Comment & Debate
Stan Sudero. “Arizona’s law has national support.” The Reporter. May 2nd, 2010: “Unfortunately, our federal government, empowered by the people and the Constitution of the United States, chooses to sit idly by as millions unlawfully and intentionally invade our country. It is simply unsafe to have thousands or millions of lawbreakers roaming our states without regard to our laws. […] The issue is not ethnic origin, it is criminal trespass. Many Americans can proudly trace their family line to Mexico, and now consider themselves no longer Mexicans or Mexican-Americans but Americans. The illegal immigrant has chosen to violate our country’s laws simply to exploit our free and generous society. He takes advantage of our free schooling, emergency medical care, and welfare entitlements without learning our national language, filing for legal residence or contributing taxes. Mexico would never tolerate such behavior from a foreign national in its own territory.”
Mike Rosen. “Arizona is just taking a stand.” Denver Post. May 6th, 2010: “A reliable international measure of civilized, just and desirable societies is to observe which way the guns are pointed. In the former Soviet Union, in communist-era East Berlin and in Castro’s Cuba still today, the guns have been pointed inward, to keep their own people from escaping. In the United States, it’s just the opposite. We don’t need any guns or walls to keep people in. On the contrary, Americans who believe that our government is failing in its duty to maintain the integrity of our borders are frustrated that we can’t even summon the will to build a fence to keep intruders out. […] It’s been said that America is a nation of immigrants. True. Even the Indians were immigrants. But earlier waves, like the 12 million immigrants who poured through Ellis Island from 1892 to 1954, were different from the ones that plague Arizona today. They entered our country legally.”
Anna Gaines, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen who lives in Arizona and supports its new law, said in April of 2010: “We as Americans have the right to defend this country’s laws. There’s nothing racist about protecting the country.”[1]
James Edwards. “Arizona Gets it Right on Illegal Immigration.” Human Events. April 27th, 2010: “This law reflects a state properly acting to protect its citizens. It represents federalism at work. […] Arizona’s new law includes several elements: It makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. This mirrors federal law, just as with narcotics and other crimes. Lawmakers categorize unlawful presence in the United States as a state criminal trespassing offense.
Legal noncitizens can be charged if they fail to have their immigration documents handy. Also, a police officer having reasonable suspicion that someone isn’t legally in the country must check the suspect’s immigration status. The law allows officers latitude here. This police duty applies “when practicable.”
Citizens can hold state and local governments and agencies accountable. Average Arizona citizens can now sue any of these bodies that fail to carry out immigration-related enforcement. This measure counters “politically correct” officials who adopt so-called sanctuary policies or practices and thereby protecting foreign lawbreakers in certain areas.”