(NEW YORK) MintPress — From the minute the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act was introduced in the Arizona legislature, the American Civil Liberties Union has alleged that it was racially motivated, and now, it says, it has the proof to substantiate those claims.
The ACLU of Arizona has released thousands of emails, acquired through a public records request, from former Sen. Russell Pearce, the author of Senate Bill 1070.
At the time it was passed in April 2010, SB 1070 was the most stringent anti-illegal immigration measure in recent U.S. history, spurring major controversy. Pearce called the bill’s signing “a good day for America.”
He subsequently became the first state legislator in Arizona history to be removed from office via a recall election.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down three provisions of the law but upheld the “show me your papers” section requiring immigration status checks during law enforcement stops, although it noted there are potential constitutional problems with it.
Now, the ACLU is hoping Pearce’s e-mails, which it included as part of a new legal filing contending that “show me your papers” unlawfully discriminates against Latinos and people of Mexican origin, will convince U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton to stop it from going into effect.
Key excerpts
Included in the e-mail missives sent from Pearce’s personal and legislative e-mail addresses from 2006-2011 were comments such as, “Last week, Denver’s illegal aliens sang our national anthem in Spanish and bastardized the words of OUR country’s most sacred song,” and, “They create enclaves of separate groups that shall balkanize our nation into fractured nightmares of social unrest and poverty.”
Other revealing statements: “Corruption is the mechanism by which Mexico operates. Its people spawn more corruption wherever they go because it is their only known way of life,” and, “Tough, nasty illegals and their advocates grow in such numbers that law and order will not subdue them. They run us out of our cities and states. They conquer our language and our schools. They render havoc and chaos in our schools.”
”We are much like the Titanic as we inbreed millions of Mexico’s poor, the world’s poor and we watch our country sink,” wrote Pearce.
“Battles commence as Mexican nationalists struggle to infuse their men into American government and strengthen control over their strongholds.”
Defining racism
One e-mail had the subject line “What’s a racist?” and included the following:
“I’m racist because I don’t want to be taxed to pay for a prison population comprised of mainly Hispanics, Latinos, Mexicans or whatever else you wish to call them.”
“I’m a racist because I believe the News Media has a duty to tell us the names and race of criminals.”
“I’m a racist because I object to having to pay higher sales tax and property tax to build more schools for the illegitimate children of illegal aliens.”
“I’m a racist because I dislike having to push one for English and/or listening to a message in Spanish.”
“Factual is not racial. Realism is not racism. The new definition of racist is anyone winning an argument with a liberal, minority, pacifist, bible banger, or moron.”
Court of public opinion
There have been protests in opposition to SB 1070 in more than 70 cities across the country, but various Rasmussen Reports polls have found the law has majority support in Arizona and nationwide, and other other states are considering adopting similar legislation.
A recent poll of registered Latino voters, however, found that 66 percent of those polled oppose the Supreme Court’s decision to leave “show me your papers” intact, while only 29 percent approve.
Seventy-nine percent of Latino voters are concerned about racial profiling, responding likely to the question, “How likely is it that Latinos who are legal immigrants or U.S. citizens will get stopped or questioned by police?” And 70 percent believe that allowing police to check immigration status will not increase public safety.
That could become an issue in the presidential campaigns. President Obama has called SB 1070 “misguided” and said it would “undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”
He has repeatedly called for federal immigration reform legislation to forestall such actions among the states and to serve as the only long-term solution to the problem of illegal immigration.
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney’s chief adviser on immigration policy is none other than Russell Pearce, who thrust himself into the middle of another national debate this weekend when he took to Facebook to mourn the victims of the Aurora, Colo. massacre.
“Someone should have stopped this man. Someone could have stopped this man,” wrote Pearce, who is known for his ardent pro-gun views. “Lives were lost … not because he had a weapon, but because no one was prepared to stop it. Had someone been …. armed they could have stopped this ‘bad’ man.”