Fruit and Beggars—An Anecdotal Look At The Arizona Immigration Law of 2010

The state of Arizona recently enacted a law requiring police, when enforcing another law, to ask a person about their immigration status. Of course, according to the law, the officers only have to ask about an individual’s status if there’s a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally. 

Barring pending legal challenges, the law goes into effect July 29, 2010. But the uproar, as we all know, began when the bill was signed into law in April. Immediately calls for boycotts of Arizona spread like fears of dilution of the master race. Tourists, sports teams, political parties and an array of municipalities and organizations all threatened to avoid traveling to or doing business with or in the State of Arizona. (By the way, have you ever been there? It’s frickin’ hot. I think it’s fairly common knowledge that the boycott wasn’t an entirely bad idea even before the law.) 

Curiously, though, two groups of people, rather than joining the boycott, made an immediate pilgrimage to the state. The first was an advance team for the Nazi Party. The second was a coalition of Native Americans tribes. The Nazis showed up to offer practical tips on identifying violators of the law. The Native Americans were just hoping to add an amendment to the bill making it retroactive to 1492. 

Now, I’m not a lawyer—although that hasn’t stopped me from dispensing off the cuff legal advice to friends and family who accept my advice mostly because I deliver it with mocked up authority—but from a legal standpoint, it seems there’s a lot of judgment required on the part of the police force in administering this law. That, in my mind, makes the law awfully difficult to enact and enforce. But, living in the scorching desert heat is difficult too, so I won’t argue that Arizonians aren’t up to the challenge. 

I also won’t argue Arizona’s defense of the law, which is that the federal government isn’t doing their job so the states have to do it for them. Given that it took the federal government almost 100 years to abolish slavery...there’s probably some validity in not wanting to wait around for Washington D.C. to make a move. 

My argument might instead be, what’s so bad about immigration? Why are we so adverse to an influx of people wanting to come to this country for a better life? Because when people are in search of a better life don’t they, along the way, make the world around them a better place? 

I don’t think immigrants are coming to this country to set up meth labs. If they are, they’ll quickly be disposed of by the true blooded American citizens who are not only already doing that, but are also hell bent on protecting their turf by any means necessary. 

I don’t think the immigrants are coming here to set up foursomes and clog up our golf courses either. Although they might carry your clubs if you find that task to be overly strenuous. I also don’t think immigrants come here to cause pile-ups on our freeways, abduct our children or sit on the couch playing video games all day. Again, we have all of those markets cornered by fully legalized citizens.  

Call me twinkies, but I think the immigrants are coming here to work. To be productive. To raise their families. To contribute to society. The blood sucking scumbags. 

I was waiting for a green light at a busy intersection this morning. A big one. The kind where the left turn lane has its own median and traffic signal. On the center median next to me, a man was begging. Now, were I an Arizona State Trooper, I would ascertain this man to have been an American citizen. But even without a law enforcement credential I knew he was a beggar. I knew this because he was holding up a piece of cardboard that said, “I’m a beggar.” Sure, he also had the requisite “can’t find work” and “homeless” ad copy Sharpied onto his dirty, wrinkled cardboard. After all, those people all buy their signs at the same homeless beggar sign store. But, he didn’t mince words about being a beggar. That he was. And, just to solidify his status as a beggar,  he was going from stopped car to stopped car begging. He wasn’t doing well at all. Problem was, he was in Los Angeles. There’s not a driver in this city that doesn’t know the rule about avoiding eye contact with beggars at stoplights and freeway off ramps. It’s the main reason we wear sunglasses. It comes as natural to L.A. drivers as pretending like there’s too much traffic to pull over when we hear sirens.

Now, at this same intersection I was waiting at, on the other median directly across the street from my left turn lane, was a man selling fruit. Were I an Arizona Highway Patrolman, I would ascertain that man to have been an illegal alien. Why? He was selling fruit on the median of an intersection. And, okay, he was Mexican. Like I had to tell you. Like everyone reading this didn’t already picture a Mexican. 

My question is this. Which man is making a greater contribution to society? The obviously healthy American who would rather beg than put in the effort to find a way to earn money? Or, the illegal immigrant who wasn’t asking for a handout, but was trying to scrape together a paltry pittance of an income by offering a product? By providing a service?  

