Law & Order: Arizona
We decided to chew on that new Arizona law. We know that you’ve heard about it - SB1070 by name. It allows police officers to inquire about the immigration status of people being questioned when stopped in the course of an investigation. This provision has been added if the police officer suspects that the subject being questioned may be in the country illegally. The screaming on both sides is not useful. Educating oneself on the issue is. We hope to help with that. Immigration reform is not the subject of this article, the Arizona law is.
The law has resulted in cries of outrage from Hispanic and Latino groups which have been deafening. Large demonstrations have been held in Phoenix, Flagstaff and Tucson. President Obama has chimed in, as he does, voicing his disapproval, and hinting that he's going to let the Attorney General challenge the law. On the other side, we have those who are arguing to round up all of the illegals and ship them back to where they came from – primarily Mexico.
This is myopic on both ends of the spectrum. This is not a law to deal with illegal immigration. This law addresses the issue of jurisdiction. This law will not affect people who have come to Arizona illegally unless they involve themselves in other criminal activity.
Following is the text of the law that has angered so many:
“For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official or agency of this state or a county, city or town, or other political subdivision of this state where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person.”
Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill in a public ceremony and to her credit answered questions from the media for almost 30 minutes following the signing. She stressed that police may not stop an individual to inquire about immigration status. The police are only allowed if they have stopped a person for another valid legal reason. This works in the same manner as seat-belt laws in many states. An officer cannot stop a driver for not wearing a seat-belt, but if that driver is stopped for speeding he will get the speeding ticket as well as being cited for not wearing his seat belt.
For any educated opinion to be formed, there needs to be context put into the passage of the law. For that we need to look south of the Arizona / Mexico border. Mexico, as a functioning nation is on the brink of collapse. The drug cartels are the controlling force in much of the country. They maintain their control by purchasing government officials, financing their own army, and brutally killing anyone who crosses them. Mexico is, in effect, a narco-state with a largely impotent government. They control all aspects of any illegal activity emanating from Mexico.
The illusion that people have of the illegal immigrant is the image of a hard-working Mexican laborer crossing the desert under the cover of night to bring his family to a better life in the United States. This is not the case. No one just walks across the border.
The real estate south of the border is controlled by the drug lords that make up the Mexican cartels. The trails and tunnels into the United States are manned by their thugs, who guard and restrict access with heavy weaponry. Passage into the United States costs a payment to the drug lords of roughly $2500 per person. If you have the money, you pay it. If not, they will loan it to you and you will pay it back by renting yourself out as a slave in whatever enterprize the criminals operate on this side of the border. The "lucky" among those wind up in sub-minimum wage sweatshops, or washing dishes in eateries fronting for the cartels. The less fortunate ones are used in prostitution, smuggling, and intimidation operations.
There is a certain amount of violence that is spilling out of the human trafficking over the border into Arizona. Recently a rancher, Robert Krentz, was murdered on his own property. The available evidence is pointing to an encounter with one of these smugglers. A Sheriff Deputy was also shot this past weekend while on patrol alone in an area known to be a smuggling route. Prior to his shooting he radioed in that he had encountered five men who were armed.
The increase in illegal activity is straining law enforcement agencies who have limited ability to act. The federal government claims jurisdiction on matters concerning illegal immigration into the United States, They have only nominally helped Arizona through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. There are officers, and offices. They patrol and once in awhile do a raid. They are understaffed, underfunded, and undermotivated. It is not their job to deal with crime, other than with regards to immigration status or smuggling.
The state of Arizona saw an opportunity to help in this understaffing. They sought to craft a law that mirrors federal law with respect to how law enforcement should properly deal with a suspect if there is a question of his legal status in this country. According to the Congressional Research Service, local law enforcement may aid in illegal immigration issues (see link: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl32270.pdf ). Arizona, in seeking the best way possible to address this issue set a team of lawyers and legislators together to craft a law that both mirrored and fell within existing federal guidelines.
State and local law enforcement are battling criminals every day. The law was set to serve two purposes. The first is economic. The Arizona prison system is starting to strain under the burden of the ever increasing prison population. Many of these prisoners are in the country illegally. The costs of housing these prisoners is borne by the Arizona tax payer. This cost is the same whether a criminal is legally here or not.
The second reason is quite literally to force the hand of the federal government to act. Illegal immigrants are by their very nature a federal responsibility. Criminals who are in the country illegally should be sent through the federal system, serve their time in federal prison, and be deported. This shifts the cost to the federal government, which is again an economic reason.
This is not a racist bill. This is the state of Arizona offering to do the police work to catch the criminals that threaten the hardworking residents (both legal and illegal) of the state. It then wants to turn criminals who do not have legal residency in the United States over to the federal authorities for prosecution and sentencing. This law has little to do with immigration and everything to do with the budget. It allows the police to do the hard work, and then if the suspect turns out to be here illegally, have the feds pick up the expensive part of the job – prosecuting, incarcerating or deporting the individual.
No one is going to come after anyone’s gardener or handyman unless that person also robs the house. No family is going to be thrown in jail while getting ice cream unless someone pulls a gun and empties the register. Any officer who stops any individual who is not involved in other suspicious activity, and asks about immigration status, will be subject to disciplinary action.
