Does This Mean I Can’t Wear My Sombrero in AZ Anymore?!!

Usually, I’m not much of a political writer. Mostly because there are no right or wrong answers with the issues. It’s an endless debate of trying to prove who’s right, who’s wrong, who’s got the best plan, who’s past is coming back to haunt them, etc, etc. But the new Arizona bill…………well………. that deserves a little bit of my attention. After all, it applies to me and millions of other hard-working legal and illegal immigrants in this country.

First off, let me just explain what the new Arizona bill means. Last Friday, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a new bill that toughens the state’s immigration laws. The law doesn’t take in effect until a few months from now, but it’s got everyone criticizing it; including President Obama. If the U.S. President himself criticizes a new law questioning its legality, that should be the first hint to tell you that something is wrong. Unless it was Bush who was criticizing it haha!! No I’m just kidding with that last joke!!

The bill itself sets a new law in Arizona to “discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens and economic activity.” Which basically means that if a person in Arizona looks like a "suspicious illegal immigrant" whether you're on your way to the market, or just out having a good time out with friends and family, an officer can question your status at any given moment. Let's hope everyone remembers their birth certificates and green cards!! (note the sarcasm) For a country that was and still is being built by immigrants, it is a huge slap in the face. And from a state that used to belong to Mexico, well, that’s an even BIGGER slap in the face!

With this new law being set into place, it will “put communities in the crosshairs by requiring state and local government workers to determine if a person is illegally in the U.S. based on a ‘reasonable suspicion.’” Call me stupid but wouldn’t the only “reasonable suspicion” in Arizona be a………gee I don’t know………hmmmm………MEXICAN!! Why don’t they just re-name the bill “Keep the Mexicans Out of AZ!” This undoubtedly will result in racial profiling and discrimination “as it does not prohibit police officers from relying on race or ethnicity in deciding who to investigate.” And with Arizona 3 out of 10 people being Hispanic, I have a feeling the police are going to be quite busy once it takes into effect. Hmmm….I wonder if there will be more job openings for police in AZ soon? Well call me crazy, but I wouldn’t want to work as one anyway since it seems like I’d be hunting down my own people. Oh the betrayal!!

I think back to wonder, what kind of person would support such a law? Oh yea I know!! Someone like my former college dorm roommate who constantly made fun of my ethnicity until I couldn’t take it anymore!! I won’t say her name to prevent being sued with character defamation, but this young lady thought it was funny to say little jokes here and there about me being Mexican. I’m not one for confrontation and I believe ignorance is and will always be around us so I can take a racial punch here or there. However, the first insult was a little prick with a needle to my hand. The second insult was a jab at my family. But the third insult where she called me a “Fuckin’ Mexican” was the last straw. This bitch got a mandatory “Did You Really Just Say That? 101” course with me. My two other college roommates can confirm this battle of words as they watched with excitement. I’d like to think that maybe she learned a little from our argument. The main thing I tried to get through to her is that she has to respect people where they come from. And that she was lucky that I only reacted in an argumentative way. Who knows what would have happened to her if she told those jokes to another Mexican person and acted violently towards her for saying them? For the record, she’s half White and half Irish.

Now it seems a little obvious that maybe the “intelligent” Jan Brewer didn’t really think this bill through because of the major financial burden it will cost Arizona (notice the sarcasm here). According to an article I just read on reuters.com, “The costs to arrest, detain, process, and transport undocumented immigrants out of Arizona will drain local government treasuries. There were an estimated 460,000 undocumented immigrants in Arizona as of January 2009, making up to 4 percent of the state’s population. If the federal government were to handle the entire undocumented population, the cost would be approximately $23,148 per person, based on a recent study by the Center for American Progress.” Also, “Local taxpayers will bear the heavy costs of lengthy court litigation.”

With police focusing on who is legal or illegal in a state where 3 out of 10 people are “illegal-looking” ooops! I mean Mexicans, the responsibility of police is going to be greatly affected. “The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police firmly opposes the law for fiscal and public safety reasons, noting that fear of government will diminish the public’s willingness to cooperate with police in criminal investigations and will ‘negatively affect the ability of law enforcement agencies across the state to fulfill their many responsibilities in a timely manner.’” If even the Chief of Police in Arizona is against it (even though it’s for fiscal and public safety reasons), then how in the hell does this ignorant Governor think that she can get away with this?!!

I understand that the law is to keep ALL illegal immigrants out under “reasonable suspicion” (i.e. Mexican looking), but are they really going to question a Canadian person from Canada who could be in Arizona illegally? Are they going to question a Jamaican from Jamaica? How about a Japanese person from Japan who somehow got to Arizona illegally? No!! All they will do is look at the brown color of their skin as they walk to the store or as they play at the park with their kids and demand to know their status.

It’s sad to say but this kind of reminds me of The Holocaust. Jan Brewer will be Hitler, the police will be the Nazis, The Mexicans (or all illegal immigrants) will be the Jewish victims, and the prisons will be the concentration camps sans genocide.

