And another shoe drops. I applaud Canada's decision; this bigoted nonsense in Arizona needs to end. This is the third story in as many days to paint Arizona in a poor light for its intolerance.

In the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement the state of Mississippi epitomized the discrimination, prejudice and xenophobia which was still rampant in the American South 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. And 50 years later that state is still trying to repair its disgraceful image, imprinted in the minds of the American people by what occurred in Mississippi during that time.

The state of Arizona seems hell-bent on painting itself as the Mississippi of the 21st Century, the epitome of disgraceful discrimination, prejudice and xenophobia renewed; this time directed at those whom have made the mistake of appearing to be Hispanic on Arizona soil.

And just like Mississippi, I suspect in another 50 years Arizona too will still be trying to repair the damage to its image.

I have no doubt that Arizona is ALSO populated by good, tolerant and compassionate people. It is time for all of those good people to stand up as Canada has just done, to the zealous xenophobes and bigots whom are now speaking for Arizona, and say to them ... "Enough! No more of this! Your hatred is not welcome here!"

So, "well done", Canada. And you might want to think about strengthening your OWN border patrols if any of the current GOP candidates should become President of the United States. Decent, tolerant and compassionate Americans will be fleeing North in droves to escape the hatred on the Right.

"All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing." ~Edmund Burke

You seem to misunderstand the difference between the racial bigotry against American peoples (blacks), as opposed to the racial profiling of illegal immigrants (Latinos at the Lanino border illegally in America). That's all.

It's as good a time as any to invade Canada. They would never suspect it.

Makes more sense than Syria....Canada has booty to plunder!

BC would become North Washington State. Oil rich Alberta would be Texas Minor.

We could call Toronto 'New Detroit' and nuke old Detroit.

@fishin4whatever Actually, no we're not. You're the one who doesn't seem to understand that there is no difference between racial bigotry and racial profiling.

I can prove it: Not all Latinos are illegal immigrants who crossed at the Mexican (not "Lanino" [sic]) border. Therefore, targetting someone for being (or simply looking) Latino is a form of racial discrimination. Last time I checked, racial discrimination falls under the category of racial bigotry. Therefore, racial profiling == racial bigotry.

If they are legal then they shouldn't mind showing their legal ID, you know the same thing we had to do coming back from Canada when we drove home from Alaska.

If they are legal then they shouldn't mind showing their legal ID, you know the same thing we had to do coming back from Canada when we drove home from Alaska.

fishin, ask the many Mexican Americans (whose ancestors were living in what is now the Southwest and west coast of the US hundreds and thousands of years before the Anglos and other Europeans took over that part of the continent) who have faced hassles and been forced to prove that they are citizens because of the way they looked. That is racism.

'fishin4funthenrelease-2248952' wrote:

"You seem to misunderstand the difference between the racial bigotry against American peoples (blacks), as opposed to the racial profiling of illegal immigrants (Latinos at the Lanino border illegally in America). That's all."

REPLY: 'fishin', your post is just SO wrong on SO many levels!

First you seem to be arguing that some racial bigotry is bad, while other racial bigotry is good. That's an interesting argument. Care to try to get yourself out of that hole, or just continue digging?

And, by the way, for your information neither "Hispanic" nor "Latino" refers to a race, as a person of Latino/Hispanic ethnicity can be of any race. Like non-Latinos, a Latino can be of any race or combination of races: White/Caucasian, Black/African American, Asian, Native American, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander American, or two or more races. You would know that if your own prejudices were not clouding your thinking.

"Profiling", therefore is based upon the purely subjective and non-specific perceptions of one individual, toward another. That subjectivity is why it is so wrong, and so dangerous to American equal protections and social justice.

'fishin', bigotry is bigotry is bigotry. You cite a 'distinction', without one iota of 'difference'.

Racists, bigots and xenophobes seem to have difficulty grasping that their own intolerances and hatreds are no different, nor better founded, than another's intolerances and hatreds.

Oh please, Canada not only strictly enforces immigration laws, citizenship can be bought if you have enough money ("Hongcouver"). Stop with the "pious baloney" and encourage the US to go after the companies the way Canada does for hiring illegals.

