SB1070

I, for one, am not surprised to see a materialistic motivation behind the current legislation. Pandering to public paranoia for private profit seems to be a far more likely explanation for SB1070 than any longing for the love of law and order. For many years here in Arizona, the exploitation of workers for less than minimum wage was a popular and accepted practice; despite the hardships caused by unregulated border crossings and unprotected employment.

Now that the economy has declined, the more expedient form of exploitation has become scapegoating; many social ills are charged to a group little able to defend themselves, thus neatly diverting anger from the financial disaster created by political/business manipulation of the Arizona economy.


As was pointed out by a local columnist in the Arizona Republic, the same sort of hoopla surrounded the passing of the Legal Arizona Workers Act (AZHB 2779), the "E-verify" act. It was purported to end the incentive of hiring workers without current legal standing in the US by imposing stiff penalties upon any employer who was in violation of its regulations. Its failure is evidenced by the new law, which I fear will do little to fix economic problems, but will prove invaluable to the aspirations of many a reactionary politician.

Hiding hate and ignorance beneath the halo of judicial reverence and good citizenship seems to work well for many here in Arizona; I wish I could say that such attitudes were confined within our borders.