As a naturalized U.S. citizen who came from an Asian country, how will Arizona’s new immigration law affect me if I lived or visited there? Right now there is only one way to identify me as an American citizen and that happens to be my passport. Certainly, I don’t carry my certificate of citizenship because I have it framed and stored somewhere and besides, it says on that piece of paper that you can’t make copies of it. Does that mean that I have to bring my passport if I go to Arizona? I don’t have to, but it would be a prudent idea to do so. After all my California ID doesn’t indicate that I’m a citizen. What about people born here? Will they have to bring their birth certificates everywhere they go in Arizona so they have proof of citizenship if they don’t have passports? At least legal aliens have green cards and legal workers have their work visas.
What if I go out running in the streets of Arizona? Does that mean I will have to carry my passport too? Even though racial profiling isn’t allowed, I can easily be profiled because I don’t have fair skin with rounded eyes and brown/blond hair. Neither am I an African/American. God forbid that I’ll be out running on the streets of Arizona and crossed the street away from a pedestrian lane and a cop sees and stops me for jayrunning. If I get detained by the authorities until they verify my citizenship, who knows how many hours or days that will take? Will they deport me to another country? Which one because I have a Hispanic last name with Asian features?
As a disclosure, I have to say that I have not read the contents of the Arizona law but only know from what I read in the newspapers and hear from TV news. And no, I don’t read the editorials so that does not affect my opinion. What’s next? A citizenship tracking chip imbedded in your skin like the one used for pets that can be scanned? For me, more questions than answers. Maybe I should look up the full text of the law, but then again the legalese might just confuse me more.
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2 comments:
Wow. I recently created my own new blog, and just happened to stumble across yours with this very interesting personal commentary on such a hot topic.
Having dual US and Panama citizenship myself, I am accustomed to carrying both my US passport & Panamanian birth certificate when I am in Korea, England or any other country.
However, I had not considered the valid scenario you posted. Thank you for educating me to a factor I had not considered.
I think I will follow you to see if you pursue this thought.
Linda in California
Hi Linda, thanks for reading and commenting. I don't know how much the AZ lawmakers considered possible scenarios that law enforcement officers have to face when trying to follow the law. Give me a link to your blog please so I can read it too. Thanks again.
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