Courtesy of Bob Davis (Flickr)
As of 2012, 16.9 percent of the U.S. population of Latinos experience racial profiling and oppression in society. The hostility towards Latinos derives from the notion that undocumented immigrants take away jobs and money from native-born workers.
In April of 2010, the Supreme Court held up Arizona’s SB 1070 Immigration Law. Under Arizona’s SB 1070, law enforcement has the constitutional right to question individuals who seem “suspici[ous] of immigrant Status” and demand papers of U.S. citizenship from them (Morse 1).The continuation of undocumented immigrants entering America resulted in the SB 1070 immigration law. As a result, many Americans support Arizona’s immigration law (SB 1070), which oppresses many Latinos to the point where they decide to leave the U.S. independently.
However, Pro-immigration activists and the courts have continuously challenged the Arizona Immigration Law because it violates the First Amendment [1], Fourth Amendment [2], and Fourteenth Amendment [3]. Furthermore, individuals who oppose the Arizona immigration law state that law enforcement officers cannot distinguish race, color, or national origin when speculating whether or not an individual is undocumented. Thus, many law enforcement officers have biases and prejudices, which leads individuals to believe that SB 1070 allows law enforcement officers to take action against ethnic groups with high rates of undocumented immigration. As a result, not only does the Arizona Immigration Law promote stereotypes, but it also encourages society to stereotype individuals based on perceived connotations.
Still, many individuals support the Arizona Immigration Law because it enables law enforcement officers to deport potentially threatening immigrants. Individuals are hostile towards both undocumented and documented immigrants in America because of such fear. Anti-immigration individuals believe that undocumented immigrants will take away “their” jobs and money. Individuals who support the Arizona Immigration Law fail to see that immigrants do improve America’s economy by achieving upward mobility. For example, the database ProCon states that undocumented immigrants accounted for a sixth increase in the labor industry between 2000 and 2007. Nonetheless, society must realize that the racist comments we commit against immigrants are unconstitutional.
Unless the United States Supreme Court repeals and admits that legislation similar to the Arizona Immigration Law target and stereotype individuals, we will continue to subject all racial and ethnic groups to racism. Furthermore, society will suppress selected racial groups with higher rates of immigration in our country. In all, it is our responsibility to prohibit institutional, systematic, and individual levels of prejudice in our laws and be allies to immigrants in America.
[1] The right to freedom of Speech
[2] The right to freedom of unreasonable searches and seizes
[3] The right to equal protection under the law
Immigration Talk 
Personally, I agree that Arizona’s immigration law is prejudiced for two reasons. First, law enforcement is racially profiling Latinos as undocumented by perception rather than by statistical facts. Second, If we, the American people allow laws such as Arizona’s to become federal policy, racial stereotypes and discrimination will continue and society will always be in a homogeneous mindset.