The Return of the Jedi: The Backlash Against Arizona's Immigration Law

The response to Arizona's new immigration law continues to get more -- and more -- heated.  Darrell Steinberg, President Pro Tem of the California Senate, has asked Governor Schwarzennegger to consider ending the Golden State's business -- including the housing of prisioners that results in millions of dollars being paid to Arizona -- with Arizona, claiming that its new law is a civil rights abnomination.  Can you spell BOYCOTT?   TakePart.com offers some ideas on how ordinary people can take action against Arizona’s new immigration law.  A group of law professors have started a petition drive calling for repeal of Senate Bill 1070 or, in the alternative, congressional and presidential action.

Frankly, even with the talk of immigration reform, there has not been so much mass activism on the immigration front since the marches on the streets of cities across the United States in the spring of 2006.  The good news about Arizona's Senate Bill 1070 is that it has driven people to act.  The mass response on Facebook, protests, blog posts, etc. may be just what was needed to get the nation moving on immigration reform.   

The political eruption over SB 1070 is having an impact.  We reported earlier in the week that anti-immigrant zealot (and former U.S. Congressman) Tom Tancredo opined that the Arizona law goes too far.  George Martínez (SMU) on Nuestras Voces Latinas tells us that some prominent Republicans, who do not want to follow the career paths of California Govenor Pete Wilson (who supported the anti-immigrant initiative Proposition 187 to gain re-election only to be exiled from the Republican Party thereafter):

"As the call for a boycott of Arizona goes viral on the internet, some conservatives are quickly distancing themselves from the new harsh immigration legislation. Today South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham called the new `law' unconstitutional. Similarly, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush criticized the new legislation and said that immigration issues should be handled at the federal level. Likewise, Florida U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio expressed `concerns' about the statute. . . ."

And it is just a matter of time until we see the legal challenges.  Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, takes shots at the new Arizona law on CNN.com. For a thoughtful analysis of the federal pre-emption issues by Jack Balkin, click here.

As Mick Jagger once said, "The Time is Right . . . ."

KJ