Okay, first off let me say that I am a red-headed, freckled, white American. Now, after making that statement let me move on to say that I am not entirely sure the new legislation passed in Arizona should, or will, stand the litmus test of racial profiling, whatever that is.
With all that said, I think it is important to congratulate Arizona for taking a first step. President Obama ran for office and took office with the promise that he would address and get legislation passed that would take care of the illegal immigration issue. Now Arizona has called him on it. Yesterday in a Rose Garden citizenship ceremony for several service members, the President took this opportunity to praise these service members, who met the legal immigration requirements, by berating Arizona for calling his bluff – the Immigration one (not the Guantanamo bluff, or the transparency bluff, or the lobbyist bluff, or … Oh, but I digress).
The President said that the Federal Government (basically…HIM) has failed to act responsibly on the illegal immigration issue, but that does not give individual states the rights to act irresponsibly. Not I’m not an English professor, but aren’t both those irresponsible? Anyway, Arizona is anything but acting irresponsibly. Maybe a little hastily and not very tactfully, but they are taking responsibility for their border with Mexico, even if the Federal Government won’t.
Neighboring New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said Arizona’s law would cause all sorts of problems with Mexico. AHEM…HELLO, first off, the border region with Mexico really is a crisis situation, probably the only time during the Obama Administration this term should be used that it hasn’t. People are being murdered at alarming rates all along the Mexican border and recently a rancher deep inside Arizona was executed in an across the border raid by Mexican assassins, ASSASSINS!
What else needs to happen to make the call for action more obvious? Well here you go, Arizona has one of the, if not the, highest rates of kidnapping in the WORLD; not America but the world and it’s coming from Mexico. This is no longer about illegal immigrants coming over the border to work and make a better life for themselves; it is now about hardcore organized crime threatening to take over the border region and the Mexican government powerless to do anything about it and the government in Washington being unwilling to do anything about it.
Arizona’s new law, no matter how it is carried out or ruled on by the courts, may not be a solid legal action, but it is an important first step. A first step that had to be taken to get the federal government off their collective rears and force them take notice, take action, and to finally take care of the problem.
Where’s my ID?
Bill
