MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough Calls Arizona Immigration Law Totalitarian

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:02 pm

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Legal Hispanics in Arizona Are Having Their Rights Trampled.

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Republican Joe Scarborough put the new Arizona immigration law into context by talking about the totalitarian nature of this law. He said, “For every 10 illegal immigrants that they catch and send back home, what about that one American citizen who is a Hispanic who now every time that he goes to the grocery store has to be worried that he is going to be stopped…”

Here is the video courtesy of Media Matters:

Scarborough said, “You know the thing is there are so many politicians who have looked the other way while illegal immigrants have flooded into this country, and it has become a great crisis in this country, but the idea that police officers can stop anybody and ask for papers to see who they are seems really frightening to me… Why don’t you check illegal immigrants at the place where it matters? Why don’t you check at work, because right now it’s pretty obvious where illegal immigrants are, but to stop people on the streets where they aren’t committing a crime, again this seems to be a great overreach.”

He later added, “And I’ve got to say, For every 10 illegal immigrants that they catch and send back home, what about that one American citizen who is a Hispanic who now every time that he goes to the grocery store has to be worried that he is going to be stopped by a police office because he is driving while being a person of color…and again, I was against the McCain/Kennedy bill, I called it amnesty because guess what it was amnesty. Anytime you tell 13 million people come to America, you broke the law, and we’re going to let you in, but to go the other direction, and say we’re going to stop all Americans who are Hispanic, that’s offensive. That is offensive.”

This law should be offensive to anyone who cares about personal liberty and freedom, no matter what color your skin color might be. The idea that this police can stop anyone of a certain race and demand papers is textbook totalitarian behavior. Scarborough is the first Republican that I have heard address the discrimination that American Hispanics are now going to be subjected to under this new law. The hypocrisy is that many of the same conservatives who protest for a smaller less involved government are in favor of this ultimate Big Brother behavior.

If you are a liberal who abhors discrimination, stand up. If you are a conservative who believes in smaller government with less involvement in your daily lives then you should be appalled by this law, because if it is allowed to stand, then legalized discrimination has a precedent. What is to stop a future a future local, state, or federal government from deciding that those who criticize the ruling party are also a threat and must carry papers? Anyone who thinks that this is simply a problem for Arizona Hispanics is being naïve. The Arizona law is too broad, and it represents an assault on the liberties of legal Hispanic American citizens. It is for this reason that this law must be protested, challenged, and struck down.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association