To the Editor:
While it is true that federal law requires noncitizens to carry immigration documents, this is almost never enforced or prosecuted. What’s more, it’s
a far different story to permit federal officials to punish a noncitizen for failure to carry immigration documents and for state and local officials
to do the same. Immigration regulation is a federal function.
I find it disingenuous to cite a hypothetical of 12 nervous, shifty-eyed passengers crammed into a minivan being stopped by the police for speeding as
being the typical case in which the Arizona police will inquire into a person’s immigration status.
What about the case of two young males wearing sombreros speaking in Spanish in front of a convenience store, or three poorly dressed Spanish-speaking
women sitting together at a cafe? Are we really to believe that Arizona’s police officers are not going to make inquiries in those situations?
This law isn’t good immigration enforcement; it’s an invitation to flagrant abuse of the civil rights of anyone caught in its web, including American
citizens, permanent residents and applicants for asylum or another lawful status.
Theodore Ruthizer
New York, April 29, 2010
The writer, a lawyer who works on business immigration matters and a lecturer at Columbia Law School, is a former president of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association.
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To the Editor:
The reason the American Civil Liberties Union is calling the Arizona law unconstitutional is that it’s true. It’s also discriminatory, unfair and
un-American.
It is hard to imagine how this law can be enforced without racial profiling, and claims to the contrary are disingenuous. On what other basis would a
police officer suspect that someone is not lawfully present in the United States?
Hollow language inserted in the bill supposedly to prevent such profiling is cosmetic. It won’t prevent the police from asking people for their papers
based on race and the way they look.
Racial profiling is already rampant in Arizona, and this law will make it worse. We have seen the effects of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s
targeting of Latinos, including American citizens and lawful permanent residents, in its mass sweeps and enforcement operations. The A.C.L.U. has sued
that office, and the United States Justice Department has started a civil rights investigation into its practices.
This extreme law puts Arizona completely out of step with American values of fairness and equality. The A.C.L.U. will vigorously challenge this law in
the courtroom and elsewhere to make sure that it doesn’t take effect.
This law says show us your papers. In response, we’ll show the State of Arizona the Constitution.
Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director, A.C.L.U.
New York, April 29, 2010
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It'll keep 'em
content and you won't, out of courtesy, be subjected to nonsense.
