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| May 6, 2010 |
Obama attacks again: AZ law would 'single out people because of who they look like'
Posted by Staff |
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At a Cinco de Mayo reception at the White House Wednesday evening, President Obama launched another attack on Arizona's new immigration law. "We can't start singling out people because of who they look like, or how they talk, or how they dress," the president told the crowd. As he had in earlier criticisms of the law, Obama ignored the law's specific stipulation that any check on a person's immigration status can only come after a "lawful stop, detention or arrest" when a person is suspected of breaking some law -- that is, as Arizona lawmakers explained in a footnote to the bill, it must come "during the enforcement of any other law or ordinance of a county, city or town or this state."
And even after meeting that standard, the law directs that police meet a "reasonable suspicion" standard before "a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person..." The phrase "reasonable suspicion" means that there must be a number of specific factors that an officer can cite before taking action, and the law specifically says that prosecutors "shall not investigate complaints that are based solely on race, color or national origin."
And even with those safeguards, the law specifies that if the person involved produces a valid Arizona driver's license, or other forms of identification specified in the law, then that person is immediately presumed to be in the country legally. In other words, the whole question of legal or not legal becomes moot once the person produces a driver's license -- a common experience for nearly every American, regardless of his or her race or ethnicity.
Obama mentioned none of that in his Cinco de Mayo remarks. "Today reminds us that America's diversity is America's strength," he said.
That's why I spoke out against the recently passed law in Arizona. Make no mistake, our immigration system is broken. And after so many years in which Washington has failed to meet its responsibilities, Americans are right to be frustrated, including folks along border states. But the answer isn't to undermine fundamental principles that define us as a nation. We can't start singling out people because of who they look like, or how they talk, or how they dress. We can't turn law-abiding American citizens -- and law-abiding immigrants -- into subjects of suspicion and abuse. We can't divide the American people that way. That's not the answer. That's not who we are as the United States of America. |
| 05/6/10 3:09 PM |
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