Friday.....America.....Arizona

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer today signed into law a bill that is the strongest effort yet against illegal immigration to America. It's even a front page story on the BBC's internet news site. Some conservative commentators have shown concern over aspects of the bill. Arizona shares its southern border with Mexico. It experiences drugs and crime due to illegal immigration more than most, thus it responded with defensive measures more than other states. NBC News described this as the nation's busiest gateway for human and drug smuggling from Mexico which is reeling from violence within its own borders. One change is that the bill makes immigrating illegally a crime but the most criticized part is that it requires law enforcement to question immigration status when there is a reason to suspect such a situation. One side says that the bill will lead to a spiral of pervasive fear while the other says that it takes the handcuffs off of law enforcement. President Obama ordered Attorney General Eric Holder to see if the bill is legal, which is an interesting proposition in itself. The Mexican government is more than grumbling about it and warns of harm to diplomatic relations between the two countries.. One Arizona Congressman called for conventions to boycott his state. The law itself will not take effect for a few  months. I have written on illegal immigration a few times in this blog. Legal immigration of Latinos is a great blessing to this nation. These folks are a welcome and needed addition to our citizenry and I am for celebrating their arrival, and once a citizen, they are every bit as much an American as I am, but illegal immigration is a political issue. To some, this is a massive influx of Democratic voters. Arizona is well aware of the criticisms of the bill. Training programs are planned and the actions of law enforcement will surely be scrutinized to a great degree. Legal immigrants who have come to this country and become fellow citizens suffer because of the machinations of those who use immigration as a pawn. A local Mexican restaurant is one of our favorite places to dine out. The same six or eight young Mexicans are always there and it's a pleasure to experience the food, the ambiance and the polite service. They may be here legally, and they may not but I look at them as fine, hard working, young men who have come here to experience the American Dream; such is the respect I have for millions of Latinos who have come here, just as the millions of Irish, Polish, German, Italian and any others of whom my ancestry touches upon four. President Obama plans on using this issue in the 2010 election campaign. If Congress falls for the schemes of those who would show little empathy for any group of immigrants that came here to escape Socialism and Totalitarianism but rally over this particular voting bloc, they would being setting a precedent that would effectively destroy one column of the foundation of law itself. Just as in  the heath care debate, it is imperative to look beyond the speeches that are merely lullabies meant only to somnambulize those who might see the logic from those protesting the disintegration of society, one means of which is amnesty for those who break the law, and this for political gain. The Arizona House of Representatives also voted to bar presidential candidates from the ballot if they do not produce a birth certificate. Laughable and lunacy are two words I have seen in description of this but I don't think the administration is amused.