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14 Harv. Latino L. Rev. 337 (2011)
Are Your Papers in Order: Racial Profiling, Vigilantes, and America's Toughest Sheriff

handle is hein.journals/hllr14 and id is 341 raw text is: ARE YOUR PAPERS IN ORDER?: RACIAL PROFILING, VIGILANTES, AND AMERICA'S TOUGHEST SHERIFF Mary Romero* I. INTRODUCTION Recent anti-immigrant legislation proposed in Arizona suggests strong nativism sentiment demanding more draconian measures against non-citi- zens residing illegally in the United States, particularly towards immigrants of color.' The use of military language in describing immigration raids con- ducted by homeland security,2 along with a growing number of nativist ex- tremist groups,' set the backdrop for some anti-immigrant groups to claim the existence of a Mexican invasion in the United States.4 Numerous immi- gration scholars have commented on the significance of costumes and props used by the Minutemen that reinforce the existence of an invasion-military fatigues, binoculars, bulletproof vests, walkie-talkies, and guns.5 Likewise, the use of federal agents armed with rifles and wearing bulletproof vests to raid homes, work sites, and shopping malls also suggests that immigration is a threat to national security. Furthermore, creating the visible barrier of a wall between Mexico and the United States is an extremely significant polit- ical symbol. The large number of deportations conducted in recent years creates an economic, political, and social environment that legitimizes * Professor and Faculty Head of Justice and Social Inquiry, School of Social Transforma- tion, Arizona State University. Mary Romero holds a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in Sociology. See 2010 Ariz. Sess. Laws 113. 2See generally U.S. IMMIGR. & CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (Jan. 21, 2011), http://www.ice. gov/index.htm (describing ICE National Fugitive Operations Campaign, Operation Return to Sender, and Operation Endgame). See, e.g., WE HATE GRINGOs, http://www.WeHateGringos.com (last visited August 27, 2007) (on file with author) (a popular website which argued that the United States was being invaded by Mexico); see also Heidi Beirich et al., S. Poverty L. Ctr., The Nativists: Profiles of 20 Anti-Immigrant Leaders, 129 INTELLIGENCE REP. (2008), available at http://www.splcenter. org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2008/spring/the-nativists?page= 0,4 (quoting Michelle Dallacroce's discussion of a Mexican invasion). See Mary Romero, Go After the Women: Mothers Against Illegal Aliens' Campaign Against Mexican Immigrant Women and Their Children, 83 IND. L.J. 1355, 1387-88 (2008). 'See generally, Leo R. Chavez, Spectacle in the Desert: The Minuteman Project on the US-Mexico Border, in GLOBAL VIGILANTES 25 (David Pratten & Atreyee Sen eds., 2008); ROXANNE LYNN DOTY, THE LAW INTO THEIR OWN HANDS: IMMIGRATION AND THE POLITICS OF EXCEPTIONALISM (2009).

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