@Kris Craig.... Bigotry is the dislike/hatred of someone/group/race due to a characteristic of that person/group/race being percieved as inferior. Discrimination is the desire to not interact/integrate with someone/group/race due to a characteristic of that someone/group/race being percieved as different.

@Homesick... Why don't you ask the American and Aztec Indians (who occupied what is Mexico and the American Southwest today, for hundreds and thousands of years before the Spanish took over that part of the continent) how they feel about not being given the chance to survive? Or ask the people the Indians took the land from. How far back do you want to go?

@Robert You are correct, Latino, Hispanic and Mexican are not races. However, for your information, "illegal alien" is not a race either. So to claim that targeting illegal aliens is racial profiling is assinine. People in Arizona are not intolerant of Latinos/Hispanics. They are intolerant of people who break the law and people like you who support and want to reward illegal activity.

Until the three of you live here and have to deal with the problems massive illegal immigration is creating for our schools, hospitals, law enforcement and social services your opinions are uninformed and therefore worthless.

I have lived in Arizona several times over the decades and always found it to have racial bias to some extent while using the law as excuses. The Martin Luther King holiday is a good example. The legislators (R)would not approve a holiday for King saying the state wouldn't allow a paid holiday. When Governor Babbit (D)left office he used his governorship to create the holiday against the wishes of the legislators.

Ev Mecham(R) the next governor's first order of business was to cancel the holiday. Citing this was the legislators wishes. Arizona lost millions in business opportunities, and while there was a "legitimate" legal reason it sure looked bad to everyone else. In other words, you may not care, but it will cost your state, just as the Canadians have just canceled others will not want to associate themselves with this as well.

I have lived in AZ for 2 decades and know many mexicans who have no problem showing their ID just like any other Arizonan when asked. This is not an issue with anyone who has taken the time to come here legally.

With profiling are you people insane think about it everyone profiles to some degree. Yes its not fair, but everyone does it, and sorry if im a cop and i see a truck full of people (here they dont have to be in the front of the truck) and they are driving dangerously yes ima pull em over and ask for their ID like i would everyone else i stop. Dont tell me no one has been in a car with someone else driving bad and asked to see your ID as well even though it was not you who was pulled over. this is just stupid people think about it.

@dmac Umm actually, those are not the correct definitions for those words. You seem to be arbitrarily narrowing them in order to suit your argument.

Here's how each word is actually defined

bigotry (n) : the attitudes, behaviour, or way of thinking of a bigot; prejudice; intolerance

(Collins English Dictionary, 2009)

discrimination (n) : treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit

(Random House Dictionary, 2012)

So, as you can see, this qualifies as bigotry because targetting a person for his/her race, based upon an irrational bias in which people of that race are perceived to be criminals, is a form of prejudice.

This also qualifies as discrimination because it is making a distinction against an individual based on his/her race (i.e. class/category) rather than the person's individual merit.

As for your response to Robert, the premise of your argument is incorrect. You're basically arguing that it's not racial profiling because police are targetting illegal immigrants, not hispanics. This is inaccurate. Police are targetting hispanics directly because they're hispanic. Unless it is your contention that every single hispanic person is an illegal immigrant, then you cannot draw an equivalence between the two.

Here's the proof: It's probably reasonable to assume that the hispanics being targetted by police in Arizona are not wearing signs that say, "I am an illegal immigrant." It's also safe to assume that illegal immigrants don't have radically different driving and walking styles than legal citizens. Therefore, when a police officer pulls over a hispanic person driving to the store on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant, there is no logical basis upon which this suspicion can possibly be made. The only characteristic shared is the person's skin color (i.e. race).

Therefore, the police couldn't possibly be targetting illegal immigrants because, at least in most cases, there's no way for a police officer to have reasonable suspicion that a person is here illegally prior to that person being stopped and/or searched, at which time the profiling has already taken place. That just leaves us with race. Ergo, racial profiling.

'dmac225' wrote:

"... for your information, "illegal alien" is not a race either. So to claim that targeting illegal aliens is racial profiling is assinine. People in Arizona are not intolerant of Latinos/Hispanics. They are intolerant of people who break the law and people like you who support and want to reward illegal activity.