Common Sense Dictates
In the plain light of day it seems that people are arguing about the wrong thing. The bill is not based in racism, it is based in crime. The police want to stop the crime. The state of Arizona wants the same. It is also based on money. Arizona wants the federal government to live up to it’s responsibility to incarcerate and prosecute those here illegally. They are doing so by investigating and arresting criminals involved in other illegal activities, and handing the case and the criminal to federal prosecutors for disposal. Finally, it calls for the federal government to actually do something constructive with regard to the immigration. A system that rewards criminal operations across the border, and which puts law-abiding people in danger in this country should not be government policy.
We will deal with our ideas on securing the border and immigration reform at another time. With regard to this law we see it as equally protecting people in the face of a criminal activity sponsored by an entity that lives across the border. Arizona law enforcement officers are as dedicated and professional as anywhere else in the country. The outcry over this law is misplaced at best. It is not about people who have entered the country illegally and are otherwise law abiding. It is about criminals who are here illegally and who continue to prey on the innocent. Common Sense dictates that we support this law.
RLB
Categories: Constitutional Issues, states rights, political leadership
Tags: national security immigration civic responsibility
"Common sense dictates that we support this law?" My jaw is on the floor. I hear you about the POINT of what they are TRYING to accomplish, but you MUST realize how the practical application of this law is going to play out. It most definitly is going to become a racism issue. If you think it won't, you've placed your head firmly in the sand. I know you want to voice your conservative values, but this goes too far. This is an absolute EMBARRASMENT to us as a nation. People fear this will lead to racial profiling. READ THE TEXT folks, it SUGGESTS racial profiling! To use your comparison, just like cops will pull people over for "driving suspiciously" to be able to search a car or write a seatbelt ticket, you KNOW that cops in AZ will make shit up to force hispanic looking folks to prove their citizenship. And you know it damn well. Citizens of this country, walking down the street in Arizona, will be called upon to provide "papers" upon demand. Sound familiar to anyone? I'm not suggesting it will be the rule, but it WILL be the exception. And that happening just once is way too many times, and any law that would push us towards that happening, even once, is something that common sense would dictate we not allow to exist under any circumstance. Ugh. I mean, I know we havce political differences, but how can you support this?
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Clevis, What is the EXACT text from the law that "SUGGESTS" racial profiling ??
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Police can stop an individual for many reasons and young men of color know this all too well. So, for all of you that don't think this will lead to an increase in racial profiling - you are very naive (and probably white).
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This is the same silly argument that they use to shake down some elderly black woman at the airport when all of the people trying to blow up plaves are young men of middle eastern descent. Hey Clevis - just about all of the Nazis I can think of are white - should we be looking through the Latino or black community to find them. You look where it makes sense.
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It's just because all of the Nazis andKlansmen are white that this is such a problem. Don't you think a few of those simpletons will wind up with a badge and just use the opportunity to shake down the Hispanic people?
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Wow - this is why this is getting out of hand. Nothing but total dismissal of the other person's view. Does this target Hispanics? Well, first it targets people who are already caught in suspicious circumstances. So my guess is that it targets criminal behavior. Will Hispanics be disproportionately stopped? Probably - if we are talking the illegal population, because of lack of marketable skills. Because of this they are living in poorer areas that are more prone to crime. Are some cops racist? Definitely - but not all or even most of them. It's a few of them, and the governor made it very clear that cops who do not use this law in good faith will be disciplined. This isn't the bad old days when racist governments set up Jim Crow laws. This is modern America where anyone who chooses to apply themselves can succeedd. Look at Obama - poor kid, broken home and he got to be President. The racism charge just rings hollow. The country has no toleration of it. 70-75 % of Arizonans support this law, and if my numbers are right about 60% of the population is of Hispanc heritage, at least partly. Support it or not, I think we can let them try it on a good faith basis.
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State Sen. Russell Pearce said it best "Illegal isnt a reace, illegal is a crime." No one cares about anyone who comes here legally. That is obetting the law. This is about people just coming. It isn't jusst enought to want to be here. There are laws and they need to be enforced.
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OK, here it s in common sense. Some guy who lives in a craphole decides to move into your home. Without asking. You call the cops and have him dragged out for tresspassing. He's sent back to his craphole. How is this any different?
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I'll go one better. You call the cops and the guy is sitting on your couch, drinking your beer and eating your chips. The cop shows up and say they can't help you because he's not committing a crime. They tell you that if he decides to punch you in the face, then they can arrest him for assault and remove him from your house. That is how far the Arizona law goes to rounding up all of the illegals. As long as they aren't actively involved in something criminal other than being here illegally, the cops can't do anything.
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But they will, it happens all the time.
