Police State Arizona

A proposed law pending in the Arizona legislature, S.B. 1070, would
oppress foreign nationals and U.S. citizens alike – especially if they
don’t seem to some folks like “real Americans.”

Some are characterizing Senate Bill 1070 as “hate legislation.”
Hitler would have liked it while his National Socialists were revving up
their engines circa 1935. If it becomes law, Arizona will suddenly be
transformed into an unfriendly place for foreign nationals and U.S.
citizens alike. Provisions in the proposed bill would criminalize
noncitizens and dehumanize anyone who might not look, act, speak, or
smell like an American.

For instance, the law requires that it would be up to state officials
to determine a person’s immigration status. If someone they encounter
in the course of their work is “reasonably suspected” to be unlawfully
present in the United States, their suspicions would suddenly become
lawful vigilantism. All people in Arizona would be vulnerable to racial
profiling, including U.S. citizens. But what exactly is “reasonable
suspicion” of alienage? If a person speaks with too pronounced of a
foreign accent, or has a skin color that appears to be beige, or
possesses facial features suggestive of an Asian or Latino, or smells
funny, should they be investigated with future intentions of
deportation? If a school crossing guard notices a student who doesn’t
speak English and has the look of a Laotian, who might have moved to
Mesa from Bellevue, Washington, is the crossing guard now obligated to
check the child’s papers or call his parents and ask about immigration
status?

Senate Bill 1070 will also permit a law enforcement officer, without a
warrant, to arrest a person if, according to the officer’s judgment,
probable cause exists to believe that the person has committed any
public offense that makes the individual removable from the U.S. Under
such a scenario, what offenses might somehow emerge as deportation
offenses? Under this Brave New World, “crimes” such as public urination,
jaywalking, spitting on the sidewalk while glaring maliciously at the
officer, or partial nudity might all become an unfortunate person’s last
act prior to a slow boat to Yemen? Apparently, some
ethically-challenged Arizona legislators are still unfamiliar with the
U.S. Supreme Court’s March 31, 2010, decision in Padilla v. Kentucky
which delineates how immigration law is so complex that trained
consultants on immigration matters have difficulty deciding which
offenses rise to the gravity of deportable.

A. Banerjee is a Houston immigration lawyer in
Texas. Before selecting an immigration lawyer in Houston Texas,
contact the Law Offices of Annie Banerjee by visiting their information
filled web site at http://www.visatous.com.