By PATRICK ALCATRAZ
Editor-In-Chief
DALLAS - We live in a strange and wicked time. How often in the past 50 years has the citizenry of this country heard and pondered that peculiarly American sentence? Too often, says this observer.
Now comes the State of Arizona, home of enough antsy Far-Right Conservatives to line a Racist Parade stretching for long miles of self-aggrandizing, flag-waving, faux patriotic chanting - all this while gulping enough Maalox to float the Mayflower from Plymouth to some urgently-dredged pond in the hallows of Phoenix. Arizona today passed legislation aimed at targeting immigrants - all immigrants, but in this case mostly the Hispanic.
Its Republican governer - the peroxide blonde Jan Brewer - went against President Obama's advice that she veto the bill while allowing the federal government to tackle immigration reform at the federal level, where it belongs. Brewer went party-first, so she signed in a setting that her surrounded by a line-up of White men.
The Arizona law allows - requires, say the ultra-conservatives - police to deal with illegal immigration. Brewer backed into it by saying her state is suffering from an onslaught of immigrants, border strife, and a continuing flow of illegal drugs moving north from Mexico.
Even as hundreds of protesters outside the state Capitol shouted down the new law, the governor insisted that critics were "over-reacting," and that she wouldn't tolerate racial profiling.
"We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act," Brewer said after signing the law. "But decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation."
Perhaps. But the thinking here is that Arizona has been moving to this moment for long months. It lives as a state where the Far Right has a willing and ready ear, so much so that staunch GOP standard bearer John McCain is in the fight of his political life because another candidate for his U.S. Senate seat is playing to the farthest element of the wing.
What this portends for Arizona is easy to guess. The law is small in scope and nature, yet it speaks to a nation still wondering how to assimilate some 11 million undocumented citizens. On its face, the Arizona law is lacking in that it addresses little to do with the bigger problem. Yes, it will likely lead to the arrest a few hundred, even thousands, of people who are not U.S. citizens. That's the sexy bit of news that no doubt will play out in local television news from Phoenix to Yuma to Kingman to Flagstaff, etal.
Big deal.
Arizona, however, will come to learn a hard lesson. It is part of the union and federal law supersedes any law the Arizona legislature might dream-up or pass. Immigration remains a national issue, regardless of today's action in Arizona.
Real legislators elsewhere will wrestle with the millions of non-citizens already here. They will, for one, want to incorprate them into our society if for no other reason than that these people are here, working and paying taxes. And, of course, every citizen knows the burden that has become - and will continue to be - the country's aging population. Too many retirees - ah, those Baby Boomers - have placed a large drain on the Social Security System. In short time, it won't be long before more money will be paid to SSN recipients than is being taken in from payroll check contributions from the young.
Studies indicate the new immigrants are young, or have youngsters who will join the workforce.
Irony of ironies, it is these New Americans who will feed our needy national treasury...
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7 comments:
It is such a fallacy that immigrants, illegal or otherwise, dont pay taxes or into the social security system. Moreover, with the work compliance requirements, every illegal has SSN and will never make the claim for benefits.
Let that one roll around in the coco for a bit. There is an agency for teh federal government, the SSA, who knows the work location and home address of 90% of all illegal aliens in the US! But, as long as they keep making deposits and no withdrawls, no questions are asked.
This law is not really the cluster that it appears on face. I know you couch the argument in racism and I certainly respect that, but southern Arizona really is out of control. This is a reaction to that lack of control and it is making a statement.
There is actually no federal statute that forbids state and local law enforcement from enforcing immigration laws. In fact, the federal government routinely request and relies upon local law enforcement for assistance in carrying out its’ immigration enforcement functions.
Hopefully it will be the catalyst to get an amnesty / legislative overhaul of our immigration laws. The unintended consequences (ie: immigrant communities policing themselves, massive shutdown of normal law enforcement functions) really limit any serious implementation.
