Well, I got stimulated to thoroughly read this piece of legislation after seeing old Johnny McCain grilling Janet Napolitano in a Senate hearing the other night. I know Senator McCain and stimulating in the same sentence is an oxymoron. Well Janet admitted she was not thoroughly familiar with the legislation. I just wanted to be ready when he called True Mexican and asked if Vivi and I had read the bill. Hell yes! We have read it. You really wouldn’t have to read it. If Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce was saying it was good for us, and he is the same guy who gets his picture taken with Nazi skin heads and hired the Tea Bag expert to actually write the bill, then you know its not going to be friendly for human consumption.
My first thought is this is totally against the 4th amendment of the Constitution. I wonder if Johnny has read the 4th amendment? The Fourth Amendment guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. SB1070 and its amendment state that a person can be stopped if “reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien”. Okay, so we have three cars stopped at a traffic light: the Governor of California in a Mercedes; Charles Barkley in a Hummer; and Juan in a Chevy truck with a lawn mover in the back. Who is the officer going to stop for reasonable suspicion of being an alien? More than likely Juan. It could be Juan’s lucky day however if Charles has a prostitute in the car that looks like an alien. Then Charles could be arrested if the prostitute didn’t have proper documentation. More than likely though, it would be old Juan in the hot seat. Why? Because he looks like a Mexican. So the “reasonable suspicion” can only be based on how the person looks. I don’t know how else you could be reasonably suspicious.
Also, God forbid you have barking dogs; cars in your front yard up on blocks; too many people living in a rental property or having your basic baptism party with a "brinca brinca" and norteno music blasting. If the police respond to city ordinance violations, according to the new amendments of SB1070, they are required to determine immigration status for everybody. Besides this being against the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, you now have the police at your home bugging you. It is taking officers off the street fighting real crime to check all the identifications of all the padrinos and guests at the baptism party. Then, to make matters worse, if they are from California and visiting our beautiful state and only have a California driver’s license, that would not be sufficient proof of citizenship and they would be held in jail till they could provide the proof that is yet to be decided.
In an interview Russell Pearce, the father of this legislation, thought that an Arizona driver’s license would be okay but he wasn’t real sure. I bet he isn’t sure because it’s that “reasonable suspicion” thing again. If you look like a Mexican you probably will need more “ ID”. Excuse me, is anyone paying attention? THIS IS RACIAL PROFILING! Then, if you are from a state where they don’t require citizenship documentation and you are stopped, you are in a pickle too. No wonder no one wants to come visit here. It’s scary!
I just love when John Mc Cain, Jan Brewer and Russell Pierce tell us that this is not about racial profiling. How would they know? It's never happened to them. Forty-six years ago I got off a Trailways bus in a little town in Alabama with four cousins from Mexico. We were traveling around the United States. We were on our way to New Orleans and had a two-hour dinner break so we walked to a little cafeteria to eat dinner. While waiting in line a manager from the restaurant asked us to come outside. I was the only one who spoke English so he asked me what I was. I was a little confused, but I replied, “I am an American. He said “No, what race are you and what language are you speaking?” “We were speaking Spanish and I am a Mexican-American” I replied. He explained that my cousins were too “colored” to eat in the cafeteria but I could go in and buy the food for us and eat outside. He patted my head and told me I was lucky to be a light skinned Mexican. “Why you could pass for a white girl”. We went hungry that night. The racial profiling made us lose our appetite.
Please read the Bill and the 4th amendment. Also, I found this Supreme Court ruling The United States vs. Brigoni- Ponce 422 US 873 which helped when evaluating SB1070. Let us know what you think.
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