SUBMITTED BY Alvaro Huerta
What does the State of Arizona have in common with BP, the British global energy corporation? Well, let me count the ways.
First, both have been spewing toxins into America’s environment since late April. In the case of Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law an unconstitutional and racist measure (SB 1070), criminalizing undocumented workers and legalizing racial profiling against Latinos. As for BP, this corporate mammoth, in the spirit of the “drill-baby-drill,” caused the largest oil leak disaster since the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill more than two decades ago.
Secondly, both have been grossly inaccurate regarding their data to rationalize their claims. The supporters of Arizona’s immigration law argue that since undocumented workers account for the “rise of crime” in this state, the state government had no choice but to pass a law curtailing these so-called criminals. Yet, recent reports show that crime has declined in the desert state and the cheerleaders of this draconian law have yet to produce any legitimate data correlating immigrants with crime.
Thirdly, the actions of both the Arizona government and BP corporate leaders have caused more economic hardship for the residents of the already economically depressed regions. In the case of Arizona, the growing national boycotts against this financially struggling state have resulted in the loss of revenue (both current and future) that will further damage the fragile economy already affected by the housing crises, credit crises and overall current recession.
As a former constitutional law professor and, now, the most powerful person in the world, President Obama should deliver a legal viewpoint and moral condemnation of a law that goes back to the dark days of Jim Crow of legalized racism. This immigration law not only violates federal law, but also creates a new round of civil rights violations against a particular racial group: Latinos.
As for BP, the Obama administration has also been too slow regarding the out-of-control oil leak. From the start, Obama should’ve been on the ground to put pressure on BP and should’ve taken full control to fix the leak since the London-based corporation doesn’t appear to be capable of stopping it anytime.
In short, in order to stop racist laws and disastrous oil leaks from occurring in this country, the federal government, in conjunction with the public, needs to take more proactive and aggressive measures to prevent state governments and corporate officials from spewing pollutants into our environment, with short- and long-term disastrous costs.
Huerta is a Ph.D. candidate at the UC Berkeley Department of City and Regional Planning and a visiting scholar at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.