Today a liberal judge basically gutted the Arizona law that would have allowed local police officers to inquire as to the immigration status of persons detained for already committing a crime and unable to produce valid identification. I just finished reading the entire Constitution (yes, I am a nerd) which is only 21 pages in pdf format and can be found here:
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.pdf
The only parts of the document that could remotely apply to this case in my view are the following:
Article I, Section 8 (powers granted to Congress)
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;Amendment 9
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment 10
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
You can make up your own mind on the legality of the Arizona law. I ask you to do one thing first- read it. Unlike the Health Care Bill or the Stimulus Bill, it is not thousands of pages long. It is only 17 pages long (one is the cover sheet), easy to read, and can be found here:
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf
Here is my plan to fix the immigration mess:
1- Stop the Bleeding
Immediately close our border. Use the National Guard until a wall can be built and additional border patrol agents can be hired. Think that’s overkill? Tell that to these guys who are attacked daily; yes, daily. (Note from GB: For those more squeamish - like me - I toned down Russell's photo a bit, but I think we all get it. )
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.pdf
The only parts of the document that could remotely apply to this case in my view are the following:
Article I, Section 8 (powers granted to Congress)
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;Amendment 9
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment 10
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
You can make up your own mind on the legality of the Arizona law. I ask you to do one thing first- read it. Unlike the Health Care Bill or the Stimulus Bill, it is not thousands of pages long. It is only 17 pages long (one is the cover sheet), easy to read, and can be found here:
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf
Here is my plan to fix the immigration mess:
1- Stop the Bleeding
Immediately close our border. Use the National Guard until a wall can be built and additional border patrol agents can be hired. Think that’s overkill? Tell that to these guys who are attacked daily; yes, daily. (Note from GB: For those more squeamish - like me - I toned down Russell's photo a bit, but I think we all get it. )
2- Implement Arizona Law Nationwide and Prosecute All Sanctuary Cities (like NYC)
Anyone here illegally should be afraid of coming into contact with law enforcement. If that were the case then there would be a lot fewer crimes committed by people here illegally. They don’t all come here to work. As of 2005, 27% of all federal prisoners were illegal immigrants. These “undocumented democrats” were all convicted of crimes other than immigration violations and cost you and I approximately $5.8 billion from 2001-2004. If the government admits to that it’s probably double. By the way, the vast majority were from Mexico.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05337r.pdf
3- Streamline Guest Worker Program
We need cheap labor. Make it easier for people to register for seasonal work and go back home when done.
Continue the E-Verify program that allows employers to check the immigration status of people applying for work. Fine employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants and arrest and prosecute illegals that use forged/fake identification to seek work.
4- End Anchor Baby Practice
This may require an amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment can be interpreted to disallow “anchor babies” being automatic citizens but as we have already seen it is best not to leave it to the courts to decide.
5- Path to Residency (not citizenship)
Citizenship is precious. Anyone who came here illegally has waived their right to ever achieving it without going back home and going through the process the right way. There are millions of people from all over the world that want to be here and can not simply walk across our southern border. It is simply not fair to grant any type of amnesty.
Anyone here illegally with no other criminal infractions can apply for residency providing:
They must pay all back taxes on income earned while here illegally including social security. A set income amount can be used for people unable to prove how much they earned. That amount will not be below what the average person in the same area must earn to survive.
They can never get the right to vote. Since they can never become citizens, this should not even have to be mentioned.
They must pass a written and oral test in English.
They must swear allegiance to this country.
They must pay a fine of at least $1000 per person in their household seeking residency.
***
This is a national security issue. I can not believe that so many Americans do not see it this way. Every day tons of illegal drugs come into this country across our southern border carried by thousands of unidentified people (not all of them are Mexican- most are though). Replace the word “drugs” with the word “anthrax”, “TNT”, “small pox”, or any other scary word you wish. The “other than Mexican” (OTM) category that the border patrol uses contains thousands of illegals from the Middle East that have been caught sneaking across the border. How many got in successfully and carrying what?
Here's my thing, while we are in two wars, and we have seen many attempted attacks on our soil after 9/11.
ReplyDeleteMy question is why didn't we close the borders after 9/11?
I think we are going to see more Muslims or Arabs pose as Mexicans to go over the border since it's easy to do that already, and try an attack on a smaller city to test there results.
Even here in Brooklyn we have seen this problem explode with several day laborers lining up 65th street, and throughout Bensonhurst over the past 5-7 years.
I feel the sanctuary policy has failed.
I feel also illegals should not be able to apply for government programs as well since Welfare and Medicaid have become some a burden on our budgets.
We definitely need a solution to fix our borders and end illegal immigration.
Thank you Russell, these are my sentiments exactly. Like you, I don't see how Americans are not getting it. I just can't add anything to your message,you've said it all.
ReplyDeleteHere a bit of a legal prospective:
ReplyDeleteThe issues here are age old - does Federal law preempt state law. While the Constitution grants the power to pass laws on immigration to the Federal Government, states can act when the Federal government doesn't act. After all, it would seem that the Federal Government and a state, like Arizona, both have concerns to curb illegal immigration. So the remaining issue is really the method of curbing illegal immigration.
That opens up an entirely different constitutional law argument - equal protection.
There is an argument that the law as written and as applies are discriminatory. There may even be an argument that the motivation behind the law is to discriminate - although that's a tough one to make.
Assuming the law is not found to be discriminatory as written, there's still more to talk about. First, does the law pass constitutional standards as it pertains to illegal aliens. The standard as stated by the Supreme Court is that laws dealing with illegal aliens need only be rationally related to a stated governmental purpose.
Seems like Arizona is in the clear in this respect.
But there's more. There is an issue as to whether this law passes the standard of equal protection of citizens based on race and national origin standards. Here, Arizona would have to prove that the law is necessary to meet compelling government interest.