The fact that Congress hasn’t been able to ratify an inclusive immigration reform that restores border security could be the reason why this Arizona bill came to be. However, it is not the answer. It is ignorance, racism, and discrimination at its finest. It denies rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. "It violates the civil and human rights of the Latino community. It goes against all human dignity, against the principles of most Americans I know" - Shakira. And excuse me for my foul language, but it’s un-fucking-believable. I apologize if I offend anyone. Thank you for reading.



sources:
http://www.americanprogress.org/
http://www.reuters.com/
http://www.yahoo.com/

NEW CAMPO…….YOU ROCKED MY WORLD!!

I'M ALL SHOOK UP!!

It’s obvious that I’m going to be talking about the recent earthquake activity. Especially the most recent 7.2 that happened on Easter Sunday 4/4/2010. Why not? Everyone else is anyway right haha!! Unfortunately, I didn’t feel it because I was driving on the 78 East on my way to my apartment. I say unfortunately because with all this talk about this major earthquake, I kind of feel left out that I didn’t even feel it!! Yesterday, everyone kept asking me “Did you feel it? Did you feel it?” And I answered “Feel what?” I’m sure that if I was on solid steady ground and actually felt it, I would have been as freaked as the rest of you. But this earthquake triggered a lot of memories from when my family and I used to live in Nuevo Campo (new campo) in Brawley. Our world always rocked there!!

I’ve explained this before, but just in case you didn’t already know……Nuevo Campo (new campo) is a pretty large low-income apartment complex located right next to the projects in Brawley, CA. I always called them the “fancy projects” because they were two-story and way bigger than the actual projects. As far as I can remember, my family and I spent approximately 8 years living there until my parents were able to build their own home in a different part of the city. I believe I was a few months old when we moved into Nuevo Campo and moved into our own home when I was 8 or 9 years old.

Every now and then when I visit Brawley, I’ll drive by around the complex and remember all my childhood memories from there. I think I’m still so emotionally attached to that place because of the memories we have with my late dad and brother. I had such a great childhood growing up in Nuevo Campo, that even today, I can’t help but reminisce and smile everytime I pass by it. And even though my parents didn’t have money to buy me or the rest of my siblings all these expensive clothes and toys, I never felt like I was missing anything. I always felt content with everything I had. Yea maybe I might have wanted something here or there, but I always knew, without it being explained to me, that I had everything I needed. Especially the love of my family.

All this talk about the recent earthquakes really reminded me back to when we were living in new campo and there were constant earthquakes all the time. I don’t ever remember being scared of them but I do remember that they were so bad that we would often sleep in the living room pull-out bed with the door cracked just a little bit open. That’s when new campo used to be safe. Nowadays, it’s full of crime and gang activity…..so I’ve heard. They would especially happen at night and as soon as everything would rumble, my mom, dad, older brothers and sisters would rush outside in our pajamas and stay out there with the rest of the neighbors until everything settled down. I remember one particular night when my sister Rosa and her family were visiting us during thanksgiving and Christmas. I believe I was 7 or 8 years old when this happened. My sister Rosa was in the kitchen standing next to the stove; my mom and I were sitting at the dining table when suddenly we felt a rumbling earthquake. It wasn’t a big one but wasn’t as small one either. I turn to look at my sister Rosa and she had this confused look on her face and asked “Ama, por que se esta moviendo la casa?” (Mom, why is the house moving?) I never asked her this but I’ve always wanted to know if that was her first earthquake.

I’ve experienced pretty heavy earthquakes living in Brawley and I can surely say that I’m not too afraid of them. I think the one thing that does scare me about them is the noise they cause. The loud booming and rumbling noise that sounds like a monster is after you. Not too long ago before I moved out of my mom’s house, I was in my bedroom with Marybel (niece), Vanessa (sister), Johana (nother niece), and Andrea (best friend) having a girl to girl conversation. We were just there chatting it up when we hear and feel this rumbling. The water in my huge fish tank began to move. We all got quiet out of shock and I began to say “Ok, it’s just an earthquake. Let’s just go outside….” and boom!! It got bigger and louder and all the girls panicked running out the door before I even got a chance to get out of my chair. I grabbed my dog Bitsey and joined everyone else outside. The fact that I was able to remain calm in that earthquake leads me to believe that maybe I would have been able to handle this big one that just hit our town.

Scientists claim that they can predict when another earthquake will hit or give us a range of days as to when to wait for another one. But in all honestly, no one, not even the smartest person on he planet, can predict when Mother Nature will act up. A lot of people are arguing that the recent spike in earthquakes has a lot to do with the Mayan calendar that predicts the end of the world on December 12, 2012. I personally don’t believe the world will end based on an ancient calendar. If anything, the world is already slowly being destroyed with the causes of global warming. However, even if philosophers and astrologers have been proven right such as Nostradamus with connection to 9/11, nothing can destroy the world but only the human hand. And we are already doing that with pollution. And who knows…..maybe these earthquakes are also a reaction to the evolution of the planet. It has been said that Venus was once like planet Earth that eventually evolved into the planet it is today. Maybe Earth is slowly running its course. After all, everything has an expiration date. What do you think?