In a recent conservative without conscience (CWC) email (You know one of those forwarded emails with mixed font and colors, false comparisons, and statements of problems that don’t exist.), there was a list of situations where one might be asked for an ID.
- Pulled over by the police.
- Making purchases on your department store credit card.
- When you show up for a doctor’s appointment.
- When filling out a credit card or loan application.
- When applying for or renewing a driver’s license or passport.
- When applying for any kind of insurance.
- When filling out college applications.
- When donating blood.
- When obtaining certain prescription drugs.
- When making some debit purchases, especially if you’re from out of state.
- When collecting a boarding pass for airline or train travel.
This list is then followed by a false comparison to the new Arizona law on immigration and implications that some group is exempt from showing an ID.
This is my response to that fear-mongering email.
What’s going on in Arizona is nothing like asking for an ID for the situations listed above. What Arizona is proposing amounts to asking for an ID just because someone doesn’t look like they belong – supposedly non-citizens. Just what does a non-citizen look like? Probably like a citizen.
Also, these non-citizens are not exempt from any of those checks above. If they were caught breaking the law or applying for a loan or donating blood, they too would be asked for an ID regardless of their immigration status. But, in reality these non-citizens can’t do anything in that list.
The more thought provoking question is, what would happen to this nation if it were to miraculously deport 12 million undocumented, low wage, but skilled, workers? (Remember, it took Nazi Germany several years to gather and ‘deal with’ only half as many of those ‘who didn’t belong.’) Food crops won’t get picked and will rot in the field. Work places won’t get cleaned at night. Fewer homes will be built and new roofs won’t get installed. In other words, small businesses will lose a source of cheap labor in a cash based economy and our cost of living will increase.
For those who are so eager to support the Arizona law, maybe they should check out the new Take Our Jobs internet site where they can volunteer to be a farm worker. So far, they have gotten only 4 volunteers including one late night celebrity. Here’s the job description:
“Job may include using hand tools such as knives, hoes, shovels, etc. Duties may include tilling the soil, transplanting, weeding, thinning, picking, cutting, sorting & packing of harvested produce. May set up & operate irrigation equip. Work is performed outside in all weather conditions (Summertime 90+ degree weather) & is physically demanding requiring workers to bend, stoop, lift & carry up to 50 lbs on a regular basis.”
Paranoid, fearful, extremely nationalistic citizens need to chill out. As they chill, the flow of fear driven adrenaline will slow and the cognitive function of their brains will return. Maybe then they can see the effect of their self-inflected feelings of terror – stupid laws, loss of needed workers, and a higher cost of living.
Andy Hailey