8 Nican Tlacah Arrested For Looking "Illegal"

LA VOZ DE AZTLAN EDITORIAL
http://www.aztlan.net/arrested_on_suspicion_of_being_illegal.htm
Los Angeles, Alta California
December 3, 2007

ARIZONA: Eight Latinos arrested "on SUSPICION of being illegal"




"Today they are coming for Latinos and very few people are speaking up. Who then will speak up when they come for you?"
-- Ernesto Cienfuegos 2007 --

The Arizona Republic Newspaper and the Associated Press reported today that Sheriff Joseph Arpaio of Maricopa County arrested eight Latinos on Saturday "on suspicion of being illegal." According to news reports, the eight Latinos arrested were in the vicinity of a Phoenix shopping mall where anti-immigration protests were taking place. The Latinos were not breaking any laws but were simply arrested on "suspicion" of violating immigration laws.

One of the greatest fears of Americans of Mexican descent is to be mistaken as an undocumented immigrant and "deported" based simply on one's cultural and ethnic characteristics. The deportation of US citizens to Mexico has occurred numerous times since the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. Many of the mistaken deportations have occurred on an individual basis but there have been at least two government organized deportations in mass that have resulted in thousands of US citizens of Mexican descent being deported

The first mass deportation called "The Mexican Repatriation" took place between 1929 and 1937 during the "Great Depression." An estimated 600,000 Mexicans and Mexican-Americans were deported. Approximately 60% of the people deported were children who were actually born in the US and others who were legal citizens. Because of the US economic depression, Mexicans were viewed as a burden on social services and as aliens who took jobs from Americans.

The second government organized mass deportation of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans took place in 1954 and was called "Operation Wetback." The purpose of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Operation Wetback" was to deport approximately 1.5 million undocumented immigrants from the southwestern United States. The operation began in California and Arizona. It involved over 1,000 Border Patrol agents and state and local police agencies. The operation consisted of aggressive police sweeps of Mexican-American neighborhoods, random stops and ID checks of "Mexican-looking" people. In numerous cases undocumented Mexican immigrants were deported along with their American-born children, who were by law U.S. citizens. Many US citizens of Mexican descent suffered arrests by police authorities simply on suspicion of being illegal.

Today, Sheriff Arpaio of Arizona is conducting his own personal "Operation Wetback" in Phoenix. His arrest of eight Latinos on "suspicion of being illegal" is right out criminal and racist. What is going to happen to Sheriff Arpaio if all or some of the Latinos he arrested turn out to be legally in the US? What if all or some of those arrested turn out to be US citizens? Will the FBI arrest Sheriff Arpaio for hate crimes?