Arizona Senate Takes Up New Crop Of Hate Bills

Promise Arizona sent out a press release yesterday announcing that the Russell Pearce-led Arizona Senate would be taking up for a vote a slew of anti-immigrant bills today:

• SB1611 — “Immigration Omnibus” or the “Throwing Arizona Under-the-Bus”bill –Sponsored by Senator Russell Pearce, this bill is a 30-page, measure requiring business owners, police officers, apartment renters, school employees, and others to verify citizenship, notify immigration and in some cases, failure to do so could result in loss of licenses, certification or imprisonment.
• SB1308 and 1309 – “Eroding Children’s Futures and the Constitution” bills. Two bills introduced by Senator Ron Gould to create a new Arizona Citizenship that excludes children born to parents in the U.S. without immigration authorization. The bills are an attempt to ignite a national legal battle challenging the 14th amendment of the Constitution’s recognition of birthright citizenship.
• SB1405 –“Turning Health Providers into Health Deniers” bill. This bill introduced by Senator Steve Smith would require hospital employees to verify the citizenship of people seeking emergency and non-emergency medical attention and to notify immigration agents if someone cannot prove they are authorized to be in the U.S.
• SB 1407 — “Schools as Immigration Checkpoints”  Requires the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to collect data from school districts on populations of students who are enrolled and who cannot prove lawful residence in the United States (U.S.) Schools who fail to comply would result in loss of funding.

They provided a link to take action and reach out to Arizona senators, but I feel the sad truth is that the anti-Latino outrage in Arizona won’t stop until it hits a breaking point. As we wrote previously, the silencing of Latino activist critics in Arizona by Pearce himself is a sure sign that the large Latino population boom in Arizona is creeping out the whites who have run that state for so long.

This is straight up nativism and common sense doesn’t work here. These bills, under Pearce’s leadership, will probably pass and the state that’s already suffering economic hardships will probably dish out millions in court fees until they are determined unconstitutional.

But just like California before it, Arizona will have to change, because no number of hateful bills or silencing of critics can turn back time and undo the Latino population explosion in this country. Pearce and his cronies may not get used to it, but, they are going to have to figure out how to live with it — eventually.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD