Immigration Unresolved

Article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/us/immigration-ruling-leaves-issues-unresolved.html?ref=us

Summary:  Arizona enforced a controversial immigration law that includes racial profiling of Latinos.  There have since been many protesters opposing this newly enacted law.

Analysis:  The immigration law requires that Latino people in Arizona be racially profiled, and are asked to show their papers proving their American citizenship.  This seems to be a major violation of civil rights on the part of the state.  Groups protesting the law make a valid point in saying that the only way police will be able to target and find illegal immigrants is by singling out all those that look "foreign".  It seems justifiable that the Latino populations in Arizona would protest this act.  The executive director of the National Immigration Law Center reflected similar thoughts, stating, "This type of law is almost impossible to enforce in a racially neutral way, without leading to civil rights violations against people of color" (New York Times).  After reading this article, I was amazed to find out that Arizona is not the only state to enact such a law.  Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, and Utah have all passed immigration laws in some variation of Arizona's.  It sickens me to think that racial profiling and civil injustice are still so prevalent in our society.  The Latino populations in American are just as prevalent as other races in the country.  The laws passed could essentially pollute all of the states, and all of the forward steps that have been made for civil rights will be erased.  This issue also interests me because I will be student teaching in a primarily Latino neighborhood in the fall.  I'm  interested to see how my students and families will react to similar issues, and if there will be a sense of justice or civil unrest in the neighborhood I teach in.