REPLY: 'dmac' your post is off-base and ascribes to me a set of statements and impications I did not make, and motivations which you cannot possible know based upon my post. Putting words in another's mouth and drawing conclusions without supportive evidence is intellectually "getting out over your skis."

I did not say that "illegal alien" is a race, so why do you suggest I did? Your point falls flat.

And I did not "claim that targeting illegal aliens is racial profiling", so for you to state that I did is dishonest, and to use your own word, "assinine."

And your statement, directed at me "people like you who support and want to reward illegal activity", is most innapropriate and unacceptable. You should apologise. I have never argued for such a thing or anything close in my entire 59 years of life!

So why don't you address what people actually say and what they actually write -- and challenge those words on their merits, if you disagree -- rather than ascribing to another's words and their expressed thoughts ....your own interpretations and determinations of what you believe they actually meant to say and write?

I can speak (and write) for myself. You can speak (and write) for yourself. You don't have the right to speak for me, or to tell me what I mean.

Illegal Criminal Alien who violates the law to enter a country is an action, just like a thief who breaks into a house to steal becomes a burglar. Its not a race, its a crime.

Under past existing law states left the enforcement of detection and capture up to Border Patrol. If a state officer came into contact with any illegal aliens they would detain them temporarily and notify Border Patrol and then stay there until Border Patrol arrived to take them into custody.

Legally a state officer had no lawful statute to arrest and move a person unless a state law was violated. With time Border Patrol became to busy to respond to state officer requests, the state officer contacts increased and by law a detention is temprary (like a car stop) and lasts only 20-30 minutes before the courts feel it is an arrest. State officers increasingly were forced to release illegals from these stops and many of them went on to commit crimes in the state.

Its sad when a person commits a crime and you have to tell the victim the police knew he was illegal and also had them stopped earlier but had to release and wave at them as they left.

The new law is not a race based law, it does not target any one section of people. What it does is make being in the state of Arizona as an illegal alien a state crime like tresspass so state officers can now arrest and detain or transport to a Border Patrol office. Now state officers have jurisdiction to deal with the ever increasing problem.

I myself have been involved with this. I would find groups of illegals cutting my fences, trashing parts of my property, stealing and vandalizing and when I called the Sheriff of Coshise County they would not even respond but advise me to contact Border Patrol. Border Patrol would tell me they were busy and would send someone as soon as they could, which might be minutes or days later.

Its frustrating when you call for assistance and everyone passes the buck over a jurisdiction issue. Now the Sheriff comes fast, detains/checks/arrests and transports them straight to the Border Patrol Detention unless any state charges are pressed.

Anyone who makes this a race issue or political issue is either misinformed or plain retarded. Its a CRIME issue.

@Azrancher Actually, no it's not. It's a human rights issue. The overwhelming majority of the people crossing the border illegally have no prior criminal records. When they come here, most of them don't engage in human or drug trafficking. They don't go around stealing or robbing banks. They're just normal people like you and me, the only difference being that they weren't fortunate enough to have been born here.

So let's call these people what they really are: Refugees. Economic refugees, to be precise. Why do you think these people, who are otherwise average and law-abiding, are risking arrest and even death by crossing through miles of scorching desert to get across the border? Why do you think they're willing to work in deplorable conditions for pennies on the dollar when they do get here? If this is some sort of criminal scheme, then it's certainly not a very good one. Think about it: How desperate would you have to be in order to go to all this trouble just so you can earn a measly 50 cents a day working in the hot sun for 14 hours straight?

The reason is simple: They have no other choice. If they stay in Mexico, they'll die. Maybe it'll be from starvation. Maybe it'll be from cancer and other medical complications resulting from the tons of toxic waste that U.S. corporations dump into their remote villages under the umbrella of NAFTA. Maybe it'll be at the hands of a drug gang seeking ransom.

In China, North Koreans stream across the border to escape the conditions there. China regards them as criminals. We regard them as refugees. People immigrating illegally from Mexico are no different.

