Argument: Arizona immigration law merely enforces existing law

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Kris Kobach. “Why Arizona Drew a Line.” New York Times. April 28th, 2010: “we already have plenty of federal immigration laws on the books, and the typical illegal alien is guilty of breaking many of them. What we need is for the executive branch to enforce the laws that we already have.”

Sue Schwartz, an Arizona citizen, said in April of 2010, “Any time an American does something wrong or breaks the law they’re going to pay the consequences. Whenever an illegal does something wrong they get a new ID and become a new person,” she says. “I want the laws same for everybody here, not bent for them.”[1]

“Examiner Editorial: Sense and nonsense regarding Arizona law.” Examiner Editorial. May 4th, 2010: “The essential context for the Arizona law is the federal measure that has been on the books since 1940 requiring all noncitizens to carry official documentation — a stamped passport, green card or work visa — showing that they are here legally. Today, whenever a person is arrested anywhere in the U.S., their immigration status can be checked by arresting officials using the federal government’s Secure Communities program.

As John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pointed out in Sunday’s Washington Examiner, seven Arizona counties and law enforcement officials in 158 other jurisdictions use the program now and more are being added on a daily basis. More than 33,000 illegal immigrants identified through Secure Communities have been deported since 2008. Everything the Arizona law directs local cops to do must be done in that context.

People on all sides of the immigration debate disagree on whether the federal government is doing too much or too little in protecting U.S. borders. What is beyond dispute is that the laws against illegal immigration either should be enforced or repealed. Measures like Arizona’s do nothing more than supplement laws that are already on the books and the federal resources used to enforce them. The critics should take some deep breaths and calm down.”