It’s not unusual in this country for a new law to excite lots of public debate, demonstrations, and heightened emotions. What is unusual in the reaction to Arizona’s new immigration law is the degree of ignorance about its provisions. For example, those on the far right who are cheered because they think the law will inspire new efforts there and elsewhere in America to deport the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal immigrants will surely be disappointed: There is no new authority in the Arizona law to detain and deport anybody who could not have been expelled before Gov. Jan Brewer signed the measure into law.
Similarly, those on the left who have been most vocal have condemned the Arizona law for legalizing racial profiling and a host of other things it simply doesn’t do. Official boycotts of Arizona are being proposed by city and public schools officials in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and elsewhere. Apparently, these people have already solved all of the problems in their communities and are now able to advise Arizona. Typical of the uninformed critiques behind these calls is this mistaken assertion by California state Senate President Darrell Steinberg: “Any state that maintains a policy that officially discriminates against people because of their skin color, because of where they are from, we must take strong action.” Critics also claim the Arizona law lets local cops stop anybody anytime they choose and “demand their papers.”
