hands appears to be totally unconstitutional, all be it completely understandable.

This law doesn't really do a whole lot more than what the federal and state laws do already. Of course it's illegal to be in a country without going through the system and doing what's required to become a citizen or a legally documented migrant worker. The problem with this particular piece of legislation is that it focuses on individuals of color as targets for Arizona police officers. The law mentions "reasonable suspicion" which is similar to "probably cause" but far more vague. While the law says absolutely nothing about Mexican immigrants being the primary problem (remember what state we're in here), it's quite clear who's going to be racially profiled.

I understand people not wanting illegal immigrants in their country taking advantage of the nation's resources at no cost to them. That just doesn't seem to be the case. Immigrants have always been the ones to pick up the slack, especially in younger countries like our own. These immigrants perform the tough manual labor that most Americans would not do, or demand much higher pay. And that is precisely the root of this complex issue.

Employers running the farming industry in the parts of the state near the border are more than happy to hire a worker who is here illegally because said worker will labor for longer hours being paid less than anyone else. That means wider profit margins for that employer. When you look at the big picture, both parties involved are breaking the law. The immigrant is breaking the law to find work and support him(her)self and their family and the employer is breaking the law to make more money. Of course there are exceptions to every rule but if we're honest with ourselves, that's generally how it breaks down. Who's intent is more malicious? That's not really for me to decide.

It's a complex issue with a complex solution that still desperately needs to be hammered out. I'm not presenting any solution myself because I'm unsure how exactly to work this out. All I want to do is to open those eyes that need opening. Things aren't always as cut and dry as people make them out to be.

There are many who fly under the flag of "don't let those illegal aliens take my jobs, throw all back over to Mexico!" and that's a big heaping plate of ignorance.