Arizona Takes On Illegal Immigration

Posted: May 8, 2010  Author: Dr. Moss

As we observe the march of the left through the institutions of the nation, the assault on the culture and economy, the headlong efforts to rewrite the social contract in favor of an overweening state apparatus, we see the the next great milestone for President Obama and his legions looming on the horizon.  

It is edifying, indeed, to witness the zeal of the left in full dress, who, unhinged as it is from any restraints on power, taking full advantage of a temporary majority, courtesy of the irredeemable George Bush (a figure of intense bewilderment), to fashion a new United States, a giant, state-of-the-art socialist behemoth headed swiftly down the path of irreversible decline.

Since President Obama stepped forth from the void as savior of the nation, a procession of government expansions have germinated with spring-like ardor across the fruited plains, leaving less and less to be managed by private citizens, known once as the private sector, a pleasant memory and formerly the essence of American character and spirit, felt by a vanishing few to be the key behind its unprecedented success.  

There have been stimulus packages, government takeovers and interventions in the auto-industry, banks, insurance companies, student loans, housing and the mortgage industry, yet more propping up of the feckless Fannie and Freddie, and, then, of course, health care; and with all this, the oceans of red ink, the eye-popping mountains of debt, the nerve-wracking indebtedness to less than savory regimes; there was also an effort at job-killing cap and trade, a foreign policy based on apology and appeasement, and, now, for their next grand milestone, immigration reform.  

And, here, as bad as all the rest has been, we know that an immigration policy based on the tendencies of the current Congress and Administration will be one likely to split the nation and cause lasting damage of a kind even greater than the repeated blows that have been struck already, including even the execrable health care legislation that passed (through legislative gimmickry and noxious back room deals). 

For here rests the chance to shift the demographics of the nation in the direction of a permanent Democrat majority, that winning arguments, impassioned grass roots activism, and inspired leadership will not undo.  

For when Congress magically summons multitudes of freshly franchised citizens (through some version of "amnesty"), many of whom already partake in our generous social programs and align themselves firmly with the government, they can be assured of voting for the party of government, newly minted Democrat voters, in other words, by the millions, a demographic treasure trove, with the waving of the legislative pen.  Indeed, demographics is destiny, and a threshold will have been passed.

And, so, the galvanizing event of the moment has been the signing of the Arizona Immigration Bill ("Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act" or SB 1070) on April 23, by Governor Jan Brewer, which seeks nothing more than to enforce existing Federal laws regarding illegal immigrants, the "illegal" part of that phrase a word that seems either incomprehensible or just inconvenient for the open borders crowd. 

Arizona is not a disinterested party in the matter: it is the nation's most active thoroughfare for human and drug trafficking from our neighbor to the south.  There are an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona, many of whom wind up on pubic programs as they do elsewhere; they also swell the rolls of schools, hospitals, and prisons, greatly burdening them. 

What the law states is that it is a crime to be in the state illegally.  The word "illegal" would suggest that, no?  It also calls upon police to question individuals about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are here illegally, which seems only reasonable.  If a law officer suspects someone of breaking the law, it is natural for him to question such an individual.    

Lawsuits can be filed against government offices that interfere with implementation of immigration law; hiring or transporting illegals is also illegal.  It is also holds that it is a state crime (a misdemeanor) if immigrants cannot produce documents; and, finally, police would be able to detain anyone thought to be here illegally.

And so there it is. 

The outcry, as expected, has been swift and furious. 

Although unusual for Presidents to involve themselves in state legislation, that did not prevent Mr. Obama from entering the fray by stating that the law threatened “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.” 

He also referred to it as "misguided," implied that it was irresponsible, and ordered the Department of Justice to determine if it was legal.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund plans to challenge it, stating that it "launches Arizona into a spiral of pervasive fear, community distrust, increased crime and costly litigation, with nationwide repercussions."

The nation of Mexico, the source of the vast numbers of unemployed and disenfranchised unable to make their way in their own country and hence compelled to come her, saw fit to weigh in through its elected officials. 

Its Senate had unanimously passed a resolution exhorting Governor Brewer to veto the legislation. 

Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, condemned the Arizona law, stating that it "opens the door for intolerance, hate, discrimination, and abuse in law enforcement." 

He vowed to help his long suffering countrymen living in the US, offering lawyers and other immigration experts. 

Although such outbursts (and interference) from our southern neighbor in regards to American law and jurisprudence are commonplace, it remains nonetheless galling to hear. 

Mexico, which enjoys tremendous natural resources, long coastlines, oil reserves, and a very prosperous tourist industry, somehow manages to remain a third world country; Mexico might better devote its energies to reforming its own economy, changing its labor and tax laws, opening itself to more competition and foreign investment, breaking up its monopolies and ending government corruption, so that it can employ its own people rather than rail against American states that must cope with the burdens of its economic and governing failures. 

Peter Spiro, author of "Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization," and a law professor at Temple University, said that the law sends "a clear message that Arizona is unfriendly to undocumented aliens."  My sense is that Mr. Spiro meant that pejoratively, but what else should we be?  Welcoming and congenial?

Then there was the inevitable shrieking about racial profiling, apartheid, 1960's-style civil rights abuses, racism, intolerance, and, without missing a step, references to Fascism, Nazism, and Hitler. 

How the left loves Adolph, their default and most beloved poster child metaphor for anyone with the poor taste of disagreeing with them. 

To quote Cardinal Roger Mahoney, “I can’t imagine Arizonans now reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques” or the president of the Hispanic Federation (as but two examples) who said that the law “reminded me of Nazi Germany.” 

Arizona, take heart, for you are in good company.  Israel has endured such standard slanders and expletives from the unfortunate cretins who populate the citadels of the left for decades.

The incredibly successful rewriting of history by the academic and political left that cast Hitler as a man of the right and not the leftist/socialist/ally of the USSR and Stalin (before, of course, invading Russia) that he was is also something that conservatives through their journals, media outlets, and intellectuals must someday launch an all-out assault on, so the left may bear the full burden and culpability for the brutal totalitarian movements it, and it alone, has conceived.  But for that, another day.

And so what about the draconian new law that is prompting such inordinate fear and loathing?

To begin, it mirrors existing federal law so as to avoid the problem of "preemption" in which state law contradicts existing federal law.  Federal law already requires aliens (non-citizens) to register and be in possession of their documents (8 USC 1304(e) and 8 USE 1306(a)); further, it has been on the books for more than fifty years.  The Arizona law now makes a federal crime a state crime, which can be enforced by local authorities. 

Perhaps, we can pray, the federal government will someday enforce its own laws too? 

The law allows police to question individuals about their immigration status in the course of routine "lawful" contact, such as for a traffic violation.  There must also be "reasonable suspicion" (a well established premise in court practice) such as not having a driver's licence at a traffic stop (illegal aliens are not given driver's licenses in Arizona), or other forms of state or federal identification.  The law also mandates that the police may not solely consider race, color, or national origin" in enforcing the new law.

For the record:

Federal statute 8 U.S.C. 1306(a) states that if "the alien's parent or legal guardian is required to register the alien and willfully fails to apply, then the parent or guardian is guilty of a misdemeanor."

Federal statute 8 U.S.C. 1304(e) states that "Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him pursuant to. . this section. Any alien who fails to comply . . shall be guilty of a misdemeanor . . "

And the ghastly provision in SB 1070 (the Arizona Law)? 

“For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official or agency of this state . . . where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person.”

This is not the return of the Khmer Rouge.  The Red Army.  Or the Nazis.  Stalin, Mao, Fidel, Hugo, or any of the other dictator-heroes of the left, would snicker, if not break out into thigh-slapping laughter at so innocent and mild a claim by the state on malfeasants and law breakers.  Leftist tyrants know how to deal with transgressors.

And anyone who has experienced the real boot of totalitarianism would bristle at so witless and cynical an innuendo. 

In fact, it merely parallels existing Federal law on the books for more than fifty years, and represents a minimalist assertion of a state attempting to exert its sovereignty after decades of federal inaction and sloth.

There are good reasons for Arizona to take action while the Federal government sleeps. 

Arizona, for example, has one of the fastest growing illegal immigrant populations in the country, currently estimated at 460,000 in a state population of 6.6 million.  In Maricopa County, 22% of felonies are committed by illegal immigrants.  They represent about 11% of the states prison population.  Seventeen percent of those arrested by the Border Patrol in the Tuscon sector have criminal records already in the US.  Illegal aliens and the US-born children (under 18) comprise one fifth of the state population living in poverty, one third of those without health insurance, and one sixth of students in the state.  One third of households led by illegal aliens are on at least one social program, mainly either food aid or Medicaid.  Yuma has 26% unemployment. Arizona has nearly 7.5% of illegal immigrants thought to reside in the US and insufficient population or resources to absorb them.  There is also much spillover crossborder violence from warring drug cartels, making parts of Arizona decidedly unsafe.

(SB 1070 is also very popular with Arizona voters, with 70% supporting it and only 23% opposing it.)

In other words, they are a signifcant burden for the state.  They saddle the state with huge costs for schooling, health, and imprisonment, estimated at $1.3 billion a year.  They increase the crime rate, including violent crime, strain already strapped social programs and other government services, raise spending, and expand deficits.  Further, they are here illegally.  What exactly is the argument here? 

The only wonder is why each of the fifty states have not already passed their own such immigration bill, for, to greater or lesser extents, each of them faces the same problem.  

In a nation riven with political correctness and "multiculturalism," that forbids any truth saying when it comes to certain favored minorities, there is reluctance by those who should know better to speak out about what is a festering problem.  Illegal immigrants coming from Latin America, chiefly Mexico, represent a great millstone for many communities, all fifty states, and the nation. 

Yes, many of them are hard working, law abiding (once they get in illegally), and do not partake in our welfare programs.  But too many of them do.  Many, indeed, break our laws once here, may not work, pay little or no taxes, receive public aid, and participate in various state programs and services.  Many will have children on US soil who then, because of a misapplication of the 14th amendment, are automatically granted citizenship and hence eligible for public aid.  This little charade, too, must end. 

(The 14th amendment, one of the three "Civil War Amendments," was never intended to give citizenship to the children of non-citizens who happened to have had children on US soil, especially those here illegally, but to enfranchise recently freed former black slaves.)  

Many of them, in fact, are quite expert at "gaming" the system to reap its benefits and receive much guidance (often from the government of Mexico itself, various advocacy and lawyer groups, and even from our own government) in precisely how to do so. 

That, by the way, while very significant, is also besides the point. 

The main issue is that of national sovereignty, which means defending our borders and executing our laws.

Every nation must control its borders.  Every nation has a right to decide who enters and leaves the country. 

Illegal immigration is illegal, which means illegal immigrants are breaking the law.  In addition, they also impose huge costs for the nation. The nation, through its federal, state, and local law officers, must secure the border and enforce the laws of the land, including its immigration laws.

Arizona has made a small but significant first step in bringing order and reason to the matter of illegal immigration. 

Expect more insults and slanders from our nuanced and tolerant friends on the left. 

And may many more states follow Arizona's lead.