Dear Editor,

Mr. Markel (“Decapitation: coming soon to a city near you,” Sept. 3) attempts to defend the anti-immigration law in Arizona by mentioning several horrific events. However, all of them occur in Mexico, and there is no evidence that violence is spilling across the border. According to the FBI, violent crime has actually been falling in Arizona for the last several years, despite more illegal immigrants. The vast majority of illegal immigrants are not working for the drug cartels—in fact, many of them are coming here to escape the violence in Mexico. They are not going to be the ones starting the “impending massacres of our own citizens,” which Markel grandiosely claims will occur. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer claimed that immigrants beheaded people, but none of the state’s coroners could find any evidence. Conservative bloggers claimed the Los Zetas gang had crossed the border and taken over ranches in Arizona in an act of war. This was a completely fabricated event. Even Phoenix’s mayor claimed the law could even make the state less safe by forcing officers to focus on illegal immigrants rather than on violent crime and illegal drugs.

The Left, contrary to popular belief, is not for illegal immigration. We just don’t like to see immigrants treated as if they weren’t human. We would prefer to tackle the problem through going after the employers who choose to hire illegal immigrants. Additionally, Markel criticizes what he perceives as the Obama administration’s weakness, but more people have been deported under Obama than Bush.

The current Arizona law makes it far too easy to use racial profiling. This treats legal Latinos as if they are second-class citizens. Blond, blue-eyed illegals do exist, but I highly doubt anyone is going to check their papers. It concerns me that the Arizona Treasurer has called for internment camps, and it scares me that a neo-Nazi and racist, J.T. Ready, is allowed to patrol the border with semi-automatic rifles. I have to agree with Benjamin Franklin here: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

-Kevin Lin
Class of 2013