Right now there's a lot of talk about Arizona's recent immigration laws – as well as additional laws and policies following it. To summarize as easy as I can:
- The governor signed a bill that extended police power to detain/question people over citizenship with reasonable suspicion. The interpretation of this – and some potential modifications – make it more complicated. The law is quite controversial as it seems to invite profiling (though people I know in Arizona says it's less change than people may think).
- A bill that would limit ethnic studies (and oddly lump it in with other things)
- An education department policy on teachers with accents that could lead to teachers being fired or limited in teaching. I find this ridiculous as I live in an area with tons of accents.
Yes, if you read about these laws, you'd get the impression that there's some racial and ethnic animosity here. I sadly come to the same conclusion, am sure that this is going to be a giant political powderkeg, and that there will be much fallout in the future.
But ask yourself this (before I turn this into a Frustration Friday), would you have heard of this if it wasn't national news? I don't think you would.