People here illegally have no rights given to legal citizens. The next thing to do is take away incentives to come here illegally. No plopping out kids on the border to make them anchors. No aid for people who broke the law. Places like Arizona stopping the flow of illegals is a great thing. All the border states should follow suit. The other states will not have such an influx once the head of the snake is cut off.
I’m an immigrant and I support the law. I had to follow the established process in order to become a “Green Card Holder”. Why some of these people think that they are entitled to be given the same credentials without taking the same steps as I did, is beyond me.
Simple: cost. Do you have any idea what the cost would be to activate and maintain such a force indefinitely? Also, given the GWOT OPTEMPO, you would put such a pressure on the AZ-NG that it would probably make it very hard for them to respond to Natural Disasters.
IMHO, they need to activate the unorganized militia and put them at the border in 1-week shifts. This would basically be any able-bodied male who are not serving in any military organizzation. Use them as teh eyes and ears and have specialized units of the AZ-ARNG and/or State Police respond to their reports. JM2CW.
I am of two minds about the law. The reasons behind it are understandable. The federal government is shirking their duty and the people of AZ are tired of having to bear the burden. So to their line of thinking if they are being abandoned by the federal government then they have to fend for themselves.
Is the law constitutional? I don’t think so since immigration and border security is reserved for the federal government. So the people of AZ have been backed into a corner, they had to take some sort of action. I can’t blame them for that. I also thinks its BS that some agencies wont allow their officers / deputies to do a immigration check with probable cause.
If the federal government feels that they have egg on their face or their panties are in a twist over this then good. Instead of trotting out hyperbolic claims of racism or trotting out false lines about how this will interfere with Federal anti drug law enforcement operations, maybe they should do their job for once (I.e. stopping or chasing down illegal aliens). It’s a rather simple solution. Will they do it? No. So now this can go to the SCOTUS.
The way the Bill is written is that it requires local LE to enforce the existing US Code. Which makes most of the national-level hair pulling that much more amusing.
Indeed, like there is a difference between sex and rape.
Strongly pro - about time the States started exercising their authority. Fed.gov has been asleep at the wheel for a long time when it comes to protecting our borders.
Let us not forget that, per our Constitution, any powers of the Federal government are granted by the States. As such, the States have the right to act in their own defense when the Federal government fails.
For those against enforcement of our immigration laws, try entering Mexico illegally and see what happens to you when you’re discovered without proper documentation. You sure as hell won’t be getting a free education, health care, etc.
I would be willing to try it if Shakira will come visit me in prison.
I strongly support Arizona’s new law.
Something I’v not heard anyong mention, is the gang, M13, who sent hundreds of their members across the border. Also, it’s the preferred infiltration route for Al Quida to enter the US.
IMO this is a National Security issue and it’s apparent that the current administration has no interest in National Security.
I support the new AZ Law, however, they didn’t go far enough. They should have made the “Hiring” of Illegals, a $20K fine per head, plus jail time, for business owners, if they are found on the premises. That, in and of it self, would have reversed the flow.
I disagree. Illegal Immigration is not just a Federal problem. Besides, this is not the first time a State enacted a statute that is a direct copy of Federal Law.
This is the same misinformation I hear from my left-leaning co-workers who would have supported this law whole-heartedly if their mis-sihah had publicly endorsed it (NOTE: I’m not implying that you’re one of them).
If AZ was defining what constitutes “illegal immigration” outside of Federal Law I would agree. But what this law is doing is stating that they (AZ) is complimenting the Federal Law with a statute of their own by stating that it is now against AZ State Law for an illegal alien to be in AZ.
This is no different for them passing a similar law against illegal drugs or against a crime that was committed outside of their borders. Can you imagine how things would be if one State never passed a law against acts of kidnapping or murder that happend in another State or on Federal land?
Not only that, the bill clearly states that the standard that must be used to identify if someone is an illegal alien is based entirely on the current Federal Law. It clearly states that LEOs can only apply this law in the course of making contact for another violation or incident. Much like seatbelt laws that are in place in a lot of States. In these cases you cannot be cited for not wearing your seatbelt. You can only be cited if you get pulled over for another violation (IE: speeding, etc.) and you are caught not wearing the seatbelt after the fact.
I think it’s a good law that seems to be well written. But as with any laws, it still has to ratified by Case Law. JM2CW.
I agree with a caveat. This should only be applicable if they can prove that the business owner had conscious knowledge that the employees were in fact, illegal or if they did not investigate any suspicion of it.
