The debate over the Arizona immigration legislation is very disturbing. What seemed to start out as a white against everyone of color issue has seemed to morph into something much scarier.

When you listen to radio shows across this country and see people on TV talking about the immigration law, it is not just white people talking about immigration and their perception that this legislation is good. It is people of all colors getting into the mix, and at the end of the day, they are the ones that will be hurt by it for decades to come.

Black folks are getting on TV saying how immigrants are hurting their (Black) way of life and that these people should not be allowed in this country and should be arrested and deported.

Some Hispanic people are saying that they immigrated here legally, so why should others get an easy pass to residency? They too support the draconian measures instigated by the Arizona state government.

But what will this really mean for all Americans? And since when did people of color start accepting and using the language of bigoted oppressors as a norm?

America is a land of immigrants, both forced and volunteered. And while it is not always acknowledged by the majority population, we are a country that is based upon diversity. Except for the native people of this country, no one here comes from non-immigrant stock. Our families may have been here for generations, but ultimately our roots are from somewhere else.

Today in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security estimates that there are 11.6 million undocumented immigrants in this country. Of those, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, 80 percent come from Latin American countries; 12 percent from Asia; 4 percent from Africa and other countries with Black populations; and 4 percent Europe and Canada.

These immigrants are European, Black, Asian and, yes, Hispanic. But what is the difference really? Don't all immigrant groups need protection? From someone walking down the street, how can you tell if they are legal or not? And because Hispanic immigrants often look like African-Americans and African-Americans often look like Hispanics, there is no guarantee that many African-Americans won't get caught up in this ridiculous law, especially if this law spreads to other states with large Hispanic and significant Black populations like Texas.

And what about Canadians? There are tens of thousands of undocumented Canadian immigrants in this country, but because most of them look like white America and speak English, they are not targeted as immigrants, and this, of course, is just a double standard. Hispanic immigrants are first on that list, then come Asian and then Black. Way down the list are Eastern Europeans. And even further down are the Irish, English, Swedish and so on.

It is an issue of color. It is also an issue of race, but most of all, it is an issue of civil rights. The idea that a police officer can stop me, you or your child walking down the street because they believe that you are an undocumented immigrant is terrifying.

Right now, this is an issue in Arizona, but Texas, Colorado and Utah are also considering onerous and racist legislation as well. In recent years, those states have had some of the largest influxes of Hispanic immigrants nationally. But what happens if California or New York decides to implement reactionary laws like that as well? Then we too will be the ones stopped on the street being asked for our papers.

Last week, the Rev. Al Sharpton and a civil rights lawyer spoke out against this unconstitutional law on this page. Hispanic baseball players and Arizona Suns professional basketball players have been taking a stand against the concept of this law. And more than 100,000 people have protested against this law across the country.

As I was writing this editorial, I thought of the following piece:

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.

—By Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

We must all speak up against these civil rights atrocities or there will be no one left to speak up for us.