I was surprised by some of the reactions to my original blog piece, last week on Arizona's efforts to curb illegal immigration. Some even indicated they were surprised that the Huffington Post printed my article. Wow! Have we become that polarized?
From a constitutional law standpoint, let's try to tone down the rhetoric a bit. I concede that the Legislature and Governor of Arizona, in their desperation to stem illegal immigration from Mexico, may have overstepped the boundary of their authority under our constitution.
I have not forgotten Article 6, the "Supremacy Clause" of our Constitution. It states that:
"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. "
The 1956 U.S. Supreme Court case, Pennsylvania vs. Nelson, suggest that the Arizona legislation, making it a crime to be in the state without having obtained lawful entry into the U.S and authorizing State police to demand proof of citizenship for persons they had "reasonable suspicion" to believe were illegal aliens, may be"pre-empted" by existing federal law. "Preemption" can be either express or implied. Consequently, this means that any federal law, even a regulation or federal agency dealing with illegal immigration is supreme and preempts any conflicting State law.
This could be the basis of a successful legal challenge to the recently enacted Arizona law.
However, my original article was not about constitutional legality, but about sensible and rational public policy. From the various placards, signs and speeches protesting the Arizona legislation illegal immigration appears to be implicitly elevated as a worthwhile pursuit that all Arizonans and American citizens at large should compassionately understand and support. This is where I part company with so many of my friends on the "liberal left".
Current federal law mandates legal immigrants to carry proof of their residency status in the United States at all times. The issue of "racial profiling" would not arise as a matter of concern if persons who are likely to be the subject of such profiling had been not been able to enter the country illegally in the first place. Arizona, desperate to find a way to discover, identify and deport such persons has enacted a law that runs the risk of "racial profiling" the group of persons they seek to detect as suspect illegal immigrants.
That someone may have entered Arizona illegally "to get a job to feed their family", "to obtain medical care for their wife or child", or simply "in pursuit of a better life and educational opportunities for his family", are all worthwhile objectives. Many American citizens can compassionately understand such motivations. However humanistic their reasons may be to illegally enter into the United States, they do nothing to extinguish such illegality.
In various communities throughout our own country there have been heart wrenching instances where a father, out of desperation, has unsuccessfully attempted to rob a bank or a consumer products place of business because he had no money to feed his hungry children, pay his rent or pay his home mortgage. His act, while compassionately understandable, nevertheless is illegal. His conduct broke the law and put other innocent persons at risk. So it is with illegal immigration from Mexico "in search of a better life", "to earn money to send back to one's family," "to obtain medical care for a child or wife," and so on. They too are all are worthwhile objectives. But, entry into the United States in pursuit of such objectives is not merely "undocumented conduct;" it is an illegal breach of the United States border.
A naturalized citizen wrote a letter to the New York Times, published on Saturday May 1, 2010. The writer said,
As a naturalized citizen who waited five years to obtain a green card and then another four years to become a citizen (with all the expense and paperwork involved), I see no reason to condone illegal immigration.
If we, as American citizens, illegally entered Australia, Canada, Britain or any other country, we could hardly object to being asked for our papers, nor be surprised to be deported forthwith if we didn't have them. Has everyone lost sight of the meaning of the word "illegal"?
A repetitive theme of the placards carried by demonstrators this past weekend protesting Arizona's new law is "Legalization Now for All Illegal Immigrants". i.e., urging de facto amnesty for everyone in the country illegally.
I restate my original position: All of the protest is misdirected and at the wrong parties. Massive demonstrations should take place in front of the White House, Congress the Pentagon and the Embassy of Mexico in Washington demanding once and for all that our border with Mexico be closed, now; in lieu of immediate legalization of illegal immigrants. As Ross Douthat, columnist for the New York Times, wrote, "If you don't like what Arizona just did, the answer isn't to scream "fascist!" It's to demand that the federal government do its job, so that we can have the immigration system that both Americans and immigrants deserve."
And, now comes the irony or all ironies: The Government of Mexico has now issued an "advisory warning" to its citizens about the "risks" and potential "dangers" of traveling to Arizona. Hello! Did they ever issue such an "advisory warning" before the recent Arizona legislation about entering into Arizona or other parts of the United States as an illegal immigrant?
As an African-American I have experienced and witnessed racial discrimination and racial profiling. Now, however I perceive the establishment of a new race relations paradigm: a flawed immigration public policy becomes immune from criticism when such criticism challenges the effort to legitimize illegal immigration from Mexico. (9.5% current national unemployment and 18% or higher unemployment in many African-American and Hispanic communities.) Just where are additional jobs supposed to come from to enable our new illegal "legalized" immigrants to become self-sustaining tax paying members in our respective communities?
That most illegal immigrants or "undocumented" persons in Arizona are persons with various shades of brown skin, does not make challenges to their illegal immigration "racist". Often such charges of racism are invoked as a substitute for dispassionate analysis of the serious issue being confronted. Charges of racism directed toward those who want an end to illegal immigration is no substitute for immediate effective closing of our border with Mexico. Having said this, however, I do not challenge or dismiss the observation of Frank Rich in his recent Op Ed piece in this past Sunday's New York Times.
To be angry about illegal immigration is hardly tantamount to being a bigot. But the Arizona law expressing that anger is bigoted, and in a very particular way. The law dovetails seamlessly with the national "Take Back America" crusade that has attended the rise of Barack Obama and the accelerating demographic shift our first African-American president represents.
The crowd that wants Latinos to show their papers if there's a "reasonable suspicion" of illegality is often the same crowd still demanding that the president produce a document proving his own citizenship.To the "Take Back America" right, the illegitimate Obama is Illegal Alien No.1".
Is this what a national discussion of our illegal immigration public policy is supposed to read and sound like in our newly acclaimed "post-racial America"? Is this indicative of what we have become, in this second decade of the 21st century, following our election of the first African-American as the 44th President of the United States? If so, to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, I fear for my country when I reflect that God is Just.
This Lecture was in 1999. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM1YU-Ni_84
Looking at the chart when he gets there,
What they estimated in 1999 for 2010 is spot on what actually happened.
[Just over 300 million in the US.]
When he gets to the gumball demonstration bear in mind the large jar doesn't represent Mexicans.
It represents the people in the world that are WORSE OFF than Mexicans.
Because of illegal immigration from 1999 to present we've had to:
Build TWICE as many schools.
Build TWICE as many roads.
Build TWICE as many sewer plants.
Build TWICE as much about anything else.
Have to have twice as many cops and firemen and teachers. [Or leave areas under serviced.]
And use TWICE as many trees.
Anyone that thinks that isn't a significant load on our economy is a moron.
If you don't want every city in the US to become a giant LA Slum within ~40 years, then illegal immigration has to STOP NOW!
~
Link to just the chart. [Sorry about the quality.]
http://www.numbersusa.com/content/files/imagecache/fpage/files/cck_images/population.jpg...
Every country in the world has harsher immigration laws than we do.Yet President Felipe Calderon whines like a little baby and calls us racist if we even try to protect our borders. I lived in L.A. for 30 years, the mecca for illegal aliens. I no longer live there specifically because the illegal alien situation got way out of control. And now that Mayor V has declared a boycott against Arizona every last one of them will be headed to L.A. and the situation will only get worse. If you haven't personally experienced the migration of illegals into your neighborhood then you really have no idea just how bad the problem is. Try living in L.A. for a year and see if your attitude changes. I was a Democrat when I first moved there. By the time I left I had become a Republican.
I did not speak because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews ;
I did not speak because I was not a Jew.
Then they came to fetch the workers, members of trade unions;
I did not speak because I was not a trade unionist.
Afterwards, they came for the Catholics;
I did not say anything because I was a Protestant.
Eventually they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak ..."
Martin Niemöller,Pastor
Dachau, 1942.