Before you type away your responses to the obvious hole in my argument, remember the title of this piece. I said it was anecdotal. I beat you to the punch. I preempted that counterpoint. At this point, though, let me also say that this argument isn’t meant to be a judgement on all who beg. I fully realize that many people need and depend solely on the generosity of society to survive. Many can’t work or can’t find work and find themselves homeless or helpless or both. I, as many others do, give as much to as many of those people as I can. But, this guy wasn’t that. He was just begging. He was perfectly capable of working. How do I know? The same way an Arizona police officer knows whether a person is in the country illegally or not. 

I should also say that I’m not trying to hold the illegal immigrant up on any pedestal. I’ve never even bought fruit from one of those vendors. Mainly because I doubt it’s organic and free of antibiotics and pesticides, let alone grown in an orchard that only uses fresh fertilizer from free roaming happy cows. That’s the kind of produce I eat. But for people who eat any old produce, that guy on the corner provides a service. Still, the fruit's not the point. (No he wasn’t gay, I’m talking about the stuff he was selling. How do I know he wasn’t gay? The same way an Arizona police officer knows whether a person is in this country illegally or not.) 

The point is...the illegal immigrant was trying. He was being productive. He wasn’t asking for a handout, he was asking to do business. And, that’s what we do in this country. Every Republican who ever wanted to buy a semi-automatic rifle for protection against the neighborhood lawn gnome thief will tell you that. Even Sarah Palin, who recently rallied in support of the Arizona law, will tell you that capitalism is the foundation of this country. Conservatives will say that over and over, even if it’s not true. But, even though capitalism truly isn’t the foundation of this country, it does play a large role in making our society a productive one. So, on this day of hard won patriot freedom, what I saw was an illegal immigrant practicing capitalism while a legal citizen was milking the system. This, despite the fact that we so often hear politicians telling us it’s the illegal immigrants who milk the system while the legal citizens are productive, load bearing members of society. I just don’t think it’s that black and white. 

And—if you haven’t already rushed away from your computer to launch a Tea Bagger boycott of this blog—think about this. Illegal immigrants pay into our federal and state tax base. They contribute to medicare. Even better still, they contribute to Social Security. They do this when they find legitimate employment using illegal Social Security numbers. Now, that’s probably a crime but, as you know, I’m neither a lawyer nor a law enforcement officer in Arizona. But, think about it. All of those illegal immigrants working under illegal Social Security numbers are all contributing very real money into a system that will never return that money to them. When legal citizens pay contributions to Social Security, we know we’ll get that money back when we retire...and then some. The trouble is, who pays for the “and then some?” We know we’re not paying for it. The future workers of America pay for it. It’s a lot like Bernie Madoff’s scheme. When you want your money back, they just take it from the next person who’s making contributions. What I’m saying is that all of those illegal immigrants can’t collect their contributions when they retire, let alone their “and then some.” So, that money goes into the general fund where, we can all rest assured, our federal government will have no qualms whatsoever about using it for purposes it wasn’t intended for...namely to pay us. That alone is a great argument for letting all those illegal immigrants not only stay in the country, but remain illegal. The last thing we want to do is send them back to their country where they get to keep their money instead of give it to us. And, even worse, we don’t want to make them legal U.S. citizens because then they’ll get their money back when they retire. And where will we be then? 

Of course, Social Security isn’t the only benefit illegal immigrants offer us. They also buy food and gas and clothes. They rent apartments and houses. All from American citizens. Can that really be so horrid? It’s also quite possible they could give a stranger a helping hand, intervene in a crime or volunteer to clean up the beach on Earth Day. What’s the harm there? Would it really be so destructive to our country to allow ambitious, determined, resourceful and productive people into our ranks? Isn’t that, even more than capitalism, the foundation of our country? 

So, there. We solved illegal immigration and the great Ponzi scheme of Social Security in less than 20 paragraphs. I say let the illegal immigrants in and leave them alone. At best, they’ll solve our budget deficit, iron our shirts and restore our nation to world dominance. At worst, the guy selling fruit on the corner can pack up his crate at the end of a 15 hour day and, as he’s heading home to feed his family and say a prayer at the local church, maybe he’ll drop a few quarters into the cup of the beggar across the street.  

Comments

[Craig Smith]

Couldn't agree more with your point. It is not Black and White as so many expect. There is the immigrant who deals drugs, but there also is the homegrown American who deals drugs. There is the homegrown American who works hour upon hour to provide a living for his or her children, but there is also the immigrant who does the same thing. What we really need to pass a law against is those who don't fit in the second category; immigrant OR non-immigrant.