couldn’t happen to a nicer set of laws
Spotted over at Court Ruling is Major Blow to Racist, Anti-Immigrant Laws:
A federal judge’s decision to block part of Georgia’s new anti-immigrant law is a victory over the state’s attempt to highjack federal immigration law and a warning to other states that are contemplating following Georgia’s lead.
I have just been agog at the wave of anti-immigration law sweeping the country. Perhaps it’s because I’m from California, where we have repeatedly grappled with this “problem” only to learn, slowly and painfully, how interdependent we are on each other. That doesn’t seem to be stopping other states such as Arizona and now Georgia from making the same mistakes with regards to immigrants, particularly in branding them ALL as not only potentially “undocumented immigrants” but doing so based on racist criteria. When a friend of mine decided to go perform for a ballet troupe in Tuscon, I told him he was crazy to to go to Arizona. It wasn’t even the part about his being gay that made me nervous: even though he’s actually of Filipino extraction (at least second generation American, though), he looks Hispanic, and of course has an Hispanic surname. I told him he’d be searched at every border through every town on his way there and that I didn’t want to have to go drag his ass out of jail or something. (So far he’s managed OK.)
So now Georgia. Wow. Fortunately the judge (who is probably being branded as an “activist, liberal” judge even as I type) was more sensible and struck down key provistions, including
The law also would have made it a state crime to “transport” or “harbor” an undocumented immigrant in the course of committing another “crime” (something as innocuous as speeding or not using a turning signal). As a result, a Good Samaritan or even a family member could have been prosecuted for giving an undocumented immigrant a ride to the doctor or to the grocery store. The judge also prevented this provision from taking effect.
Wow. Just wow. To illustrate how much Georgia is shooting itself in the foot, though, it’s suffering economically (which should be no surprise to Californians - which is, like Georgia, a major agricultural state) because immigrants are avoiding the state and so it’s having trouble harvesting its crops.
Because it turns out that everyone likes to be treated like decent human beings. And even if you have your paperwork, why should you put up with being checked every three blocks?
Next up: Alabama
Not to be outdone, Alabama lawmakers have passed similar legislation that has been signed into law by Gov. Robert Bentley. Rather than seriously consider what’s happening in Georgia, Bentley and legislators chose to increase the ante so they could brag that their law is even tougher.
And, indeed, Alabama legislators threw even harsher provisions into their witch’s brew when creating this law. Among the unconstitutional provisions, Alabama’s law requires schools - already overburdened in this economy - to collect the immigration status of students and their parents.
They never learn, do they?
Originally published at What's that you said?. You can comment here or there.