Students Rally Against Arizona Law

Chantal M. Lovell, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/20/2010 06:57:41 PM PDT

REDLANDS, CA - University of Redlands students took to the streets Thursday evening to show their disagreement with an Arizona law they say legalizes racial profiling.

About 50 students rallied with signs and loudspeakers at the Market Night road block on Orange Street at Redlands Boulevard.

It was their second protest against Arizona Senate Bill 1070. The law requires officials to attempt to determine the immigration status of a person if there is "reasonable suspicion" they may be an undocumented immigrant during a legitimate encounter, according to an Arizona Senate fact sheet.

"A lot of people in Redlands are really conservative and don't know the facts on the laws that are being passed in Arizona," said university freshman Javier Espinoza, of San Rafael. "I want to let people see how it is racist and oppressing."

The students said the bill effectively legalizes racism in Arizona by allowing officers to question the citizenship status with only "reasonable suspicion" they may be undocumented immigrants.

The bill says officers may arrest if there is "probable cause to believe that the person has committed any public offense that makes them removable from the United States."

Opponents of the bill, however, say the bill in practice would legalize racial profiling, even though the law says officers may not stop a person solely because of their race.

Freshman Tania Martinez, of San Diego, said if a police officer saw a
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person with white skin and a person with brown skin walking down the street, the officer would in all likelihood stop the person of color.

"What makes a person think of `reasonable suspicion' is the way a person looks and that is racial profiling," Espinoza said.

Espinoza said he fears the bill will send those without legal status into hiding.

"It's really sad that we live in a country that has prided itself on freedom and immigration and here we are allowing Gestapo-like tactics," Dobson said. "There are a number of startling similarities between Arizona and what the Nazis did to the Jews."

According to Arizona's Senate fact sheet, the bill is in compliance with federal law.

"The law is supported by a majority of citizens in both Arizona and the nation," said John Van Mouwerik, Redlands Townhall Patriots board member. "The federal government has failed to properly secure our borders and enforce currently existing immigration laws. Arizona has been forced to take action to protect the lives and property of its citizens."

Martinez said the president's public opposition to the law implies it goes beyond federal immigration laws.

"President Obama went on T.V. and said these actions are pretty extreme," Martinez said. "If he's saying that, then Arizona's law has to be different than federal law."

The students said laws are not always morally sound and cited previously legal practices like slavery.

"Just because something has been signed into law doesn't mean we should be allowed to do it," Dobson said.

E-mail Staff Writer Chantal M. Lovell at clovell@redlandsdailyfacts.com