One State Down, 49 To Go

One State Down, 49 To Go

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

May 10, 2010

I shall go to Arizona!

With apologies to the late great General Dwight D. Eisenhower who on October 25, 1952 famously declared, “I shall go to Korea,” just 10 days before being elected President of the United States.

And if these state legislatures have their way, I shall go to Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Carolina as well. They are in the process of doing for themselves what Arizona has successfully done simply because the federal government refuses to do its job.

On the heels of the murder of Tucson-area rancher Rob Krentz by an illegal alien, along with countless other heinous crimes committed by myriad of the more than 450,000 illegals camped out in Arizona, the Grand Canyon State found itself with its back to the wall and passed SB 1070.

Signed into law by the courageous Governor Jan Brewer (R), SB 1070 uses much of the language of the federal law in an effort to tamp down on illegal immigration. The legislation requires local law enforcement to question people about their immigration status – including asking for identification – if people are suspected of being in the United states illegally. This legislation is much akin to the language in the 1984 US Court of Appeals – 10^th Circuit case United States v. Calderon, which allows law enforcement to question the immigration status of people detained on a routine police stop.

There is nothing racist about being asked for identification. One must present it when voting, buying alcohol, boarding an airplane and in some cases, like writing a check, two forms are required. Are those all circumstances of racism? Am I being profiled when I go to vote or have a gin and tonic at happy hour? Not at all.

Before launching into the litany of reasons why Arizona has done the absolutely right thing, the mandatory rhetorical question must be posed. To all those folks berating Arizona, calling for boycotts of the state, calling Governor Brewer “Hitler’s daughter,” as has been seen on protest signs, what part of “illegal” do you people not understand?

It has been suggested that there needs to be empathy for the poor and downtrodden who sneak into the United States simply to improve their family’s lot in life. Fine – those of you who feel those people who have broken the law and snuck across the border deserve empathy or amnesty or a path to citizenship, adopt a family of illegals, pay the freight for their support, health care, education out of your own pocket.

Those of you supporting the so-called “rights” of the illegals to be in this country, do not complain when they break into your house and steal your belongings. After all, that is what they are doing when they break into our country and demand free health care, free education, food stamps and other support they do not pay for, yet mysteriously is paid for because it comes out of the pockets of honest citizens who pay taxes for such social and welfare programs.

Note to the federal government: stop incentivizing illegals with the aforementioned health care, education, food stamps and citizenship via the 14^th Amendment’s anchor baby disgrace that should be amended. After all, the purpose of the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified July 9, 1868, was to ensure the citizenship of the children of America’s newest citizens – freed slaves – people who had not been citizens prior to the passage of that Amendment.

Amend the 14^th Amendment and cut off all subsidies to illegals and that will keep many of them in their country of origin. Should they decide to pursue American citizenship in the correct, proper and legal manner, they will no doubt be welcomed with open arms by the millions of Americans whose families also emigrated legally in past generations.

Arizona SB 1070 is not political hyperbole. And all the while Mexican President Felipe Calderon talks a good game about wishing to end the drug trafficking and rampant homicides on both sides of Mexico’s northern border, he is completely disingenuous. Try crossing north into Mexico from Guatemala or Belize. The laws in Mexico are infinitely more Draconian than here in the United States.

Barack Obama who called the Arizona measure “misguided,” and “a poorly conceived law” apparently has not read the federal law, and again spoke without enough information as he did when incorrectly saying police in Cambridge, MA “acted stupidly.” It is Obama who is infinitely misguided and completely out of touch with the desires of the rank and file citizens of the United States. A recent Rasmussen poll indicated 61-30 percent in favor of the Arizona law on the whole of the United States, and 70 percent support of the legislation within Arizona itself. Additionally, 75 percent of those surveyed said they believe the southern borders are not protected.

“We had no other choice – we will protect ourselves,” said Governor Brewer, whose approval rating rose from below 50 percent to 56 percent overnight. Brewer smartly does not support amnesty, after all, amnesty failed in 1986 when there were roughly three million illegal aliens in the country. Today, estimates of illegals range from 12 to 15 million on the conservative side to as high as 20 million by some estimates.

After another round of amnesty, just consider how many people will feel emboldened to invade our porous borders – and that is exactly what is happening – we are being invaded, and no longer little by little. Amnesty is wrong and condones illegal behavior by rewarding it with forgiveness and potential citizenship. And make no mistake, this is not a single-party issue – both major political parties are to blame for this immigration debacle.

Democrats do not want to stop the plague of illegal immigration because they see millions of potential citizens and, to them, more importantly, votes. Republicans, who, can’t afford to alienate any ethnic group for fear of being called racist, when there is nothing racist about wanting people to follow the rule of law, have their problem with the business community. If businesses that hire illegals are fined or shut down, the businesses suffer. If the illegals are out of the jobs and legal hires are employed, it will cost businesses more in terms of wages and insurance.

Tough. Illegal is illegal regardless which political party one supports. If I had my druthers every illegal alien would be deported without the chance of legal return. Granted, that is a hard-right tack to take, and before people start calling me a Nazi, I would remind them that there is a tremendous difference between illegals being deported from the United States and the rounding up of Jewish citizens. The people who have snuck across the border either from Canada or Mexico and are in the United States illegally, have broken the law and should be punished according to the law of the land. Jewish citizens of Germany were accosted, rounded up and deported simply for being Jewish.

As an observant Jew, I deeply resent Cardinal Roger Mahony comparing Arizona’s SB 1070 to Nazism. His is an incendiary remark designed to further stir up emotions of people who may or may not have knowledge of the history of the Nazi tyranny and systematic slaughter of European Jewry. Cardinal Mahony should know better.

Tucson Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said he will not enforce SB 1070. For the blatant dereliction of his duties, he should be fired immediately. It’s one thing to voice opposition to the law, but to refuse to enforce it is another issue. Anarchy should not be tolerated.

For those who have called for the boycott of the state of Arizona and its businesses, they are only hurting law abiding citizens who have the right to conduct business. It is especially onerous that such a boycott should be called for by Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva (D). This type of disloyalty to the people he was elected to serve should be rewarded with unemployment this November and his defeat at the ballot box.

Sportswriters calling for the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star game to be revoked from Arizona would be a mistake. Millions of dollars are spent during All-Star “weekend,” and again, the victims of such a boycott would be honest, law-abiding citizens operating legal businesses. The Arizona Diamondbacks baseball organization is not, nor should it be treated as a villain – it hires hundreds of people. Oh, and a note to the “genius” who decided the National Basketball Association’s Phoenix Suns should don uniforms during a playoff game last week reading “Los Suns,” the proper designation would have been “Los Soles.” (Siete anos de espanol, muchas gracias.)

And another by the way, Arizona Iced Tea is a product of Brooklyn, NY for those who rush to judgment without conducting their due diligence.

As a reasonable person, I realize the deportation of 12 to 15 million illegals is damn near impossible. That does not mean the attempt should not be made. However, and again, being reasonable, there are other possible solutions to the pandemic this nation faces as long as it turns a blind eye and continues offering up economic services that will ultimately lead to the bankruptcy of this country.

First things first – secure the borders by any means necessary – electric fence, military on the border, reserves on the border – whatever it takes. This will also put people to work. Until that time, turn the spigot off. Once the borders are secure, then legal immigration can once again be considered.

Residents of countries deemed unfriendly to the United States should not be given permission to enter. People from acceptable countries with PhDs, MDs and other marketable skills that would prevent them from becoming a drain upon the public coffers should be moved to the front of the line.

While I still support the deportation of illegal aliens, and recognizing the severe challenge to such a plan, if amnesty becomes a horrifying reality, it must come with strings and price tags for the recipients. If they are allowed to work legally in this country, they must pay a penalty for having been in the country illegally in the first place. The same should be imposed upon the employers who hire illegal aliens.

The next stick that should be coupled with the carrot of living freely in the United States, is that no current illegal alien should be allowed a path to citizenship or the right to vote, thus taking away the incentive of politicians to kowtow to lobbyists, immigrant groups and succumb to any other pressure they currently face. Before the protesters start calling me a racist and hunting me down with torches, in this country, we call those folks legal residents. They work, they pay taxes, they are not citizens and they do not vote. If they break the law they can be deported.

American citizens of all colors and ethnic backgrounds are flummoxed by how the federal government can give illegal aliens benefits that we as citizens cannot enjoy. Such profligacy will only prove deleterious to the whole of the American economy and before anyone is aware, the United States will become Greece.

The crisis of illegal immigration is one with which the federal government is unwilling to deal. The politicians simply are not honest brokers and the voters will not be assuaged any longer by lip service.

This is why states like Michigan are seeking to pass legislation a la Arizona. In an interview on Fox News on May 10, Michigan State Representative Kim Meltzer (R) said there “most definitely” is a need for a broader federal law. “It’s common sense,” she said, adding people should either “leave or abide by our laws.” The federal government is not enforcing the laws, said Meltzer, and that their move is to “pre-empt what is happening in Arizona from happening in Michigan.”

With Arizona taking the lead and states like Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Carolina hoping to pass similar legislation, perhaps the federal government will wake up, take notice and actually do its job. Don’t hold your breath, though.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.