Chairman's Message

Kevin Marchman

   As an advocate for all people of color, NOAAH denounces Arizona's SB1070. The law expressly permits the unconstitutional harassment of Latino Americans by local law enforcement, thereby promoting racial discrimination and oppression based on subjective criteria.

Arizona's recently enacted immigration law requires local law enforcement officials to "determine the immigration status of a person" based on "reasonable suspicion" that a person is unlawfully present in the United States. It also expressly allows local law enforcement to arrest a person without a warrant based on "probable cause" that the person has committed any public offence that make the person removable from the U.S.

The law expressly allows Arizona law enforcement officials to utilize purely subjective criteria, such as race, skin color, language, accent, and overall appearance to decide that reasonable suspicion of illegal presence in the U.S. is evident. As a result, Latino Americans are now subject to questioning and detainment in order to prove that they are worthy of their presence in their country of origin. Enactment of this law endorses racial profiling and creates an environment of second class citizenship for Latinos that has no merit.

All Latinos, including natural-born or naturalized American citizens, legal residents, permitted temporary workers or tourists with valid U.S. visas-will be subject to unlawful interrogation and detainment and will have to carry and produce their "papers" to avoid arrest. The Latino-American homeless population will surely suffer as a result of SB1070. Documents are among the first things lost for homeless families and individuals, who are in need of affordable housing and employment. Yet, they will be subject to harassment and may fear government facilities that could provide replacement identification and much needed social assistance.

The primary intent of the law, cited as the "Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act", is to reduce criminal activity. However, the mere presence of the law discourages the reporting of criminal activity by all Latinos, who are victims of criminal activity simply out of fear of harassment and detainment by law enforcement officials. This may increase the amount of domestic violence and hate crimes committed, as perpetrators become aware the victims will be less likely to report the crimes.

NOAAH strongly opposes SB1070, and joins other leading organizations such as the National Council of LaRaza, the National Urban League, professional organizations, city councils and others in taking a stand and boycotting all activities in Arizona.

 

Kevin Marchman is the current chairman of the board and a founding member of NOAAH. He can be reached at kevinmarchman@noaah.org.