Arizona Immigration Law: Will Citizens Carry Passports?

I have a soft spot in my heart for Arizona, where I lived in the early 1980's. My son was born there. I will never forget the beauty of the desert and the mountains. Most exciting to this East Coast lady was the difference – in the food, the culture and the people.

It always amazed me when folks who had moved from Michigan or Illinois the year before – the "snowbirds" -- complained about hearing Spanish on the street or in a store while I knew Mexican-American friends and neighbors whose families had been on Arizona soil for hundreds of years.

Along with my colleague Luisita Lopez Torregrosa, I understand the frustration, anger and fear -- of violence and crime – that has pushed the state to pass and the governor to sign a tough immigration law. It's a difficult and complicated problem, and Donna Trussell lists some of the reasons why. But I can't imagine some of those same friends and neighbors who made me feel so welcome – American citizens all -- now having to carry their passports around for ID.