Arizona - WTF?
 

So Arizona's been passing some fun new legislation these days. And by "fun", of course I mean "idiotic".

First up is SB 1024, the "birther"-appeasing bill that will require the Arizona Secretary of State to verify the citizenship of presidential candidates. Not surprisingly, this bill passed with exclusively Republican support. And while it's an idiotic bill, it did make for some entertaining television the other day when Anderson Cooper skewered an Arizona lawmaker over the so-called reasoning behind passing it.

And then of course there's the fancy new immigration bill, SB 1070, which requires law enforcement folks to demand proof of citizenship "where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States". Now, the governor of Arizona herself may not be able to tell us what an illegal immigrant looks like to justify "reasonable suspicion", but the bill assures us that "a law enforcement official or agency...may not solely consider race, color, or national origin in implementing the requirements of this subsection except to the extent allowed by the United States or Arizona constitution". Of course "solely" is a pretty key word in this stipulation. They can consider race, color and national origin as long as they've also considered, for example, the color of the person in question's shirt as well.

But these paper-thin restrictions are enough for people like the queen of morons herself, Sarah Palin, to declare "There is no ability or opportunity in there for the racial profiling. And shame on the lame stream media again for turning this into something that it is not." I'm not sure that Sarah has read this bill based on what she says, but hey - why expect her to be informed about anything at this point in the game, right? Anyway, I find it interesting that the same people who love to call Obama a "fascist" among other things are now the only ones in the country that are actually passing legislation that will literally have police on the streets reciting the fascist catch-phrase, "papers please..." And if they don't do their mandated job of asking for papers, then "a person who is a legal resident of this state may bring an action in superior court to challenge any official or agency...that adopts or implements a policy or practice that limits or restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law."

Arizona is getting awfully scary.

Re: Arizona - WTF?
 

Re: Arizona - WTF?
 

Woah...I just blue myself.

But in all seriousness, I didn't know Arizona was doing this. The immigration bill is particularly disturbing...I would think that would be an invasion of privacy on some level. So basically, the cops are going to be pulling over any Mexicans that are riding in the back of a pick-up truck.

I understand why certain people are against illegal immigrants, but this is taking it way too far imo. I think Maddox had it best:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse..../immigrant.gif

Re: Arizona - WTF?
 

this is a really excellent point. i hope to hear more people making this observation in the media in the days to come.

Re: Arizona - WTF?
 

hey, this is exciting!

when are stitching mandatory yellow sombreros on people darker than a home depot swatch.

Re: Arizona - WTF?
 

So is Mexico:

http://www.cddhcu.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/doc/140.doc

LEY GENERAL DE POBLACIÓN

ArtÃ*culo 73.- Las autoridades que por ley tengan a su mando fuerzas públicas federales, locales o municipales, prestarán su colaboración a las autoridades de migración cuando éstas lo soliciten, para hacer cumplir las disposiciones de esta Ley.

ArtÃ*culo 85.- La SecretarÃ*a de Gobernación tiene a su cargo el registro y la acreditación de la identidad de todas las personas residentes en el paÃ*s y de los nacionales que residan en el extranjero.

ArtÃ*culo 86.- El Registro Nacional de Población tiene como finalidad registrar a cada una de las personas que integran la población del paÃ*s, con los datos que permitan certificar y acreditar fehacientemente su identidad.

ArtÃ*culo 87.- En el Registro Nacional de Población se inscribirá:

I. A los mexicanos, mediante el Registro Nacional de Ciudadanos y el Registro de Menores de Edad; y

II. A los extranjeros, a través del Catálogo de los Extranjeros residentes en la República Mexicana.

ArtÃ*culo 91.- Al incorporar a una persona en el Registro Nacional de Población, se le asignará una clave que se denominará Clave Unica de Registro de Población. Esta servirá para registrarla e identificarla en forma individual.


Translation from Google:

GENERAL POPULATION LAW

Article 73 .- The authorities which by law have federal forces under their command, local or municipal, shall assist the immigration authorities at their request, to enforce the provisions of this Act

Article 85 .- The Ministry of Interior is responsible for registration and accreditation of the identity of all persons residing in the country and nationals residing abroad.

Article 86 .- The National Population Registry aims to register each of the persons in the population, with the information needed to certify and accredit their identity.

Article 87 .- In the National Population Register is recorded:

I. The Mexicans, by the National Register of Citizens and the Register of Minors and

II. Foreigners, through the Catalogue of Foreigners Residing in Mexico.

Article 91 .- By bringing in one person in the National Population Register will be assigned a key that is called the Clave Unica Population Register. This will register and identify an individual.

Re: Arizona - WTF?
 

You know what comes across more than anything in all the instances you mention here is fear. The people pushing these things are feeling fearful. Threatened by people they feel are "not like us". Infiltrated by "outsiders".

(Why they only appear to have started thinking this way in the last 18 months or so, I couldn't possibly speculate............ )

The Republican leadership should be distancing themselves from this paranoid nonsense - not encouraging it.

Probably time for yet another remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, to take advantage of this 'aliens among us' zeitgeist.

Re: Arizona - WTF?
 

agreed. By the same people who brought you paranoid fear that FEMA was in the late stages of Operation Obama Gulag comes "THE MIGHTY RULE OF LAW!!!!" Hypocrisy so unabashed these guys might as well forgo taking off their latex gogo boots and bondage collars before going to sunday church.

Mongoose? you want to talk about the rule of law?

Re: Arizona - WTF?
 

Re: Arizona - WTF?
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100428/ts_csm/297622

California is going to try to boycott any business they do with Arizona. Hopefully more states will do the same.