Now comes word, out of Arizona of course, of the next move in the anti-Latino onslaught. State Senator Russell Pearce, sponsor of Arizona Senate Bill1070, has vowed to introduce legislation in the next session to deny birth certificates to babies born in Arizona if the parents of the child cannot prove legal status. The legislation would leave natural born United States citizens, as the phrase is used in the Constitution, without proof of their citizenship status.
Senate Bill 1070 is the legislation that requires Arizona law enforcement to check the legal status of anyone Arizona law enforcement reasonably suspects of being in the country illegally and makes being in the country illegally a criminal trespass in the state. It comes in combination with other recently passed Arizona legislation to ban ethnic studies in schools and to require presidential candidates to produce birth certificates to appear on the Arizona ballot.
Pearce, who sponsored or supported all three measures, has long been tied to anti-Latino and white supremacist elements. He has been associated with neo-Nazi sycophants and, several years ago, emailed excerpts from a white supremacist website to friends. Local politicians expect that he will seek the position of State Senate majority leader in the next legislative session.
The “Sins of the Parent” bill, being promised as Arizona’s next attack on illegal immigrants, would leave children born in the state without proof of citizenship in any country. It would provide the legal basis for deporting the infants notwithstanding their being natural born U. S. citizens, a status they would be unable to prove. In the process an entire generation of children will be subject to lifelong legal disability as they move from infancy to education to job seeking to retirement.
Their ability to obtain driver’s licenses, to vote or run for public office, to obtain life and health insurance, and to be generally productive citizens will be impacted through no sin or crime of their own doing if the new initiative becomes law. They would not be eligible for public services in states, like Arizona, that deny such services to those who cannot prove legal status. And, that would happen despite their being United States citizens by Constitutional definition.
It is true that there is a hue and cry against “anchor babies”. It is also true that Arizona 1070 currently enjoys popular support. And, it is true that proponents of such measures will continue to insist that there is no racist motivation to their proposals. The vast majority who support these measures are not racists. But, a racist environment is being created by the unwitting support for the kinds of legislation being spawned in Arizona. Now Russell Pearce and his cronies will seek to extend their brand of anti-Latino discrimination to infants and children who are natural born citizens of the United States. The question for the rest of us is how far we will go in supporting the Russell Pearces of the world before we see finally what they are doing, stand up, and say “enough”, we will permit it no more.
Cross posted at Elijah’s Sweete Spot.
Contributor, aka tidbits. Retired attorney in complex litigation, death penalty defense and constitutional law. Former Nat’l Board Chair: Alzheimer’s Association. Served on multiple political campaigns, including two for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR). Contributing author to three legal books and multiple legal publications.