Show Me Your Papers: Turning the Tables
Put forth on July 27, 2010 by XicanoPwr
Posted in Immigration, borders
In less than 48 hours Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 (SB1070) will become law. That day, 1.4 million American Latinos living in Arizona and any passing through will become potential targets of racial profiling as SB1070 gives local law enforcement the jurisdiction to request proof of citizenship based solely on “suspicion.”
During the progressive conference Netroots Nation 2010 in Las Vegas, a group of immigration reform activists set up a mock Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) checkpoint outside the conference luncheon. Dressing as ICE agents, they stopped people suspected of possibly being an “Illegal European immigrants.” They were asked to produce the proper papers to be in the Americas before they were allowed in to hear the panel on Civil Rights in the Modern Era. Those people who could not produce identification had to take a retinal scan to enter the conference luncheon. The idea was inspired by the video Immigration Check Point by Josh on the Street.
The people from Sum of Change were there to film the “incident.”
Fellow bloggero, Carlos A. Quiroz, of Carlos in DC, interviewed two of the organizers, Lizbeth Mateo and Yahaira Carrillo of TheDreamisComing.com, where they provide the reasons for this action.
While this was just a mock checkpoint, the purpose of this exercise is to show how heightened penalties like these, imposed on the basis of ID-based status determinations, highlight the danger that any kind of checkpoint can be converted overnight from a “mere” ID check to an ID-based control point.
As of now, the fate of the bill is in the court’s hand. As of this writing, it is just a matter of hours the courts will decide the future of 1.4 million American Latinos living in Arizona.
Media and Blog Coverage:
Carlos in DC: Fake ICE Checkpoint at Netroots Nation 2010: Only White People Asked for IDs and Some Progressives got Offended [VIDEOS] Organizers Respond
Change.org: Immigration Enforcement Targets Illegal European Invaders in Vegas
Chicanisima: How can you tell if someone is “illegal?”
Daily Caller: Papers, Please: Activists jokingly demand white bloggers show ID before getting lunch
Daily Kos: ICE Checkpoint @ Netroots Nation…
Firedoglake’s La Figa: “Where Are Your Papers!?” Latino Activists Stage “Raid” at Netroots
Friends Committee on National Legislation: It’s Our Community: Immigration News
Immigration Law Link: Making a Mockery of Arizona Immigration Law
Joe.My.God.: PAPERS PLEASE: Immigration Checkpoint At Netroots Nation
L.A. Progressive: Turning the Tables at Netroots Nation: ICE Checkpoint Forces Participants to Think about Profiling
Sum of Change: ICE Checkpoint @ Netroots Nation…
Vivir Latino: ICE checkpoints at Net Roots Nation
Vivir Latino: More from the Netroots Nation 2010 Mock ICE Checkpoint : Considering Assault at the Fronteras
VozMob: Teatro Popular
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Tags: checkpoint, ICE, Immigration, Netroots Nation | 
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This is the blog of Edmundo "XicanoPwr" Rocha, a social worker, an activist, freelance writer and founder and editor of The Sanctuary. My interests include: immigration reform, critical race theory and it's interaction with equality/inequality and freedom/oppression as they relate to the experiences of people of color in the Americas.
Para Justicia y Libertad is a Latino-centered political blog focusing on the humanistic perspective of politics, history, and society as they relate to the Latina/o community throughout Texas and the United States.
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