> Is there such a word as "Hispanophobic?" Or did I just make it up? Anyway, I think our legislature is full of Hispanophobics. The Tennessee General Assmembly will be considering bills to take 25% of any money that is being sent out of the country by someone who cannot prove that they are legal residents of Tennessee. Most Mexican workers, legal or not, send money home to famlies.
>
> Or how about this one:
> Another bill would make driver's licence tests in English only, instead of the current choices of English, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. It sort of make you wonder if Toyota had heard of this bill before deciding to place their new auto plant in Tupelo, Mississippi instead of Chattanooga.
>
> Another one would make it a crime for an illegal immigrant to "receive compensation for performing work" in Tennessee. The earnings, and any property bought with the money would be confiscated.
>
> I could go on and on, but it would just be more of the same. Is that Hispanophobia, or what?
> Howard

Perhaps Hispanophobia is at the root of one or more of the bills' origins, but it seems not so easy to prove this is the case, even if it is quite evident that Hispanics will be the race overwhelmingly affected. Nothing inherent about the bills, as you described, seems to indicate that race would play any factor in the laws' application. For the last one, a Chinese (by race) illegal immigrant from China would (and should, as far as I can judge) be penalized in the same fashion as a Hispanic illegal immigrant from Mexico.

Now, whether it's right to penalize illegal immigrants is of course a separate issue that can not be cast purely objectively. There are arguments based on morality, justice, and sovereignty that could be used by either side without end.