'Let Me See Your ID'-Arizona's New Immigration Law Harks Back to Apartheid South Africa

*update April 23 2010-Arizona Gov Janet Brewer just signed into law this crazy bill #SB 1070 which will allow police to stop and check your proof of citizen ship. President Obama spoke out and said the Bill is Misguided. Folks are saying he could've been more forceful..Below is a picture that has beenpassed around Twitter that explains this best..

This new law just passed in Arizona is something we must absolutely oppose. It masquarades as a much needed law to crack down on 'illegal immigration', but really it's an excuse to racially profile all types of people who are 'suspected' of being in this country illegally. Translation-if your Brown expect to be engaged by the police. This is not likely to be applied to white people coming from other countries..The whole scheme reminds us of what used to took place in Apartheid,  South Africa and currently takes place in Israel/Palestine.  With the passing of this new law, we say its time for Public Enemy to redo thjeir classic song 'By the Time I get to Arizona' where they protested Arizona not honoring Dr Martin Luther King's bday.. This time around they need to do it in Spanish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijeXGv9QLRc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFkjfgztGqI

An urgent plea for help in Arizona: Stop Criminalization of Our Communities

original article: Nuevaraza.wordpress

Dear Friends,

We write with an urgent plea for your assistance. This week, the Arizona legislature passed the most anti-immigrant legislation the United States has seen in a generation. We are calling on all who have fought for immigration reform to assist our brothers and sisters in Arizona to turn the tide on hatred, bigotry, and scapegoating that threatens our community. In 2006, we marched by the millions in cities across the country to block a hateful bill that would criminalize immigrants and their supporters. The bill currently before the Governor in Arizona would make the nightmare of Sensenbrenner a reality. Indeed, the bill’s stated intent is to terrorize immigrant families into leaving the state. We must do everything we can to prevent this from happening.

TAKE ACTION! Click here!

 Arizona’s SB 1070 would force police officers to arrest and detain people based on a "reasonable suspicion" that they are undocumented. It’s not surprising that news of this bill has shocked the nation. There is no such thing as looking American or undocumented, and mandating police officers to racially profile sets this country back to a shameful time in its history where racial segregation was the law of the land. The state of Arizona has become home to experimental laws that use immigration as an excuse to criminalize communities of color. We have all seen the devastation caused by Joe Arpaio and others like him. The result of this struggle in Arizona will set the tone for the national debate. We must prevail. The bill is an assault on this nation’s values. Everyone, including the President himself, acknowledges that this is a nation of immigrants: Undocumented immigrants are Americans in Waiting.

We must wait no longer. Please take action by going to www.AltoArizona.com to sign a petition urging the bill’s veto. When you sign the list, you will send a message that the nation is unifying in its condemnation of Arizona’s dangerous legislation. You will continue to receive updates on where we will take things, should the bill be signed into law. Please forward this email to 5 people asking them to do the same. We have all fought hard to earn equality for our friends, colleagues, neighbors, and family who currently live and work in the U.S regardless of immigration status. The time is now for full legalization, not criminalization enacted by racist local demagogues. The time is now for the country to come together to urge the federal government to stop immigrant bashing.

Together We Will, Turn the Tide.

Sincerely,

Pablo Alvarado
Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
National Day Labor Organizing Network (NDLON)
675 Parkview Street, Suite B, Los Angeles, CA 90057. – ph (213) 380-2783 fx (213) 380-2787 – email: info@altoarizona.com

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As we ementioned earlier this new law is a throwback to the old ID laws imposed on Black South Africans during its Apartheid Rule.. How in the world did we as a country to get to such a state is beyond us... Take a listen to this song done in the early 1980s where Gil Scott Heron and a stellar line up of Hip Hop artists and singers sung and rapped  about South Africa's ID laws and why we were fighting to her Apartheid Laws..Tell us why this new bill in Arizona isn't much different then what was going on in South Africa.. 

Sadly the Department of Homeland Security has been quiet about this new law.. We hope the Obama administration is not trying to placate what many are feeling is an overtly racist state legislature in Arizona

Arizona Immigration Law Sparks National Uproar

PAUL DAVENPORT

PHOENIX — Arizona lawmakers approved a sweeping immigration bill Monday intended to ramp up law enforcement efforts even as critics complained it could lead to racial profiling and other abuse.

The state Senate voted 17-11 nearly along party lines to send the bill to Gov. Jan Brewer, who has not taken a position on the measure championed by fellow Republicans. The House approved the bill April 13.

"This bill goes a long way to bringing law and order to the state," said Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, who cited costly services provided to illegal immigrants and the recent slaying of a southeastern Arizona rancher near the U.S.-Mexico border as reasons for the move.

The new measure would be the latest crackdown in Arizona, which has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants and is the nation's busiest border crossing point.

Arizona enacted a law in 2005 making human smuggling a state crime and prohibited employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants with a law in 2007.

The latest bill would make it a state crime for illegal immigrants to not have an alien registration document. It also would require police to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally.

Other provisions allow citizen lawsuits against government agencies that hinder enforcement of immigration laws, and make it illegal for people to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly transport them.

Republican Sen. Russell Pearce of Mesa, who sponsored the bill, said it will take handcuffs off police and put them on violent criminals. "Enough is enough," Pearce said.

U.S. Sen. John McCain on Monday called the bill a "tool that I think needs to be used." His office later said that wasn't an endorsement.