Does neo-Nazi J.T. Ready (left) advise Russell Pearce (right) on new anti-Mexican legislation? Nah, but he might as well.
State Rep. Russell Pearce is all excuses when he forwards neo-Nazi National Alliance e-mails to his supporters, or is seen smiling and arm-in-arm with local neo-Nazis like J.T. Ready. It's either, "I didn't read the e-mail closely," or "I didn't know he was a neo-Nazi." But the proof, as they say, is in the puddin' head. And though in person, Pearce strikes you as having the I.Q. of a horse's hoof, he has been extremely effective in instituting his one-note-Johnny anti-brown plan for Arizona. Last year, it was employer sanctions, the law that's now driving businesses under, full steam ahead. This year, the evil gets a little more bold, a little more twisted.
For instance, Pearce has made known his intention to put a referendum on the November ballot that would prohibit hospitals from issuing birth certificates to children born of illegal parents. Never mind that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution clearly states, that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside," and that, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
The idea behind this proposal is something like a blood test for citizenship, something that we thankfully do not have in this country. But Pearce ain't letting the Constitution get in his way, nor human decency, nor shame.
Other Pearce-sponsored legislation in this session reveals a methodical goose-step towards the eradication of entire class of individuals from the population. The most dastardly of these is HB 2631, which amends current marriage law to require that a prospective bride and groom provide both their social security numbers and proof of citizenship before a marriage license is issued. So only Americans can wed Americans. What if your girlfriend is here on a student visa? Tough luck. How about if your boyfriend has a green card? No dice. Better look for a citizen, sweetie.
You'd have to be tone-deaf to history not to note a faint echo of the Nuremberg laws of Nazi Germany. Of course, in the case of the Nuremberg laws, there was no masquerading the nefarious intent of the regime, which was proactively and unabashedly racist. Take this excerpt from those laws dealing with marriage:
Marriages between Jews and citizens of German or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages concluded in defiance of this law are void, even if, for the purpose of evading this law, they were concluded abroad.
Agreed, we're dealing with entirely different contexts, and the Nuremberg laws were more directly focused on the Jewish people. But the similarity is near enough on the surface to send chills down one's spine.
There's more along these lines from Pearce, the Mesa muttonhead. And I do mean muttonhead, because after talking to the guy in person on more than one occasion, it's obvious he's not really smart enough to come up with this stuff on his own. I suspect that he's being advised by some entity such as F.A.I.R (the Federation for American Immigration Reform) or Judicial Watch, whose agendas dovetail with his, and who have a gazillion times more brainpower on their respective teams. That's not saying much, of course.
Take, for instance, HB 2625, which sanctions landlords if they knowingly rent to illegal aliens. Under this law, a landlord who does not check a renter's immigration status could receive a civil penalty of up to $250 for each day of violation. Effectively, if you rent to someone who is undocumented, the state will bankrupt you.
There's also HCR 2039, which seeks to put on the ballot a measure that will force the cops to check the immigration status of everyone they arrest. And if some city doesn't want their police acting like the local Gestapo and asking for everyone's papers like in some bad rerun of Hogan's Heroes, the state will cut off all state monies to that municipality's police force.
HCR 2039 also makes illegals illegal. See, there's already a Federal law, Title 8, section 1325 which makes it unlawful for an alien to enter the country illegally and elude detection. Basically, it's a minor offense, with a civil penalty of "at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry," or twice that amount "in the case of an alien who has been previously subject to a civil penalty under this subsection."
Under this Pearce proposal, if it's the alien's first offense, the local law enforcement agency can either turn the illegal over to the feds, or refer them for prosecution. First offense would be a class 1 misdemeanor. Second offense, a class 4 felony. And there are additional fines and assessments of court costs against those convicted. How they're going to get this out of some poor Mexican dude who crossed the desert to work for peanuts is beyond me.
In addition, there's HB 2045, which requires all "handymen" to be registered and in the country legally, even if the total cost of the work they're doing does not exceed $1000. That's an obvious swipe at the day-laborers and jornaleros, whose only crime is wanting to work.
Let's face it, in Arizona especially, the word "illegal" as applied to an individual is quickly becoming, under law, the de facto equivalent of "subhuman." Though, I would argue that the real lowbrow barbarism emanates from the likes of Pearce and others who labor to get such legislation passed.
