THE WARSAW ROUND-UP


Linda Greenhouse seems to be a little upset over recent legislation that has been signed, sealed and delivered by the Arizona Governor recently:
 

And in case the phrase "lawful contact" makes it appear as if the police are authorized to act only if they observe an undocumented-looking person actually committing a crime, another section strips the statute of even that fig leaf of reassurance. "A person is guilty of trespassing," the law provides, by being "present on any public or private land in this state" while lacking authorization to be in the United States -- a new crime of breathing while undocumented. The intent, according to the State Legislature, is "attrition through enforcement." Rather, I'll offer a reflection on how, a generation ago, another of the country's periodic anti-immigrant spasms was handled by the Supreme Court. In 1975, Texas passed a law to deprive undocumented immigrant children of a free public education. Many thousands of children -- a good number of whom were on the road to eventual citizenship under immigration laws that were notably less harsh back then -- faced being thrown out of school and deprived of a future.

The law was challenged in federal court, with the Carter administration supporting the plaintiffs. By the time the case, Plyler v. Doe, reached the Supreme Court, Ronald Reagan was president, and there was a major debate within his administration over whether to change sides. Rex E. Lee, the admirable solicitor general, refused to do so.

In June 1982, by a vote of 5 to 4, the Supreme Court struck down the Texas law. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote for the majority that the constitutional guarantee of equal protection prohibited the state from imposing "a lifetime hardship on a discrete class of children not accountable for their disabling status." Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., a Nixon appointee and the swing justice of his day, provided the fifth vote. The law "threatens the creation of an underclass of future citizens and residents," he wrote.http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/breathing-while-undocumented/?ref=opinion

Let us just pause and review these few paragraphs and think all this through. There is logic here that should give us pause as well as scare the living shite out of every single 'legal' citizen in this nation.

This new Arizona legislation notes that immigrants without proper papers should not be here. That is, those immigrants should not be in this country and certainly should not be in Arizona.

Therefore, whether or not the undocumented immigrant is at a local 7-11 or mowing some lawn in the back yard of some Tucson suburban insurance salesman, that immigrant is trespassing.

In the first instance, the 7-11 has generally invited all to enter its doors so that those Slim Jims and Pepsis will be purchased thereby helping its finances.

In the second instance, the insurance salesman has invited the worker onto his premises in order to maintain his property value.
 

The state government of Arizona is limiting the rights of the 7-11 and the insurance salesman as to whom they may invite onto their property. I see nothing in the legislation that would hold the 7-11 or the salesman responsible for inviting the wrong kind of person onto their respective properties.

The State of Arizona is saying that undocumented immigrants are disinvited from their premises as a whole. Once the illegal alien steps foot into the boundaries of Arizona, he or she is guilty of trespass.

There is logic here. I mean there are thousands and thousands of people crossing over the borders of Arizona and the Federal Government is not doing enough to stop this type of immigration and many folks in Arizona are pissed off. I understand that.

The problem here is one of enforcement.

First, we must recognize that there are blue eyed and blond haired North Americans who were born in Mexico and other North American countries south of our borders; so too there are African Americans born south of our borders.  All colors and shades of human beings were born in North American countries south of our borders. 

So how is the peace officer to discern who may or may not be a guilty of trespass?

Does the peace officer have the right to simply stop any person he or she sees on the street and engage the suspect in conversation?  The object of the conversation would be to discern if the individual can speak English. And yet, some Americans cannot speak English. I mean certified and properly papered citizens do not speak English

And what if the person is a mute? Or just claims to be mute? You know like some of the bankers on Wall Street when questioned about their business tactics?

And once the peace officer has discerned that the individual has problems with speaking English, is that probable cause to demand certification of citizenship?

We also know that there are people in this country who speak 'perfect' English, as a matter of fact people who speak better English that jokesters like Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh, who are not in this country legally.

So race or language cannot be the only criteria for probable cause. And you need probable cause to stop a 'suspect' in the first place.

There have been cases of 'blanket' stops in this country. The peace officers and the authorities at large just get sick and tired of drunk drivers for instance. During some holiday week ends the local and county and state governments know that there are more drunk drivers on the highway. So everyone is stopped and checked. There is complicated judicial case law on this subject. Hundreds of cases involve blanket stops.

