It's notes from America on Kairate.

Twelve years ago, Arizona's Republican led legislature passed one of the most harsh

anti-immigrant laws in the country.

The law, which came on the heels of a midterm election in which Republicans around the

country ran hard on fear of undocumented immigrants, it became known as the Show Me Your

Papers Law.

The bill I'm about to sign into law Senate Bill 1070 represents another tool for our

state to use as we work to solve a crisis that we did not create in the federal government.

As a matter of policy, SB 1070 allowed police to stop and search anyone they suspected

of not having the proper paperwork to be inside the U.S.

As a matter of politics, it did even more than that.

It became a messaging vehicle for driving home this relatively new idea at the time that

being in the country without papers is a dangerous crime and one that calls for drastic even authoritarian

measures.

There's no higher priority than protecting the citizens of Arizona.

We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels.

We cannot stand idly by.

Governor Jan Brewer became a right-wing celebrity.

Remember the tarmac moment when she infamously shook her finger at President Obama?

And you could argue that Arizona and this law, they're both big parts of the magaverse

origin story.

But they are also big parts of the origin story for the modern immigrant rights movement.

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