Arizona significant to candidates here

Since Arizona passed S.B. 1070, a law that allows police officers to request immigration document from anyone who they suspect may be an undocumented alien, immigration has become a key issue in the public eye and in the upcoming elections.

It is reasonable to assume that this immigration discussion will soon be replicated on a national level. For a nation that so proudly elected its first African-American president, boasting about the gains we have seen in race relations, we are awfully quick to forget the value that we place on civil rights. Immigrant or not, it is wrong to subject people to suspicion because of the color of their skin. Will we ever learn that the ends don't justify the means?

I think it is wrong to demand identification papers and passports from people of a non-majority racial background. Yes, there is a critical need to reform a broken immigration system that currently sees millions of people entering this country unlawfully. But it needs to be reformed at a federal level and in a way that respects racial and civil justice. We need our leaders to be courageous enough to go back to the drawing board and work together for an overdue comprehensive solution. The leaders who stand for just and compassionate immigration solutions have their priorities in the right place.

Ben Lowe, the Democrat running for the 6th Congressional District, is one of those people, but his opponent Peter Roskam is not. As a person of mixed race, Lowe himself has been subject to racial profiling and understands firsthand the challenges we face as an increasingly diverse community. Arizona S.B. 1070 must be opposed at all levels of our democracy. Acting locally on this issue means supporting Congressional candidates who value civil rights as much as we do.

Bek Soen

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