The simple case against the Arizona Immigration law

The law just passed in Arizona says police are required to ask people for proof they are here legally if there is a reason to doubt that they are here legally, and if it is discovered they are illegal then they must be turned over to the Feds.

So on its surface it is easy for one to think, what's the big deal? Illegal Immigrants have broken the law by coming here without the proper paperwork. If the cops catch you doing something illegal they bust you for it. If I snuck into another country and was there illegally and a police busted me I would have noone to blame but myself.

Of course the discussion of why people are coming here to work is an entire discussion for another time, this discussion leads some to reject the term "illegal" Immigant. Regardless of how you feel about these issues, the new Law in Arizona is a horrible one and the argument against it is simple.


Now the job of the police is to serve and protect. They are trying to prevent murders, rapes, theft, drug dealing and other such crimes as well as catch criminals who do these crimes.

Imagine a girl is raped. Her father knows who did it. Her father is an undocumented worker. That father should be able to call the police and report the crime. But with this law the police would be required to investigate the father if they suspected he was undocumented.

Or imagine an American citizen is the victim of a crime and the only witness is an undocumented immigrant. Is that witness going to step forth?

You can imagine tons of scenarios like this. Because of this law entire communities will be afraid of the police and far less likely to report crimes.

It is a bad law. Even Meg Whitman (a dubious candidate for California Gov.) is against it.