“I agree with you, but STFU”?
I’d’ve loved to see W pull that shit on Tony Blair when poodle boy offered to prop up our weak intelligence on the threat posed by Saddam’s WMD’s.
Isn’t it amazing, that those who criticize the Arizona law haven’t read it? Atty. General Eric Holder didn’t, and I doubt Obama did either!
In any case, the Arizona law is the result of the Federal Government’s refusal to enforce US laws-how would you like to be an Arizona farmer whose property is being destroyed by illegals?
Actually, I’d like to see Calderon talk about he treats HIS illegal aliens (from Central America)-don’t hold your breath!
Yeah, I know…it was a joke. Just so you know, I’ve been pulled for looking Mexican long before this law will go into effect…and most of those times I wasn’t in Arizona at all, but in California.
Look: we have a very big border with you. And, like I have argued before (with magellan, if I remember it correctly), what we have here is akin to an osmotic effect. My theory says that as long as the economic differences are wildly different, there’s no way to stop the migration unless you close the border hermetically. And that would be pretty much impossible, or at least far more expensive than attacking the other side of the equation: Make it far too costly for businesses to hire illegal immigrants to make it a viable strategy.
I’m thinking you should probably separate the “drug/drug/war/kidnapping/torture/death/[general-other-than-petty-crime”] numbers due to illegal drug running (which should be pursued too), from any concerning illegal immigrants crossing the border. I have a feeling this rampant crime everybody is screaming about is not as prevalent as we’re being lead to believe.
Do you think the number from this link and the through-link are accurate?
I pretty sure most illegal immigrants going through what they go through to come here and find work to feed themselves and their families would probably try their best to keep as low a profile as possible, no?
Well, I have to admit, I’ve never been asked for my ‘worthiness’ or proof of same. Normally I’m asked to step out of the vehicle, given the ‘sniff test’ (presumably to ensure I’m not smoking a blunt with a bottle of tequila in the back), asked for my green card (to which I ask if my license will be sufficient), then 15 minutes later, after a bewildering series of obscure checks being done in the comfort of their spiffy little police car, which will include several donuts downed for good measure, I’m informed I can happily go my way in peace, but advised to be more careful next time (from looking like a Mexican I guess).
I haven’t yet figured out a way to tell the cops to fuck off during such a procedure, and wouldn’t advise it as it doesn’t seem prudent to me. Personally, I’ve found the best thing to do is simply to talk (which always brings that hint of disappointment when they realize that I’m not actually a Mexican after all, since I hablo that ingles stuff) and pass over my drivers license. YMMV however.
Isn’t there a slight difference in that, so far as I can tell, you are welcoming of the idea of profiling based upon apparent race, yet I would be quite surprised if people were stopped in the street by police after being identified for a crime by race alone. I mean, it’s far too vague. If you went out and stopped or questioned people based solely on apparent race - and, i’m led to understand, in a state where you’re likely to have a high percentage of Hispanic looking citizens - then it’s not really going to be all that helpful. It seems far too inefficient - it’s not just a waste of citizen’s time, but police time.
Too, considering that in some cases the means by which it is to be proved the people aren’t the suspects being sought is through what’s effectively going to be mandatory ID carrying, I think your analogy lacks quite a bit.
Are you kidding? It’s pretty bad. I’m not at all interested in finding cites for all of that, but it is daily life here. Kidnapping capital of the US. Running gun battles on US Interstate freeways between gangs fighting for who “owns” the human cargo they are smuggling. Family members being tortured for money and afraid to come forward. Drop houses hiding in plain sight with sometimes a hundred undocumenteds hiding inside. Small vehicles pulled over with 20 illegals who scatter into the bushes. Asswipes walking across the border and killing US ranchersand then walking back across. Arizonans afraid to go camping or fishing or boating or anything off-road in the southern part of the state.
Given the content of what follows, it probably should have been a colon. I mean, anyone who’s ever traced out the alimentary canal in anatomy class knows what comes next after the colon, right?
You seem to have become good-natured about this type of injustice, and learned to let it roll off your back. I don’t have the self control you obviously do. Just reading your post pissed me off.
I’m biracial and not Hispanic but, because of my complexion, have been mistaken as Hispanic more times than I can count. Don’t think that I’m not worried about my next semi-annual business trip to the Camelback in Scottsdale. Arizona has suddenly become as attractive a destination to me as Kabul Afghanistan.
Um – Last I looked, the majority of people in this country came here, for a variety of reasons including freedom, good land, and work, from places like Ireland, Italy, Poland, etc. Yes, they were legal immigrants, for the most part – but that had a great deal to do with how the immigration laws were written then and how they are written now. For anyone who is not full-blooded Native American Indian or descended from involuntary immigrants (slaves or exiled indentured people) to indict others for wanting what their own ancestors wanted and found is to my mind a bit hypocritical. Change the laws to better reflect reality.
Whenever I see a glib generalization about what “most people” think, it sends up a warning signal to me. Do you have evidence that “most people” nationwide object to illegal immigration – and support things like the Arizona law to halt it? (I realize you did not allege the second part of that – I’m asking because it’s relevant to the thread. If you care to take a pass on that second part and simply aver the first, the question then becomes, How?
