“Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free…”

By Carlita Campos
For Carlita's Way

That is the quote that is touted by the Statue of Liberty. However today those words no longer ring true, because in the United States the powers that be are trying to close the gates to the huddled masses who yearn for free air. Not to mention revoking the rights of the tired and poor who are already here.

Last year Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law immigration bill SB 1070 which at it core would require all immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question suspected illegal’s as well as detain anyone who cannot prove they are in the country legally. At the present time the White House is contesting the law in the courts for its Constitutionality so it has yet to take effect.

However this law reminds me of the new hit NBC show The Cape only backwards. In the fictional city of Palm City the evil Ark Corporation is trying to control every aspect of the city by first taking over it’s police force and then its prison system thus creating a complete Police State. And know it or not Arizona’s governor has many connections to private prison companies. And according to Corrections Corporation of America, executives believe immigrant detention is their next big market. And it was in the board room that these same executives decided to make their idea into a bill to be presented to Arizona’s congress to be voted on so that Jan Brewer could make it a law. I can only assume that privatizing the police force is next. And let us not forget other cities have already privatized the Fire Departments.

But unlike a fictional TV show where they have the superhero The Cape to protect them from such a dastardly fate here in the real world a Police State could cause irrefutable damage with no one to protect us. And mind you not to just Arizonians but to all people in the United States of color or anything “they” deem unworthy of sharing in what was the greatness of the country.

Imagine, you’re a resident of any Martin Luther King Blvd/Ave/Parkway in the country who has no family to speak of and you’re hanging on the corner hollerin’ at friends using your street language (ebonics) to communicate. Then some cop rolls up on you and says, “I heard you talking with these guys and it didn’t sound like English to me. Can I see your papers?” And instantly you’re thinking what papers? Because remember you were born in “da hood” and not the barrio so papers were irrelevant. But now they’re needed because some eavesdropping cop with absolute power didn’t understand/recognize your speech when you “axed” your dude a question. And because you have no proof of residency other than a drivers license or state ID you’re arrested and placed in a private jail where you are forced to perform menial labor for free until you can prove you’re from MLK Blvd.

And OK imagine you’re not from da hood or the barrio but you’re not American born and you're at your favorite little coffee spot chatting with some other not born in the USA friends in your native tongue and two donut eating cops walk in and overhear your conversation. And because no one is blue eyed or blonde immediately they demand that the entire group show them your papers. And like the folks from da hood you’re thinking what papers? But when you share this with cops they notice your accent and say, “Here in the USA unless you can prove you’re here legally we’re gonna have to lock you up.” And immediately they take you and the rest of your foreign language speaking cabal off to prison.

My question is this, is this the type of country you want to live in? A country that has the right to detain you because they think you don’t belong? Who is to say who belongs, especially when the native American's look more like Mexican's than the European founding fathers. And if that is the type of country you wish to reside in all I can say is I’m glad I have living elsewhere options because gone are the days of, “America America God shed its grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”