A hot topic these days, on this blog as well as everywhere else, Immigration laws and well, pretty much anything to do with immigration have all of us swinging our opinions about one way or another. This particular discussion of immigration begins in California where similar to a new city ordinance just passed in the city of Chicago (of which I wrote about in another article), California is taking similar steps to reach out to immigrants.
The California senate has just recently passed a bill called the “California Trust Act” that “seeks to shield illegal immigrants from status checks by local police.” It was passed by a Democrat-led senate and also, I quote, “challenges Republican-backed immigration crackdowns in Arizona and other U.S. states.” What this law is looking to do is to prevent law enforcement officials from automatically referring a detained immigrant, no matter how small the crime, to immigration officials to be deported unless, the immigrant already has a criminal record. One of the major issues with Arizona’s immigration law is that its opponents feel that it will lead to racial profiling of Hispanics and anyone who looks Hispanic; my guess is there is fear that this aspect of Arizona’s law could spill over into other states and negatively affect the lives of those who are American citizens.
Nick-named the “Anti-Arizona” bill California, or at least the majority of the Senate, is looking to create a better situation in the state regarding its large immigrant population. California has the largest un-documented immigrant population of any state, with around 2.6 million according to estimates from 2010. That is a considerable amount of people that the state needs to deal carefully with. Although this is not quite a law yet, it seems California is trying their best.
Now, I’m not going to pretend that I know a lot about immigration but, I thought reading and relating articles that I read about immigration are at least insightful, if not educational on the topic. Since it is such a “hot topic” right now, I’m interested as to what is your opinion on immigration and in particular this California law? Does the development of racial profiling as a result of Arizona’s immigration law indeed pose a risk?
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/06/us-usa-california-immigration-idUSBRE86502720120706
Categories: Immigration
