Today's public comments on Stonegarden at the County Supervisors Meeting included many of the fear-mongering cliches about migrants that are all too common among self-satisfied Americans whose hard-working ancestors violently appropriated this land. Phrases like, "I have been a Pima County resident for 30 years" prove to us that the ignoble truth about to be revealed about these invaders from the south carries legitimacy beyond personal anecdote. Little wonder then that our Sheriff confidently closes his statements by assuring us that because his son-in-law-to-be is himself an immigrant, we should trust that his deputies are not, in fact, aiding and abetting the federal deportation machine. Finally, between the principled two and the saber rattling two, the fifth supervisor holds to the naive belief that if we just put the right conditions on Stonegarden money, it can be something other than what it is: a snare woven of federal immigration enforcement priorities and the racism they legitimize.
Rob McLane
Downtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
