New Arizona Immigration Law Raises

¶ … New Arizona Immigration Law raises important racial, labor, and civil liberties issues for the Latino-American community and Americans in general. The new law would require all immigrants to carry immigration papers on them at all times and also gives the police the authority to arrest and detain anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. those people found to be in the country illegally will be sent back to their home country immediately, according to the new law.

It is no surprise that the collective reaction to this outrage has been furious. Mexican-American community leaders and Democratic Party leaders have voiced their disapproval. President Obama himself has gone out of his way to notify the Governor of Arizona publicly that he is not happy with her decision. The state of Arizona and its politicians have become the target of repeated criticisms and outright attacks.

The overall population change in America provides the essential backdrop for understanding the both the Arizona legislature's actions and the Latino community's reaction to it. The Latino population in the Southwestern United States has seen high increases throughout the years. This new law is suggesting that too much of this increase is the result of illegal immigrants flowing into Arizona from the Mexican border. If this new law is any indication of the Arizona population's views, it is reasonable to assume widespread resentment and animosity among Arizonians towards Latino immigrants.

Though Arizona is a major entry point for illegal immigrants into the United States, it is also home to many legal immigrants of Latino descent as well as American-born citizens of Latino descent. The legislature of Arizona cannot ignore this fact but has chosen to pass broad, sweeping legislation that would threaten all Americans of Latino descent with unwarranted and indefinite detainment. The legislature's curious approach confirms a deeply held suspicion about immigration policy among Latinos and Democrats: that the anti-immigration movement is more of a racially-motivated reaction to increased Latino representation than a true grievance against illegal immigrants who happen to be coming in from Mexico.

Though the specter of racism will continue to underscore the current controversy, many Democratic politicians will avoid making such strong accusations at such an early stage. The mid-term elections are approaching and the Democrats want to preserve or increase their thin majority in Congress. The Democrats are poised to achieve important objectives such as financial regulation and energy policy in the coming year. An eruption of racial tensions at this point would derail the national debate and relegate long overdue reforms to the backburner for an indefinite period.

A responsible public policy maker would try to avoid the racial war trap while still expressing strong disapproval of the new Arizona law. After all, the racial issue is not the only offensive aspect of this new law. What is probably more disturbing, and more applicable to all Americans, is the violation of basic civil liberties. The degree of authority granted to police officers in arresting and detaining suspected illegal immigrants is disturbing to any freedom-loving American. Any time the Federal Government violates the civil liberties of any American, no matter the race, that violation threatens the fabric of our nation and every right guaranteed to Americans by the country's founding fathers.