A while ago, I wrote that Arizona could write a superficially "colorblind" bill targeting Latinos because everyone has an idea in their head of what an "illegal immigrant" looks like. Elise Foley writes that some Republican legislators in Florida are simply dispensing with the pretense, writing an immigration bill that essentially exempts white people.
Don't get me wrong, the bill still contains the necessary and useless caveat that authorities are not allowed to consider "race, color or national origin." It just also includes a provision that would give Canadians and Europeans a pass:
Latino and immigrant rights groups have fervently opposed the bill, which would mimic Arizona's SB 1070 by requiring police to check legal status on anyone they “reasonable suspicions” of being in the country illegally if the police have already stopped them. The provision would allow them to assume legal status if the person had a Canadian passport or a “passport from any ‘visa waiver country'” — which are primarily located in Western Europe. “That language makes it clear that police are targeting only a specific minority,” Susana Barciela, policy director at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, told the Miami New Times.
While the government obviously has an interest in reducing illegal immigration, this bill is actually tailored toward reducing the Latino population of Florida.
