Article on Arizona's New Immigrant Law

Can you prove you are legal?
By Frank Shanly

Arizona sure jumped into the spotlight last week!

And given that it is now more than quarter of a century since President Reagan first tried, and failed, to address the problem of illegal immigration, I can’t really blame the Grand Canyon State for deciding that it is fed up with waiting for federal government to do something.

Individual states have the right to pass stricter laws than the federal government, just as counties have the right to pass stricter laws than their state. And given that Arizona is right in the front line of the problem, it really aisn’t so surprising that they should be the first to act.

The media coverage of the new law though, has left me puzzled.

Throughout Friday evening I had, and still have, one question that no one seemed interested in answering. And it’s a question that doesn’t just affect new immigrants.

How does a legal U.S. citizen, immigrant or not, prove he or she is a legal resident, if asked by a law enforcement officer in Arizona?

(Note that while a driver’s license is great for proving a lot of things, legal residence is not one of them!)

The law itself calls for “immigrants” to carry their alien registration documents at all times, which incidentally, federal law already requires.

Well, I guess I still count as an “immigrant”, even though I am now a citizen.

Prior to becoming a citizen, I had a permanent resident card, which served as my alien registration document. It was the same size as my driver’s license, and easy to carry in my wallet.

I presented it, along with my driver’s license, when I was required to provide identification.

When I became a citizen my card was taken away from me.

I now have a certificate of naturalization, but that certainly doesn’t fit in my wallet — it hasn’t needed to, as I’m only required to produce it on rare occasions, such as registering to vote, or applying for a passport.

Citizens born and bred in the United States don’t even have that. And not all of them have a passport either.

So how can they prove legal status, if asked?

Perhaps law enforcement in Arizona will only really take an interest in my immigration status if I claim an Arizona address?

If not, is my New Zealand accent sufficient grounds for an Arizona law enforcement officer to suspect I am an illegal visitor if I have any reason to encounter him (or her) “in the legal course of his/her duties?”

(And that could be as co-incidental as my passing by the scene of a crime someone else committed!)

Governor Jan Brewer insists there will be no racial profiling of any type. Does this mean that everyone spending any time at all there must now carry documentation proving their legal status?

If so, then what?

I spent most of Friday evening surfing the websites of the major news networks in this country trying to find just what documents that Arizona now wants me to show, if asked.

I found countless video clips of interviews with ‘experts,” but depending on which side of the debate they were on, all they really wanted to say was either “get out of town you criminals,” or “stop picking on us you racists.”

Not once, anywhere, could I find anything or anyone telling me what documents I should take with me if I visit Arizona to prove I am here, or there, legally.

I tried looking on the website of the State of Arizona. While it does appear to have a lot of information, I could find nothing that was helpful there either.

I did find an email address for the attorney general, and (Friday evening) I wrote to him with my question.

As of Tuesday afternoon, I have received no reply. Still too soon, perhaps?

By Sunday morning, CNN had posted a story of a student (a born and bred American of Hispanic ethnicity) in Arizona who was concerned because she didn’t know what documents she needed to present if stopped.

Unfortunately, while it asked the question, there was no answer in the story.

She wanted to obey the law, as I do, but no one, least of all CNN — a major news network covering the issue — appears able (or willing) to tell us how!

Should it really be this difficult to find out how to comply with a high-profile and supposedly controversial new law?

Do the people cheering the new law the loudest realize that they are apparently just as obligated now to prove their legal presence as anyone else if they visit Arizona?

And can they do it?

Or are they just thinking “I’m American so this law can’t possibly apply to me?”

What about you?

Do you carry documentary proof of legal residence when you go shopping?

How would you feel about being randomly stopped on the street by a policeman and asked to prove that you are indeed a legal resident?

And possibly going to jail if you couldn’t?

If we are indeed going to get serious about fighting illegal immigration, you might just have to accept it.

And not only in Arizona, given that other states are looking to copy the legislation!

I’m happy to comply with this type of law — I just wish someone could tell me how!