Sometimes It Hits You Right In the Gut

Oh.

Bah Bah Bah!

I can't stop imitating this video....It's rather embarrassing and someone should probably stop me.

Cultured & Worldly

Things I Saw Today:

King Henry the VII's Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey

The Avenue at Middleharnis, 1689, Meindert Hobbema

A Girl at a Window, after 1799, Louis Leopold Boilly

Coastal Scene, 1892, Theo Van Rysselberghe

COMING SOON!

COMING SOON:

Photos from Dublin, Glendalough, & Avoca Ireland.

17th Century Literature isn't so bad after all...

"These are thy wonders, Lord of love, To make us see we are but flowers that glide; Which when we once can find and prove, Thou hast a garden for us where to bide; Who would be more, Swelling through store, Forfeit their Paradise by their pride."

~ George Herbert, The Flower

Arizona Immigration

In the midst of all of the debate about Arizona's new immigration bill, I decided to do some research into the text of the bill. Illegal immigration has gotten out of hand in Arizona, with over half of illegal immigrants coming through the state. Violence on the border has also become an issue. However, as a friend of mine, and many of the bill's opponents, said:

"This is like a milder form of the way Jews were required to carry "papers" in Nazi Germany (sorry to use the cliche, but it's the only example I could think of). Essentially, any Latino could be stopped and asked to present papers. If they didn't have the "paperwork", they could be potentially detained on suspicion of illegality.

Last time I checked, I didn't have to have my ID on me to walk around outside. In fact, I regularly leave it at home to go on walks around my neighborhood with just my keys. If I were a Latino in Arizona, a cop could stop me and potentially take me away for not being able to prove my citizenship on the spot."

However, the requirement for immigrants to carry their paperwork isn't breaking any new ground. In fact, it is already part of the Federal Government's immigration law.

Politifact.com writes:

"The legal scholars we spoke with told us to take a close look at two key sections of Title 8 of the U.S. Code. Section 1304e requires that "every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him." Those who fail to comply will be guilty of a misdemeanor and will be fined $100 and can be imprisoned up to 30 days.

Section 1306a says that, "Any alien required to apply for registration and to be fingerprinted in the United States who willfully fails or refuses to make such application or to be fingerprinted, and any parent or legal guardian required to apply for the registration of any alien who willfully fails or refuses to file application for the registration of such alien shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not to exceed $1,000 or be imprisoned not more than six months, or both."

Indeed, section 3 of the new Arizona law makes it a state crime if immigrants are in violation of either of those codes.

So, when it comes to that section of the law -- arguably the "meat" of the new law -- "it's very clear that in this respect, George Will is right," said Paul Bender, a law professor at Arizona State University.

Gabriel Chin, a professor of law at the University of Arizona, had a similar take. In an e-mail, he wrote that Will's claim is generally correct.

"However, while the underlying offenses are federal crimes, they are among the least prosecuted in the U.S. Code," he wrote. "For the relevant offense at issue here, failure of a non-citizen to register in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1306(a), there were 5 convictions across the U.S. in FY 2008. So to be precise, the statement would be 'What the Arizona law does is make a state crime out of something that already is . . . a federal crime that the federal authorities have chosen not to enforce except in rare circumstances.'"

In fact, proponents of the Arizona law have argued that's why new state immigration rules are needed; federal authorities are not doing a consistent job of enforcing immigration laws that are already on the books. "

However, the issue of racial profiling still stands.
The Arizona bill says:

FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY
OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS
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STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS
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UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE,
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WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON. THE
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PERSON'S IMMIGRATION STATUS SHALL BE VERIFIED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
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PURSUANT TO 8 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1373(c).

Technically, this could mean passing a group of Mexicans on the street. Obviously, a good officer wouldn't request the verification from any hispanic that crosses his path, but you have to seriously consider those that will take advantage of the situation. Illegal immigration is a huge problem in Arizona, and lot of officers are probably fed up with it. Abuse of power is a very logical assumption.

There is no specification of what "reasonable suspicion" is. It does seem like the language of this bill would allow for discrimination and some serious racial profiling.

But when people on the news keep saying "We have to have sensible immigration laws" but don't offer any specific solutions, you can't help but think they are either a) not very serious about immigration laws at all or b) are so caught up in being politically correct and not "offending" hispanics, that they aren't exactly sure WHAT sensible immigration law are.

I support the premise of this bill. It's a good start. It is simply reinforcing what already stands in the federal government. Something that they have hardly enforced. But I think the bill does need some tuning. In this type of dilemma it seems like some form of racial profiling is going to be unavoidable, but in order to avoid these issues to the best of its ability, the bill - or future bills of this type - needs to be more specific. They need to outline in what specific instances the immigration status or citizenship of an individual can be requested.

Because I Can't Study without Chair Dancing