People generally don't want to leave their homes, villages, friends, and family in order to live in a new, strange land where people don't even speak their language for the most part. But they're desperate. Given the choice between violating U.S. immigration law or condemning themselves and their families to death, they choose the former. Are you saying that, if you were forced to choose, you would allow your family to die rather than violate Canadian immigration law? If not, then wouldn't that make you a criminal? Would you be ok with Canadians comparing you to burglars and thieves?

It is not uncommon for refugees to violate border laws. It's not because they want to. It's because they have no other choice, except to die.

We can have a debate about whether or not we can afford as a country to support all of Mexico's indigant citizens. But let's not justify our actions by dismissing these desperate refugees as common criminals. I think it's time for people like you to have a reality check. We may or may not be able to accommodate these people. But let's not kid ourselves by characterizing them as criminals. Yes, they're technically violating the law, but that's because they're refugees. International law does recognize this concept, and a reasonable argument could be made that a refugee has a basic human right to survive that supercedes a country's immigration laws. Therefore, from this larger precedent, it would not be accurate to refer to these people as criminals if the only unlawful act they committed was trespassing on our soil in order to escape political or economic persecution in their home country.

@kris craig - It is not a human rights issue. It is an issue of violating our laws. Once they cross our border illegally, they are criminals and should be treated as such. If there are any humans rights issues, it is that their government failed them by taking payments from the criminals (drug cartels) and not protecting their citizens.

If you feel they are refugees, then by all means you can sponsor any and all you choose to bring them here in a legal process. I, on the other hand, can't afford to feed my family in this economy. I am tired of reading about people who are not here legally committing crimes. A friend of mine had her car totalled by a vanload of illegals who scattered like roaches after the collision. The police never found the driver, she had to replace her car and pay her own medical bills. Fortunately she survived, but not without injuries. Others here in NJ have not been as fortunate.

In addition, more than once I have personnally witnessed hospital emergency rooms filled with people who did not belong (through an interpretor, one had no SSN, but had a bad sore throat) here taking hospital personnel and resources away from patients that had real emergencies.

Perhaps in your corner of the world, illegals are not an issue, but NJ has become a haven state. Illegals in NJ come from all over, Europe, Asia, etcetera. I would applaud ANY law enforcement crackdown in NJ. I would also not object to being stopped by LEO on a regular basis for them to verify my identity as I have already been the victim of identity theft.

My ancestors have come from numerous countries, gained citizenship, and learned the language. I would encourage others to do the same. We do not need leeches on our society. I am tired of my tax dollars paying for extra teachers to teach ESL (English as a second language) classes. I am tired of "pressing 1 for English".

@2ndClassCitizen Whether you like it or not, these people ARE refugees, not criminals. Granted, SOME of them are criminals, such as the drug runners and human traffickers, but most of them are just regular people like yourself. They, too, are struggling to feed their families, except they have it MUCH worse than you do. Where they come from, there is no safety net. There are no jobs. Their government ignores them, telling them to just cross the border instead. They're desperate.

You cannot credibly say that taking the ONLY option available to you to feed your family makes you a criminal. There are international conventions that recognize this, and since the United States is a signatory to many of these treaties, both our Constitution and our laws mandate that those agreements take precedence. Therefore, a reasonable argument could be made that our treaty obligations supercede immigration laws in these specific cases, which in turn means that these people are not, in fact, violating the law.

Btw, some of your ancestors probably came here illegally as well. When they landed here and invaded the various tribes that claimed sovereignty over this territory, they had no legal basis to do so. Of course, what's done is done and I'm not one of those wackjobs who say we should give it all back centuries after the fact. What I am saying is that bringing our ancestors into this discussion really doesn't help your case any. And for the record, some of my ancestors were among the invaders as well, including one who was one of the original signers of the U.S. Constitution. However, some of my ancestors were also Cherokee, so I guess I'm covered either way lol.

I'm not suggesting that we can support all the refugees that are coming here. On the contrary, I'll agree with you that we cannot. I'll also agree that we do need to secure ALL of our borders better than we have been, as it presents a very real security vulnerability.

