Mexico Issues TRAVEL ALERT Over New Arizona Law

Source: AP

MEXICO CITY (AP) - The Mexican government warned its citizens Tuesday to use extreme caution if visiting Arizona because of a tough new law that requires all immigrants and visitors to carry U.S.-issued documents or risk arrest.

And a government-affiliated agency that supports Mexicans living and working in the United States called for boycotts of Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Phoenix Suns until those organizations rebuke the law.

"We are making a strong call to the Arizona government to retract this regressive and racist law that's impacting not only residents of Arizona, but people in all 50 states and in Mexico as well," said Raul Murillo, who works with the Institute for Mexicans Abroad, an autonomous agency of Mexico's Foreign Ministry.

US Airways spokesman Jim Olson said "we have had absolutely no customers who have canceled fights" as a result of the controversy. Calls to the Diamondbacks and the Suns were not immediately returned.


Read more: http://cbs11tv.com/local/immigation.illegal.immigrant.2.1660120.html

That's gonna hurt.

People from Mexico spend practically nothing in Arizona. It is a one way street and the street goes south. The Universities of Arizona and Arizona State have issued travel alerts for travel in Mexico. Students from UA and ASU spend far more in Mexico than Mexicans spend in Arizona.

The Mexican government could do some damage, this might be the warning shot.

I don't think Mexico is in a position to play that game.

That state will never see another dime from me.

I wonder if they have issued any warnings about Mexican travel, machine gunning by rival gangs, kidnappings for ransom, and Mexican law enforcement extortion?...

yes, the border and isolated areas in the interior are dangerous. but i travel back and forth with nary a second thought.

and i'm a 5'1" female.

I tire of the Mexican government's feigned concern for their citizens only when there isn't a big payday for the government officials. I don't like the AZ law either, I just find the Mexican government's long history of corruption on the backs of the poorest people on the continent even more offensive.

yes, the warning included all you mentioned, but mostly abt tourists etc. being caught in the crossfire of the war between the drug cartels and mexican police, soldiers, even mayors have been gunned down, i think most americans killed have been innocent bystanders

the warning is for nothern mexico, not the whole country

this warning is for arizona, not the whole "usa" and it is not a very severe warning, it is just saying that if you go there, have your documents in order, which is something any traveler with any sense should do when visiting ANY country

there aren't many countries where i'm welcome to just stroll in without carrying a passport and in many of them i have to have a visa in addition to the passport -- the netherlands, say, is liberal, but let me try entering amsterdam without my passport, nope, not gonna happen, i guess all these DUers who are boycotting arizona boycott every other country of the world (or in reality all the fuss is being made by people who don't travel anyway and don't know what they're talking about!)

That is not a big deal at all.

This law gives police the color of authority (it's so blatantly unconstitutional that I'm not going to say it actually LEGALIZES this) to stop you and demand such documents on every street corner...

So you walk down the street, get stopped, show ID, continue walking on your way...3 blocks later, another cop, and "IHRE PAPIERE, BITTE!"

THAT'S what the travel advisory warns about, that, and the racism that's boiling over in Arizona...

When overseas for a summer, not only did I have a 3 month visa, but I had to register where I was staying and carry identification with me at all times.

Needless to say, unlike the people that you refer to having already been stopped walking down the street and forced to show ID under this law, only to be stopped a few blocks later and asked to show ID under this law, in fact nobody much cared.

Then again, nobody's actually been stopped. Instead, we have deep, abiding, gut-wrenching fear about what will happen, and it's making people wet their beds at night. It's causing people to say that because no guidelines have been drawn up, there can never be any guidelines. And when these impossible guidelines are drawn up, it will specify that the Latino race, particularly the Mexican race, be identified. Even though Latino is a culture with a diverse racial mix, and race is a fictitious, social construct in any case.

In fact, I've lived in 6 states since turning 18. In all of them a policeman had the right to ask me for ID and detain me until I've complied with his request. Sounds like we live in a fascist dictatorship, but I became aware of the requirement in three states when Carter was our Fuehrer, it seems; one under Reagan; one under Bush I; one under Clinton; and one under Bush II. Moreover, dem-sponsored immigrant "regularization" bills would have also required that those newly issued green cards carry them at all times. More Gestapo tactics, no doubt. Or more of the same, as the case may be.

What we must do, at all cost, is avoid fear-mongering. Over the deficit, health care, etc., etc., of course. Because we'd *never* engage in fear-mongering and such an open display of ill-will.

Or we can actually wait to see what the law will entail. As it is, often enough posts make horrendous pronouncements about non-provisions of the law, and what the non-existent language in the law will do once the yet-unwritten regulations and guidelines are in place. But we already know what they are, because at least some of us read hearts and minds.

Also, I used to live in Maricopa County, home of racist Sheriff Joe's fiefdom. Sheriff Joe has racked up enough of a record of civil rights violations that he's under investigation by the DOJ. (He's also spoken out in favor of the law.) Sure, there are still a lot of cops that don't like this bill and probably won't enforce it. However, having lived in Maricopa County, I can also say that there are also some racists in the police force who won't think twice. I think some of this fear, especially within Maricopa County, is reasonably justified. The influence of the law may well not be severe in counties outside of Maricopa, but Sheriff Joe is more than happy to use this law as a weapon with which to intimidate minorities, I'm sure. To Arizona racists, brown skin=reasonable suspicion of being an "illegal."

Also, in my experience, most of the time when a cop asks someone for ID, it's when that person is driving and gets pulled over for an infraction that the officer witnessed. I used the example of walking for a reason, and I've never been stopped by cops for walking down the street. Nor do I want to be in a place where that is permissible without a good reason other than skin tone.

Now, granted, the law will probably be struck down before it has the chance to take effect. It had better be.

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