Arizona’s controversial new law regarding illegal immigrants may have a detrimental impact on travel and tourism in the southwestern state. The law, which requires police to question “reasonably suspicious” individuals to determine whether or not a resident is legal or not, has been challenged by politicians, Arizona natives and even the President.
If the individuals in question by the police cannot immediately produce the required legal documents, they can be arrested, jailed for 6 months and fined for $2,500. All legal immigrants are required to have their documents on them at all times from now on.
Opponents of the law consider the extremism as a form of racial profiling, and many media outlets including USA Today and the Arizona Daily Star wonder if tourists will boycott the state this summer on principle. A few vocal business and leisure travelers have made statements via social media on the purposeful avoidance of visiting Arizona, and politicians are responding.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has already begun welcoming weary travelers to New York instead, where no such questioning will take place. Arizona Republican John McCain spoke at a gathering with 400 protesters, and said that although he understands the need for strengthened border security, he is not ready to completely support the new law’s execution.
President Obama also stated that he would look into the civil rights implications of the law, and suspects that it threatens the notion of fairness in the United States.
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