Should+the+United+States+adopt+the+Arizona+Law?

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” -Abraham Lincoln

The United States was founded with the idea of equality for all and supporting people to look past their differences and become united, as seen in the quote taken above from Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg address. The Arizona Law directly opposes these ideals by looking at differences and judging people on their racial descent. The inconvenience and racial profiling that this law creates is what makes the people here unequal to others just because of their skin color of other physical features. This equality issue with race and ancestry is the exact thing that great men in our nation have fought against, such as Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.

The Arizona Law has been a source of controversy since it was first approved by Governor Jan Brewer on April 23, 2010. In terms of illegal immigration, it has positively affected the state and has stopped many illegal immigrants from entering the country. However, in terms of social justice, we many find faults in the law, yet the decrease of illegal immigrants makes us wonder if not just Arizona, but the entire United States of America should adopt the Arizona Law. If the entire United States adopted the Arizona Law, chaos would ensue, making the United States no longer a place of freedom for immigrants, but a place of nightmares.

The Arizona Law allows police officers to stop people going about their daily lives and demand to see their (immigration papers). If they cannot produce said papers, the officers are allowed to detain and/or deport them back to their home countries. The common stereotype about illegal immigrants is that they are from Mexico or other Latin American countries and this would encourage police to racially profile people. This would obviously increase racial tension between Latin Americans and police officers, as well as other citizens not of Latin American descent. As an article in the Washington Post states, “//It invites racial profiling.// The law compels police to search for undocumented immigrants based on an ill-defined "reasonable suspicion" of illegality. The real-world effect of this language will be to force local police to use skin color, accent or limited proficiency in English as the basis for suspicion, much as sheriff's deputies in Maricopa County (Phoenix) already have been widely and credibly accused of doing in hundreds of lawsuits.” (The Washington Post). Latin Americans who are in the country legally would also become very defensive about their legality and may become angry at being racially profiled. The people of Latin American descent will experience radical racial discrimination if the Arizona Law is implemented to the entire United States.

Even if certain states and not the country as a whole were to adopt the Arizona Law, conflict would ensue between the state legislature and the federal government. President Barack Obama “strongly criticized” (Archibold) the Arizona Law. “The Arizona law, he added, threatened “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.” (Archibold). If specific states adopted the Arizona Law, there would not only be conflict between the peoples living in the states, but between the state and federal governments as well. This kind of political instability is unwanted and unneeded, especially in a time of economic crisis in the United States. media type="custom" key="9560356"media type="youtube" key="n4ltqJ8-FG8" height="349" width="560"

___ **Bibliography: ** Archibold, Randal C. "Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration." //The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia//. New York Times, 23 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 May 2011. [].

"Arizona's Immigration Law Twists the Constitution in the Pursuit of Illegal Immigrants." //The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post//. 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 May 2011. [].

Lozano, Pepe. "Wave of Opposition Builds against Arizona Law » Peoplesworld." //Peoplesworld//. 30 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 May 2011. [].

Riccardi, Nicholas. "Arizona Immigration Law | Arizona Lawmakers Modify Immigration Law - Los Angeles Times." //Featured Articles From The Los Angeles Times//. 01 May 2010. Web. 25 May 2011. .