Jan Brewer seems poised and ready to strike once the Supreme Court renders it's decision regarding SB1070. Brewer just issued an executive order directing the AZPOST (Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board) to issue material previously given to officers enabling them to determine who might be in the country legally.
AZPOST, the agency that oversees police officers in Arizona was commenced 44 years ago under a Republican administration and according to their website their purpose in part is as follows:
The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board was created by an act of the 28th Arizona legislature on July 1, 1968 as the Arizona Law Enforcement Officer Advisory Council. The name was officially changed to its present form on July 17, 1994.
The Board was originally created to address the need for minimum peace officer selection, recruitment, retention and training standards, and to provide curriculum and standards for all certified law enforcement training facilities. The Board was also vested with the responsibility of administering the Peace Officer Training Fund.
So now AZPOST's job is to determine what an "illegal looks like". Well at least that's what Jan Brewer, Arizona's illustrious governor thinks their job is. While signing SB1070, Brewer was
asked by a reporter what she thought an "illegal immigrant" looked like. Brewer stuttered as she struggled to answer the very basic question this law hinges on. After all, if you're signing a law into effect that is meant to be used to chase down and prosecute undocumented immigrants, you should have a good grasp on what the person you're targeting looks like.
It's obvious that Jan Brewer never considered what an "illegal immigrant" looks like, just as she didn't consider the repercussions that signing this law into effect would create. Most importantly the loss of life it caused in the case of Juan Varela who was shot by his neighbor Gary Thomas Kelley just two weeks after the signing of SB1070 and a concealed weapon law. Kelley approached Varela asking him if he was on his way to, or returning from, a protest against SB1070. When Varela, a fifth generation American Citizen told him to leave him alone, Kelley pulled the concealed weapon from his waistband and brandished it while calling Varela a wetback and telling him to go back to Mexico. Kelley, viciously, and in a criminal act of hate, took Varela's life in front of Varela's seventy eight year old mother and his brother.
The effect of SB1070 on the State of Arizona has been great and diverse, from a mass exodus of lawful immigrants fearing harassment based on their prominent indigenous features, to the loss of jobs based on large businesses' refusal to set up shop in Arizona because of the hostile and polarized environment.
Jan Brewer did what was politically expedient and fruitful for her flailing political career. Brewer was not concerned about how Arizonan's might be affected, or to what extent they might take this law into their own hands.
As Brewer called Arizona's traditional immigrant migration, an invasion, as she fabricated stories of decapitated bodies and exclaimed, "it's out of control, it's simply out of control", border militia's like J.T. Ready's U.S. Border Guard were formed, and a get him, he's brown, mentality prevailed. You wouldn't believe how many times I've been told to go back to Mexico, even though I'm a light skinned Mexican Immigrant and a naturalized citizen who speaks perfect English.
Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson on Tuesday said, "The governor is optimistic that the heart of SB 1070 will be upheld and implemented," he went on to say, "The governor thought this was an appropriate time to revisit the issue and make sure Arizona law enforcement is as prepared as possible for partial or full implementation of the law."
So as we await the Supreme Court decision, AZPOST prepares to issue updated manuals on what an "illegal immigrant looks like" in order to facilitate police officers in determining who they should stop while driving brown.
There is of course someone else that's preparing for the onslaught of immigrant arrests. The detention officers who work in the private prison industry who make certain that those determined to be "illegal immigrants" are stuffed into cells like sardines in a can, ensuring that the private prison industry gets the maximum bang for their buck, after all they invested a great deal of money in these local politician's political campaigns to ensure they had the "right" people in place. That of course includes Governor Brewer's right hand man, top advisor Chuck Coughlin, the equivalent to George Bush's Karl Rove aka "The Architect".
Coughlin is a lobbyist for CCA (Corrections Corporation of America), CCA in turn is a giant in the private prison industry and a specialist in detention of brown skinned folks. The influence that Coughlin has on Brewer is astounding. On his own website, "High Ground Public Affairs", Coughlin brags about the influence he has had in putting the right people in place within the Brewer administration.
Coughlin's bio states:
Coughlin was asked to serve by then-Secretary of State Jan Brewer as the Chairman of her Transition Team when she became Governor in 2009. As the Transition Team Chairman, Coughlin assembled a diverse team of business and community leaders who recommended to the Governor her executive management team, senior policy positions, cabinet recommendations and coordinated her swearing in ceremonies. Coughlin chaired the search committee which recommended the succession of Secretary of State Ken Bennett into the role left vacant by Brewer’s ascension to the office of Governor.
The Supreme Court decision could come as early as Monday, and as the immigrant community prepares for the onslaught, Brewer's mouth and arms move about barking and signing executive orders, while Coughlin and the private prison industry pull her strings. Why does this remind me of the song from the sixties, "I'm your puppet."
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and W60 AM Radio, Los Angeles, San Diego and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen in Arizona. Carlos Galindo is President & Founder of The Immigrant Advocacy Foundation, a non-profit corporation in good standing.
http://www.carlosgalindo.com