• Arizona Senate Bill 1070
Please respond to the following discussion topic and submit it to the discussion forum as a single post. Your initial post should be 75-150 words in length. Then, make at least two thoughtful responses to your fellow students' posts. If you haven't recently, please review the Rules of Discussion.
In 2010, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law Arizona Senate Bill 1070, the "Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act." The intent of the law was to prevent illegal immigration that has significantly affected the Mexico bordering states.
The law required law enforcement to enforce existing federal immigration law in the state by checking the immigration status of a person who the police have "reasonable suspicion" of being in the U.S. illegally. The impact of S.B. 1070 has been far-reaching and has been the subject of much debate and court challenges.
On June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) handed down a decision on this bill. With a vote of 8-0, the Supreme Court held Arizona can allow its Police Officers to check the immigration status of people they come into legal contact with which many say is the key component of SB 1070. The SCOTUS also held the State of Arizona cannot make it illegal for immigrants to fail to register with the Federal Government (which is already a Federal law).
In addition, the SCOTUS struck down parts of the law which included:
• Authorizing police to arrest illegal immigrants without warrant where "probable cause" exists they committed any public offense making them removable from the country.
• Making it a state crime for "unauthorized immigrants" to fail to carry registration papers and other government identification.
• Forbidding those not authorized for employment in the United States to apply, solicit or perform work. That would include illegal immigrants standing in a parking lot who "gesture or nod" their willingness to be employed.
Some say the majority (SCOTUS) opinion is weak and fatally flawed because it contradicts prior SCOTUS decisions that say the States are within their rights to take such actions as outlined in SB 1070.
Still others say this majority opinion will not stand the test of time and the court will be forced to reverse itself because it is a racist bill and promotes (encourages) racial profiling by law enforcement.
Finally, some feel this majority opinion has placed the burden of enforcement squarely on the Federal Government; at least for the time being. They expect Arizona (and other states) will continue to bring lawsuits on the Federal Government in an attempt to FORCE them to carry out what they call its legal obligation to enforce the laws enacted by Congress--an obligation they say the Federal Government is currently willfully neglecting.
The following is a video of CNN's Anderson Cooper who has two guests on his show to discuss the merits of S.B. 1070. Watch the video and then respond to the following question.
Debate: Does the New Arizona Law Legalize Racial Profiling
Respond to the following forum question.
Does the Arizona Senate Bill 1070 promote racial profiling and is it at face value a racist bill as some contend?
Also, should the responsibility for this type of enforcement to be at the state and local level?
Take a stand on both these questions and defend your position.
should be 150 words, but may go longer depending on the topic. If you use any source outside of your own thoughts, you should reference that source. Include solid grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling.