Sorry, son. No luck for you in Arizona.

Nativism creeps up in US politics every generation in one form or another. Ironically, for a country built by immigrants, fears of large numbers of foreigners entering the country remain as palpable as ever.

But in Arizona, things have just taken an unprecedented turn for the worse.

There is no denying illegal immigration continues to occur in the United States in record numbers. Primarily the result of people crossing the border with Mexico, it is estimated that there were at least 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States in 2008.

The reasons for these large numbers is far more contentious. Most commonly, it is argued that they come to get access to jobs that local Americans don't want. While they may pay poorly, comparatively speaking, they are often quite attractive.

Attempts at reforming the US immigration system have failed repeatedly in the last decade. Battles between proponents of "amnesty" type legislation, which would assist currently illegal immigrants to become legal, and "hard liners", who want all illegal immigrants removed from the country, have created a polarizing political environment.

Illegal immigration is already a federal crime. But politics of this issue are so intense that recently Arizona passed its own anti-illegal immigration law known as SB 1070. In brief, this law, signed by Governor Brewer on April 23rd, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. It has so far received broad public support.

Critics have rightly pointed out the bill may be unconstitutional, violating the Bill of Rights' 14th amendment. This is because the law essentially encourages local police to stop people they "suspect" of being in the US illegally - but which in reality, will mean hispanic persons are targeted.

It is hard to deny all of this is taking place in a climate that smacks of xenophobia. Gov. Brewer also signed a law that outlaws school classes which "are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group." In other words, ethnic studies are now illegal in Arizona.

One group of artists was even asked to "lighten the faces" of children in a mural at a public school.

But whatever role xenophobia or even racism has played in these laws pales in comparison to the abject cruelty of Arizona's latest legislative demon. Republicans intend to introduce a bill in the fall which would deny birth certificates to children born in Arizona whose parents who are not legal U.S. citizens.

Nevermind that the US Constitution states clearly that all persons born in the US are citizens and that no state may pass a law in violation of that right. Never let the law, or for that matter, basic humanity, get in the way of using children as pawns to score political points against their illegal immigrant parents.

Nevermind that the 14th amendment, which prohibits this monstrous intent in the first place, was enacted after the civil war to allow citizenship for freed slaves and prevent race based discrimination. According to this law's proponents, things are different now.

Indeed, they tragically are. According to a Rasmussen poll, 58% of Americans support this idea.

It is hard to believe a nation that once went to war, in large part, to prevent states from continuing slavery has now succumbed to this most awful of sentiments. As the polls suggest, catering to the lowest common denominator is good politics.

For now. As hispanics continue to make up a greater share of the US population these tactics will rightly backfire. That anyone would demean themselves into targeting children in a campaign of naked opportunism and sheer hypocrisy is simply reprehensible.

Expect to see more of this in the years ahead.

And that's the most interesting part of this entire saga. If Arizona legislators really wanted to stop illegal immigration they would target the source of the problem: the employers thriving off the cheap labour supply. But that would force them to confront an inconvenient reality - without this workforce, many industries would not survive. They need the workers.

But no one will call for more immigration. And no one actually promotes legislation to grant law enforcement the ability to target businesses hiring illegal immigrants, hitting them with major fines. Far easier to spend scarce law enforcement resources on targeting poor individuals who cannot easily defend themselves.

One day, the better angels of our nature will take hold and these mistakes will be corrected. Until then, Arizona will be a battleground where apparently anyone is a potential target, even a child.