An article that expresses approximately how I have been feeling about this immigration debacle:
On the heels of all this comes Arizona's latest bout of insanity, a law requiring authorities to determine the legal status of anyone suspected of being undocumented. As a thinking person, I'm appalled by the law and the dark, chaotic forest I fear it's planted. But as an Arizonan, I'm just as taken aback by the national response to its passage...Cord Jefferson (via Kendall)
...From the New York Times to Raúl Grijalva, a Democratic congressman from Tucson, it seems that every liberal with a slight platform (and Shakira) is asking Americans to stop buying Arizonan goods, and to not travel there. The assumption is that what worked for MLK Day will work now.
But a boycott is exactly the opposite of what Arizona needs, at least in the long-term.
I've tried hard, to no avail, to think of any time in which calling a destitute population stupid and making it even poorer has effectively engendered in its people new ways of thinking. Indeed, a boycott might force Arizona legislators to overturn their new law–which 70 percent of voters supported, by the way–but I think it's likelier to just frustrate and further impoverish a whole lot of people who are already frustrated, broke, mad, jealous and increasingly worried that the East Coast is out to tell them how to live their lives. I'm not saying I have the key to unlock the Arizona of my dreams, but I can't believe the answer is calling its citizens unwashed meth-heads, canceling your reservations at its resorts (which employ illegal immigrants), or sapping even more money from its public schools (which educate illegal immigrants).
What's more, I wonder what good it is to commit one's progressive self to not visiting Arizona from now on. If this new immigration law is proof of anything, it's that more rational people are needed within Arizona's borders, regardless of their purpose or destination. In fact, if you really want to change Arizona, move there. Houses are damn cheap.