UK Guardian: a law-abiding US citizen is predictably the first to suffer from AZ law

[mod mom]

Arizona's anti-immigrant law: the inevitable result
Arizona's anti-immigrant law is wide open to abuse – and a law-abiding US citizen is predictably the first to suffer from it

We can expect a deluge of stories such as this: only a matter of hours after Arizona's borderline-racist and almost certainly unconstitutional law targeting immigrants was signed by the state's governor, a US citizen is the first to experience life under the new law.

The man, a truck driver, was arrested and handcuffed in Phoenix after he was asked to produce identification.

Here's the coverage from Arizona television channel 3TV:

Abdon was told he did not have enough paperwork on him when he pulled into a weigh station to have his commercial truck checked. He provided his commercial driver's license and a social security number but ended up handcuffed.

An agent called his wife and she had to leave work to drive home and grab other documents like his birth certificate.

Jackie explains, "I have his social security card as well and mine. He's legit. It's the first time it's ever happened."

Both were born in the United States and say they are now both infuriated that keeping important documents safely at home is no longer an option.

Naturally, immigration officials said: "this has nothing to do with the proposed bill or racial profiling". And of course it doesn't, because the reality is likely to be much worse. Rather than merely ICE officers demanding ID from likely immigrants, once the law comes into force then any state officer can do the same of anyone, at any time. Here's the video from 3TV:

-snip

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/apr/26/arizona-immigration-law-boycott

[Ozymanithrax]

1. As I understand it, the law has not come into affect yet...

It just shows that there is aleady racial profiling going on.

[alstephenson]

4. Yes, the law institutionalizes the racial profiling that's already going on.

[Nikki Stone1]

5. Joe Arpaio claims to have been doing this stuff for three years already

See the video at the link in the OP

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/apr/26/arizona-immigration-law-boycott

[Nikki Stone1]

2. Go to the website and watch the news report.

It's really worth the watch.

[LisaM]

3. You are absolutely not supposed to travel with your SS card

It makes you a real target for identity theft if you lose your wallet - and then there's your credit cards and social security number all in one handy dandy place.

[Ozymanithrax]

6. A social security card is not proof of citizenship...

I believe that you are required to show a birth certificate. And if you are a legal immigrant,they will arrest you, toss you in jail, and turn you over to immigration because because you had the bad taste to be born in another country before becoming a legal resident or a naturalized American citizen.

[Xipe Totec]

7. I thought only Arizona storm troopers carried SS cards

[pinboy3niner]

8. The Guardian got it wrong--this had nothing to do with the AZ law

In fact, the truckdriver was detained by feds--officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). No local or state police officers were involved. No Arizona laws were involved.