http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/29/border-states-dealing-illegal-immigrant-crime-data-suggests/
Racist, intolerance, and downright unconstitutional, Arizona lawmakers have heard it all but they are sticking to their guns. Their new immigration enforcement law has been put in place to protect the border state of Arizona, from the rampant criminal activity that looms just over its border. Backed by studies and statistics they have come to the logical conclusion that a high number of criminals are actually in fact the illegal immigrants, bent on extending their operations. Critics argue that there is no significant correlation (or even possible to quantify accurately/beyond doubt) between criminal activity and illegal immigrants. In Illinois they found that the found illegal immigrants actually underrepresented in prison populations, but did find a significant number in Arizona and Texas (don’t even get me started on the many speculations as to why this occurs in these states). Despite the lack of evidence of a “crime wave” lawmakers are rallying behind their beliefs and waging war on the threat that illegals present. It is by no surprise that this article comes from Fox New’s brand, of “Fair and Balanced news” (I mean it in the most cynical and sarcastic way possible).
Bringing it back to our weekly discussions, we can connect this with the article “Why Homicide Has Increased in the United States” by Cesare Lombroso, and his beliefs on immigrants and their predisposition to degration, recidivism, and violence. Lombroso also presents “the State” as a guiding force that examines (identifies), and distribute their bodies (deportations, imprisonment) and we can connect that with some of the strategies that lawmakers use to aid in manipulating this group of people.
The illegal immigration issue has always been a tricky one. But isn’t it always a tricky, sticky, complicated situation when it comes to any minority group? America at one point in time needed all of the immigrants they could get in order to make up a labor force. And today, most immigrants, especially those of Latino/Hispanic descent are the ones doing jobs that Americans refuse to do for wages lower than minimum wage. Getting citizenship in America is not an easy thing to do. I have been living in this country for 16 years, am currently 21, and still am not a citizen. In fact I was only recently eligible to apply for citizenship after my mother got hers, despite the fact that I’ve been raised in the American school system, am attending a Private College, pay taxes when I work etc.–does not speed up the citizenship process for me at all. As an educated and politically conscious individual I was denied the right to vote because I am only a Permanent Resident or Alien (which is a great label). That aside, why has there been a “rise in crime” in states like Arizona and Texas–two states that are considered to be blatantly racist? I have a friend from Texas who looks white, but is actually half Mexican and still experiences racism on a day to day basis in her neighborhood. But obviously there is no correlation of the increase in crimes to the increasingly open racist nature of authority figures in these states.