If AZ legislators are a guide, now we know why John McCain changed his stripes: His state has gone right wing nutty, passing constitutionally questionable measures to require President Obama to produce his birth certificate and empowering police to target immigrants for possible racial profiling (which even some police chiefs are rallying against).
If that is the mood in his home state, it is no wonder that McCain is battling for reelection as a staunch conservative, shunning his old maverick ways. In supporting the immigration bill he first weirdly claimed that illegal immigrants are "intentionally causing accidents on the freeway," forcing aides to later try and explain it away.
Arizona might have just given national Democrats a politically powerful reason to rush consideration of immigration reform in a bid for outraged Latino voters in the congressional elections.
Follow Craig Crawford on Twitter: www.twitter.com/craig_crawford
77% of republicans support such laws as do almost half of democrats.
Check it yourself
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/04000.html
And this is the article posted on Rasmussen Poll website
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/arizona/70_of_arizona_voters_favor_new_state_measure_cracking_down_on_illegal_immigration
quote:
"A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 70% of likely voters in Arizona approve of the legislation, while just 23% oppose it.
Opponents of the measure, including major national Hispanic groups, say it will lead to racial profiling, and 53% of voters in the state are concerned that efforts to identify and deport illegal immigrants also will end up violating the civil rights of some U.S. citizens. Forty-six percent (46%) don’t share that concern "
http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Will-Not-Vacation-in-Arizona-Because-of-Their-Immigration-Laws/120346104644818?v=wall&ref=sgm
The fact that the US is and will remain a very good attraction for persons who want to move to this country, is a permanent situation. The first thing to do is "comprehensive" investigation of the problem and also for the federal administration to do as much humanitarian handling of the unfortunate millions of persons who are stuck in legal limbo status.
Just take the state of Arizona, it has over 6 million residents, over a million are Hispanic and it is estimated by the government that 400,000 immigrants are undocumented. These are very rough figures, but who thinks this problem has some kind of resolution in the near future?
Many have been employed for years and have other members of their families who are American citizens, many are not employed and/or would not qualify under any proposed immigration reform laws.
A commission to investigate the problem would be a good start.
If you have ever stood in a long line waiting to be able to see a popular movie, and watched while some people cut to the front of the line, bought tickets and entered, and then saw a signed posted that the seating has sold out before you were able to get to the ticket booth, you would know how the rest of the 300 or so million people in the country feel.
The Unions are against reform. .