But that being said, we also must take responsibility for our role in making conditions in Mexico so unbearable. It's U.S. corporations that, under NAFTA, use remote Mexican villages as dumping grounds for toxic waste, contaminating farmland so that they're unable to grow any crops. Since these people have no money and no other source of food, the entire village starves. What do you expect them to do? Starve to death because you're all pissed off at having to press "1" for English?!

This is very much a human rights issue. Why? Because humans have a basic right not to starve to death, or at very least the right to be able to work so they won't starve to death. When the only way for them to fulfill this right is to cross our border illegally, that human right takes precedence, thereby making these people refugees, not criminals. If Congress passed a law saying that breathing is a crime, would that make you a criminal? Would you then be no different than a rapist, burglar, or murderer? That's basically the "logic" you're using to group these refugees in with common criminals and thugs.

Ok, then why don't they just come here legally? Because that process takes YEARS. It's been awhile since I took high school biology, but if memory serves, a human can't go several years without eating.

So if you don't like pressing 1 for English, suck it up! That extra button isn't gonna kill you. As for identity thieves, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of their immigration status. But by the same token, people with medical emergencies have a basic right to receive treatment, regardless of their immigration status. So, again, suck it up. We obviously can't afford the status quo, but demonizing these victims of circumstance as criminals will do nothing to solve this problem. What we need to do is secure our border at the federal level while turning up the heat on Mexico to force them to start taking care of their own citizens so they won't be so desperate to come here in the first place. Repealing NAFTA would be a good start.

But all that being said, that's not what this Arizona thing is about. It's about racial profiling and misuse of taxpayer dollars for the personal enrichment of a corrupt sherriff. That's why the Canadian Mounties correctly decided not to use them as an example for training their recruits. Arpaio's department has engaged in unprofessional and even blatantly illegal conduct that would make most law enforcement veterans cringe. That's what this is about. Saying, "Yeah, but he's just going after illegals," doesn't justify public corruption.

tolerance ! Things are getting so sloppy now the country is falling apart. We need to tighten up and cast away the parts that don't fit.

Yeah, I hate that when a cop degrades me for making meth in my car. She won't let me make it in the house. Where does this Arpio get off jailing drug runners just because they arn't Americans. I used to tell people that were going to California that they would be profiled. "If you drive like you do at home, running stop signs, not using signals, speeding, then you are going to get stopped in California because they profile people that do that sort of thing. What do you mean, that's not profiling?

Wow. Your one arrogant Canadian. The USA isn't perfect but we continue to strive toward the goal of being so. As far as Arizona, they are the front door through which millions of Hispanics enter illegally every year. They are suffering from it. They want to try to stop it. They begin to look closer at the strangers passing through their yards, roads and towns. They take time to particularly look at...Hispanics as they look for illegal Hispanics. Odd to me I guess, but I seem to understand that. While looking for illegal Hispanics, they could watch every Anglo, African American, Chinese, Arab, Eskimo or Canadian, but when your problem is catching illegal Hispanic aliens, seems to me that is the group to look at most.

So you believe in tolerating criminals and you want to get a man??????

I love how the idiots on here assume that all economic refugees run meth labs, run stop signs, and don't use turn signals. Last time I checked, the overwhelming majority of people who get arrested for those things are white Americans. Yes, some Mexicans who cross illegally do so in order to commit crimes here. But they're a small minority of the total.

How in the hell is it a "publicity stunt" for NOT wanting to be associated with bigotry and prejudice ?????? It aint like any of your american networks are jumping on this and running it at the 5:00 news. I'm canadian, living in canada, and until this article never heard of this story. And sure as hell havent seen it on any tv station, canadian OR amertican.. Hell, canadians are dying in Afghanistan because america asked us to be there and when canadians die we dont even get a mention on any of your networks. Another american know it all who knows nothing at all.

JJ1962,

I trust that you will forgive fishin for the abysmal stupidity of his post. He does, after all, pooch out his belly and proclaim that he thinks it's fun to hook a harmless creature and then rip the hook out of its body and toss it back. I'll bet he's a card-carrying member of PETA, he's so compassionate.

Of course, fishin is right that if Canada had a border with Mexico, matters would be quite different, though not in the way that he might imagine. But that's just my inner PC looking for a publicity stunt.

