“Boycott Arizona Even Though “It Is Not The Grand Canyon’s Fault”
The subject of my blog, or as some of my loyal readers call it, my rant, is SB 1070. I have renamed this law NXHA, ‘The National Xenophobic1 Hate Act’ (I tried to turn the X into a swastika, but my computer, at least not yet, doesn’t have this symbol.
This law requires state police officers in Arizona to arrest, yes ARREST, an individual who does not have a document on his person proving lawful U.S. residency or citizenship when the suspect “looks” like someone who is in the United States illegally.
Apart from the blatant racism of such a law, I don’t think that its supporters have even pondered many of its ramifications. The reality is that more than ten million people who are living in the United States illegally. Many of them are witnesses to crimes or crime victims themselves. Obviously, now they will not want to come forward to report crimes or be witnesses for the fear of being deported. And now, the scarce resources of state police have to be diverted away from their mission of fighting violent crime to becoming low level United States immigration officials.
The focus of the law has been on its impact on illegal immigrants. but we should be just as worried about the many lawful U.S. residents and lawful residents that NXHA affects. My sports trainer, Mike, has a Middle Eastern wife, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Even in the post-Gardner era, she likes to go on morning jogs alone or with her girlfriends. If she were living in Arizona, she would have to carry an identification card with her always or be subject to arrest. Or maybe she could get by if she went on her runs only in Gucci jogging suits. Have we forgotten that we are a country, with the exception of very few Native Americans, of the progeny of immigrants from all colors, races, and countries?
Many naturalized U.S. citizens who were born in Mexico remain very close to their roots…living close to the border and crossing on a daily or weekly basis to visit their family on “the other side.” I live in San Diego, the busiest border crossing port in the world, and I often travel to Mexico for business. I certainly can’t tell “them” apart (the lawful Hispanic residents from the undocumented aliens. If the litmus test is dirty shoes, then if I were Hispanic, I would probably have been in jail by now. I have been known to go out and water my garden in the morning in my suit and work shoes before racing off to work–dirty shoes, even once in the courtroom.
As I think about NXHA, I remember my two trips to Cuba. I remember police standing on almost every street corner asking identification of any Cuban who appeared to be a resident from outside of Havana. I remember the embarrassment on their faces as they were interrogated at length about their place of residence because in Cuba you are assigned to live in certain zones in the country and can be fined or imprisoned if you are found in another section without the government permission.
A few years ago US citizens could cross the border on merely a declaration of U.S. citizenship. Now we are all required to carry passports at the port of entry or be subject to fines and detention. And now in Arizona under NXHA, any non-White lawful resident or U.S. citizen must carry identification at all times or risk being arrested. In essence, in Arizona, one must be prepared to prove at anytime that they are a U.S. citizen.
Sadly, we are not far from the day when we will all be required to carry a National identity card at all times (you won’t be safe by being a member of the White middle class anymore). This card is required already in many oppressive countries such as Cuba. Our national identity card will probably be the U.S. passport or the passport card, which is a US passport that is manufactured in the convenient size of a driver’s license in anticipation of the day requiring that we all be required to carry identification or be subject to arrest and prosecution.
I don’t know how many of you have noticed that the new passports have microchips in them, and with the current technology, it would not be hard to embed a GPS device in them. All of this will be done in the name of “patriotism” or “national security.”
The law could begin as follows:
“Anyone who travels within a “designated safety zone” is required to carry a passport or be subject to arrest and imprisonment.”
At first, a safety zone could be defined as within twenty miles of a border, a military base, etc. etc., and later be extended to include coastlines, government bases, and federal land, until eventually the entire country is covered.
Every day we come closer to living in a police state under a system like Cuba, which, by the way, has a constitution that reads very similar to the Unites States Constitution. Cuba has freedom of press, assembly, and travel just like us only that it has been interpreted to be “freedom that is consistent with the security of the state.” Cuba indeed is very safe, with virtually no terrorism or serious violent crime, but at what price?
Of course, there is a strong need to continue to curtail terrorism and internal crime but NXHA is not the way. Illegal aliens are certainly not the primary threat to our national security. When an economy goes bad as it did in Nazi Germany and there is much civil unrest and unhappiness, politicians and the citizens of a country search for a scapegoat. That is what NXHA is all about.
One of the main joys and rights of living in this country is being able to go to the beach or go for a walk or jog and not have to take your wallet nor risk being stopped by the police unless you are doing something wrong. All that changes now under NXHA.
I urge you to boycott all goods and products made in Arizona and not travel to that state until NXHA is ultimately repealed or thrown out by the courts. And, please join the fight so that this cancer does not spread to your state.
I had hoped to go see the Grand Canyon again this year, but it will have to wait for awhile even though as a friend said, “it is not the Grand Canyon’s fault.”
