Will Arizona act make clear how seriously immigration reform is needed?

I was pleased to learn that Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., was among the protesters who spent their Sunday in Phoenix making it known how offensive they find Arizona’s new law with regards to immigration enforcement to truly be.

For I am hoping that Gutierrez will start laying off the cheap rhetoric about having Latinos stay at home on Election Day this year as a sort of protest against Democratic Party officials whom they do not believe are doing enough to adequately address the issue.

I AGREE WITH Gutierrez that too many Democrats are trying to “wish” this issue away, failing to realize that it is here to stay and must be dealt with.

The problem I have with a voter “boycott” is that such non-action would do something other than show Democratic Party officials how much they need us. Not turning out to vote would wind up feeding into the prejudices of the people who are pushing for nativist-inspired measures such as what Arizona managed to approve last week – and which will become law in about three months.

I have always argued in favor of people getting off their culos and casting votes on the grounds that they lose their right to complain about political activity if they don’t vote. I don’t want to be ina positiion where I cannot complain if a Republican majority that feels its top allegiance to the nativist elements of our society starts approving measures into law that they desire.

In fact, I am wondering if the end result of what Arizona has done is that it has drawn attention to exactly what kind of mentality exists in our society that is opposed to the idea of serious reform of our nation’s immigration laws.

THE IDEALIST IN me wants to believe that so many people will become repulsed by the activities that will take place in coming months in Arizona that they will be jolted to their senses, and that those people who continue to fight this issue are going to be ensuring in coming months that their places in the history books (even those approved in Texas) will be negative.

The realist knows that life is not that simple. But I know it will take more of an action than staying home on Nov. 2 to force an action on this issue.

Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderòn Hinojosa, madea point of issuing his own statement condemning Arizona, which I’m sure the nativists will claim is evidenc e of how “just” their view is. After all, what do they care what a foreign leader thinks about anything?

But the statement that caught my attention was the one that came from the Rev. Al Sharpton. I’m sure the nativists will be equally offended to learn of his thoughts, but he is feeding off the imagery of the 1960s and the Civil Rights movement, recalling the “Freedom Riders” of the North who traveled to the Deep South (I’m sure there are some who try to write them off as “Damnyankee agitators”) to protest and push for equality.

DOES THIS MAKE the U.S. citizens of Latino ethnic backgrounds to be deported this year from Arizona (it can happen, anybody who doubts it is being naïve) the equivalent of those who got tear-gassed in Selma, Ala.?

Sharpton says he plans to organize “Freedom Walkers” who will be in Arizona when the law takes effect to force arrest and show how absurd the whole measure is.

What they specifically refer to are those provisions that try to give police the authority to make arrests of people who seek day laborers on the grounds that they are interferring with traffic. The Reverend Al plans to cause many traffic jams, it seems, to force the issue out into the open similar to those of half a century ago who crowded their way into segregated lunch counters to show they had the "right" to do so, regardless of whether they actually wanted to.

Now there are those who argue that this Arizona law does not wrongly interfere with enforcement of immigration laws, which are federal in nature and are supposed to be enforced by the U.S. government. There are even those who will argue that the reason the laws do not take effect immediately is because police departments in Arizona are going to receive special training so that they know exactly what federal immigration laws are, and what constitutes the level of “probable cause” needed for a police officer to legitimately stop someone and demand to see their immigration papers.

I DON’T BUY it, in part because I’m not sure this is an issue that can be taught to every law enforcement officer in Arizona during a crash course administered during the summer months. But also, “probable cause” by its very nature is meant to be broad. It is meant to give police the authority to make a snap judgment that something is worthy of closer inspection.

So excuse me for being skeptical of the idea that all of these Arizona cops are going to show restraint in enforcing this new law, especially since there are other provisions that make it quite clear that police would be considered at fault if they did not get vigorous in the way they approach it.

The people who crafted this measure want to see an increase in the numbers of people who get turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation because they have their own ethnic hangups and they want to revert back to the days when law enforcement used its authority to back them (instead of all people) up.

Which is why I think we need more than a “voter boycott” come November.

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EDITOR’S NOTES: Some 3,500 people gathered in Phoenix on Sunday to express their disgust with Arizona’s new law relating to immigration enforcement. This measure has the potential to make Arizona the focus of much ugliness in coming months.

Luis Gutierrez made the trip to Phoenix this weekend, while the Rev. Al Sharpton and others are likely to make the trip in the near future.