Misunderstanding Arizona

This morning on Mike & Mike in the morning on ESPN Radio the hosts discussed the non-attendance of several Major League baseball players from tomorrow’s all-star game and the reasons they won’t be participating. One reason given wasn’t accorded much validity because of a lack of players speaking out but it was something that has been mentioned before. This possible reason is Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, the infamous “immigration law”, thought to be a deterrent for some players as this year’s all-star game is being held in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ stadium.

This casual mention wouldn’t warrant much more than eye-rolling except for the utter disregard for the actual contents of the law as presented by the hosts. The way that the law was stated was as “Arizona’s immigration law”. Unfortunately the narrative about what and why SB 1070 is has been distorted to a point where the truth doesn’t matter. Mike & Mike weren’t particularly inflammatory, as many in the media typically are, using adjectives such as ‘harsh’ to describe the law, but they were still irresponsible.

Irresponsible because SB 1070 is not an Arizona immigration law, it does not set guidelines for whom from where may enter Arizona from other countries. It is a bill that follows United States federal immigration law, making federal offenses state offenses as well. There are many examples all over the country where what is a federal crime is also a state crime. To this point the federal government has proven ineffective in enforcing federal immigration law in Arizona and because of issues that their state has experienced because of heightened illegal immigration because of their proximity to the Mexican border, Arizona lawmakers decided to craft legislation empowering state law enforcement to implement federal laws within the state’s boundaries. Again, there are other state laws all over the country designed for the same purpose and as long as state laws follow federal laws without going beyond them, it is perfectly legal.

The hosts of the Mike & Mike show didn’t mean to misrepresent the Arizona law but they did. The media and opposing political narrative in regard to the law has been shaped to foster this misunderstanding. With it repeated over and over again it is not surprising that many simply don’t understand reality. Many of the professional athletes that have voiced disagreement with the assumption of the law come from different countries, most with stricter immigration laws than the United States. Opponents of the Arizona law prefer ignorance because then the false narrative will be accepted without question which leads to offhand comments accepting it as truth on a morning sports talk show. And we all suffer for it.