by Catherine A. Traywick, Media Consortium blogger

Anti-immigrant forces have adeptly shaped the ongoing immigration debate into an issue of crime and punishment. Now, the pending passage of a $600 million border security bill could breathe new life into the narrative of the criminal immigrant – despite the increasing safety of our border communities.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s fact-twisting and fear-mongering continued this week as she repeated her unfounded claims about beheadings and violence in Arizona. Why call for a boycott when Brewer does such a great job of scaring people away all by herself? Her reckless comments are hurting Arizona’s tourism industry and economy. The Washington Post‘s Dana Milbank writes:

The Arizona governor, seemingly determined to repel every last tourist dollar from her pariah state, has sounded a new alarm about border violence. "Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded," she announced on local television.
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But those in fear of losing parts north of the neckline can relax. There’s not a follicle of evidence to support Brewer’s claim.
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Brewer also recently claimed that "the majority" of people immigrating illegally "are coming here and they’re bringing drugs, and they’re doing drop houses and they’re extorting people and they’re terrorizing the families. That is the truth." No, Governor Brewer, it isn’t. The Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector has apprehended more than 170,000 undocumented immigrants since Oct. 1, but only about 1,100 drug prosecutions have been filed in Arizona in that time.

This article uses the metaphor of the beige colored crayon to represent reactionary white Americans who are bent on trying to “whitewash” the rights of minority citizens through legislation and intimidation.

At least one Arizona sheriff refuses to enforce the state’s new anti-immigrant law, pointing out that it is racist.