Whew Go Arizona!

[A Black Falcon]

According to the bill, police need to have "reasonable suspicion"--I believe that means "probable cause"--before they can actually arrest someone. If that's the case, then it looks like the fourth amendment does stand.

The bill also states that people cannot be picked-up simply because of their skin color or nationality. That lifts some of the skepticism off my shoulders.

It means that Hispanic people in Arizona better be carrying around multiple forms of ID, preferably including their passport and/or birth certificate, at all times if they don't want to end up in jail. It also means that Hispanics in Arizona, up to this point one of the most pro-Republican Hispanic blocks in the country (still majority Democrat in votes, but Republicans had gotten more Hispanic votes in Arizona percentagewise than in most other states), will now move dramatically in favor of the Democrats. Polls have already shown this movement happening, Democrats are already going way up among Hispanics in Arizona... maybe for now the benefit (to sating the anti-immigrant right) will be more than the penalty, but Arizona's going to be one of the first majority-minority states in the lower 48 -- it might happen as soon as 2015. Good luck for holding the state for long after that, Republicans. And as I've said several times, great job at shooting yourselves in the foot. You didn't even need any help to do it, either. :)

(And again, within a couple of generations Hispanics Americanize just like any other group. People who say that this is not the case are fearmongering. The issue is just that so many are first-generation immigrants -- and no matter where they come from, first-generation immigrants usually keep their original language as their main language for the rest of their lives. Their children speak both their parents' language and English. THEIR children mostly speak English. That's pretty much how it goes.)