Florida’s Proposed New Immigration Law – How the Proposed Law is a Threat to Equality

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After passage of tougher immigration laws in Arizona, 20 states including Florida have proposed similar laws. The full text of the proposed law explicitly prohibits discrimination based on race, however, because the new law would require law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of any person that they suspect is in the U.S. illegally, racial profiling is an obvious issue. Specifically, the new law would require law officers to check people who appear to be foreigners, and who are stopped for any reason, for green cards or visas unless they are Canadian or show a passport from a visa waiver country (check the list of 36 visa waiver countries below). Since most people from these countries are white, issues of racial profiling surely do exist. Not only that, but sometimes Canadians need visas and are in fact here illegally, for example if they are in the U.S. for certain business purposes without obtaining the required visa. Sometimes a person showing a passport from a visa waiver country may be present in the U.S. illegally if they have not obtained the required waiver, in compliance with U.S. immigration laws. So the presumption that people from Canada or visa waiver counties are in the US legally should be struck from the proposed law and their status should be verified just like everyone else to avoid imposing more strict requirements only on non-white persons. Otherwise the law should be deemed to be unconstitutional. The U.S. should stick to its principles of racial equality in matters of immigration to the same extent that it strives to do so in other aspects of life.

List of the 36 Visa Waiver Countries

AndorraHungary New Zealand Australia Iceland Norway Austria Ireland Portugal Belgium Italy San Marino Brunei Japan Singapore Czech Republic Latvia Slovakia Denmark Liechtenstein Slovenia Estonia Lithuania South Korea Finland Luxembourg Spain France Malta Sweden Germany Monaco Switzerland Greece The Netherlands United Kingdom

Reference: http://travel.state.gov/

Persons Who Would Not Be Subject To Immigration Status Checks By Law Enforcement Officers

Visa Waiver Country Nationals

Citizens of the participating Visa Waiver Countries may enter the United States under the Visa Waiver Program if they obtain authorization through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). The applicant’s passport must be valid for at least 6 months pas the date of entry into the U.S. and the stay must be for less than 90 days. People who enter the U.S. under ESTA may visit Mexico or Canada and then return to the U.S. without having to obtain authorization again. Visitors form some participating countries must obtain a visa instead of using ESTA if they do not have an electronic passport and the same applies if they are entering the U.S. on a private carrier instead of on an approved commercial carrier.

Canadians and Bermudans

Visitors from The British Overseas territories of Bermuda do not require a visa to enter the U.S. for visits of less than 180 days and Canadian visitors do not require non-immigrant visas to enter the United States. Citizens and permanent residents of Mexico are required to present a Border Crossing Card which is an enhanced B1/B2 visa as permitted under Section 104 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA).