As the countdown begins to the implementation of Arizona’s new controversial immigration law, both sides of the border are making preparations for its impact.
In Mexico, government officials quietly are bracing for an increase in deportations as shelters along the border prepare for more arrivals. In Nogales, Sonora, on the Arizona border, Maria Isabel Arvizu, the director of the state shelter for migrant children, said she added 50 beds to the already 100 she has prepared. “All of us are getting ready for people to come back,” Arvizu said.
SB 1070, which will go into effect this Thursday, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires law enforcement to check the immigration status of anyone they stop for a routine violation. Opponents say this is tantamount to racial profiling of Hispanics, and civil rights groups, as well as the US Department of Justice, have sued the state to stop the law.
According to Mexican press, the consulate in Phoenix increased its consular-protection staff from eight to 11 and has been distributing pamphlets to Mexican citizens to inform them about the law.
The legal battle over the law is in the headlines every day in Mexico with the country’s newspapers running articles daily about the legal battles over the law. From radio talk shows to blogs, Mexican media has made Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer a household name, but not in a good light. Last week, a morning show aired a skit in which an actor portraying Brewer runs through Mexico City with a stun gun zapping people.
The possibility of being punished as criminals under the Arizona law was making many immigrants recently deported think twice about trying to get back into the state. Academics who study migration patterns believe the law could have a real impact on how Mexicans decide to head north.
“I think people are going to think harder about it and decide not to risk it because it’s scary to think that you’ll be tried as a criminal and they’ll want to put you in jail,” said Francisco Juárez, a deportee.
For others it will make little to no difference.
“My wife is up there. My whole life is up there,” said Efrén de la Paz, another recent deportee. “Of course I’m going to try again.”
We citizens of the United States do not want anyone here illegally, and we will keep fighting until we get every illegal out of here, no matter where they came from or why.
I we go to Mexico illegally, we are thrown in jail. No one in Mexico can vote in English ! No American can get housing or education free in Mexico.
Wake up illegals, We the People are coming for you and we are going to be sure you NEVER want to come back.
As Arizona goes, so goes the Nation !