Arizona: The new home of fruits and nuts

Picture this.  You are out of milk and bread so you hop in the car, drive to Safeway or 7-11, and as you get out of the car to walk into the store, someone approaches you.  They don't want your money.  They want your ID.  And, they want one other thing.  They want proof that you are a legal U.S. resident.   What would you do?

That was the scenario facing a large section of the population in Arizona after the kooky governor there and her cronies implemented SB1070, a law that the U.S. Supreme Court has now largely ruled unconstitutional.   It was a huge victory for civil rights, a great defeat for racism.   And it is a dual message to states and the federal government.  It is not up to individual states to decide how to enforce federal immigration laws.

Shortly after the SCOTUS decision was released, Arizona's eccentric governor Jan Brewer took to the airwaves to declare it was a tremendous victory for Arizona.   As the day wore on, perhaps her advisers informed her that in reality, it was an overwhelming repudiation of the Arizona law.  By the end of the day, Brewer was telling Fox News (of course) that the ruling was "unconscionable."  She shifted the blame to President Obama, claiming that his administration had told Arizona to "drop dead."  Obama has also come under attack from immigration rights leaders for deporting more illegal immigrants than any other president, including George Bush.

I believe that if there are people in the U.S. living here illegally, then in many cases they should be deported.  However I feel more strongly that if those same illegal immigrants have been here for a number of years, have assimilated into American culture, have contributed to society and to their communities, are crime free, attend school, hold down jobs or serve in the military, then steps should be made available to allow them to become legal US citizens and residents.   It goes a step beyond what Obama did a few weeks back in announcing plans to allow young immigrants brought here illegally by their parents years ago to stay and be welcomed.

Now back to my question.  What would you do if you were stopped by law enforcement and asked to provide documentation to prove you were in the US legally?  A driver's license would not work.    You would have to present your passport or immigration papers.  I don't carry my passport with me and I don't know anyone else who does either.  Proving you are in the US legally on a moments notice, no matter who you are, is a dilemma that fortunately has been  deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.    Now, signs like the one we saw last year on a car in Arizona will hopefully no longer be necessary.  That sign read, "Don't Stop Me.  I'm not Latino, just tanned."