The Arizona Immigration Law: Politics over Policy

Never let bad policy get in the way of good politics. That’s the cynical motto of the growing class of political copycats bent on replicating Arizona’s controversial new immigration law in other states, including California.

Arizona’s law, SB 1070, requires local police to act as federal immigration agents. Now police officers in Arizona can detain someone if there is a "reasonable suspicion" that she’s an illegal immigrant.

Despite a broad, national backlash, the urge to score political points on the fringe seems irresistible. Last week, a California Assembly candidate promised to introduce an Arizona-style immigration law if he’s elected. And in ten more states–Georgia, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, Missouri, South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, and Maryland–politicians looking for a boost have called for laws that would mirror Arizona’s law.

California cannot afford an Arizona-style immigration law. It is bad policy and the worst kind of politics.

Protecting public safety was supposedly a main justification for Arizona’s law. As a career prosecutor for nearly two decades, I can tell you that transforming our local police officers into immigration agents will seriously harm our crime-fighting efforts. We have the nation’s largest population of immigrants, with nearly 10 million California residents born abroad. If they don’t report crimes, for fear of being interrogated about their immigration status, crimes will go unsolved and criminals will walk free among us. I’ve personally prosecuted hundreds of serious and violent crimes–robberies, murders, and rapes–where the case depended on an immigrant who was scared to come forward, but, because they did, we got a conviction.

We need to encourage, not discourage, people to report violent crimes. In every community, there are predators who literally stalk immigrants precisely because they count on them to "keep quiet" if they’re victimized. In domestic violence cases, abusers routinely threaten their spouses that they’ll "turn them over to immigration" if they report the abuse. Other criminals rob their neighbors, scam people out of their homes, and sexually abuse children, counting on the fear of police to keep victims from reporting the crimes. Turning police officers into immigration agents will only push them further into the shadows and make them reliably easy victims for criminals.

But, of course, the predators don’t stop there. The same people who victimize immigrants quickly turn their attention to other victims, as well — citizens, bystanders, and others. Ultimately, then, it is our community that wins when people report crime, and ours that loses when they don’t.

We also can’t afford to divert scarce local law enforcement resources to enforcing federal immigration laws. Law enforcement budgets have been cut to the bone across California; many cities are laying-off police officers, firefighters, and prosecutors. We need to focus every resource on fighting violent crimes. We don’t have extra officers–or local tax dollars–available to moonlight as immigration patrol, which is a federal responsibility.

There’s no doubt that the federal government needs to pass meaningful immigration reform and that we have a serious illegal immigration problem in California, but "politics now, think later" measures like SB 1070 aren’t the solution.

David Mills, RIP

What a gigantic loss.

I met David decades ago when he was self publishing a beautifully written and designed ‘zine called UNCUT FUNK. He is the ONLY person I have ever admitted is a bigger P.FUNK fan than myself. I remember a genius video he shot that gave a tour of the Jersey neighborhood where p.funk was born. He went there for Eddie Hazel’s funeral. That was his level of commitment to some of the greatest music ever made.

When the whole PE thing blew up, I never doubted his motives….I knew he loved the group. He always had impeccable musical tastes. But he was a reporter with integrity, and that was that.

Over the years, I begged him to write a p.funk screenplay I would direct. He was never interested. But he would hit me off with great obscure p.funk covers, and an AWESOME p.funk mousepad he made himself (oh how I hate that it was taken from me that same night by some ass).

I remember when I read that "Bop Gun" script for HOMICIDE. It impressed me that it was so HIM at the same time perfectly fit the fabric of the series. That’s a quality I aspire to when I work as director on different series. His oral history of P.Funk is an essential document to understanding the group.

As great as his fiction and non-fiction writing was, this website is also one of his great achievements. Brilliantly designed, amazing breath of topics, and connected me to so many other sites and people I connect with regularly. While his list of links were not just black, the network of black intellectuals he assembled put most professional pundits to shame. I was proud when he added me to his blog list. He was a tasteful man with complete integrity and craft. Of course I wanted his approval!

I go here several times a day. Even when he “retired” it briefly. I just love it. And since the site was such a great reflection of him, I loved him.

Through this site, I found Denmark Vesey, the Black Snob, Shadow and Act and many others. I was always impressed by his willingness to debate the conspiracy minded folks at Vesey’s. He disagreed with them a lot but he debated them because he cared. Whether I disagreed with his point or not, I always respected that he could stand his ground but still listen.

His site was so tight he inspired me to step it up on my website. I never asked him what he thought about him revamped site, but I wanted him to like it. I never told him I named it my favorite site of last year, but really it’s my favorite site period. He crushed me when he almost retired from it. Now that he’s gone, I am in a daze.

If one way to judge a man is by his friendships, then David Mills was a great man. He touched amazing people.

You gave us a lot, but we needed so much more of you.

You were a true brother.

RIP

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