In the past week we have seen Arizona in the national and world news and not portrayed in a favorable light either. We have been vilified as a racist and bigoted state once again. I remember the difficulties over establishing Dr. Martin Luther King Day as a holiday. We had seen in the past few years how the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office was sued and prosecuted for profiling and going against several injunctions pertaining to the immigration raids. I am hurting for my adopted state right now. I have been reading up on the cause of this dark light we in Arizona have been subjected to. I do not believe that Arizona as a whole is a racist and bigoted state. I do not believe that the majority of those in our law enforcement community intentionally target individuals, aka profiling, for infractions. Anywhere you go in this world you will come across those who harbor prejudicial beliefs. I can accept that. Do I believe it’s right? Absolutely not. And I will do everything within my sphere of influence to make sure it doesn’t happen.
I have been thinking, yes, a scary thought, about immigration for a number of years. The who, what, where and why of the contentious debate over policy. I have been working on a few pieces to define not only the background of this debate but also an idea to fix it.
Keep an eye out for two essay pieces:
1. Rule of law versus compassion in relation to immigration standards and statutes
2. Immigration reform ideas
Until then…
Be good to one another.
Mike
