Arizona is often in the news because of their tough immigration policies. In the most recent reports, USA Today writes that e-mails discovered by the American Civil Liberties Union prove that the Arizona’s “show me your papers” provision isn’t fair. They say that a former legislator sent and forwarded e-mails that prove that the entire immigration statute is racially motivated and targets Hispanics. The ex-Senator Russell Pearce, along with his supporters, have allegedly embraced discriminatory views and actions. They have attempted to mask the fact that they are encouraging racial profiling in the state. Russell, who is the architect for the strict laws, says that there was no discriminatory action intended in his statutes. He told The Associated Press that he believes that civil liberties groups are trying to portray him as racist. Instead, he said that his laws actually include protections against racial profiling. He also shrugged off the allegations by saying that he has been accused of racism for years and doesn’t expect that the allegations will cease any time soon. Yet the digital world shows otherwise. A court motion cites that dozens of the racially slurred e-mails were sent back and forth from Pearce’s inbox.

Many of the e-mails talked about the costs and troubles associated with illegal immigration, and explained that more immigration is equivalent to higher crime rates and a demand for public services. He explained that tax payers have to fund these illegal immigrants’ educations and health care. Pearce has talked about these issues in public, and says that he just wants America to enforce strict laws against illegal immigration. In his arguments he insists that something illegal should be dealt with seriously. The ex-senator also says that the US is facing an overwhelming unlawful invasion. According to his e-mails, the Hispanics who are coming into the country from Mexico are corrupting America’s unified national language, and “disrespecting the culture, society, and country.” He often dwells on the issue of Spanish infiltrating and diminishing the English language in the U.S. In other e-mails, Pearce has allegedly written or endorsed similes which compare Hispanics to lepers or jihadists. These offensive discussions are claims that Pearce says are “right on.” Arizona’s “papers” law makes it so that any police officer can demand to see a person’s immigration papers if they are caught with any sort of time in Arizona. The measure has sent illegal immigrants out of the state at an alarming rate.

Admittedly, there are not a lot of immigrants in the U.S. from Mexico at this time. More Asians have immigrated into the country than Hispanics as of now, and the rate in people moving back to Mexico has surpassed the rate at which they are moving in. On June 25^th, Arizona’s “papers” measure went to the courts, because the Obama Administration said that it was not authoritative over federal law. The Supreme Court rejected the Obama Administrations argument, and Arizona has kept their strict measures intact. Civil rights groups now want to argue for the immigrants, saying that Arizona’s laws, with the proof of e-mail, are supporting racial profiling and unreasonably long detentions. A USC Davis Law professor told USA Today that the courts are generally not interested in e-mails, and that Pearce’s writings probably won’t spark another court debate any time soon. However, immigrants can hope that advocates for their cause will come up against the Arizona government and fight to revoke the paper law. Talk to an immigration attorney in your area today if you have been arrested because of this harsh Arizona rule.