Saturday, April 24, 2010

We Know Them By The Shoes They Wear

Under Arizona's new law, to take effect in 90 days, it will be a state crime to be in the country illegally, and legal immigrants will be required to carry paperwork proving their status. Arizona police will generally be required to question anyone they "reasonably suspect" of being undocumented -- a provision that critics argue will lead to widespread racial profiling, but that supporters insist will give authorities the flexibility to enforce existing immigration laws.


This law is the stupidest yet in the series of gaffes coming out of the state of Arizona. And on top of it, a California crazy Republican (Bilbray) says "trained professionals" can tell an illegal immigrant just by the way the person dresses! Kind of reminds me how people think they can spot gay people with their "gaydar!"



I am not sure what the ramifications for the state of Arizona will be, but rest assured, the part of the bill that allows anyone to sue the local law enforcement if they feel the job of rounding up "illegals" is not being done, will probably bankrupt the state in, oh, say, two years! Every block has a crackpot that will file a lawsuit for the hell of it, just because he or she can.

On the other end of the spectrum, I'd say if you really are in this country without "papers" and in Arizona, you might be moving real soon to avoid the train wreck that is coming your way. Another reminder of my youth, when as hippies with long hair and traveling cross-country, one generally went north and avoided the southern route (think "Easy Rider" ending, and you'll get the picture).

4 comments:

Arno said...

Knee-jerk legislation by stupid "conservative" legislators leads to disastrous consequences. I know, I live in Red-World. Arizona (WTF is up with them?) has consigned itself to lawsuits and expense and misery that they will see in short, due time.
I remember the "southern route" thing...
I could tell you some stories about being a DFH in rural GA in my youth...

Carrie said...

Pardon my ignorance, but I don't know what a DFH is, and please feel free to tell some stories.

Arno said...

Sorry, DFH is Dirty Fucking Hippie.
Stories would best be left off the internets...for now.

Carrie said...

Ahhh, ok, now the acronym makes sense. Still, if we are of the same age, then I know what it was like in the south back then. Not that I lived there, but I traveled a bit, and we already got harassed just because we would have "black people" in our group, so adding men with "long hair" was just a warning to go north. I mean, if you watch the closing scene of "Easy Rider," one of the things the guy in the truck says is "get a hair cut" or something to that effect. That is what all the guys went through back then. It's hard to imagine that people actually thought the Beatles' hair was too long!!!