Arizona Immigration Law
In 2010, Arizona Senate had passed a very strict immigration law titled sb 1070. It included giving the authorities the right and duty to pull over or question anyone who they had reason to suspect to be an illegal immigrant. No one appreciated the new law, not even President Obama. He had criticized the bill even before Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer had signed it. Obama had said, "The Arizona law threatened to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as America, as well as trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe." Obama did not appreciate this law and wasn't going to hide it. Pulling someone over because they look like an immigrant was only half of the law. If they made the failure to not carry their immigration documents the police had permission to detain them for being in the country illegally, even if you were a legal U.S. citizen. When researching 2010 cartoons there were many cartoons that pertained to the Arizona State immigration law.
The cartoon above shows a Sheriff and the Governor of Arizona saying, "well it's worth a try!" What they have done is put signs all along the Arizona and Mexico border with the words "Boycott Arizona," which is trying to influence Mexicans to rebel against Arizona. In the Los Angeles Times it says, "Pressure continued to mount against Arizona's tough new immigration law, with the Obama administration considering a legal challenge and political leaders calling for economic boycotts." Economic boycotts are a withdrawal or withholding of economic cooperation in the form of buying, selling, or handling of goods or services, often accompanied by efforts to induce others to do likewise. It may be practiced on local, regional, national, or international levels. Basically what that's saying is that different states/associations/businesses/organizations wouldn't want to buy from them and didn't want to travel there. When Arizona has no business they have no revenue. When California had heard about this new law they wanted to boycott Arizona, because they felt that it was wrong to be "racial profiling" the people of Arizona. Janice Hahn in the Los Angeles Times says, "When people are asked to show their papers, it brings back memories of Nazi Germany." That quote from Hahn brings us to the next cartoon that was drawn by Margulies.
In this cartoon Magulies has drawn Hitler with the state of Arizona as his mustache. He is comparing Arizona's new immigration law with Nazi Germany. This cartoon is leading the viewers to believe that Arizona's immigration law is too harsh and that they need to be more lenient with illegal immigrants. The Early Show co-host Harry Smith was interviewing Republican Congressman J.D. Hayworth on the new immigration law and he asked: "Some people would contend that this law in Arizona is racist in nature. Some have equated it even with Jews having to carry identification during Nazi Germany. How do you respond to that?" Hayworth said that this was absurd and it was an "overblown rhetoric." Hayworth went on to try and explain Arizona's new law to make it look like it wasn't racial profiling and that it was a good solid immigration law. Democratic Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez said, "People want to think that if we pass harsh laws, they're just going to go away. That's not going to happen." Everyone thought that Gutierrez had a good point; just because there is a law that does not allow illegal immigrants to be in the U.S., it doesn't mean that these immigrants are going to pick up their stuff and head back to their country just like that. Many believe that Arizona's law was a lot like Nazi Germany, but were they going too far as to say something like that? Some may think so, and some may not.
This cartoon is showing a torn up wall with "Border Security" written all across it. It then shows illegal immigrants crossing the wall while Obama has his eyes closed. It is basically saying, "Obama never failed because he refused to see the problem." How I interpreted this cartoon is that the free men are speaking out against Obama's immigration policies as a "do nothing" administration. According to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform on Barack Obamas website, it says that there has been many things that the administration has done to help the immigration problem. They have made the enforcement smarter, more effective, and reflective of our values, as well as addressing problems in the detention system to improve accountability and safety. The President has made efforts to increase pressure on illegal trafficking organizations, which resulted in lowered average crime statistics in states along the Southwest border, and reduced illegal immigration into the United States.
