Arizona's Immigration Law from a Cop's Viewpoint

When Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed the now infamous SB 1070 into law, essentially not only legalizing, but encouraging racial profiling by state mandate, she clearly made her Republican colleagues, politically misled constituency and racist idealogues nationwide very happy.

It's clear she had little regard toward the business community, families (particularly Mexican-American) and the overall Arizona economy in the middle of a recession. But one group she seemed to disregard completely: law enforcement.

Just think about it, how exactly will this affect what cops do on a day-to-day basis? With cops doing everything from chasing people from street corners to raiding kindergartens, how are they supposed to stop rapes, robberies and homicides, even when they are committed by illegals? That's the spirit behind Pima County, Ariz., Sherriff Clarence Dupnik's refusal to comply with the new law. He calls it "racist," "disgusting" and "unnecessary." And those are the nice things he said about it.

Dupnik spoke with a Tuscon television station on Tuesday, saying that he won't follow the new rules, but at the same time illegals still won't get away. Essentially, he pledged to do the same type of policing he always has, which he says has been effective.

Really, you've gotta feel for Dupnik and others in his shoes, because he can be hauled in to court for this. He and his department can also be scrutinized and sued, because the law says they have to go after anyone they think might be an illegal.

Now, if this goes as far as it is likely to go, think of how tied up not only the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service will be with bureaucratic paperwork: how many U.S. citizens and resident aliens would be suing both the state and federal governments for false identification, and yes, racial profiling. How many already overstretched and underbudgeted police departments would spend all their time processing innocent people who were just standing around minding their damn business.

Meanwhile, dangerous felons, legal and illegal, are skipping up and down the streets, free to rob and pillage because the authorities are too busy kicking restaurant managers, nurses, office workers, farm workers, truck drivers, painters, cable installers, etc. et al., out of the country.

This is what good cops like Dupnik are facing as the cost of this to his department erodes their crime-fighting budgets. Meanwhile, Brewer doesn't have to worry about any of that because her GOP cohorts are showering money on her to continue to run for another term in Arizona's governor's office.

Brewer insists that there won't be any racial profiling, because it's not written in to the law, but come on, son! The cops are not going to stop a bunch of long-bearded leather-wearing, Harley-Davidson-riding bikers to ask for their identification. They are not going to raid a Juneteenth celebration in Phoenix looking for illegals. And they sure as hell aren't going to pull over a bunch of yacht owners sailing on Lake Havasu looking for guys named "Chuy."

Now cops like Dupnik enforcing the law are one thing, and like I said, he can get in to plenty of hot water over it. But the state law doesn't say that county prosecutors have to pursue convictions.That is where the power truly lies. It's too early to tell whether or not the people responsible for pursuing justice in criminal cases will actually try to go after every 45-year-old Mexican janitor who has been in Arizona since age 3. I can certainly see them feeling, though, that it is a waste of time when they could be going after the state's financial criminals and axe murderers.

So Sherrif Dupnik is standing up for what's right, which is what a good policeman does. Hopefully enough law enforcement officials, prosecutors, legislators, businesspeople and regular citizens will have the balls to follow him.