Lune

@fishin4whatever and @Lunewhatever Yes, and China would argue that our attitude toward North Korean refugees would be different if we were the ones sharing a border with them. It works both ways.

Canada has a lot of flaws, such as still giving political power to an autocratic monarch, the "rubber stamp" argument notwithstanding. But they hit the nail on the head with this one. Publicity stunt? Hardly. They realized that Arizona does not set a good example for law enforcement, hence their decision to cancel the joint training operations. For example, the short-lived "reality" TV show that Arpaio starred in, where he wasted taxpayer money by taking people wanted on petty warrants (most of which were just failures to appear on minor traffic infractions) to a day spa in order to humiliate them in front of cameras before arresting them. That's not being "tough." That's using public funds to feed his own narcissism. At very least, it's unprofessional. It's certainly not an example you'd want to set for other departments.

But before you try to turn this into an issue of nationalism, it's worth noting that many states in this country have also condemned Arizona and severed various agreements as a direct result of these illegal laws and rampant corruption within Arpaio's department (for example, illegally searching through a defense counsel's files in the middle of a court hearing). I'm proud to count my state as one of them. In fact, polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose Arizona's actions. So don't kid yourselves into thinking you're speaking for America here. You're not.

Kris Craig,

It's "Keltkar". I know the name has seven letters, but with a little effort, I'll bet that you can master it.

Read my post again, in which I made fun of fishin's utterly silly post. Given that you may find subtle matters as hard to master as a seven-letter name, let me say clearly for your benefit: I wholeheartedly applaud the decision reached by the Canadian officers in this matter.

LuneWhatever

How about in San Diego with a free day off 'day trip' to Tijuana?

Thats because most of the latinos are illegal. Can't vote.

Where do you hear that bullchit?

Almost ALL the Latinos I know are US American citizens.

What the press wont tell is that outside of a few activists (usually from california the people that are the hardest on ILLEGAL ALIENS are legal hispanics. The people who worked hard, obeyed they laws and came here the correct way or their families did years earlier. To do so and EARN the right to be American and then have it undermined by groups of criminals is disheartening.

My mother was born in mexico as was my wife. They both came here legally and with a lot of work. They despise illegals more than any anglo I have ever met. Most hispanics here share that feeling.

Thousands of honest decent mexicans cross over lawfully via the ports of entry everyday here for work, shopping or visiting family. Arizona welcomes them and we have our own mixed culture here because of it. Its criminals who ruin it for both sides. CRIMINALS. But the press will never let you see that story.

I'm so glad you're not serious.

Spoken just like a true Canadian...eh!

Exactly. And most of these crimes, the kidnappings, and home invasions are perpetrated on hispanic AMERICANS. So those saying the laws, etc are racist are wrong. To NOT address this issue would be ignoring the hispanic Americans hurt by these people, who choose their victims as it is easier to rob hispanics who speak spanish, etc.... also they blend in better. So get off the race issue. ANOTHER divisive effort by our "president".

FYI, Sarah Burke, a canadian skier just died in your american hospital in utah. Her bill, over $250,000.00. Her family had to have a fundraiser to pay. Luckily she was famous enough that it was raised. But what if she had been just an average person with no fame ? At least here she would have left no hospital bill for her family to be burdened with.

Just stop using drugs. End of problem.

It's easy to find an excuse to use drugs. It's easy to blame your problems on someone else.

You apparently have a problem with drugs that are prohibited.

Your stated "facts" contradict each other, unless of course you happen to be a "Whitey is out to get me" conspiratorialist. I happen to agree that there is a underlying racial prejudice against blacks (not all blacks are from Africa nor want to be called Afro-American) that needs to be reversed. Why were sentences for "crack cocaine" so disproportional to "powdered cocaine"? Why is it that when someone on Wall Street steals millions and billions they for the most part spend less than ten years in prison? Having said that not all the problems in the legal system are because of racism, sometimes people bring problems down on their own heads. Just a thought...Blacks in America are such an important part of what makes this country great we ought to be able to find a way we can find a way to reverse the downward spiral of black culture in this country.

Yes!!!!!! Good one.