Great letter. I couldn't agree more.

The legislation just passed in Arizona is deplorable and almost certainly unconstitutional. It's just a matter of time before it is stuck down.

Seems to me that the Gestapo were pretty good at stopping people and asking for their papers in their time. Arizona lawmakers who pushed for this should be ashamed of themselves.

I couldn't agree more, either. I hope that your voices are heard.

The nameless, faceless people bent over all day working on our local farms are not here to go to Harvard. They are here to make what regrettably is a better income than they can make at home. They deserve a living wage, a path to citizenship if they want it, or temporary work visas. They do not deserve to die by the hundreds drowning in the American Canal as a way to control illegal immigration.

My ancestors came over legally. Something our Federal government needs to address .its our ineffective government that is forcing the states to act on their own behalf in which I believe they are going about the situation in the least effective way

No one is going to be stopped without due cause and no one is being targeted- PLEASE understand the reality of the law and not what is on the "front page". American citizens in Arizona have been killed due to the illegal immigration problem there and the federal government is busy ruining our health care to notice. No one will be asked for identification unless they are being questioned in connection to unlawfulness in the first place. My grandfather was a legal immigrant too. Came here through Ellis Island and learned to speak English to make a better life for himself and his family. There are laws in place to be followed for all those that want to come to the USA and we need to follow those laws and enforce them. Proud to be an American.

Diane,

You are either misinformed about the new legislation or being disingenuous about it for the sake of argument. Laws already exist in Arizona (and many other states)to check the immigration status of someone charged with engaging in unlawful activity. This new law expands that power and allows the police (some argue it compels them) to stop people on the SUSPICION of being in the country without documents.

Please understand that this law essentially makes it illegal to not carry immigration documentation at all times. And who would most likely be stopped to find out if they had immigration papers on them? Will they be stopping Indian women dressed in saris or Danish tourists? No. This law is an invitation to profiling simply based on appearances. What does it say about our country that a United States citizen who came here legally as a child from El Salvador can now be stopped on the street in Arizona simply because the way he looks, and, on top of that, be charged with a crime because he doesn?t have his papers.

Obviously illegal immigration and the violent drug trade across the border is cause for concern and requires comprehensive legislation, but adopting the tactics of former fascist regimes is not going to make this a better democracy.

Oh, and if your "Proud to be an American" quip was intended to convey the idea that people who are opposed to this Orwellian legislation are somehow unpatriotic, well I?m proud to be an American too. So much so that I want to see this country progress and thrive, not turn into a cheap police state.

Ted- these is nothing disingenuous about my comment and the legality of every one having some sort of identification on them is nothing new. Anyone can be picked up on vagrancy charges for being out and about without proper ID as you know. I would not have thought on any of my trips to Europe to be in public without my passport at any time-- it's the law. Secondly, there was nothing "quipish" (sic) about my "Proud to be and American" statement. I am and was raised to be that way along with my entire family. I say it a lot and always have.Thanks for your thoughts.

Diane,

Vagrancy has nothing to do with having or not having legal ID. Current vagrancy laws have to do with loitering and solicitation and have a very narrow scope. Early vagrancy laws from the colonial era, which were much more punitive towards the poor, were found to be unconstitutional a long time ago.

As a general principle, citizens who are minding their own business are not obligated to "show their papers" to police. In fact, there is no law requiring citizens to carry identification of any kind.

I can be asked for ID at the liquor store or bank in order to conduct a transaction, but being asked to show ID by a private business entity should not be misconstrued as a governmental legal requirement to carry and show ID on request.

Personally, I always carry ID (at the very least in case I'm hit by a bus or something), but this business of making it legal for municipal authorities to stop someone on the SUSPICION that they are here illegally, and making it illegal to not have documents on your person at all times is creepy and Orwellian.

While reaction amongst the law enforcement community has been mixed, lots of prominent organizations, sheriff's offices, State Attorneys General, and Governors around the US think so too.