SB1070 Arizona’s Solution
“Give me your tired, you’re poor; your huddled masses yearning to be free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

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Emma Lazarus

SB1070 is an anti-immigration law that is officially enforced in Arizona. This law allows police and other state officials to legally demand any person to provide proof of citizenship. It is debatable whether the law is unconstitutional or not. I agree with the statements by many, this law is unconstitutional, and immoral. This is a large percentage of population in Arizona that is being affected by SB1070. Not only do illegal immigrants get affected, but direct family, indirect family, friends, and people with there eyes open on the issue. I am affected by this law. SB1070 is a law that makes me cringe at the thought of it; I cringe because it makes me enraged to think our country is going against the beliefs in which our nation was built upon.

The law being passed in Arizona is unconstitutional. Although states have the right to make their own laws, they can not go against our constitutional rights as a people. There are many reasons why it is wrong, but legally it breaks constitutional laws, which include the reasonable expectation to privacy, the equal right to protection and, unreasonable searches and seizures. What if you leave a country, tired, poor, yearning to be free, and enter a country that is prepared to accept these homeless, tired, poor, yearning to be free, huddled masses and the country you enter is equally ignorant, and discriminatory towards you, and many people just like you? Although the law does not state it, in order to find out who is legal or illegal, you must ask, and in order to ask you must assume, thus racial profiling. Racial profiling is a reoccurring matter in our nation’s history; many generations have given blood, sweat, and tears to fight against racial profiling, yet Arizona essentially legalizes it? What is the face of an illegal immigrant?

The law in Arizona is immoral. Immigrant: a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence. Our countries fore fathers were composed of immigrants to indigenous land. It is against our countries beliefs to deny someone our safety, and hospitality. I am from Watsonville, California where minorities are majorities, but everybody holds some sort of respect for someone they see down the street; not because they are Mexican, or Chinese, or German just like them, but because we are all human beings, just from different ethnic background. Any resentment held from race to race in our country will only slow our process of growth. This form of kindness should not only be held within our walls, but should be extended to other countries as well.

One might have a list of reasons, as I do, of why they are for, or against this law. For every argument there is a counter argument. Sure, illegal immigrants take jobs, and can impact our legal system. But is there a single job they have that you would take for the amount of money they get? Working 12 hour shifts in simmering heat, picking the fruits and vegetables you see on your table. When something goes wrong with those vegetables and fruits, the majority of our country is quick to say, “Those field workers.” But how great would they feel if you bite into a juicy strawberry and say “Those field workers,” with a positive attitude, knowing someone out there had the kindness to provide you this strawberry getting paid less than what you actually paid for the batch of straw berries. Some may say they are dangerous, or can cause trouble. But can’t anyone? Are Mexican gangs the only gangs in America? What about mafia, or biker gangs, and the KKK? If anything immigrants are the most cautious, and make the least mistakes, knowing that at any moment they could get deported, and at that moment, they know they could ruin the life they tried building for themselves, and for their children.

SB1070 is a law that has passed in Arizona condoning the deportation of undocumented citizens of Arizona; through racial profiling It is unconstitutional and immoral. It goes against the very script of our nation, and against many morals our country has built. Take a look at the opening quote; this quote is on a bronze plaque on the statue of liberty when Anglo immigrants entered Ellis Island in the mid 1800’s. They were welcomed with opened arms, why not the Latin-American side of our nation. South of our borders lies countries who influence our society’s culture more than we know. Many of us love Mexican cuisine, Mexican beers and tequilas, why not love the people who nurture us with the commodities, they often they don’t even get to enjoy. I ask you to take as much as you can from what I have said, and ask you to take a step back and ask yourself, what if I were them. Put yourself in the shoes of an illegal immigrant. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.