“Nina, you were jaywalking and I overheard you speaking canine. You must be illegal. Show me your papers!”

“But I have no pockets!”

This week’s Life to the Max Pose of the Week comes from my friend, Mark Setterholm. His picture of his Airedale, Nina, peeking warily around the corner of the house made me think about what’s going on now in Arizona. Forgive me for getting on my soapbox, but I want to make it clear that I am not a part of the supposed 70% of Arizonans who support the passage of the Arizona Senate bill 1070. (Also I’d like to know who is doing the polling!) The problem with immigration and our borders certainly needs to be addressed, but legislation like 1070 only exacerbates the problem, fanning fear, suspicion and distrust, and escalating the very type of violence it is trying to stem. Put desperation together with our free-wheeling Arizona gun culture and bad things are bound to happen.

As a small business owner, I also find it reprehensible that a governor of a state that is experiencing little to no economic recovery would sign this bill purely for her own political gain, knowing full well it would further compromise our already struggling economic recovery. Cancellation of contracts and conventions with Arizona businesses will hurt real people with real families to support, not the politicians who will do or say whatever it takes to get re-elected.

Immigration is a complex issue that needs thoughtful debate, not self-serving sound bites and hateful legislation. Fear should not inform our decisions. Otherwise, as Walt Kelly once wrote, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”