State's new immigration law worries Arizona soldier

[Xipe Totec]

Source: CNN



Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) -- At a vigil protesting the passage of Arizona's tough new illegal immigration law, a young man in Army fatigues and a beret lit a candle at a makeshift shrine.

Pfc. Jose Medina, an Army medic, came to the Arizona capitol while on leave, to express his sadness over the law, signed by Arizona's governor on Friday.

"I'm here because this is something that's close to my heart," said Medina. "I went off to protect this country, to protect my family. That's what hurts."

The new law, signed by the Arizona governor on Friday, requires police to determine whether a person is in the United States legally. It also requires immigrants to carry their registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect that they're in the country illegally. Some fear the law will result in racial profiling.

Medina, 20, is from El Mirage, a working class Latino community northwest of Phoenix.

"When I first joined the military, they would ask us where you from, and I would say 'I'm from the great state of Arizona,' " Medina reflected. "I was raised here, I grew up here. Now I don't know if I can say that so proudly. I don't know if I want to live here anymore."

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/25/arizona.soldier.immigration.vigil/index.html