I don't come on this forums often, and when I do, I don't plan on arguing politics. Rocky Pt. is a place for sharing enjoyment of food, fish and ambiance. I can accept that there will be people here whose values and beliefs will conflict with mine. However, I feel it's important that we be honest with ourselves and each other about what's real and what's not, lest we have unnecessary conflicts due to misunderstanding.
We have a border patrol to apprehend illegal entrants in the border zone, but migrants are pretty much home free once they're past the BP's jurisdiction. The number of ICE officers is woefully inadequate to patrol the vast area of the US interior. Meanwhile we have hundreds of thousands of state and local law enforcement officials walking around, many of whom encounter illegal immigrants on a regular basis, but they've been rendered useless due to lack of statutory authority. The Arizona law merely allows them to investigate immigration violations that are fairly obvious.
Here's the current situation before the law goes into effect: Police respond to a disturbance call at a residence and find 40 people in a house that has little or no furniture, it doesn't look like there's a party going on, everyone is silent and looking a bit afraid, and the guy in the corner with his head split open says he doesn't want any medical attention. Officers have a strong suspicion the place is a drop house and that there may be abuse going on, but nobody is talking and no one wants to make a complaint, possibly because of their illegal status. Since state law doesn't empower the officers to investigate these peoples' legal status in the US, they simply leave.
Under the new law, the police can ask for documents and make arrests, effectively ending what is obviously a bad situation needing intervention.
The hysteria about racial profiling and harrassment is overblown. Unlike ICE, most local police won't actively look for immigration violators. They have little incentive to do so and many disincentives, starting with the amount of time involved in arresting and transporting them. Local cops will be expected to give higher priority to violent crimes and crimes against property. I doubt the new law will result in many arrests for illegal presence in the US. However, it could discourage more people from coming here.
The law is very clear that appearance of national origin alone is not sufficient to ask for documentation. Police and prosecutors will know they're under intense scrutiny. The risk of acquittals and civil suits based on racial profiling will discourage the kind of rampant harrassment critics say we can expect.
I cannot understand why anyone would protect the hypocritical and ineffective law enforcement approach we've taking up to now. America sends mixed messages about illegal immigration from or through Mexico, and too many Americans seem satisfied with the gridlock. Any new law or policy that is unequivocal is sure to set off a firestorm.
The current defacto policy of don't ask, don't tell exploitation and peonage is a disgrace. Both major political parties condone it, albeit for different reasons. It's time both parties were confronted with a tool that works. This is flushing the politicos out so we can see what each is made of. We've been hearing protests from the race-baiting Re-Conquistas, poverty pimps, limousine liberals from the left. From the right it's exposing the political schemers like Karl Rove, Jeb Bush, Linda Chavez and Marco Rubio, who fear this will hurt the GOP at the polls and worry more about politics than about governing). It should also expose the business, financial and political interests who want to keep prices low and the standard of living high for the visible Americans who vote.
Arizona's law is merely a referendum on US hypocrisy and gridlock at the federal level. Now somebody else needs to make a move.
I don't buy the myth that our society would collapse if all illegal workers suddenly went home. We've had it pretty good the past few decades, and our houses and waistlines are now much larger than that of generations before us. I can't help believing that somehow we would still eat and have roofs over our heads, though perhaps not in the style to which we've become accustomed as a result of exploiting an imported peonage.
It's often pointed out that we're a nation of immigrants, and many claim that today's immigration is no different from that of America's past. But despite a few spectacular exceptions we hear about, there are many indications that Latin American immigration is not following the same pattern of successful assimilation and upward mobility, possibly because emigres do not have legal status and thus have only one foot in the US and perhaps only for a limited time at that. There's a big difference between a one-way trip across an ocean for legal immigration versus a temporary excursion north leaving the family behind and planning to return. Studies have shown the majority of illegal immigrants would prefer to stay and work in their own country. That mindset is understandable and even laudable, but does not bode well for assimilation.
I could accept a solution that included amnesty for some illegal entrants who truly want to stay, but I could only do so if assured that illegal immigration was being effectively stopped. Effectively stopping illegal immigration will require that penalties for both employers and illegal immigrants be harsh and certain. That guarantees a firestorm from multiple sources, but it's what it will take.
As for Michelle Malikin's discussion of Mexico's own immigration policy, she supported her contentions with several references including government documents. Moreover, her narrative is consistent with what I've read from other sources. If these things aren't really true, Mexicans should make a concerted effort to set the record straight. In the absence of such an effort, people in the US will continue to believe that Mexico is being hypocritical in its expectations of US policy toward immigration.
