Racial Profiling in Arizona?

I am not sure how many of you are aware of the controversial bill that was signed by Arizona's governor today, but I am disgusted that she did this. The bill that she passed makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to be in the state. The new law will require local police to seek proof of immigration status if there is reason to suspect individuals are illegal immigrants. Police do not need any other reason to stop someone, like a traffic violation, they can just pull someone over if they think they are in the state illegally.

The governor, Jan Brewer, said that she was forced to take matters into her own hands as Washington wasn't doing their part to prevent illegal immigrants from being in the country and in her state. "We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act," said Brewer, a Republican facing a tough re-election challenge. "But decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation."

When I first heard about this, I immediately thought of racial profiling and how horrible a law like this will be for people, especially people of color in the state of Arizona. In one of my previous posts I mentioned that racism is alive and well in our country, and unfortunately it is things like this that will continue to perpetuate racism and prevent equality.

Benjamin E. Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Council, opposes the law but says the question of whether it is "unconstitutional on its face is unclear." An easier question, in his mind, is whether the law will lead to constitutional violations, such as unlawful searches and seizures or discrimination based on protected characteristics such as race or ethnicity. "That seems to me the much greater risk," Johnson says. The law requires noncitizens in Arizona to carry their immigration paperwork with them at all times. That clearly would be an example of the state intruding into exclusively federal domains of enforcement and regulation and will inevitably lead to racial profiling.

I know that this issue is not directly related to higher education right at this very minute, however, immigration is definitely a hot topic in the media as well as how we support our undocumented students. This topic is definitely something that we are continuing to talk about on campuses across the country, as the number of undocumented students are increasing. I know that this is something that UNC is continuing to talk about as we continue to understand the population around our campus and who is coming to our campus.

A law like this, just shows that one is not welcome in the state and that they are clearly not wanted. And in the end will result in more and more issues of racism and inequality, something that we are trying to work against I thought.