Arizona Fights Back

by Humphrey Stevenson

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law what is said to be one of the toughest anti-illegal immigration bills in the nation. She explained why the legislation was so necessary, “There is no higher priority than protecting the citizens of Arizona. We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels. We cannot stand idly by as drop houses, kidnappings and violence compromise our quality of life. We cannot delay while the destruction happening south of our international border creeps its way north. We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act. But decades of federal inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation.”

Arizona is dealing with a special problem. It is being invaded by criminals. How do I know they’re criminals? They crossed our border illegally. That is a crime. Article 4, Section 4 of our Constitution mandates that our Federal Government is to protect a state from an invasion. What do we expect a state to do when the Federal Government will not live up to its responsibility to secure the boarders? The State of Arizona has taken seriously its responsibility to protect its citizens from cross-border criminals.

President Obama called the legislation “irresponsible” and “misguided.” It is clear that the President plans to use the controversy to introduce his own “immigration reform” legislation by saying, “If we continue to fail to act at a federal level, we will continue to see misguided efforts opening up around the country.”

Obama told a crowd of supporters in Iowa, “Now, suddenly, if you don't have your papers, and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you're going to get harassed.” This is pure demagoguery because he knows (or he should know) that the law does not allow for racial profiling. The police must already be in “legal contact” with the suspect before the “reasonable suspicion” of them being in the country illegally can come into play, meaning that police cannot simply see someone of Hispanic descent and ask to see their documentation. But so what if they could? Federal law already requires that all resident aliens carry their green card at all times.

While we’re on the subject of profiling, anyone who has watched any police dramas knows that profiling is a way many crimes are solved. Experts will examine the facts of a crime and based on those facts construct a profile of a likely perpetrator. It’s used in everyday law enforcement as well; we just don’t think of it as profiling. For example, police are taught that intoxicated people tend to exhibit certain behavior traits when driving. A policeman sees a driver exhibiting these traits and pulls them over on suspicion of drunk driving. That in its basic sense is profiling but I don’t think you or I want the police to stop doing it because it makes us all safer on the road.

Reverend Al Sharpton, never one to let a good race controversy go to waste, said he will dispatch “Freedom Walkers” to Arizona reminiscent of the Freedom Riders of the 1960’s. “Where we will walk down the streets with no ID and submit ourselves to arrest,” Sharpton said. I have a better idea for Reverend Al’s Freedom Walkers. He could take his group into Mexico. Then, in solidarity with the “undocumented workers,” have them sneak across the border into Arizona. He could call them “Freedom Crossers.”

President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon is up in arms over Arizona’s new law. Strange, you would think that the President Calderon would be happy to keep his best workers in Mexico. Or perhaps he knows that those that are pouring over the border into the US are not his best and he’s happy to be rid of them. He knows that many of these illegal immigrants are coming here not to work but to avail themselves of the social welfare of our country or to engage in crime. Maybe you’ve heard the old phrase, “Good neighbors respect property lines.” The same is true on the world stage. Good international neighbors respect borders.

There is no one who is a bigger supporter of immigration than I. Just please come through the front door and sign the guest register; don’t climb in the back window. But we all know where this controversy is leading; amnesty for all those sneak in the back way.