To the Editor:
Re “Arizona’s
New Immigration Law Widens the Chasm Between Sides” (news article,
April 26):
I sympathize with those Mexicans and other immigrants
who live in Arizona legally and also with those seeking a better life. I
would point out, however, that it has always been the law that legal
resident aliens carry their “green cards” with them at all times.
As
a naturalized citizen who waited five years to obtain a green card and
then another four years to become a citizen (with all the expense and
paperwork involved), I see no reason to condone illegal immigration.
If
we, as American citizens, illegally entered Australia, Canada, Britain
or any other country, we could hardly object to being asked for our
papers, nor be surprised to be deported forthwith if we didn’t have
them. Has everyone lost sight of the meaning of the word “illegal”?
If
profiling occurs, then certainly we should revisit the law. In the
meantime, let’s withhold indignation and wait and see how the law is
administered.
Elizabeth Skelton
San Diego, April 27, 2010
To the Editor:
It’s a
shame that Gov. Jan Brewer didn’t consider the downside to S.B. 1070,
Arizona’s new immigration law: It amounts to state-sanctioned racial
profiling, usurps federal authority and feeds into a volatile dialogue
on immigration in Arizona, which correlates with a rise in hate crimes.
It does nothing to fix our immigration system, but will cause hardship,
compromise public safety and hurt the economy, as has happened elsewhere
as a result of anti-immigrant policies.
At the least, she might
have considered that Arizona has more than two million Hispanic and
Asian residents—about a third of the state’s population—a million of
whom are registered to vote, and they (and others, too, both immigrant
and native-born) are fighting mad that she has dragged Arizona through
the mud with this law.
In 2008, the popular mayor of Hazleton,
Pa., who had raised his profile by enacting anti-immigrant provisions
(his ticket to national office, he thought), lost his race for Congress,
in part because the immigrants he had so maligned were motivated to
vote. Perhaps that is a lesson Governor Brewer will come to learn.
Chung-Wha
Hong
Executive Director
New York Immigration Coalition
New York, April 27, 2010
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 