As a naturalized citizen of America, I already have received attitude from other people that I wasn't American. It is the sentiment that if you are not white, you must not be American. I have friends who are born here in the states, and still get questions like, "Where are you from?". I know that these types of questions are often innocent, but they do add to the attitude that only white Americans are considered U.S. citizens.
My issue with Arizona's law is that it only promotes racial profiling based upon the color of your skin. This in my opinion is unconstitutional and violates civil rights. To determine who looks like they are "legal" and who is not is completely ridiculous since they both look exactly the same. If I had to carry around my naturalization papers with me everywhere I went with the fear that at any time I could be questioned would be awful. That would make me feel like a second class citizen, and only create more boundaries within our country.
A friend pointed out that there is no such thing as an illegal human being. And based on the fact that our country relies heavily upon undocumented workers, I find it interesting that people in this country have such strong opinions in regards to them being here. First off, the jobs that many of these undocumented workers are doing are the jobs that no U.S. "citizen" would want to do. Not for the pay anyway. I have yet to see fellow citizens standing in line to pick fruit or work in a slaughter house for low pay and no benefits. Instead, I see them standing in the unemployment line waiting for their government hand out, complaining about their mortgage they cannot afford because they live out of their means.
