With all the controversy surrounding the new immigration law in Arizona, which allows local law enforcement to question anyone who looks “suspicious” the status of their citizenship, I, being the critical thinker I am, naturally thought of the worst case scenario. My brother recently graduated from ArizonaStateUniversity and I did have the chance to visit him there once. Well, what if that one time had been during the implementation of this extreme new law?
What if I had forgotten my “proof of citizenship” on a quick trip to the super market and the person driving and I were pulled over and questioned on our citizenship? In all honesty the first words out of my mouth would be “Are you kidding me!?” I would quickly reach for the wallet I forgot and search for the identification that I obviously left behind. I would begin to feel overwhelming anxiety and anger and wonder why me and why now.
At this point I am almost positive the officer would ask me to step out of the vehicle and depending on how his day has gone, this could go two ways. He could ask me nicely to give him all my information and I am going out on a limb here and based on my English, let me go with a warning
Or
It gives more power to law enforcement officers who WE are led to believe will all have the same sensible judgment, neutral political view or ability to ask the right questions.
Based on his own perspective, a much harsher and panic stricken reality, he could very easily tag me as an illegal immigrant and begin the process of taking me back to a country I am not from. Emotionally I would feel betrayed and physically I would be frozen in fear. These are the people that are supposed to protect me and now, because of the way I look, they are treating me like an outsider that doesn’t belong. I was born and have grown up in this country, I went to public schools, I went to public Universities, and I exercised my right to vote for the candidate of my choice in the Presidential election, and now this is how I’m treated.
This all sounds like an exaggerated version of what would really happen, but its not. Some legal citizens could easily fall through the cracks and end up resenting the country they loved.
So what should the solution be to the ongoing problem of illegal immigration? Definitely not taking matters into your own hands like Arizona. The new law has done nothing more than aggravate an already sensitive subject. In fact, the new law will only bring negative attention and worsen the problem
Immigration is quickly becoming the new platform of controversy. Arizona’s extreme and desperate tactic to give the immigration issue awareness with their new Law has further nationalized the immigration issue and done more harm than good. It’s obvious what the next move will be, the illegal immigrants in the state will move to nearby states like Texas and California, and especially to those cities where sanctuary ordinances have been passed such as Austin and Houston, Texas. They will basically take the existing problem and place it elsewhere.
If Arizona was serious about taking steps in an attempt to control illegal immigration, it should have made it into a process instead of wasting its time and energy on a hit and miss strategy of allowing law enforcement to question those who “look” suspicious. It very well could have responded proactively by punishing employers who hire illegal immigrants. This would have left the accusations of “racial profiling” no leg to stand on. It would have given the responsibility of checking immigration status on the shoulders of the employers.
Let’s ask the obvious question, could a similar law come to Texas? It doesn’t look like it will happen in the near future. Gov. Rick Perry said, Arizona's tough new illegal immigration enforcement law would not be right for Texas. This just upholds our state’s long-held tradition of rejecting harsh anti-immigrant policies. All I have to say is this girl will definitely not forget her license!
I think that Arizona's Governor should be careful what she asks for. Do you really want to piss off every Hispanic in the country because you want attention from DC? If this is a DESPERATE cry for attention to immigration issues in Arizona their Governor is completely acting like a 4 yr old, she would have made a better decision if she would have just thrown herself on the ground and threw a temper tantrum. Not her though, she prefers to just try to legalize racial profiling, because in essence that's exactly what this new law is allowing. Last time I checked, every Hispanic I know is a citizen and would be pretty pissed off if they were randomly questioned because of their ethnicity. Texas has its share of immigration issues, along with other southern states, but you don't see our Governor crying about it or pissing off the majority, WHICH IS HISPANICS (and I'm talking about the legal ones)! Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not for just free and open immigration, I do think their should be regulations and reform implemented, but not like this, not in the most controversial and semi-racist way. If you wanted attention on immigration, well you sure as hell got it Arizona, but I think you will find that politically it was an ignorant move. Congratulations, you just bitch slapped the American Dream.
NOW, Let me just express my thoughts on those Hispanics that are out there picketing and vandalizing buildings, STOP ACTING LIKE THE IGNORANT MEXICANS THAT ARIZONA ALREADY THINKS YOU ARE! Please step back for a minute and get your anger in check for just a second and realize those of you that are citizens ARE THE MAJORITY in Arizona. Don't you think you could get your point across more effectively if you banded together as educated, level headed, voters and picked your OWN candidate to run for Governor and just kicked the old one out and done, problem solved. SET AN EXAMPLE FOR THE YOUNGER GENERATION! Don't go around acting like crazy mexicans and showing the US WHY they don't need you, instead SHOW how much of a power house you actually are in this Country.
