Apartheid Arizona

The US state of Arizona has just passed some of the strictest anti-immigrant laws in US history, in a move that enshrines racism in law.

Throughout the US it’s well known that migration cops use racial profiling to target people who have the most brown skin or look the most like they might have some Native American ancestry for questioning about their immigration status. This is a scandal throughout the country, but the difference about the new Arizona law, SB1070, is that it enshrines the right to do this with legal protection.

The law allows law enforcement to approach anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” of being an illegal immigrant, i.e. anyone who looks Latino, and demand they produce ID to confirm the citizenship status. Failure to do so will lead to their automatic arrest without a warrant. This effectively puts the law in Arizona on a par with the infamous “pass laws” in Apartheid South Africa, or indeed the way people were treated during the Nazi occupation of France.

The new law also makes it a major felony to give shelter to illegal immigrants, in a state where thousands of people die every year trying to cross the desert from Mexico in search of a better life. Across the whole US/Mexico border, the Mexican National Human Rights Commission estimates 3 migrants lost their lives every 2 days in 2007 and 2008.

Self-promoting wankstain Joe Arpaio on the cover of his book

The laws were heavily supported by notorious knobend Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who styles himself “America’s toughest sheriff.” Among his bright ideas in his own Maricopa County are the creation of a tent city gulag in the desert, where offenders are kept in conditions of extreme heat, with little shelter or access to basic services or even enough food. Many people have died in tent city, either as a result of the conditions, beatings and taserings from the guards, or violence from fellow inmates, which is deliberately fostered by the prison regime. He also makes criminals parade through the streets in nothing but pink underwear, and sells pink underwear merchandise as a personal money spinner. He has spent taxpayers money on purchasing for himself a penthouse apartment, a machine gun, an armoured personnel carrier and a full sized tank. The man loves publicity, and has become notorious across the US.

The issue of migration is at the heart of American politics now. As Leftfield has previously reported, the US is facing the consequence of its policies in Latin America, which have caused mass poverty for millions of people. Desperate to find a chance of economic survival, huge numbers of Latin Americans have moved to the US, where they are systematically discriminated against. The mass movement for immigrant rights has put hundreds of thousands of people on the street in recent years. However, it faces opposition from the right wing racists who fear they are losing control over the US.

What’s particularly ironic about the case of Arizona is it’s one of several state that were violently conquered by the US in the 19th century. In the Mexican-American war of the 1840s the US seized over half of Mexico’s territory by force, and later integrated the lands into the US. White Arizonans are effectively the descendants of the colonial settlers after this. Mexicans trying to cross the border are only trying to enter what was once Mexican territory.

This map shows Mexican territory lost to the US. The darkest shade is Mexico today, the lighter two what was once Mexican as well

The case of Latinos in the US is just one example of what is happening across the rich world, as people from the parts of the planet that have been devastated by the economic and ecological disasters of capitalism try to escape to the places on Earth where they face a chance of survival and a decent life. The situation is similar on the frontiers of the European Union. It may be the greatest human rights battle of the 21st century to defend these people from the racists who want to keep them out.

In the US, several prominent figures have called for a boycott of Arizona and its products in protest at the racist laws. To promote the campaign, Chuck D of hip hop group Public Enemy has released the song ‘Tear Down This Wall,’ and says in a statement:

“In 1991 I wrote a song criticizing Arizona officials (including John McCain and Fife Symington) for rejecting the federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The same politics I wrote about in “By the Time I Get to Arizona” are alive and well in Arizona today, but this time the target is Brown people.

These actions must stop. I am issuing a call to action, urging my fellow musicians, artists, athletes, performers, and production companies to refuse to work in Arizona until officials not only overturn this bill, but recognize the human rights of immigrants. This should include the NBA playoffs, revisiting the actions of the NFL in 1993, when they moved the Superbowl to Pasadena in protest against Arizona’s refusal to recognize Dr. King. We all need to speak up in defense of our brothers and sisters being victimized in Arizona, because things are only getting worse. What they’re doing to immigrants is appalling, but it will be even more damning if we remain silent.”

You can listen to the song below, or download it for free if you sign up for an account at SLAMjamz.com