Arizona syndrome: 'We have met the enemy and it is us'

FEAR is driving the legislation and emotions in Arizona these days. Fear is being manipulated through the mass media and inaccurate information to construct a moral panic about the threat of undocumented immigrants to our collective well-being.

Arizona state Rep. John Kavanagh, a supporter of the state's new immigration law, SB 1070, said: "... our intention is to make Arizona a very uncomfortable place for them to be so they leave or never come here in the first place."

Law trumps justice. My research on propaganda and the politics of fear convinces me that Pogo, the star of the old comic strip, had it right. Famously, Pogo proclaimed, "We have met the enemy and it is us."

The enemy is the unique political culture of Arizona that permits people who rally against "big government" to embrace a policy that requires police officers to zero in on any potentially undocumented person — 30 percent of the state's population. Welcome to Arizona, Pogo.

Call it the Arizona Syndrome:

Promote fear at every turn.

Arizona has a long tradition of claiming to have more crime than it has, and politicians court voters by promoting numerous threats from outsiders, be they newcomers, politicians in Washington and new ideas. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio raids Mesa City Hall in the middle of the night and arrests a janitor, while feasting on sound bites about toughness and his "tent-city jail."

The man credited with ramming SB 1070 through Arizona's Legislature boasts about being one of Sheriff Joe's former deputies. Arizona politics embraces the symbol of the gun, the individual's defense against bad things. Recent legal changes permit loaded guns to be carried into bars, and even concealed weapons can now be carried without a special permit.

The border is said to be "less secure" despite a drastic reduction in the number of people who cross it and a decrease in the violent crime rate. Any criminal activity, such as drug smuggling, along the border is framed as the "illegal immigration problem," and is used as a way of criticizing the federal government.

Arizona citizens are more likely to hear Arizona's Republican congressional members claiming that violence on the border "continues to increase at an alarming rate." A border-county sheriff disagreed in The Arizona Republic: "This is a media-created event. I hear politicians on TV saying the border has gotten worse. Well, the fact of the matter is that the border has never been more secure."

Believe the opposite of what is true as long as it fits the prevailing narrative about fear, threats and enemies, and the economy.

Arizona politicos deride "big government" even though Arizona benefitted directly from the federal government's role in constructing Roosevelt Dam. About a third of Arizona's territory consists of federally regulated Indian reservations, and military bases provide a sizable chunk of Arizona's economy. Arizonans pay fewer taxes than most of the country, and receive disproportionately more federal money per capita.

Many reports suggest that undocumented people commit more crime, do not pay an equitable share of taxes, use excessive social services and are an economic drain. None of this is true, according to research by the National Research Council and the President's Council of Economic Advisers, but it does not matter because long-held beliefs and prejudices are impervious to evidence.

Arizona's economy, including the construction and hospitality industries (hotels, restaurants, etc.), has depended on undocumented workers for decades. Yet, immigrants are blamed for economic problems and taxes. Indeed, architects of the Arizona immigration law claim that crime and taxes will go down as fear drives out many Arizona residents.

Have one common and very visible enemy.

Arizona thrives on identity politics. Politicians wrap themselves in the flag; those opposed to the new immigration law are said to be unpatriotic and unwilling to "protect our borders." Despite many claims by the architects of fear that they "love the Latino people," many problems associated with poverty (e.g., gangs) are attributed to race and ethnicity, and therefore undocumented residents.

The Arizona Syndrome becomes part of regional and national scripts and identities the more that it is repeated, and especially as sound bites reduce the conflict to two sides: one side proclaiming patriotism and self-defense, while the other is cast as defending unwanted invaders.

Arizona's politics of fear may be embraced in those states where Latinos lack political influence. More opportunistic politicians will try to connect with uninformed masses by jumping on the bandwagon of immigration reform. Now there is a national enemy, conveniently demonized along with the Taliban and al-Qaida. But as Pogo always knew, we didn't really need those outside enemies; we had the real one all along — us.