SB1070: What you don’t hear people discussing

This week I began my internship with Border Action Network. My first task is to translate SB1070 into Spanish. A translation can’t be found online; not even the Mexican Consulate has a translation. The fact that it hasn’t been translated for the people it targets blows my mind. After sitting through a talk on SB1070 with older white Tucson residents and then an educational conference with Latino residents of a wide age span from various regions in Arizona, I have learned that a lot of people are ignorant about the law. Here are some important points that many people do not talk about:

1. The law specifies that there are 4 types of identification that you can present to prove your legal status:

a. A government issued ID.

b. A driver’s license.

c. A tribal ID

d. A passport

However, not all states require proof of residency when obtaining a license and therefore driver’s license from Utah, New Mexico or Washington are not suffice to prove legal status. What about minors who do not have any of these forms of ID? Failure of anyone to provide one of the four IDs listed above will lead to an arrest. The individual will not be released until his/her immigration status is determined. Arizona will have a huge problem if legal citizens are arrested and then sue the state; the state can’t afford it.

2. It is unlawful for a motor vehicle to block or impede traffic in an attempt to hire or hire and pick up passengers, regardless of the driver’s immigrant status.

3. A legal citizen who is driving an undocumented passenger if the driver is ALSO violating a criminal offense.

4.Any legal resident of Arizona may file a complaint against an agency or official for not implementing Federal Immigration Law to the fullest extent. In order to avoid law suits, agencies and officials will have to devote a large amount of their time to implementing Federal Immigration Law, time which will take away from their time to crack down on crime and other responsibilities.

5. SB1070 is based on a statute that the US Government has gone on record to say that it is not enforced and needs to be revised.

I did not know these specifics until I read the law. Several people have strongly made up their minds, one way or another, about SB1070 but many people do not understand everything it entails. It’s crucial for everyone to be well informed about the policies affecting them. At the BAN educational conference I attended this past weekend, I was inspired by the BAN committee leaders. The leaders were all Latino men and women, low-income homes. Every single one of them had the passion to learn about the issues affecting their communities and passing on that education to the people around them.