What"s the Case Against Arizona"s New Immigration Law?
A couple years ago there was lots of talk about securing the borders and immigration reform.
Some debated amnesty.
It always seemed to me that it made sense to first stop the influx of new illegal (or more politically correct:: undocumented) immigrants.
When someone is injured, don't you want to stop the bleeding first? Then the financial meltdown occurred both in the United States, with international consequences as well.
Gas prices soared.
Resolving these problems took priority in the minds of most Americans.
Then Barack Obama became president of the United States.
President Obama pushed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the Stimulus Bill.
Then he and the Democratic controlled US Congress tackled Cap and Trade / American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.
R.
2454), which fizzled.
And more recently, the health care reform, which evolved into the health insurance reform legislation, was passed.
Did we forget? Passage of Arizona's Senate Bill 1070 bought the immigration issue back into the forefront of the thoughts of Americans.
Protests and controversy ensued.
Now the Department of Justice is bring a lawsuit against the State of Arizona.
Why? Reason #1 Since federal law trumps state statutes, it may be unconstitutional for a state to pass a similar law.
Since when is duplication of effort illegal and a crime? The federal government has coordination and communication problems which foster an efficient environment where effort is duplicated.
One thing that was highlighted in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States was that our intelligence and other agencies did not coordinate.
Reason #2 Arizona SB 1070 is unnecessary because the US government already works with states to enforce federal immigration law.
I'm still not understanding the rationale for a lawsuit simply because an entity is doing something it doesn't need to do.
Obviously there was a perceived need since the federal government was not accomplishing its goal of stopping or slowing down the flow of illegal immigrants into this country.
Our borders are not secure.
The importance of border security is another lesson we should have learned from September 11.
One estimate is that by deporting illegal aliens, the state of Arizona would have a negative economic impact of $13 billion or more.
To risk that kind of money in the current down economy indicates a high conviction that the ultimate benefits would be good or the state.
Whatever happened to states rights? Reason #3 The potential for harassment of U.
S.
citizens and legal / lawful immigrants by law enforcement personnel as they sought to ferret out illegal, undocumented workers.
This is the only reason that makes sense to me, a non-lawyer.
The justice department does have a role in ensuring that civil rights are not violated.
So What's The Case? In my opinion, the first two reasons don't warrant a lawsuit.
Our judicial branch and court systems are supposed to be impartial and non political.
But, if we weren't hearing protests from civil rights advocates and immigrant rights supporters, no lawsuit would have been filed.
The Department of Justice would have had no case.
Some debated amnesty.
It always seemed to me that it made sense to first stop the influx of new illegal (or more politically correct:: undocumented) immigrants.
When someone is injured, don't you want to stop the bleeding first? Then the financial meltdown occurred both in the United States, with international consequences as well.
Gas prices soared.
Resolving these problems took priority in the minds of most Americans.
Then Barack Obama became president of the United States.
President Obama pushed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the Stimulus Bill.
Then he and the Democratic controlled US Congress tackled Cap and Trade / American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.
R.
2454), which fizzled.
And more recently, the health care reform, which evolved into the health insurance reform legislation, was passed.
Did we forget? Passage of Arizona's Senate Bill 1070 bought the immigration issue back into the forefront of the thoughts of Americans.
Protests and controversy ensued.
Now the Department of Justice is bring a lawsuit against the State of Arizona.
Why? Reason #1 Since federal law trumps state statutes, it may be unconstitutional for a state to pass a similar law.
Since when is duplication of effort illegal and a crime? The federal government has coordination and communication problems which foster an efficient environment where effort is duplicated.
One thing that was highlighted in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States was that our intelligence and other agencies did not coordinate.
Reason #2 Arizona SB 1070 is unnecessary because the US government already works with states to enforce federal immigration law.
I'm still not understanding the rationale for a lawsuit simply because an entity is doing something it doesn't need to do.
Obviously there was a perceived need since the federal government was not accomplishing its goal of stopping or slowing down the flow of illegal immigrants into this country.
Our borders are not secure.
The importance of border security is another lesson we should have learned from September 11.
One estimate is that by deporting illegal aliens, the state of Arizona would have a negative economic impact of $13 billion or more.
To risk that kind of money in the current down economy indicates a high conviction that the ultimate benefits would be good or the state.
Whatever happened to states rights? Reason #3 The potential for harassment of U.
S.
citizens and legal / lawful immigrants by law enforcement personnel as they sought to ferret out illegal, undocumented workers.
This is the only reason that makes sense to me, a non-lawyer.
The justice department does have a role in ensuring that civil rights are not violated.
So What's The Case? In my opinion, the first two reasons don't warrant a lawsuit.
Our judicial branch and court systems are supposed to be impartial and non political.
But, if we weren't hearing protests from civil rights advocates and immigrant rights supporters, no lawsuit would have been filed.
The Department of Justice would have had no case.
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