So today we marched up to Baton Rouge again, fellow advocates in hand, to (sigh) once more fight against bad legislation that singles out ‘illegal’ immigrants (the phrase often used in these types of bills to refer to undocumented immigrants). Okay, regardless of what side of the fence you come from, please help me understand how it is good legislation to penalize legal residents and citizens for ‘harbouring’ and ‘transporting’ (knowingly or not) undocumented immigrants.  How is this good for anyone?

So let’s say your son happens to befriend a really nice foreign kid in his school and one day asks you if he can come over to the house after school to play.  You, being a responsible parent, verify with the child’s other parents and assess that there is no reason not to invite your son’s friend over, so you bring him home with you.  Then, catastrophe strikes.  You turn right on a red light and a police officer pulls you over.  Under the proposed law, the officer would find some reasonable suspicion that you are transporting someone without proper documentation. The foreign child in question doesn’t have papers on him.  He might not be fully documented.  As a result, the officer takes you in under the suspicion that you are transporting an undocumented immigrant. Sounds ludicrous? Laughable? Ridiculous? I should hope it does. Yet, our esteemed legislators fail to explore the practical implications of their proposed bills.

Exactly how does a police officer determine that a person is an immigrant?  Do immigrants look a certain way?  Do we have stamps on our foreheads that say, hello, sir, I am an immigrant.  Or is it simply that immigrants smell the same? Or could it be that we all have the same color? The same hair type?  Maybe we all go to the same tailor? How can you tell, by looking at me, that I am an immigrant? For that matter, how can anyone tell, much less an officer of the law? Is there some special immigrant sniffing technology available that enables people to determine exactly where the immigrant is hidden among the otherwise normal grouping of regular folks? If such technology exists, I certainly would like to try it out and see what else it could uncover for me.

For the sake of absolutely ludicrous argument, let’s assume that anyone, including our law enforcement officials, have the God given talent and the technological skills and training to determine exactly where the immigrant is hiding among the weeds of regular people.  Okay, now how exactly do we know if this immigrant has proper documentation to be in the United States?  We can ask, I suppose.  But do we ask everyone?  Do we ask only those immigrants we suspect might not have proper documentation? If so, how do we determine such a suspicion? Does a documented immigrant give off a different aura than an undocumented immigrant? Is one better dressed than the next?  Does one use a better hair stylist than the other?

Truly, these are mind blowing questions, but it seems our illustrious legislators, such as Mr. Joe Harrison, Republican from District 51 (Terrebonne Parish), failed to explore these very important questions of practicality.  Maybe they have figured this out and I, along with my fellow advocates, need simply sit down and listen to how it will all work smoothly to our benefit.  Frankly, I don’t see it.  Instead what I see is the same shortsightedness that I saw in 2008, the same lack of thoughtfulness, the same disregard for the rights of both citizens and legal residents alike.

So this morning, we were ready to fight, but not long after we sat down in committee chambers, the committee chairs announced that Mr. Harrison had voluntarily deferred HB1205. We allowed ourselves the small satisfaction of having won today’s battle, but knowing full well that another fight could be just around the corner next week.

And that is where we are now, in waiting, preparing for the next round, which might come next week.  But I have to say that I am also worried. I am worried that not enough of us know about these proceedings.  I am worried that not enough of us will show up at the Sate Capitol when it’s time to speak up and look Mr. Harrison in his eyes and say out loud, I oppose this bill because….

The good fight towards full inclusion, equitable justice and full representation belongs to all of us.  Unfortunately not enough of us know this, or understand this, or even care about this.  The good fight becomes a tiresome, emotionally draining fight if we end up doing it alone, or feeling as if we are doing it alone.  More than ever, when things seem to be nice and calm in our world, we need you to become advocates.  We need you to learn more, ask more, observe more the decisions that are being made in your neighborhoods, in your towns, in your cities, and in your state.  Too many times we let unjust laws get drafted and created simply because we did not voice our opposition.  This democracy gives us that opportunity.  Let’s use it now.

Tags: anti-immigrant laws, hb1205, joe harrison, latinos new orleans, louisiana legislature, lucas diaz, new orleans, puentes

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 15th, 2010 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Puentes Director. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.