Secondly Illegal aliens enjoy the protection of the constitutuion, which is quite probably more protection than they get from their own country so i dont see how this applies. However being that they are trespassing and committing identity theft to be here and try to work does not put them above the law.
Thirdly the fact that they are here illegally means that they in fact do not respect the law of teh couhntry and why shold we not ship the whole lot out and then allow people back on a fair allocation basis including the tens of millions of Africans, Chinese, Indians, Eastern Europeans. Now that would not be racist!
The hispanics are spreading hysteria because they know they are getting preferantial treatment and they are arrogant enough to believe that it is their right!
For those who support illegal immigrants, it isn't enough I guess, that Arizona's citizens are violated daily. It isn't enough that law enforcement is barely permitted to exercise any measure of authority (as you hide - once again - behind unjust screams of racism.) You won't be content until you've rendered all manner of law enforcement powerless & stripped every citizen of protection - leaving them helpless targets to your precious illegal immigrants. What the hell is wrong with you? They've done nothing but make demands while violating our laws and our citizens. But you support illegal immigrants - no matter what the cost to our citizens. How many citizens have to become victims before you get behind THEM in lieu of this storm of violence and devastation created by illegal immigrants.
To those who support illegal immigration, please explain why it is that you insist illegal immigrants be the exception to the rule - that they are entitled to break our country's laws? The growing sense of entitlement & the increasing sense of impunity by illegal immigrants is more than disturbing. What are you so against with regard to SB1070? That law enforcement actually be allowed to perform their duties which include trying to protect the citizen's of Arizona against the rising tide of violence & desecration? Violence stemming directly from the influx of illegal immigrants? Desecration as illegal immigrants flood our cities and towns, subsequently filling the streets with the homeless, the unemployed, the destitute?
Those supporting illegals, apparently it isn't enough for you that Arizona's citizens are violated daily. It's not enough that law enforcement is barely permitted to exercise any measure of authority (as you hide - once again - behind unjust screams of racism.) You won't be content until you've rendered all manner of law enforcement powerless & stripped every citizen of protection - leaving them helpless targets to illegal immigrants. What the hell is wrong with you? They've done nothing but make demands while violating our laws and our citizens. But you support illegal immigrants - no matter what the cost to our citizens. Tell me, how many citizens must be victimized before you get behind THEM in lieu of this storm of violence
What are you so against with regard to SB1070? That law enforcement actually be allowed to perform their duties which include trying to protect the citizen's of Arizona against the rising tide of violence and desecration? Violence stemming directly from the influx of illegal immigrants? Desecration as illegal immigrants flood our cities and towns, subsequently filling the streets with the homeless, the unemployed, the destitute?
For those who support illegal immigrants, it isn't enough I guess, that Arizona's citizens are violated daily. It isn't enough that law enforcement is barely permitted to exercise any measure of authority (as you hide - once again - behind unjust screams of racism.) You won't be content until you've rendered all manner of law enforcement powerless and stripped every citizen of protection - leaving them helpless targets to your precious illegal immigrants. What the hell is wrong with you? They've done nothing but make demands while violating our laws and our citizens. But you support illegal immigrants - no matter what the cost to our citizens. Tell me, how many citizens have to become victims before you get behind THEM in lieu of this storm of violence and devastation created by
Here is a thought for States to stop funding free education for non citizens:
Require proof of legal residency when registering a child for school. The key word being LEGAL Resident.
The parent should provide a State or Federal issued ID card showing a valid address. Non residents whether legal or illegal should pay for their child’s education. In the event a parent is in the process of obtaining a green card the fee could be waived.
"The annual cost of maintaining and providing services to illegal or 'undocumented' citizens should be tabulated, assumed and paid by the Government of Mexico or credited against the annual cost of oil we import from them until such time as immigrants from their country become U.S. citizens."
Can you please take up this task? Also, please don't forget to deduct the total from taxes collected. Please be sure to take into consideration that federal services should be deducted from federally collected taxes, and local services from locally collected taxes. Results would be extremely beneficial in this discussion.
