You have to read this article on the corporate interests behind Arizona’s draconian new immigration law. When the law was passed, I thought that it was a typical example of right wing reactionaries passing a law that persecutes a minority group that they hate. And of course, hatred of undocumented immigrants and the influence of Mexican culture on America was the political fuel that enabled the law to be passed. But of course there’s more to it. The law was conceived by lobbyists for the private prison industry. They want to build more prisons and charge the government for housing inmates, and so what they need is more potential prisoners, and illegal immigration is one source of such prisoners. So they worked with the Arizona legislature to make it happen. This is what evil looks like.
November 1, 2010 at 11:02 am
I’m sure the same corporate interests are part of the reason the drug war has gone on for 50 years.
November 1, 2010 at 7:59 pm
keithl, I think the “corporate” part of interests there cheapens the overall dynamic. Out here in California the prison guards union makes no bones about their stance on such things, and individual police departments understand that their size (and continued employment) depends on having something to fight.