David Miles met his old Dad (me) for breakfast this morning,* and as usual we talked about a wide range of topics from the outrageous new anti-immigration law in Arizona to problems of aging as people in the baby boomer bubble approach retirement. I am seventy-five-years-old this year, and at fifty-two David is now old enough to join AARP and enjoy the benefits and disadvantages of retirement; so we have more in common now than a disparate (Please note, kinfolk, that the word I use is NOT desperate) bunch of relatives. Because of the work he is doing with the Human Dignity Foundation, David is particularly interested in understanding and finding solutions for GLBT persons who are approaching old age. I was reminded of my good fortune to be personally in good health, to be surrounded by a cluster of fine close friends, and to be part of a supportive, loving family. We reminded each other of people we know who are not so fortunate and pledged to be part of the solution for those in trouble rather than part of their problem. That’s an issue for BLOG writing another day.

Today, however, I am still very concerned about the implications of the new Arizona anti-immigration law. When I got back home from breakfast with David, I read a piece in the Huffington Post today by Bob Cesca, a political writer and blogger.
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“Last week, shortly before the Republican governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, signed the state's new anti-immigration law, an Hispanic truck driver was stopped at a weigh station along Rt. 202 by a patrol officer.

“The commercial truck driver, ‘Abdon,’ is a natural born citizen of the United States. He’s obviously employed. He speaks English. He pays taxes. His wife, Jackie, is a natural born citizen of the United States. She, too, is employed. She speaks English. She pays taxes.

“And yet ‘Adbon’ was handcuffed by the police and detained by the Phoenix Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.

“Why?

“Because when the officer demanded his papers, Abdon could only produce a driver’s license and his Social Security number. Not good enough. At that roadside weigh station in the middle of an otherwise ordinary weekday, Abdon made the mistake of not carrying his birth certificate with him. His birth certificate!

“Put another way, Abdon was handcuffed and detained and detained because he is Hispanic.

“And now this is the law of the state of Arizona -- arresting people, citizen or not, simply for appearing Hispanic.
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Solutions for immigration problems must come from federal government, not state governments, because issues of citizenship are basically national issues. SB 1070 is certainly not the answer. It contorts the basic problems without solving any of them. It infringes on rights of free citizens. It is morally repugnant. It curses the darkness instead of lighting a candle.

Obviously, not everybody in Arizona is complicit in this outrage. My friend Taylor Hill in Florida told me about his concern for his friend John Fife who lives in Tucson. Check the Wikipedia piece on John Fife, a Presbyterian minister for 35 years, now retired, who is one of the sponsors of “No More Deaths,” an organization dedicated to helping refugees who cross the border and find sanctuary in the U.S.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fife


*Babbo Grande, a small restaurant at 1727 University Avenue, is participating with other select restaurants in a “Dining Out for Life” day. Twenty percent of these restaurants’ revenues for today will go the support The Center’s HIV/AIDS services and prevention programs.