Immigration in Arizona

The newer, tougher immigration laws in Arizona, which played a huge part in influencing the one produced in Oklahoma, were put in effect last year. The law gives law enforcement in Arizona the right to demand the status of people on whom they have "reasonable suspicion" and to arrest them if they are unable to provide the correct documents. It also makes it illegal to transport aliens or to hire laborers off the street in the state of Arizona. All of the measures are included in Oklahoma's HB 1446

The biggest argument for the law is that immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans. I was not able to find any statistics supporting or negating this argument, but article after article that I have read says that illegal immigrants do not if act take our jobs. Jobs that we want, anyway. Illegal immigrants, because of their illegal status, typically take jobs that Americans do not want, especially labor jobs. One farmer was even quoted saying that aliens are more reliable workers than Americans. The second largest argument that I was able to find was that the new laws would lead to decreased crime. Apparently, the presence of immigrants causes increased crime, especially in the state of Arizona, but is that really true? I looked at crime reports published by the Arizona DPS in the years of 2002 and 2010. The reports can be found here and here. The numbers of immigrants to the US has been increasing steadily since the 1990's, more notable in the past decade. But in 2002 the number of crime index offenses in the state of Arizona was 341,101 and in 2010 the number was 250,252. That's a difference of 90,576 offenses, a pretty big number.


Arguments against the law were more in number and, in my opinion, stronger. They are:

• The law will most likely lead to racial profiling, because it is highly unlikely that whites or even blacks will be asked to show their documentation. The "reasonable suspicions" that officers will be acting under will most likely be based on ethnicity, especially if that person has an accent. The result of this type of profiling will be demeaning to the minorities suspected, especially Hispanics and Mexicans.
• The law will be extremely expensive for the state of Arizona which already has a state defecit of trillions of dollars.
• Now that drug cartels and other over-the-border illegal activity leaders know who is going to be asked for documentation or searched, it will be easier for them to send products with whites or blacks, especially since law enforcement will be focused on immigrants.
• The law creates an uncomfortable atmosphere between law enforcement officers and immigrants, especially in a reason that boast a large number of immigrants. The threat that any law enforcement officer has the right to demand documents from a person makes the uncomfortable and resentful.
• Immigrants are an essential part of the economy, especially since they tend to do jobs that Americans would not do.
• The law destroys the concept of a melting pot, as well as freedom and new opportunity in the United States.