This is a high bar - Arizona not only has to prove that protecting its bordering is a compelling government interest, it has to prove that this law as written is basically the only option it has to do so. That means that no other means would be as good as this law as written to stop illegal immigration in Arizona.
That's the battleground, folks.
Gene it seems to me the federal government doesn't really want to protect the borders, but there rather worried about votes.
ReplyDeleteBut Gene, the court did not consider the 14th Amendment argument. The Obama administration through Attorney General Holder did not take that route because the law would be equally applied to anyone stopped for a crime, regardless of race or ethnicity, that could not identify themselves.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the argument you make then the police should not be allowed to ask a black man for a gun permit if they pull him over for speeding and see a gun in the car because of equal protection concerns.
The initial stop was legal and the officer in both the Arizona and my example would have reasonable suspicion to investigate further.
When I registered to vote I had to show my papers.
When I applied for a driver's license I had to show my papers.
When I went to Mexico I had to show my papers- several times!
Arizona will win on appeal; even if it goes all the way to the Supreme Court.
Don't forget, many of you still think that the NYPD should be allowed to stop you, put their hands on you, ask for your papers, take your personal information, and store it in a database. This is also known as "Stop and Frisk".
How could that be legal and Arizona's law not?
By the way, I really think it was a mistake to tone down that photo. That border agent was injured by rock throwing illegal immigrants. The American people need to start seeing the truth to be able to make informed decisions.
ReplyDeleteIt is censorship like this that has made America soft on the War on Terror. Our enemies behead the prisoners they take. We give them prayer rugs. Wake up America, the world is an ugly place.
Russell: I wasn't meaning to censor, only to troubleshoot before any problem came up. It didn't help that I saw the photo after eating. Feel free to restore it.
ReplyDeleteI still think an EP argument is out there, but you hit the counter-argument beautifully.
The reason I think it's out there is Judge Bolton's words - "intrusion of police presence into the lives of legally-present aliens, and even United States citizens." That setting up a future EP claim.
Photo restored!
ReplyDeleteAmerica should be a place where people from all backgrounds are welcome if they want to work hard and prosper. If we believe in free trade, then not only should capital be allowed to move freely across international borders, but labor should also be allowed to move freely across international borders. If we believe in free market capitalism and competition, then we should not be setting up barriers to competition, and everyone should be allowed to compete freely for jobs and employment like any other economic good. Labor unions and other populist groups have for years been opposed to immigration because they don’t want to have to compete with a larger labor market, and immigrants were always a good group to blame the country’s economic problems on. Pro free market conservatives (i. e. classical liberals,) should support free immigration. America needs more hard workers and more entrepreneurs, not less. People who are willing to contribute should be welcomed, not rejected.
ReplyDeleteAbout the people who have already come here against the law, we have to take a step back and look objectively at our own laws, and be prepared t criticize them if they need to be. Our immigration system has not been modernized to fit our countries needs in many years. Today, for a foreigner to immigrate lawfully to this country it can take decades. People often wait for years just to process a silly document. The process for application and consideration for potential immigrants is so backwards, it’s embarrassing that in the 21st century it still operates like it did when my great-grand parents came here almost a century ago. When I applied for my credit card it took them two minutes to tell me if I was approved or not, I understand that for immigration it would take a little longer then that, but decades?! People immigrate illegally not because they don’t care about the law, but because the laws are so outdated and don’t make sense, and we should be manly enough to be able to look ourselves in the mirror and admit that our immigration laws as they stand now don’t really serve our needs.
We should be focusing more on what’s right and wrong than on what’s legal or not. We all know how backward and even wrong a law can sometimes be. If we accept that immigration is a good thing and it should be encouraged, and if we can accept that American needs more hard workers and entrepreneurs, than instead of deporting the ones that are already here, shouldn’t we find a way to give them the opportunity to fully integrate into our society so they maximize the potential for economic growth for themselves and for those around them? Immigration, just like anything cannot be stopped by simply banning it. Those who understand the free market know more than anyone that you cannot stop an activity by outlawing it, whether it is guns or drugs, as long as there is a demand for it, it will be supplied. The same is true for immigration, as long as there is a demand for immigrant workers, and there is, it will be supplied. It is up to our lawmakers if they want an entire sector of the US market to be operating underground, where it is much harder for it to reach its full potential, or it can be legalized so everyone can benefit.
The problem is that if we legalize the people that are here now then there would be another wave of illegal immigrants to take there spots to do the cheap labor that Americans supposedly will not do.
ReplyDeleteNo one is saying to end immigration. I support making it easier. If I was a Mexican father I would sneak into the U.S. to make and send money back home to my family as well.
We have good laws; we need to enforce them. That is all Arizona was trying to do. They were not inventing anything new.
I have nothing against Arizona. I probably would not support implementing a similar law in New York, but if that is how Arizona wants to go about it, I believe it should up to them. I don't think the law is illegal, and the judge’s ruling didn't make much sense. State authorities enforce federal law all the time, weather it is minimum wage laws, environmental protection laws, financial fraud, what have you. I'm not challenging the law on the basis of its legality, I’m challenging the idea that we should implement it nation-wide from a policy perspective.
ReplyDeleteMy point was that the whole way we look at immigration needs to, in my view, changed fundamentally. We wouldn't have a problem of "another wave of illegal immigrants" because they would be allowed to immigrate legally, and compete freely with anyone for any job.
However, I would warn that if we did implement a more open immigration policy, we would need to reexamine our welfare state policies so that immigrants are coming here to actually work and not simply to exploit the welfare state. We would need to get rid of minimum wage laws and other government "guaranties" that prevent many people from competing in the labor market, in order to really have an equal playing field for all.