ANON: The Arizona/Mexico border has been what it is since time immemorial. I suspect that there have been times when each side despised the other. There really is, however, no reason for Arizona to seek such "local" legislation. California borders Mexico, as does New Mexico, as does texas. Things are dire in Mexico at present, so one would think that if things were as bad for Arizona as the present state administration says they are, well, why only Arizona? And why not Arizona under Democrat Gov. Janet Napolitano? This is a political move that comes because it could; that is, simply because the governor is a Republican. I suspect it won't stand the scrutiny of the Supreme Court. But they still go for it, and, of course, we know why... - Editor
Actually, I am Laresu, not ANON.
The reason the current of Arizona is in the situation that it is in, is all bbased on the concerted effort the Border Patrol / Dept. of Justice implimented along the Imperial Beach corridor in 1996-1998.
The Nogales area, as you have stated, has been a smuggler's cove since the days that the lines were drawn. This has not been the case in Aqua Prieta, Sonora nor the Yuma areas because frankly; it is just to nasty. Now however, those natural barriers are seemingly overcome. The smaller communities along that border, (imagine La Paloma or Grajeno, or Los banos, or La Sara) are overwhelmed. Right, wron g or indifferent, it is a problem to the people who live there, unique or otherwise.
You are 100% CORREECT that it is a political move, but that doesn't mean that the opportunity cant be taken for some serious change. Now is the time to be realistic about our policies and treat themthe way we do our regualr import policies. Mexico, as an example, is our trade partner. Trade, labor and people are all the same.
On the Constitutionality, I am sorry, but your suspicions are not supported by current law. It may change, but I suspect that may be part of a much larger overhaul.
Alactraz, is the Scorpion Son book going to sold locally or do you have to order it?? If sold here in the valley, can you post the locations, thanks bro!!!!!!!!
Laresu: (1.) On the constitutionality of the new Arizona law, well, the state does have the ability to enact legislation its elected officials dream-up. That is true. But on the matter of immigration, it has been one misguided entity after another falling to to federal law when seeking to pass harsh immigration-related law. How many cities have tried with ordinances aimed at restricting, say, rentals or schooling, and seen those ordinances overturned. The Dallas area is dotted with northern suburbs now facing nothing but huge legal bills. Look, our history has been one wave after another of immigrants since Day One. And every immigrant wave - Irish, Italians, Polish, Soviets - have seen the resident population raise hell against it. The Latino immigrant has a much longer history in places such as Arizona. That cannot be ignored. Yes, it's still about documentation - as it was when Ellis Island opened its doors to equally-oppressed people, to the uneducated, to those who only wished to find freedom. These Arizonans are merely adding to the noise. The ultimate solution will not be born in Phoenix. We agree that a solution is needed. There was a time in this country when some members of the populaton were hosed, whipped, hung, drowned with water just because they wished admission to the citizen rolls. They lived to see their call for freedom answered, however horrible their journey may have been. The mark of a civilized nation is its civility. In trying to solve the issue for itself, Arizona is merely stoking the fires of hate, which, truth be told, is another aspect of our star-crossed, much-ragged society. But, as with everything, we'll pretty much have to wait and see.. - Editor
ADD, For LARESU:- This is one of the immigrant-related local ordinances I was referring to: May 28, 2008 Judge Strikes Down Farmers Branch Immigration Rule FARMERS BRANCH, Texas (AP) ― A federal judge found Wednesday that a Dallas suburb's rule prohibiting apartment rentals to illegal immigrants was unconstitutional and could not be enforced. In his decision, U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay concluded Farmers Branch didn't defer to the federal government in immigration matters. Instead, the city tried to create its own classification to determine which noncitizens could rent in Farmers Branch, the judge said.
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...We remain a Nation of Laws, Nation being the key word there... - Editor
This is what the Tea Party wanted all along. This is what FOX network, its biggest megaphone, had hoped for: A country willing to sacrifice its civil rights for an invisible sense of relief based on a false pretension that the country is or will be white and monolithic.
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