Arizona-type laws may backfire on U.S. citizens

By MAD on August 5, 2010 | Category: Blog,english | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

U.S. citizens who are applauding Arizona’s efforts to put a lid on illegal immigration in that state are not thinking things through.  For instance, the probability that we can have 50 different versions of who exactly is an “illegal alien” and what is “reasonable cause.”  I mention this because each state of the United States has its own, distinct culture, as reflected by the clothes we wear and the way we speak.  Each state in the union has a different definition of “foreigner.” It’s possible, if not likely, that my Texas way of speaking, yes, that Texas twang, will irritate someone one day, maybe a New York City cop who doesn’t like Texans anyway, who arrests me for not carrying proof of U.S. citizenship.  

Not that the state of New York will adopt a law similar to the Arizona law, but it’s always possible.  In any event, this scenario is familiar to me because I represented a New Yorker who was arrested for speeding and failure to dentify herself by a Texas cop who told my client that he hated New Yorkers and wanted all of them to go back.  It’s no wonder that she refused to show him her drivers license. So, under the new definition of “reasonable cause,” would the obnoxious behavior of my client, who, in all honesty, was obnoxious, constitute reasonable cause?  I mean, the two didn’t like each other from the get-go. Even though this could have been a simple ticket case, the cop in all likelihood lost his temper the minute she opened her mouth with “attitude” and hauled her off to jail because he could tell she was an obstinate New Yorker.  All New Yorkers talk with a Brooklyn-like accent that makes their English incomprehensible in this part of the country, and they’re rude.

In a different situation, I’d worry about opening my mouth in some other state.

The only ones who can understand me are Texans.  The rest of the country thinks I’m retarded the second I start talking.  In fact, a New Yorker once told me that she was going to retain my services as an attorney while hoping that I didn’t think as slowly as I talked.  In conclusion, my recommendation to all U.S. citizens is to arm themselves with their U.S. passport or U.S. birth certificate if they venture out of their state for fear of stepping on someone’s toes, particularly a cop’s sensitivity about foreigners.  Every state will have a different version of what’s “reasonable cause.”  It just might be the fact that you smoke, or eat curry, or just plain talk “Texas” style.

  • http://twitter.com/idesignfast Benjamin Neupert

    Great Site

  • http://twitter.com/trustandchange David Stow

    I believe that with what measure we mete it will be measured out to us, in short, what goes around comes around. We were all descended from immigrants not wanted in this land, and our heartlessness toward those who are struggling to survive and be free in this land that we call the land of freedom, this heartlessness, is being watched by the God we pretend to serve.

    When we give voice to hate and judgment instead of reason and practicality, we are not acting out of bravery because bravery can forgive and work things out, and we don't act out of freedom when we find excuses to deny freedom to others, this action is also neither practical nor just, but hypocritical in the extreme.

    Those who yearn to punish the helpless, who seek to cast out those with little money who leave their homes for a ray of hope, those who would jail the poor who only want to work and provide for their families, these are not friends of the God who cares for us all. These who wish to punish the poor and to enslave those yearning to be free, are turning against the founding principles our nation. They are turning our country from the land of the free and the home of the brave, into the land that takes away the freedom to walk down a street without harassment, and a land that takes the cowardly route of blaming the powerless for its problems. Do we wish to change our nation to the land of the slave and the home of the chicken? Do we wish to have some nation say to us as we said to Gorbachev, “Mr. President, tear down that wall!”?

    We could be a greater nation by embracing Mexico which strives for freedom and justice and then working on our joint problems together, than by isolating a friend in need and handing them over to the desperations of poverty. Why build walls of fear where there should be monuments to democracy, and welcoming wise hands working together?

    My sister in Michigan sounds just like a Canadian to me. Should she be arrested in Texas and suffer jail if she forgot her wallet and birth certificate? Stop the madness, we have nothing to fear except what fear makes us do to the helpless, and everything to gain by finding the wisdom of acceptance and love. Oh, perhaps we don't mind Canadians without papers? Are we afraid most of those that seem more different? Are we like two year olds clinging to our mother's skirts when even caring strangers come by?

    Love takes courage, hate needs only fear, are we the home of the brave? Are we wise as serpents and harmless as doves? Perhaps we are only as wise and brave as a frightened two year old.

    Fear and cowardice my friends is not what America is about, and the brave lady with the torch in her hand, given to us by France, shows the power of inclusion and the greatness of our nation. She hasn't fallen from these high principles, and neither should we.

    David “Mitch” Stow

  • http://twitter.com/trustandchange David Stow

    My sister sounds Canadian should she be arrested in Texas if she forgot her driver's license and birth certificate?

  • http://twitter.com/trustandchange David Stow

    I have said this once already in a string where someone wanted to jail employers who hire workers without papers, saying this is the issue. I say, no its not, let's lift our gaze to a higher vision and purpose.

    Where there is a need for workers and workers available locally its hard for anyone from anywhere else to find work. Immigration has dropped 65 percent or so I hear and we are still focusing on this as some major problem. We need to look at the bigger picture and see the greatness of two wonderful cultures and see how we can be even greater together.

    One man on a report on television was a genius in his field and helping to save lives here in America who without him would not have been saved. His story included showing a fence where he crossed into this country without “papers”.

    Do we believe what the Statue of Liberty plaque has to say? “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teamming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” This poem is called the New Colossus and it was written by Emma Lazarus.

    America is more than just a piece of land it is a dream and a hope of all humankind. The wisdom of the Statue of Liberty has stood the test of time and we have been the richer for it. We should be raising torches of vision and freedom and welcome in this difficult world, we should be keeping this dream, our dream, alive.

Copyright 2010 - All rights reserved, Margaret A. Donnelly P.C.

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