Immigration policy and legislation have been an actively debated topic in the United States. Arizona Senate Bill 1070 (SB 1070) of 2010 “is arguably one of the strictest state immigration bills passed in recent years” (Sánchez, 2017, p. 26). In particular, this bill allowed officers to request confirmation information from people suspected of illegal immigration. SB 1070 led to an increase in the level of discrimination against Hispanic citizens of Arizona and prompted a public response in the form of work with the state voters.
The bill affects the Hispanic community, which is now facing more police pressure in the state. Sánchez (2017) notes that the introduction of SB 1070 has resulted in a decline in the Hispanic population of Arizona residents. This decline is seen in both private and public institutions, including schools, medical facilities, and churches. Additionally, Sánchez (2017) also notes that the number of Hispanic Arizona non-citizens immediately after the adoption of SB 1070 actually decrease by 10-15% (p. 30). However, a few months later, the number of non-citizens of the state returned to their previous levels. A study by Santos et al. (2018) emphasizes that SB 1070 measures are more likely to affect men, which negatively affects today’s youth in the state. In particular, the Hispanic population is experiencing anxiety and stress due to the possible deportation of fathers and brothers, which also threatens the entire family in the future.
These factors indicate that the bill probably does not significantly change the situation with illegal immigration in the state but imposes additional psychological pressure on the Hispanic population. This situation has a negative effect on Hispanic citizens of Arizona, who may be suspected. Serratos (2017) notes that the bill also leads to the spread of racial profiling and discrimination towards community members throughout the state. Research also shows that the introduction of a bill negatively affects the perception of immigrants in general and Hispanic in particular (Flores, 2017). This racial subtext that SB 1070 conceals has become the reason for a public response to the legislation.
The adoption of the bill resulted in the unification of community members to combat the future tightening of legislation and its proliferation in other states. Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) is a community organization that works to improve the racial, social and economic environment of the state through interaction with legislation (About us, n. d). In particular, the organization is working to mobilize Hispanic voters in Arizona to influence potential legislative changes (About us, n. d). Additionally, community members are developing action plans for more efficient campaigns in other states such as Phoenix (Reichard, 2017). In this way, LUCHA is gradually raising the awareness of the citizens of Arizona and neighboring states about the problems of racism against Hispanic citizens. This activity in the future may lead to major changes in the structure of members of the legislature entities, who will be able to enact more culturally and racially fair bills.
SB 1070 aimed at reducing the level of illegal immigration, not only does it ineffectively but also develops racial discrimination against Hispanic citizens. This situation attracts wide public attention not only among the residents of the state but also outside it. At present, public organizations are actively working to raise the level of awareness of the population and expand the electorate to influence the legislative process. In the future, these measures may help create fairer immigration policies that do not impose racial pressure.
References
About us. (n.d). Lucha. Web.
Flores, R. D. (2017). Do anti-immigrant laws shape public sentiment? A study of Arizona’s SB 1070 using Twitter data. American Journal of Sociology, 123(2), 333-384.
Reichard, R. (2017). The Arizona group that helped unseat racist Sheriff Joe Arpaio now sets sights on Trump. Remezcla. Web.
Sánchez, G. E. (2017). The short-term response of the Hispanic noncitizen population to anti-illegal immigration legislation: The case of Arizona SB 1070. Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, 22(42), 25-36. Web.
Santos, C. E., MenjĂvar, C., VanDaalen, R. A., Kornienko, O., Updegraff, K. A., & Cruz, S. (2018). Awareness of Arizona’s immigration law SB1070 predicts classroom behavioural problems among Latino youths during early adolescence. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 41(9), 1672-1690. Web.
Serratos, O. (2017). Generation SB1070: These Latino millennials grew up under controversial immigration law. NBC News. Web.