Arizona law filling a power vacuum.

The Arizona state law is only evidence of a Federal failure. The Federal government has allowed a power vacuum to happen on the border so the state governments who are 1) closer to the problem and 2)more responsive to their constituency- have filled the vacuum. The state governments are being forced to action.

The responsibility of the Federal government as outlined in the Constitution is to "establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity". When the Federal government decided to ignore the problem it shifted the responsibility to the next logical level of responsibility. Our porous southern border has been a problem since at least the Eisenhower administration.

A news conference with Eisenhower from July 21, 1954:

Q. John Herling, Editors Syndicate: Mr. President, the wetback legislation prepared by Attorney General Brownell is sort of bogged down in the Congress, and at the time it was introduced there was great urgency about it, and it seems to continue to be that. Do you plan to give the idea an additional push? THE PRESIDENT. Well, wherever I see an opportunity, yes, I will. This is part of a general program that the Attorney General has to make it possible for him to enforce the laws as written. We want to make sure there is no disposition here in any of these laws to interfere with the transient workers who come in by legal means. They want them, they want to come; it is all on the up and up. The only difficulty is these that come across illegally; it is difficult to control unless he gets these additional measures. I believe there are two of them on that particular subject that should be enacted.

Americans who believe in what America is believe in the same things expressed by President Eisenhower. We don’t want to interfere with people here legally and at the same time we don’t want people to come here illegally.

If the federal government is interested in preserving our nation- then it must act soon to reform immigration policy. Under the law those who have entered illegally must pay a price of some kind. It wouldn’t be fair to those who have chosen to be a part of the American dream if they didn’t. I work with many legal immigrants- they have worked for years in the United States. They have paid taxes, many have become citizens, some have children serving our country in the armed forces, and they deserve to be treated fairly. These legal immigrants are jumping through the hoops and unraveling the red-tape that is legal immigration. How would allowing those who ignore our laws and minimize the struggle of legal immigrants be construed as an establishment of justice?

Here is where many would begin to indict the state government of Arizona- but I am going to point my finger at the federal government. Through the non-action of the federal government to defend the border states from an invasion it has forced Arizona to effect as much change as it can with its limited resources. This has caused a reaction in the legal and illegal immigrant community. No legal immigrant wants to see relatives here illegally, harassed or deported- be it by a government agent or a private citizen. Does the vacuum the federal government has created on the border promote domestic tranquility?

Traffickers affiliated with the Juárez Cartel supply illicit drugs, including cocaine and marijuana, to various street gangs for distribution in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the Southwest, Midwest, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic Regions. Our southern border is so porous that we not only have problems in Arizona- we have problems all over the United States- because the federal government has allowed a power vacuum to exist on the border. People are in actual danger- Americans are being killed in their own back yards. What will move the federal government to actually provide for the common defense?

What is one of the first arguments you see from people who want to encourage illegal immigration? “They do jobs Americans won’t do.” Well why won’t Americans do those jobs? Could it be because of poor conditions and low pay? If an illegal immigrant is willing to do a job at a fraction of the wage an American would expect- what is to stop companies looking for cheap non-demanding labor from hiring illegal immigrants? “Without illegal immigration food costs (etc.) would increase.” That is the same exact argument northern supporters of slavery would use before the civil war. The producer wants the most affordable raw materials and be it the connoisseurs of “3000 mile salads” of today or the consumers of cotton textiles from 1860- they will do and say anything to have it. “Illegal immigrants are better off in America- Mexico is such a terrible place now- we have to help these poor souls.” Here is where we come to the old-deep south argument for slavery. Some slave owners would argue that the human beings they own would not be able to take care of themselves- and that they are in fact serving a humanitarian cause. So I would say that essentially people who want to promote illegal immigration are in fact using the same arguments slavers would use before the civil war. How can anyone argue that fighting for illegal immigration is promotion of the general welfare?

How can “reasonable suspicion” be attained with out immediately asking someone for their papers upon seeing that they may not be an American citizen. Reasonable suspicion doesn’t sound like a very high hurtle for a peace officer to jump over. If we want a limited government- every agent of the government must have a respect not only for the law but for the principles behind the law. Asking brown people for their papers upon “reasonable suspicion” is only going to hurt any kind of reform efforts. It will only reinforce the progressive policy of the past 20 years toward illegal immigration. The law will provide cover for the federal government to enforce the constitution selectively. It will be difficult for a peace officer to prove probable cause upon arrest if he has a “reasonable suspicion” of immigration status. Probable cause is the precedent for a lawful search or detention- mere suspicion isn’t a cause. Is reasonable suspicion securing the blessings of liberty?

The federal government is failing. If the federal government acts with purpose and common sense then states like Arizona won't be forced into filling the power vacuum with horrible laws.