COMMENTARY: IT'S A BIG DEAL

I think Vice President Joe Biden said it better…but you get my drift…



Over the past 4 weeks or so, one of the most covered stories in state and national media has been the new Arizona anti-immigrant law known as SB1070; perhaps you may have heard of it?

A Google search yielded more than 1.7 million results.

The law seems to transfer federal immigration enforcement responsibilities to Arizona state and local police, allowing them to question a person’s legal status; if they believe there is reasonable suspicion that they are in this country illegally.

Opponents say the law is nothing more than racial profiling at its best. Another argument against it is that immigration enforcement is a function of the federal government and not local and state police according to the US constitution.

Hopefully you have followed the coverage in national online and broadcast media, because if you still are in the dark ages; as opposed to the age of enlightenment; and depend on local news and the Avalanche Journal for this type of coverage, well, you’re missing out on a lot.

Since the law was signed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, large protest marches have been held in major cities like Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Phoenix and San Antonio among others.

And in Phoenix, even the NBA Phoenix Suns wore a jersey with the name “Los Sun”, during a recent playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs to show solidarity and protest the law.

Just last week a LULAC Council from Dallas organized a “freedom caravan” and a group from Odessa, TX called “Una Voz Unida” joined them on a freedom ride to Phoenix, AZ, reminiscent of the ...