I’m calling you out, Arizona. This tantrum you’re throwing to do what is “”just”” for your terrain, despite federal regulations, sounds too revolutionary for me and is definitely causing a ruckus. Cut it out.

I’m talking about that one bill you passed last year that caused all this mess about whether or not states should have the right to create their own immigration laws. I’m talking about B.S. 1070. Whoops, I’m sorry, I meant S.B. 1070.

As of this week, our country’s most controversially, ill-versed, politically selfish, ridiculous immigration bill, S.B. 1070, was blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals after Gov. Jan Brewer attempted to appeal a federal judge’s injunction against it on July 29, 2010.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton’s injunction was supported by the Ninth Circuit, which found that, “”there is sufficient evidence to believe that the blocked provisions unconstitutionality infringe on the federal government’s exclusive power to make immigration laws,”” according to the Tucson Sentinel.  

The three-judge panel’s decision also stated that, “”By imposing mandatory obligations on state and local officers, Arizona interferes with the federal government’s authority to implement its priorities and strategies in law enforcement, turning Arizona officers into state-directed DHS (Department of Homeland Security) agents.””

The infringements they’re referring to deal with how police in Arizona will become your friendly neighborhood two-in-one cop/Border Patrol liaisons. Police officers would then have the ability to spot “”border crossers”” after taking magical resume-builder workshops on how to tell an undocumented Mexican from one with papers.

It sounded dumb then, and sounds even dumber now. Arizona has been made fun of for nearly an entire year. We’re that one state that does ridiculous things for ridiculous reasons. Instead of calling out the ridiculousness, though, most people within even the state itself simply stick their heads in the sand and pretend that it’ll just go away.

I know you probably wish it did. I know I do each day. But it shouldn’t be ignored. Especially right now.

We attend a university that students fled from due to this bill. We are now a university that is avoided by students across the world in fear of the political climate; “”fear”” being the key word. Whether you agree with the bill’s provisions or not, fear is never something we should be complacent with.

But no matter what our campus seems to do, the state that wants to declare itself capable of fixing a homeland security issue, nothing is granted in our favor.

Remember when UA President Robert Shelton came out with a memorandum on S.B. 1070 on April 29, 2010, that said, “”We intend to put in place whatever procedures are necessary to ensure their (international students, faculty and professional staff) safety and free movement on campus and in our community””? Or when the Associated Students of the University of Arizona shunned the bill with a resolution that is still the only one listed on the Senate Resolution page online?

Representatives throw words out to justify their support in moments when we needed to hear something from those we think have power. Then we get disillusioned by their prose, their stances and their professionalism and forget what it means to put words to action.

Don’t ever believe a campus can’t be politicized, because it’s too late for that now. We are in the center of what is revolutionary in America.

Instead of participating in existing state movements to protect communities from laws like S.B. 1070, we have campus representatives spitting out justifications for unjust laws. Don’t give me encouraging words and promises for “”implemented procedures”” to protect a community from fear-mongering state politicians. Give me visual reaffirmation. And I’ll apologize on behalf of Arizona for not listening to you ahead of time.

In the end, if a state can claim patriotism in the idea of seceding from a country that has done nothing to protect its borders, who’s to say a university can’t do the same? And hey, we live in Arizona, where anything is possible. Now, I’m not encouraging a Civil War style student outbreak. But I am encouraging one thing. That’s action.

— Elisa Meza is a junior studying English. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.