SB 1070 Sticker Wars! Part 2: Voices from the Right

There's been plenty of furor from all over the country about Arizona's new SB 1070 law. (In case you've been hiding under a rock somewhere, this legislation grants police officers the right to require individuals they suspect may be in this country illegally to provide identification.)

Clearly, however, there are those who support this law. Proponents of SB 1070 cite the serious strain being put on public services in the state of Arizona by the influx of illegal immigrants.The federal government estimates that Arizona has one of the fastest growing illegal immigrant populations in the country--nearly doubling from 330,000 in 2000 to 560,000 by 2008--comprising 8% of the adult population in the state at the time surveyed. As of 2007, the non-partisan Center for Immigration Studies estimated that illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children comprised one-fifth of those in the state of Arizona living in poverty, one-third of those without health insurance, and one out of six students in the state’s schools.

There are those who see SB 1070 as necessary in the face of federal inaction on the subject of illegal immigration--as in, if the government won't deal with this problem (or provide the funds to address the issues associated with it) then there's nothing for the states most affected to do but take matters into their own hands.

What you see here are just a few of the sticker designs that have come through Custom Sticker Makers in recent months in favor of SB1070.

SB 1070 Sticker Wars! Part 1: Root Concepts Takes on Human Rights

There's been plenty in the news recently about Arizona's SB 1070 immigration law. The law--intended to aid police in identifying and charging illegal immigrants--allows law-enforcement officers to require anyone they might "reasonably suspect" of being in the US illegally to show identifying papers.

Opposition to this bill has been widespread, leading groups as diverse as the American Immigration Lawyers Association to many Major League Baseball teams to join the now near-viral call to boycott Arizona. The bill is believed by many to infringe on the human rights of the citizens of Arizona (and those of Hispanic descent in particular) while clearing the way for state-sanctioned racial profiling.

Of course, there are two sides to every issue--and any hotly contested political topic eventually winds up being debated on the nation's bumpers. Towards that end, our sister company, Root Concepts, recently weighed in on the law with a new design: Repeal SB 1070--Respect Human Rights!

The design incorporates elements of the Arizona state flag, playing on a similar, non-political sticker expressing state pride, common throughout AZ. This makes it a sticker with a clear message: I love Arizona, but I don't support SB 1070.

Root Concepts founder and CEO Jeff Daverman reports, on the Root Concepts blog, "As long time Arizona residents, we thought it especially important to lend our voice in opposition to this unAmerican, unconstitutional law. Our opposition to Arizona SB 1070 comes primarily from the belief that every day this law is enforced the human rights of individuals living in this country will be violated. We believe this law allows law enforcement and those who support it to look at human beings (even if they are 'illegals') in a disconnecting, dehumanizing way."
Interested in the other side of the debate? Stay tuned for our next post, SB 1070 Sticker Wars, Part 2: Voices from the Right.