The reason I say this is I’ve met business owners who followed Federal Law and reported possible violations of this statute but was told by INS not to worry about it. Since they could not spend the time and money to perform a thorough investigation, they had no real reccourse but to do nothing. JM2CW.
This is not true.
The states have delegated authority to the Federal government; they have not given it up. The state does have the power to enforce the state’s borders.
If, during an investigation, I can’t identify you, we have a problem. This could be as simple as a traffic stop or a shooting investigation. Regardless of skin color, nationality or language spoken, it is a problem.
Daily I encouter people who have no ID and basically do not exist to our government based on the info they provide. Sadly, most times I have to just accept it and take their word. They are not always hispanic either.
Resident criminals take advantage of this all too often.
Example: Traffic stop on an improper registration. Open container (beer) in car. This is something I never would book someone into jail for. The driver, “Jorge ******” does not speak english, has no ID and reports coming here from Mexico 2 weeks ago. I know he is lying. He has gang tats I recognize from California.
I call bullshit and arrest him. At the jail he is ID’d by prints and tats as a US Citizen and fugitive from California. A little more reseach shows he had been stopped and cited numerous times under his alias, posing as an Illegal Alien.
This happens all the time.
I fully support Arizona. Hopefully it will force Washington to pull their heads out of their ass and secure our borders. Otherwise, any new law enforcing immigration, in my opinion, is useless.
In the mean time, it is going to drasctically increase risks to LEO’s, wether they are enforcing immigration or not. I have already witnessed it this week.
All these idiots spouting off about “racial profiling” should come ride with me for a week, then submit their fucking righteous opinions.
The act of breaking into the country does NOT give one constitutional rights.
I say treat them as we would be treated if we illegally entered their country.
I am not anti immigration by far, for that matter I am an immigrant, I came here 35 years ago and became a US citizen. I am very much pro immigration through legal channels and I think legal immigration should be expanded if we need the work force.
The way I look at it is I have a right to protect my home from home invasion because the local police can not protect me and my home, when you apply that to Arizona the state has the right to protect itself from an invasion of criminals, illegals, terrorists, drug runners if the feds refuse to do it.
There is nothing that bothers me more then to see the demonstrations like the ones that took place yesterday of thousands of people screaming (specially the ones with Mexican flags) that there is a given right to people that have come here illegally to become legal and the idiots in the media or entertainment industry or anywhere else that support them.
What I want to hear is from people that think this law is unconstitutional because they think that no body has the right to ask you for papers to prove that you are legally in this country and you have no reason to provide any papers.
Where are the Libertarians and some others on this issue?
Were their any Canadian flags? 
Just wait till Napolitano starts to release the people turned over to feds.
You mean Janet Incompetano as some even in her department call her?;)
Constitution says Congress has the power to establish uniform rules of naturalization not that FedGov is the only people on Earth who can enforce naturalization laws.
There is also nothing in the prohibitions on states that says a state cannot enforce naturalization laws, or enact their own laws.
Also SCOTUS has already ruled that profiling is ok as long as its not the only source of ‘cause’. So if an LEO is 5 miles from the border, and sees a truck with Mexicans who look like they just got done walking 50 miles through the desert they would have probable cause. They would use the same type of judgment BP uses, and do you think BP would stop a truck full of scruffy Mexicans 5 miles from the border? They can use a variety of occurrences to draw a conclusion but race cannot be the sole reason. If you go through a BP checkpoint they use the same set of rules to pull people over, and check them out more closely. Ive lived close to BP checkpoints most of my life, and this is exactly how they operate. A white guy in a clean car is not going to get pulled over. A truck full of Mexicans most likely is. Hell one time a family friend of ours from Holland came to visit, and we took him to TJ. He forgot his passport, and they just waved him through after asking if we were all American citizens. We just told the agent he is visiting us, and forgot his passport. He said remember it next time, and have a nice day. Race has always been an issue on the border, and is used by FedGov every single day, and has been for decades.
And always remember this country is a collection of sovereign states. When our country was founded it was “These United States”. A state is its own entity just the same as the “State of Israel”.
Wow! It’s now illegal to be an illegal alien in AZ…makes too much sense. Want to fix health care, follow AZ lead and stop giving free health care to those who are not here legally.
I spoke with a Hispanic American on Wed. whose family came to this area in 1516 AD, he was totally in favor of closing our nations borders to all illegal entry, and send all illegals’ back to their homeland. I am of Irish and Native American descent, and I have to agree with him in all respects in this matter.