Frustration leads to bad law

It's often true that most laws are meant to be just, but it is the enforcement and interpretation by police, prosecutors and the courts -- and the general public -- that make them unjust and unbearable.

Arizona's new law attempting to crack down on illegal immigrants is a perfect example. There is no question we have a major problem in this country with illegals. Don't be surprised if a similar bill surfaces in the Idaho Legislature next January.

But the Arizona law is doomed to be selectively enforced and a lot of American citizens are going to get caught up in it.

Essentially, the law requires police, if they have any suspicion that a person may not be an American citizen, to demand proof of citizenship on the spot (or a green card showing they are non-citizens here legally). Realistically, racial profiling is going to kick in almost immediately, since most illegals are Hispanic and only a tiny fraction are lily white (or other colors). For that matter, even if you're caucasian, if you have black hair and a real good tan you might be asked to prove your citizenship -- on the spot -- if you're traveling through Arizona.

But how many of us, say if we're stopped for a minor traffic offense, could immediately produce documents showing we're an American citizen? A driver's license doesn't help. One of the problems is anybody can get one, and maybe that's a good place to start weeding out illegals. But the point is, how many people can instantly prove, at any given moment, that they're an American citizen?

The only way to make this law work is to require every citizen to carry some kind of citizenship papers with them at all times. That's the sort of thing repressive regimes do (like Nazi Germany and the old Soviet Union). Do we want to become that sort of nation?

Many years ago I worked for a newspaper that got a tip from what was then the Immigration and Naturalization Service, that they were going to raid a couple local farms to bust some illegals working there. They wanted the PR showing how successful they were.

But somebody in the newsroom had a great idea. We had a reporter working for us who was at least a fifth-generation American of Hispanic descent. So we stuck her out in one of the fields the day the raid was planned to see what would happen. Sure enough, she was among those arrested because she couldn't provide papers -- on the spot -- that she was an American citizen. She spent a night in jail waiting to face a judge to set bail and then had to return for a hearing at which time she presented the documents to prove she was a citizen. She got an apology. For most people, if they had to go through that, an apology wouldn't even begin to alleviate their anger.

To face arrest, simply because of the color of your skin, is about as unAmerican as you can get. But you know that's what's going to happen in Arizona until the law is eventually overturned by higher courts -- as it certainly will be.

The law arises out of a legitimate frustration with the total inability of the federal government to get a hand on illegal immigration, not just in stopping people from coming across our porous borders, but also in weeding out those who have lived here for years.

The frustration is more than understandable.

But in practice, it will be repressive.

Frustration is the mother of many a bad law. This one is terrible.