A Green Road Blog 

"Last week, Arizona passed a new law that makes racial profiling legal and, in effect, requires police to stop people based on their race and ethnicity.

Arizona's new law, SB 1070, says that police must question anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” of being an undocumented immigrant.¹ Translation:police can now stop and harass people for no other reason than that they are brown-skinned or speak Spanish.

Black folks know all too well what it's like when police treat an entire community of people as potential criminals because of what they look like. It's demeaning, and it actually makes communities less safe by sowing distrust between police and community members.^2,3,4

While ColorOfChange members have a variety of views about immigration, we hope we can all agree that racial profiling is wrong -- period.

Please join us and Presente.org in condemning racial profiling, no matter whom it targets. We'll present your signatures to Gov. Brewer of Arizona, as well as to President Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security Napolitano. It takes just a moment:"

http://www.colorofchange.org

Thanks and Peace,

-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Milton and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
   April 28, 2010 

References

1. "AZ Gov Signs Immigration Bill," TPM Livewire, 04-23-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/216?akid=1443.281883.89JS5T&t=5

2. "Why Racial Profiling is a Bad Idea -- Top 7 Arguments Against Racial Profiling," About.com
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/217?akid=1443.281883.89JS5T&t=7

3. "US weighs court challenge to Arizona migrants law," Reuters, 04-27-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/218?akid=1443.281883.89JS5T&t=9

4. "Phoenix Mayor: City May Sue AZ Over Immigration Law," TPM Livewire, 04-26-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/219?akid=1443.281883.89JS5T&t=11 [-84

My comment; This whole country is made up of immigrants. Are we now locking up the door and bolting it closed? Why are immigrants the new boogie man? These are mostly hard working, poor people who do jobs in this country that no one else wants. They mostly work for people who hire them and pay them very little, plus mistreat them. These same employers sometimes end up not paying them at all.. because they are not citizens and have no 'rights'. They know that these poor workers will not complain to the law enforcement agencies.. 

What about the employers? What is happening to them? They are all breaking the law, by hiring 'illegal aliens' and these laws are already on the books, TODAY. Why ignore those laws, which protect American workers? 99% of the law enforcement budget is aimed at punishing these 'illegal' workers, but not their employers? Why?

Why are so few rich business owners who prey on 'illegals' getting fined or going to jail for HIRING these immigrants? Again, this may be seen as a classic case of the top 1% Income earners who make more than 95% of the rest of US citizens. Could they be creating a scapegoat, thereby deflecting blame from the very people who import this cheap or free source of labor?

The media and the rich corporations blame the poorest of the poor, the most helpless and downtrodden.. They say; Punish them. By saying this and pointing the finger, they are also saying; ignore the REAL lawbreakers, which are the ones who hire these workers illegally, for a huge PROFIT.

It is fairly easy to create fear of these 'illegals' by pointing at a few criminals and lawbreakers among them.. That sets up a situation to just deport everyone with brown skin, and ignore the law... Can't happen? Think again.. 

During WWII, it happened to the Japanese. These were all US citizens, and they were all sent to internment camps. They had all of their property taken away illegally, by FORCE. 

Before that, many Chinese were here 'illegally'. It was fine when things were good, and we needed them to build railroads, tunnels and the like. But then the first Depression that came along, all of them were sent back home, en masse, by FORCE. 

Going back further, black 'illegal' slaves (The Constitution at the time said all men were equal) were imported and put to work on plantations that made many people rich. Slaves back then were treated legally as animals, which I guess bypassed the illegal part. If one can call another human being a slave and treat them like an animal, that makes it all ok. That wealth is now in the hands of just a few, as this illegal immigrant profit was passed down and multiplied over the generations. 

When this country was first 'invaded', the 1st Nation people who had lived here for thousands of years were removed by force, lies, deceptions and PROFIT motivated new immigrants... Those new, often religious minded immigrants claimed this land as theirs, and removed the real citizens to worthless 'reservations' and desert lands. Those immigrants reserved the worst and most worthless land for the 1st people tribes, or what was left of them, after they committed genocide on millions of them.  Now some of those same settlers/illegal immigrants, are trying to keep other newer illegal immigrants out, using the argument that is land is theirs, and no one else can come in... Is this not ironic? Illegal aliens telling other illegal aliens that they are not welcome? 

What is the statue of Liberty for? On it are inscribed the lines; "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Should we change the wording to; No one else welcome, go home, the light has been turned off, there is no more room for you here?

If things get worse, watch and see, more fear mongering will happen, and the invitation will be to scapegoat these 'illegals' and send them all home, US citizens included.. Stand up for your rights and start fighting now, or it will be a done deal, led by a racist, bigoted, fear filled minority.

Meanwhile, the largest monopolies continue to prey on US citizens with mostly no accountability, and no punishment. They continue raping and stealing pension funds, savings, and more. They are too big to fail and too big to punish. The say they own Congress, the White House and Senate. In my view, they illegally occupy and invade Congress with an army of lobbyists and millions of dollars in 'bribes'. When their gambling ways fail, they get bailed out with social welfare taxpayer funded Trillions of dollars. You guessed it, their FREE TRILLIONS in tax money comes from the poorest of the poor and the middle class. 

Luisa F. (113)

At the same time that Arizona has a law AGAINST illegal aliens, the US military ENCOURAGE illegal aliens by hiring them immediately, to fight all of the global imperial wars that the US is involved in.. What is the carrot? Every illegal alien willing to fight for the military industrial complex gets automatic US citizenship... I see this as discrimination pure and simple.. 

A US employer can hire an illegal alien, and that alien gets no benefits, no citizenship. The military complex can 'hire' that same illegal alien, and confer on them special benefits that no one else can. Hmmmm.... does this seem strange to you? What happens if all 10 million illegals now here sign up for military service? Would that solve the problem? How would all of the anti immigration folks feel about that? 

In Europe, they partially solved the 'illegals' problem by eliminating all borders and creating a European Union. While this did not solve all of the problems, it did unify many small countries into one larger economic force... while doing away with artifiicial manmade borders. 

What if we did the same thing here? What if we created an American Union, stretching all the way from Alaska to the tip of South America, eliminating all manmade borders in between?.. It would eliminate all arguments about illegals, etc... We are all ONE people, living on ONE planet, under ONE sky...On a soul level, we are all brothers and sisters. Killing your brother or sister will not solve the problems created by artificial mind created divisions. 

Trying to create mine and yours pieces, separating one group from another is based on ego, misperceptions and fallacies that will not stand long term. 

To support this 'We are the best' system, the US must continually commit genocide, torture, jail millions of people (more than any other civilized nation) and destroy the economies of all other Third World nations, plus assassinate democratically elected leaders and install military dictatorships...all while at the same time excluding people from coming here.. 

Read 'Confessions of an Economic Hit Man' to find out why the US is the 'greatest' and 'most powerful' nation on Earth... There is a dark underbelly to the US, and forcing the Indians out while using black slaves to accomplish becoming the greatest nation on Earth is just the tip of the iceberg of darkness, greed and corruption, that this empire is based on.. Will it stand for much longer? I think not...