Today's New York Times carried a really interesting fact-filled background story on Arizona's newly earned reputation for intolerance. Hispanics make up 30 percent of the state's population and in the 1990's efforts to strengthen California's border with Mexico "pushed trafficking east and, as a result, Arizona posts the highest number of people arrested for crossing along the 2,000 mile border."
Illegal immigrants in the state do not commit more than their share of crime and "violent crime decreased in the state in recent years." Yet, crime tied to illegal immigrants there gets noticed and highlighted.
The article links the state's crazy illegal immigration law to "shifting demographics," a bad economy, increased violence in Mexico and a wish that Washington would help them out with a new fence like it did with California and Texas.
Go below the fold for more.
But it isn't just a routine case of shifting demographics affecting Arizona. Arizona is currently in the 'sweet spot' that sociologists who studied race relations in the 1960s called a "tipping point" leading to a rise in racial tensions, white flight and other problems. At the 20-25 percent threshold whites in a previously all-white neighborhood begin 'fleeing' and few new whites replace them. That is also the threshold for 'white flight' from a city or town. It's also the point where tensions at a school or other setting first 'blow up.'
Is it that simple for Arizona? Well, New Mexico is next door and their Hispanics population is well north of the tipping point. Hispanics are 45% of New Mexico's population, their Governor is Hispanic and they aren't passing stringent illegal immigrant laws. Hispanics are 36% of Texas' population and 37% of California's population. Colorado isn't on the border, but Republicans in that state are making noises about a a similar bill to Arizona's and the Hispanic population there is 20%.
When a school, a neighborhood or even a city hits a tipping point, whites can flee. What we're learning at the state-level in Arizona is that a kind of reverse fleeing. The majority group is saying to a minority group 'we're not leaving, you are.'
There are a ton of problems with a policy like this, and one of them is that it allows all kinds of economic mischief. In South Africa's bad old days, for example, they had an even more draconian pass law system than Arizona has set up. Blacks who went off the reservation without a proper pass in South Africa were punished with forced labor in the diamond mines. Arizona has not set up anything quite that feudal, but if the state keep this unconstitutional law on the books here are a couple of things that would probably happen. In bad times (like now) wages for illegal labor would go down because business and homeowners who still needed workers would have a stronger 'whip hand' over illegal migrants. In good times, wages would still be suppressed, but the state would not enforce the law as vigorously.
Arizona's state motto is God Enriches. Ummm, I don't think God should be blamed for this