I really wish Obama would stop messing with everything. Yes he is President and I'm sure he has good peaceful intentions, but he is the only leader in the world who feels "peaceful". Why on earth would he think to limit our means of defense? Does he honestly think that signing a piece of paper is going to be enough for other countries to just peacefully limit their means of defense? NO. Its like in elementary school when you would make a promise to a friend and have your fingers crossed behind your back, its just a tactic to use it against them later. I still feel like I'm choking on his healthcare bill and then this?! Ok Obama I voted for you, but your quickly forcing me to be ashamed of myself for it. Stop drowning us with these ridiculous plans of yours. Start looking at the big picture and stop being such a naive President, your giving me and the rest of America a headache. I feel like I'm riding the short bus to the end of your Presidency...are we there yet?
Now this struck me as weird but kind of interesting at the same time. A full body suit made of lycra that makes people feel safe and free? And men wear it? I wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions until I try this strange practice, BUT I do think that wearing a whole body spandex suit is from some kind of F'ed up childhood. Why else would anyone do this?? Some people in the article talked about it feeling like a all over hug..hahaha...sweetheart someone didn't love you enough is what that says to me. The things people do for temporary highs is ridiculous. Get a hobby people, volunteer somewhere, or at least get out of your Lycra cocoon and socialize with REAL people! Where are these peoples friends and familys?? I would be immediately taken to the nearest psychiatric hospital if my friends or family saw me walking around in this outfit. I would like to know where you find this kind of outfit and what do you do if you have to go to the bathroom?? I just have so many questions about this..Anyway..thought I would share it and my thoughts. =)
Woah. Toyota..how do I put this lightly....Your completely f*cked! Your best bet is to just recall everything and start over, like Tylenol did in the 80's. My only question is how many different people did this mistake go through and no one noticed? I think if I was running a multi-billion dollar industry that had a trusted name and millions of drivers out there I would be a little more careful, actually A LOT more careful. I think it will be interesting to see how Toyota pulls itself out of this one. Unfortunately, I don't own a Toyota or I would lay down play dead, sue and demand a new BMW, lol but that's just me. I wonder about Lexus too, you know since Toyota makes those too?? I guess it will be interesting to see how it pans out, I'd like to hear from some Toyota owners, see how they feel and what they are doing about it. I guess they weren't kidding when they made their slogan "Moving Forward". lol
My heart breaks for Haiti right now and its people. Not only are they stricken by poverty, but now they have suffered an enormous natural disaster that has left many of them literally on the streets and mourning deceased family members. I'm glad the U.S. didn't sit this one out and is actually funding such a huge relief effort.
So many of us here in the US take our quality of life for granted. Yeah maybe the economy is pretty bad, maybe health care is leaving us angry and full of questions, So what that we all had to cut back on pleasures and luxuries, but we still have our families, roofs over our heads and food to eat. I don't know about anyone else, but when things like this happen it opens my eyes to the things that really matter. I feel like a fool for bitching about my love life or about not getting that pair of shoes I wanted, the stupid silly things that wouldn't matter if a huge disaster like this ever did happen. Shame on us as Americans for not appreciating what we DO have and concentrating so much on materialistic crap. At least we still have banks, hospitals with plenty of medicine, and most of all we aren't digging each other out of crumbled buildings.
I'm going to keep Haiti in my prayers and hope that they quickly recover from this and rebuild their lives. From every disaster arises an opportunity, I think this disaster gives us all an opportunity to realize we are all humans in this world, we all bleed the same and we all feel pain and heartache, and this is an opportunity to reach out and help people out we have never met, simply because its the right thing to do.
I find it pretty ridiculous that this is still an issue. We are in 2010, we have a black President, I live in a city that recently elected it's first openly gay Mayor into office, I have both male and female friends that are gay and never once has race, sexual preference, gender, age, nationality, religion or any other characteristic had any effect on my thought process for these people. I don't really understand why so many politicians are strongly in opposition to gay marriage, I mean lets look back to how many sex scandals have come out of Washington. Some of them are even...dare I say it...GAY sex scandals! If you ask me, I would say that maybe we should reevaluate heterosexual marriages and the lack of respect for them. We almost daily see stories on the news about how some big Hollywood movie star, Athlete and Politician have committed adultery, but yet these are the people that DESERVE to be married? Lets think about this, How often do we see any stories about gay couples in the media being scandalous with their relationships? Not often if at all. The only time I hear of Gays in the news is when they are fighting for their right to make their uncontroversial relationships legal.
I don't even feel like religion and the values this Country was founded on should be used in the argument against same sex marriage. Did we use religion and values when putting thousands of soldiers over seas to kill and be killed? I thought the Bible said we are suppose to "Turn the other cheek". What about when our President got oral sex from an intern? Pretty sure the Bible states we shouldn't commit adultery either. Then their is the whole topic of what about the "kids", parents don't want their children to grow up thinking this is acceptable behavior for two men or two women to be together. So I suppose that the top Athlete in the world, Tiger Woods, cheating on his wife with numerous strippers and skanks is acceptable behavior. Its funny to see what we as a society deem as "acceptable behavior".
I think same sex marriage should just be made legal nationwide and those people we "trust" to make the "right" decisions for us up on capitol hill should worry about more important issues. We have wars going on, terrorists, healthcare, global warming, OUR ECONOMY! Stop with this "Holier than thou" BS and Do something about all the REAL evil going on in the world.