The Population of the USA = 300 million
Hispanic population = 46 million
Estimated numer of illegal immigrants in 2009 = 11 million
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_ill_pe_2009.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigrant_population_of_the_United_States
Estimated illegal hispanics in the US 2009 (76% of all illegals) = 8.4 million
Illegals as a pecentage of the total US population = 3.6% (approximately 1 on 30)
Population of Arizona = 6.5 million
Estimated illegal immigrants in Arizona = 500,000
Illegals as a percentage of Arizona population = 7.7% (approximately 1 in13)
http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=51473
Based on the number of arrests 2009, half of all border crossings into the USA are probably occuring in the Tucson sector. It is reasonable to assume that at least 80% of all illegals in Arizona are Hispanic.
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/yearbook/2008/table35.xls
The bottom line is that the vast majority of illegals are Hispanic and about 1 in every 15 Hispanics in Arizona is most likely to be illegal.
Total Hispanic polulation in Arizona = 1.96 million
http://pewhispanic.org/states/?stateid=AZ
Hispanic Illegals in Arizona at 80% = 400,000.
1 in 5 Hispanics in Arizona is probably illegal.
Our anti-discrimination laws hold that the affect of any action that disproportionably affects a recognized and protected group of people that is not reflective of their proportion of the relevant population constitutes a Prima Facia case of discrimination. Therefore, if 81% of those illegally residing in the USA are of Latino origin does this not also mean that to insure no Prima Facia case of discrimination exists should not 81% of those investigated for being illegally in the USA be of Latino origin? Would not departing from that percentage be discriminatory to Black, Asian, and White Americans? Why must discrimination against non-Latino Americans be the feel-good solution for Illegal Immigrant Latino Americans?
Supporters keep shouting illegal alien as if no one else could possibly be affected. But if you know someone is illegal you wouldn't need to ask for proof of citizenship and if you now someone is a legal alien you'd have every right to ask for papers but no need to ask for proof of citizenship.
So, obviously, you only ask for proof if you don't know if they're citizens, if they are they're not required to have papers or prove citizenship and police have no right to demand proof that they are citizens under federal law.
But under SB1070 citizens either provide proof or get arrested. And can be denied lawyers and deported as illegal aliens, none of which is legal or constitutional for citizens and none of which is of any concern to the bill's supporters.
Simply not being able to produce a drivers license would raise suspicion and further proof of legal driver status would then be in order. Should the suspect then fail to come up with corroborating evidence to show legal status probable cause could be used to detain the suspect. Hiibel vs the 6th Circuit Court
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-5554.ZO.html
--- actually, a pretty darn good example of racial profiling, so thanks. A cop better have a better description than that before he tries to stop every black male in his mid-20s across the state and force each one to prove that he's not the criminal (rather than require authorities to prove that he is the criminal). The white SUV part is helpful only for the area around the crime and for a short time period after the crime is committed. ... But the Arizona law, of course, targets all Hispanics of all shapes, sizes, genders and ages -- legal or illegal, here for hundreds of years or arrived just last week -- for 24/7/365. And that category includes many many many more Americans than it does illegal aliens and only *certain* Americans, who have done nothing to be shoved into a category of "American" that, for some reason, has fewer rights and protections than the rest of the country.
Unless reasonable suspicion and probable cause criteria are met the officer has no reason or mandate to pursue any investigation. This bill simply allows this now to extend to the issue iof legal residence status where previsouly they could not.
Here is the truth.
To be legal an employer only has to request a Social Security card, photocopy it and keep it in the employees file. Fake SS cards are very easy to get. If the employer does not run it thru E-Verify, there is no way to tell if it is fake. So as long as the employer has a SS card photocopy for the employee on file, he cannot be prosecuted.
Social Security Administration sends each employer a “no match” letter at the end of the year if the Name on the card dose not match the number, BUT REQUIRES NO ACTION from the employer to correct it!
That is the truth, read our own governments website:
http://www.ssa.gov/employer/noMatchNotices.htm
Making E-Verify mandatory and enforcing Social Security Administration no match letters would solve the problem!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Verify