And if the peace officers in Virginia, Minnesota wish to increase their drunk driving arrests as well as drug arrests, all they would have to do on this side of town is to park their squad cars in front of the seven or eight drinking establishments one block from the station at closing time. They could just watch the patrons teeter into their cars and haul them to the station after making them blow into their little machines checking for BAC.

So one solution to the problems surrounding 'probable cause' would be for the peace officer in Tucson to stop every single person walking the streets of this fair town and demand:

WHERE ARE YOUR PAPERS?

Okay, so I am stopped and hand them my Minnesota Drivers License. And how, pray tell would a Tucson peace officer know what a Minnesota DL should look like? There are 50 states after all. I mean I do not know what a Wyoming DL should look like.

Should the peace officer have the right to hold me until he scans my DL into the computer inside of his squad car?  And what if some warrant in Minnesota shows up that says there is a Dick Day in Minnesota who is wanted for robbery. The last time I checked there were 10 Richard Days in Minneapolis alone.

So now the peace officer has probable cause to take me down to the station so that I can be processed and so that they can find out if I am the guy who is listed on the warrant--maybe the Minneapolis Police can send Tucson a picture of the real perpetrator or his finger prints.

I am castigated every time I label a right wing bastard as a fascist or NAZI. But think about this.

The NAZI Party in Germany in the late '20's and '30's and '40's rounded up 'the Jews' all over Europe. In the beginning a search began throughout Germany for Jews; ostensibly just for identification purposes. Everyone had to have proper papers on their persons so that they could prove who they were any time they were asked to do so. And the papers would identify you as a 'regular German' or a 'Jewish German'.

Then, in order to allay the suspicions of good Germans, the Jews had to have 'stars' put on their persons so that they could be readily identified as Jews on the street.

Then, the Jews were rounded up and sent 'away' after being put into 'detention centers'.

Make no mistake about it. There are millions in this country who really would wish to 'round up' over ten million people; reroute them to 'detention centers' and send them all 'away'.

And if they come back?  We would have to have to imprison them. Otherwise, how could we keep them from continually breaking the law?

But back to the issues at hand. Right now, could you prove who you are? Do you have a proper and up-to-date DL? Did you just move your residence and forget to update your DL? And what if you are temporarily homeless (let alone just plane homeless)? You could not, a priori have a proper identification card.

And my understanding is that fake DL's are being manufactured every single day in this country.

Do you have a certified copy of your birth certificate?

Now our President has published his birth certificate. It is on line right now; accessible to everyone. And yet, millions of people in this country will not accept that certificate as proof of his birth in Hawaii because they do not like the manner in which Hawaii keeps its records.

Do we really wish to live in NAZI Germany? The Jews were seen as illegal aliens; even if their families had resided in Germany for a millennia. Do not forget this. And the NAZI's spoke of 'anchor babies' and the NAZI's spoke of trespass.

And just one more thought on all of these issues. How many hundreds of thousands of troops would we need to 'properly safeguard our borders'?  How many tanks would we need down there? How many drones would it take?

 

No longer Se habla Espanol

In English have your say

No more watchin that Poncho and Cisco

If we all have our way

Ditat Deus  is in good Latin as mottos should

You need cards of green or grey

To prove you have the right to be here

Else we round you up and send you away

Arizona, put on those racist shades
Arizona, enter this brave new world
My myyy
Arizona, get on with your border raids
Arizona, yer gonna get your way

Mmmm strip off those constitutional barriers and let the police just run wild

Don't fret about the taint from the illegal's right's complaint

Arizona, you've got nothing to lose
Arizona, just sent all those illegals away

No longer Se habla Espanol

In English have your say

No more watchin that Poncho and Cisco

If we all have our way

Ditat Deus in Latin's good as mottos should

You need cards of green or grey

To prove you have the right to be here

Else we round you up and send you away

Arizona, take off those racist shades
Arizona, enter this brave new world
My myyy
Arizona, get off these your border raids
Arizona, yer not gonna get your way

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhdiSqt6sXE