Arizona Law Skirts Liberties

By Javier Gonzales
Chairman, Democratic Party of N.M.
By now we've all heard that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill into law requiring police to question the immigration status of everyday, law-abiding citizens under the guise of so-called "reasonable suspicion."
Police in Arizona may now ask citizens on the street for documents such as a passport or birth certificate to prove their citizenship. Angry citizens, advocacy groups and even the president of the United States have expressed criticism of the law, and I have no doubt that a string of costly legal challenges and lawsuits will ensue at the cost of the taxpayers.
This new law may be aimed at preventing illegal immigration, but it will affect legal American citizens from all 50 states. According to a report by the Associated Press, one Arizona resident, Arodi Berrelleza, a U.S. citizen and high school student from Phoenix, recently asked: "What if people are U.S. citizens? They're going to be asking them if they have papers because of the color of their skin."
It is clear that the United States needs comprehensive immigration reform, but not through laws that open the door to infringement of American civil liberties. Intimidation, harassment and racial profiling are not the ingredients for successful immigration reform in our nation.
Furthermore, families such as my own, who have lived in northern New Mexico for upwards of 400 years, may now be approached and potentially arrested on the street while visiting Arizona, if proof of citizenship cannot be produced.
On a personal level, that is frightening. On a political level, it's immoral.
Proponents of this law may argue this is simply a way to punish illegal immigrants who are already participating in illegal activities, such as gang activity or dealing drugs. Such logic makes little sense, when law enforcement officials currently arrest citizens and illegal immigrants, alike, for these crimes. This law only puts further strain on our law enforcement officials in solving crimes already taking place.
Allowing police officers to ask for a person's "papers" as they try to determine their immigration status infringes on all Americans' civil liberties. This is a very dangerous precedent and begs the question: What's next?
As chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, I would be remiss to not mention all five Republican candidates for governor have come out in support of this bill. This is not surprising, considering it's so popular among Republicans — 77 percent of Republicans support the bill — and they each need every vote they can get leading up to June's primary.
Democrats are optimistic that once this bill is challenged and struck down, the dialogue for real immigration reform will begin.
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish recently said, "our immigration laws are broken, and we must do more to secure our borders, but racial profiling is wrong — and the Arizona law goes too far."
Denish is the only candidate for governor who is starting this dialogue in a meaningful way, and she will ensure that results are achieved working with New Mexico's congressional delegation — whom have all come out against this bill.
Immigration reform is a conversation we need to have in New Mexico, but not at the expense of our most basic civil liberties.

Dobbs for President?

Earlier this month, Lou Dobbs made international headlines when he left the airwaves of CNN after more than 25 years with the cable network.

He had been under increasing pressure to do so based on his perceived anti-immigration views and statements. Now, Dobbs is taking to the airwaves to share his feelings post-CNN.

Describing himself as "liberated and emancipated" since leaving the network (and while he is entitled to his own opinion -- however wrong it may be) his positioning towards elected office should raise our collective eyebrows.

In the same interview with WTOP, Dobbs said a presidential run in 2012 is "not crazy":

Again, we disagree with Dobbs on this point.

Among the reasons why Lou Dobbs would fail to make a good president are that he has given credence to the "birther" movement, calling into question President Obama's leadership; repeatedly asserted that Mexicans were trying to "take over" the Southwest (New Mexico included) and that illegal immigration is the single biggest threat to the American middle class.

Were Dobbs to enter the GOP-fray for the 2012 nomination, you could expect him to be among the far-right of the party on this issue -- such as renegade Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio or Tom Tancredo.

Personalities like Dobbs attempt to make immigration to the United States an 'us vs. them' issue, an over simplification which does not give credence to the multitude of aspects implicit to this debate.

Perhaps with Dobbs absent from the airwaves (for now) we have have a logical debate which helps to do what is just for all involved.

Rush Calls Latinos "Illegal"

Not that we here at the DPNM make a point of listening to Rush Limbaugh's radio show on a regular basis, it does bear mentioning that sometimes Limbaugh's comments are worth repeating in order to show his complete lack of understanding on many major issues which impact Americans.

Rest assured, this extends to the current health care debate.

In a recorded radio show from August 21st (last Friday), Limbaugh commented that he didn't know why "Latino groups" are lobbying for health care reform if "illegal immigrants" aren't covered. (In the past, Limbaugh has referred to illegal immigrants as an "invasive species" willingly allowed to enter this country.)

Apparently, Rush has never considered that Latinos could be -- and are -- American citizens, a demographic which currently represents 15.1% of the United States' population and over 44% of New Mexico's population. And in fact, Latinos represent a rich part of our history. His baseless and ignorant statement also shows that he has clearly never visited our great State and witnessed the positive and sustained Latino impact.

In a response directed at Limbaugh, the President of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Rosa Rosales issued a statement stating that Limbaugh should engage in direct dialogue with LULAC and stop spreading lies.

Limbaugh also "re-branded" the group the National Latina Institution for Reproductive Health as "the National Latina Institution for tax-payer funded abortion." This purposeful distortion of the truth is typical for Limbaugh, but further seeks to confuse and undermine actual debate regarding health care reform in this country. President Obama has as recently as this week has stated that the ban on abortions paid for by tax dollars would remain in place.

Rush Limbaugh's discounting an entire group of people by branding them as "illegal" is not only his most recent example of fearmongering, but also racially insensitive. He insults the many contributions that Latinos have made to this great nation and only further proves his ignorance regarding anyone other than himself.