Trump takes Arizona’s 'show me your papers' law nationwide. Now what?: Today's talker
By Elvia Díaz
President Donald Trump is taking Arizona’s infamous "show me your papers" law nationwide.
The Trump administration began Tuesday an expanded crackdown on undocumented immigrants who cannot prove they’ve been in the country continuously for more than two years. Under this new rule that also applies to asylum seekers, immigration agents can arrest and deport immigrants without appearing before a judge.
Until now, the law applied to migrants who were within 100 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Why is this a big deal? For starters, it might be unconstitutional, and that’s why the American Civil Liberties Union has vowed to challenge it in court.
Let’s hope the ACLU blocks it. Otherwise “brown” people across the nation could find themselves the targets just like Arizona Latinos did under the state’s SB 1070, the “show me your papers” law.
The new effort could have the same impact it did in Arizona. The 2010 Arizona law required local police to ask for the immigration status of anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. For some officers, particularly Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies, that meant “brown” people.
It’s called racial profiling.
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Sure, immigration agents could judiciously target specific undocumented immigrants, but we know Trump’s goal is to deport as many as quickly as possible. That gives the agents license to racially profile people regardless of the immigration status.
U.S. citizens or even legal residents don’t carry proof of citizenship or residence. But Trump’s new rule puts the burden on individuals. And who’s likely to be targeted?
“This is a national ‘show me your papers’ law,” Royce Murray, managing director of the American Immigration Council, told The New York Times. “The burden is on the individual to prove that expedited removal does not apply to them.”
She added: “So if you don’t have the necessary paperwork on you — to show that you have a lease, or that you have status — then you could be taken into custody to try to fight this. And the problem is that this is a fast-tracked process.”
This isn’t going to end well because it only adds fuel to the fire over illegal immigration and Trump’s attacks on nonwhites in an already divided nation.
Let’s be clear. Trump doesn’t just want to stop asylum seekers at any cost and deport everyone who is in the country illegally. He wants a white America. What’s the word for that?
Don’t forget this is the president who wants immigrants from Norway. This is the president who told nonwhite congresswomen — all U.S. citizens — to "go back" to where they came from. And this is the same president who stood silent, staring back at a crowd of his supporters chanting “send her back,” referring to Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who was born in Somalia.
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If Trump can attack influential lawmakers, what would stop his federal agents from going after ordinary “brown” people regardless of immigration status under the new rules?
U.S. citizens and those with legal status have nothing to worry about, right? Sure, but Trump’s ire is with dark-skin immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border — many of them asylum seekers from Central America.
By default, anyone with dark skin could be suspected of being in the country illegally — that’s called racial profiling. Let’s hope the ACLU blocks Trump in court. Otherwise, the "show me your papers" law will further intensify racial tensions across the country.
Elvia Díaz is an editorial columnist for The Arizona Republic, where this first appeared. Follow her on Twitter: @elviadiaz1
What others are saying
Department of Homeland Security, Notice: "Presently, immigration officers can apply expedited removal to aliens encountered anywhere in the United States for up to two years after the alien arrived in the United States, provided that the alien arrived by sea and the other conditions for expedited removal are satisfied. For aliens who entered the United States by crossing a land border, the secretary of Homeland Security has exercised his discretion under the (Immigration and Nationality Act) to permit the use of expedited removal if the aliens were encountered by an immigration officer within 100 air miles of the United States international land border and were continuously present in the United States for less than 14 days immediately prior to that encounter."
Los Angeles Times, Editorial Board: "Until now, federal courts have largely blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to tie funding to immigration enforcement, including the president’s executive order to withhold federal dollars for sanctuary cities. Those rulings have bolstered the arguments from Los Angeles and other cities that they shouldn’t be pressured by the Trump administration into becoming satellite arms of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, particularly when such work could discourage crime reporting and witness cooperation, which makes communities less safe."
David Cortez, USA TODAY: "The moment calls for acts of moral objection, not simply on the part of the general public, but also those charged with implementing the president’s cruelty on the ground. It is time for those agents who know better (and I know you’re out there) to recognize their inherent power. It is time for them to say no, to stand up for what is morally right over what is personally convenient — time to ask of themselves, how much money their humanity is worth."
Marc A. Thiessen, The Washington Post: "Back then, Democrats agreed, as Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., put it in a 2009 speech, that 'illegal immigration is wrong, plain and simple.' Since President Donald Trump took office, Democrats have become the party of illegal immigration. They want to decriminalize illegal border crossings, cut ICE detention beds to force the agency to release illegal immigrants, and then refuse to enforce lawful deportation orders. So, it’s a little hard to take Democrats seriously when, in investigating Trump, they claim to be fighting for the principle that no one is above the law."
What our readers are saying
The ACLU should not be involved in the affairs of the “noncitizen” illegal immigrants.
— Lou Creola
President Donald Trump's broken promises and empty threats on deportations have done nothing but invite more illegal immigrants, because they now know that under Trump, there will be no consequences.
— Scott Hardy
Former President Barack Obama quietly removed undocumented immigrants, reaching a record high in 2013. Yet for some reason, Republicans called him "soft" on immigration.Trump talks a big game, but he is lagging behind Obama.
— Stephen Cooper
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump takes Arizona’s 'show me your papers' law nationwide.