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That statement was so amazingly ignorant I almost dom't know what to say. And Clevis - I don't know what secret police operate in the country you live in but I am law enforcement. 15 years in California. I'll tell you straight up that there might be a few bad apples who get past basic triaing, but it doesn't take too long to weed them out. The average police officer or deputy wants to keep their job and their pension. They want to advance to a better pay grade. Cowboy mentality is not encouraged. Matter of fact it is discouraged forcefully. I'm sure that once that deputy that was shot recovers he will be investigated for going up against 5 guys without backup. You would have to be a full blown moron to break what has been obviously stated as practice. Those practices are drilled in and as good as coming from God. Breaking any of them invites a suspension and risks ending your career. Stop spending so much time accepting bad TV as the real world.
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Was that a beer bottle that just flew past me??? Nothing like walking into a bar fight. Maybe we can tone it down and hear each other. There this law, and no one knows exactly what will happen with it. I think that the reason everyone is so hot on this is because the situation is real. There are a lot of illegal immigrants here. Stress the illegal part. Legal ones are legal, no issue.
The reason Arizona did what it did, it seems to me, is because the federal government has been kicking this can down the road since Reagan's amnesty in 1984. There was to be enforcement which never happened. Now instead of 3 million undocumented, we have 12 or 14 million. Seems like the last fix didn't work.
What we need is one federal set of laws to actually solve this problem, and follow that.
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As I understand it, the Arizona lawmakers studied the federal laws and created this within that framework, mirroring the intent of the federal statute. That's even what the Congressiional report linked to says. We have a federal law. Arizona is just trying to enforce it.
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That is true. If Obama goes to challenge this law, he is challenging the federal statute as well. That would put him in a fight with standing federal policy on illegal immigrants. That sort of forces Obama to actually deal with the issue. Leave it to Arizona to hold someone's feet to the fire. Good job!
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Slavery was once perfectly acceptable and it was federal policy to ignore what the states were doing. Just because a law says something that doesn't make it right.
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Well, a blanket amnesty didn't work, and we really can't round them all up and ship them out. I really don't see a problem with unloading the ones who are breaking the law on the feds.
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I don't know why this is such a big deal. Arizona is going after people BREAKING THE LAW, then finding out if they are here legally or not, and if not HANDING THEM OVER TO FEDERAL AUTHORITIES. They aren't driving buses to the border or executing anyone. They are ENFORCING THE LAW. WTF people? Isn't that what we pay them to do???
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So what kind of lawbreakers are we talking? Bangers and drug dealers or some day laborer who gets stopped for spitting on the sidewalk? Where is the line drawn? I think that's important.
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OK, I know everyone hates this part, but by coming into this country illegally, they are breaking the law. They get a pass on that and need to break the law again before anyone can bother them. We have immigration laws for a reason. Open borders didn't work out too well for the Indians, did it?
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Reading through this I'm really not seeing all of the post-partisan, post-racial era that the election of Obama was supposed to bring forth. A division of this nature needs to get past left and right ideology and actually work on the problem. Usually that requires compromise, which is a dirty word. The other thing would be splitting the difference. Try it you might like it
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Now that the dust is settling a little word is getting out that this law was written within the framework of the existing federal law. Maybe with a little time cooler heads will prevail and tll the illegals to not break any more laws and they'll be undisturbed.
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I saw on the news that a female hispanic Councilwoman came out FOR the Arizona law. Her remarks are on YouTube but I can't ssem to copy the link.
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I saw that video and I agree. People who do not break laws have nothing to fear. People who do should. I see no racism in it.
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I think Jan Brewer is a hero to be commended on this. I was iffy about the law too, but I checked it out and there's nothing in it that even hints at racist intent. I guess it's fair to be worried about cops with attitude, but that's a different issue than the law and would need to be dealt with as a different issue anyway. Any cop who is going to be harassing Hispanics would be doing so already anyway. This law doesn't make a bit of difference on that issue.
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I'm still not on board and neither are all of the protesters. They seem to outnumber that big 70% that supports this law.
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That's because the 70% have jobs and don't have time to stand on street corners waving Mexican flags.
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Cute - all of those people who don't have time to protest because they have jobs are warm and comfy. They have no reason to protest. The people in the streets are fighting for their lives. Desperation is a great motivator.
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You can say there's no racism, but Brewer just signed a bill that outlaws ethnic studies. How is that not racist?
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It stops public funding for classes that "promote the superiority of on race over another, cause resentment of one race to another, or seek to overthrow the government of the United States". I don't have a problem with that. Now if they'd replace those courses with one in civics, it would be a really good day.
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Read today that the AZ state commissioner in charge of electricity told the Mayor of Los Angeles that they would be happy to end the contracts that supply L.A. with 25% of their electricity. Sounds like a put up or shut up deal about the boycott that L.A. declared.
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Never play a game of poker with an Arizonan. Even if it's a bluff, my bet is Los Angeles folds.
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Did you hear Calderon lecturing us on this law today. He hasn't read it either. It's especially galling if you know that a person found to be illegally in Mexico gets 2 years in prison, a fine and gets deported. You ave to bring economic or strategic value to get in. The best part is that if the demographics of the country start to shift (going from predominantly Mexicen to some other RACE or CULTURE), they shut the border to outsiders. Clean upyour own racist laws Mr. Calderon, then youcan lecture us.
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I love this blog, lots of interesting and informative postings. Great job, keep it up
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