dippin

As to the national ID part: I have no problem with a national ID, either. In fact, if the law was everyone must have an ID and carry it at all times, I don't think I'd have a problem with the law. My issue with the current law is that there are a number of penalties, sanctions, and so on for not carrying proper ids that are all based on a "reasonable suspicion" of being an illegal alien. But the fact that being an illegal alien is a matter of status, and so short of seeing someone crossing the border, I've yet to hear anyone describe, in non-racial terms, what a suspected illegal alien looks like. At the end of the day, it is an arbitrary law that can be followed at the discretion of the police officer, and which in all likelihood will mean that the Hispanic man born in the US with a driver's license will be held over until ICE determines his status, while the blond norwegian exchange student who overstayed her visa won't be bothered.


As for the Arizona law itself, it goes well beyond going after illegal aliens. Did you know that by that law, if someone gave a ride to an illegal alien, the car faces mandatory impound? The person doesn't even need to know that the passenger was an illegal alien, as long as he or she acted with "disregard" for the passenger's status. Of course, what disregard means in this case is not defined, so we go back to my previous point. In fact, the law has so many provisions like that, that if enforced the police would be doing nothing but that (just like violent crime surged in Maricopa county when they diverted resources to focus on illegal immigration).