On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of Arizona v. United States. It’s the challenge to Arizona’s harsh “show me your papers” anti-immigrant law, SB 1070, brought by the Obama administration.
As Jed Lewison writes today at DailyKos, Mitt Romney is a supporter of SB 1070, which he views as a “model” for the nation — and if he were President, he would drop the lawsuit against SB 1070 and other anti-immigrant laws.
Today, Fernanda Santos at the New York Times provides some insight into the kind of society Mitt Romney would wreak upon immigrants in the United States:
Miguel Guerra has a wife, three children and a house. He has a car, but no driver’s license. He has business cards, but no immigration papers. He got into the habit of keeping his cellphone close when he drives so he can quickly call a cousin, the only legal resident among his relatives in the United States, in case he gets pulled over.
If he does not call again within an hour, he said, the cousin knows to look for him at the county jail.
Mr. Guerra, 36, moved here 13 years ago, before Arizona made illegal immigrants a target, turning once mundane tasks like driving to the grocery into a roll of the dice. Protesting the state’s strict immigration laws “hasn’t changed anything,” he said, so one recent evening he took a more pragmatic approach. He filled out an affidavit designating his cousin to care for his children, his money, his house and everything else he owns should he be arrested.
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week challenging the most controversial sections of an Arizona immigration law, known as SB 1070, which seeks to push illegal immigrants out of the state by making it hard for them to go about their lives and earn a living. Lower courts have prevented many of the most controversial provisions from taking effect, but that has not stopped a chill from seeping into the bones of the state’s immigrants.
“Preparing for the worst is our best defense these days,” Mr. Guerra said.
Mitt Romney sees this a model for America.
