Why AZ law 1070 can't work

I live in Arizona and therefore this new law has captured my attention. I did the research and found that laws much like 1070 have been tried in other area and none have met with good results. One such place is Prince William County Virginia back in 2007 and they had to amend it to stop a flood of problems it caused. The person who spearheaded this in Prince William County, Greg Letiecq, will be the guest on my show tomorrow night and if he stays with the same discussion he and I had on the phone for an hour on Sunday, it should show why this law in Arizona is going to be a terror to the state.

Greg told me that law enforcement was a key issue and would be extremely key in how it is enforced. When I told him of Arpaio he said that such as that would bring abuse and harm. He also mentioned those who have a political agenda and will use this issue for personal gain, so I told him about Russell Pearce and how he has a bias due to the death of son by undocumented citizens. I told him of the tension that has existed here between the communities and he said that would make the law harder to work.

I also found other areas that have tried this law or some form of it, and in every case it had to be radically revised, or struck down due to the harm it did. Other areas considering such laws have looked at the results of those who tried it and found the 100% fail record enough to refuse to give it any further consideration.

I did call Brewer's office and asked if she had done the research I did since it was easy for me to find and since she has a staff, which I don't, and more funds to work with I would think she had. I got no answer.

To learn more about the situation in Prince William County Va. you can check it out at YouTube by searching 9500 Liberty, and to hear my show you can stream it at http://thejefffariasshow.com Saturday evening at 7pm eastern. Today at 6 pm eastern Jeff will have on the co-director of 9500 Liberty movie if you would like to hear that.

This law is not only dangerous due to it racial side, but it has already appeared to play a part in the death of an U.S. Citizen of Latino decent in Phoenix. Turns out his neighbor told him, "go back to mexico wetback." and shot him to death. The man doing the shooting was ironically a black man and now being held for murder. You would think as a black man he would have been more aware of the dangers of such stereotyping, but it goes to show just illogical racism is.

There are two ways the law can work.

Way 1 is to double the number of cops in Arizona and have the new ones out there knocking on doors, setting up roadblocks, standing in stores and doing nothing but checking everyone's papers like the Nazis did in Poland, the KGB did in the Soviet Union and the Stasi did in East Germany. Yes, I picked those three agencies for a specific reason: the only way to make this law work is to turn the United States into a dictatorship.

Way 2 is to keep the number of cops in Arizona constant and pull them off the enforcement of every other law there is so they can run around checking people's papers like some kind of English-speaking Stasi agents.

So...unless you want a dictatorship forget about enforcing this law. The shit won't work otherwise.

Just sayin'. I agree with your general point, just not the vocabulary used to articulate said point.

Greg Letiecq is an extreme right winger who pushed the law in Prince William County. He told me things on the phone that I hope I can get him to say on air, that was said during the discussions leading up to the passage of the bill. To listen to him during our conversation and what he said in 2007 really gave me hope this law is going to be so harmful if it sees day one of being enforced, it will do so much damage that even those who think it is so great will start to howl.

What really scares me is that Arpaio will not only enforce it, but he will go beyond any limits thought to be there. It really is a serious problem this law will bring about. Prince William County thought the Latino Community put into the economy about what it would cost for 2 coffee breaks a day. In the videos a man actually states it that way. After the law went into effect some business lost as much as 2/3 of their business but all suffered. Some went out of business. The crime rate increased after the law went into effect and the Latino community and law enforcement suffered in their relationship greatly.

There is so much to learn from 9500 Liberty from the racism to other factors that it is truly one of the most informative works on this issue.

He asserts that he already has discretionary authority to enforce existing federal immigration law, and that other cops in AZ could be doing the same thing. He's already checking papers in his sweeps and getting anyone he finds who is undocumented deported.

how much he will abuse this one.

I grew up in Jim Crow Mississippi and have lived in Arizona for 3 years. I do see similar traits and one thing I have noticed is that most supporters of this hideous law simply don't see themselves as being racist in their views. It was the same way before Jim Crow went down but still alive enough many held it close. I am seeing that same thing with this situation and to point out the racism in it even with them knowing of my Jim Crow experience, refuse to believe they are being racist. It normally shuts off any hope of showing them aspects of this law that will affect them. In Jim Crow it was much more effect to win them over on some points and then as they saw you were not attacking them but trying to have a productive discussion, they started to see the racism. Talking to Greg Letiecq I saw the same thing and to this day he still believes he is not a racist. Strange how the power of rationalizing anything can serve to cover up something a person hates but embraces.

Since I live here in Arizona and certainly recognized the racism, I have found I have to not approach that aspect until I have won them over on others, then some start to see it and correct it. If I approach them off the racism immediately it ends any hope of getting them to see how this law is going to hurt them and the state.