Immigration laws in this country are convoluted, of that there is no doubt. Through the years, far too many politicians have changed this or that aspect of our policy to suit their fancy (and gain votes), and as a result, minutia and backroom deals crowd out what is really important: enunciating a congruent approach to immigration and enforcing the policies that constitute that approach.
But who shall enforce it? Particularly when there are so many illegal immigrants and drug cartel members flooding into one state that citizens of that state risk being invaded?
It would seem that Article IV, Section 4, of our Constitution recognizes such enforcement as a federal duty, insomuch as it says the government of “The United States…shall protect each of [the states] against Invasion.”
But what if the illegal immigrants and drug cartel members are so powerful, because so well armed, that they actually outmaneuver the federal presence within a state to the point of literally controlling certain parts of that state? At that point, whose job is it to enforce immigration laws?
Here, Article 1, Section 10, of the Constitution seems to indicate that the states can act in their own defense, if “actually invaded” or “in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.” In other words, the same Constitution that recognizes immigration enforcement/border security as the duty of the federal government also admits that in a pinch, the states have the right to repel invaders and fight against threats that are so imminent there’s no time to waste. (The Supreme Court said as much in 1976 [De Canas v Bica] when it ruled “that federal immigration laws did not prohibit the states from enforcing the policies embodied by those federal immigration laws.”)
And this brings us to Arizona, where Governor Jan Brewer has long contended that the federal government refuses to enforce immigration laws or secure the border separating her state from Mexico.
Therefore, when she signed SB1070 into law on April 23, 2010, she made it clear that her state was acting because the federal government refused to act.
The lack of federal enforcement had not only resulted in a seeming insurmountable influx of illegal immigrants into Arizona, but a literal conquest whereby parts of Arizona had been taken over by members of Mexico’s drug cartel.
Perhaps you’ll recall that last year, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) posted warning signs along “a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego, …[advising U.S. citizens that] the area [was] unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers.”
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies in midst of the land occupied by the cartel members, said “he asked the Obama administration for 3,000 National Guard soldiers to patrol the border, but what he got were 15 (BLM) signs.” (Seems to bolster Brewer’s point that Arizonans had to act because the federal government refused to.)
To date, even though the problems with border security in Arizona are widely known, the Obama administration not only continues steadfast in its refusal to act but equally steadfast in its opposition to Arizona acting as well. In other words, the federal government doesn’t want to do its duty nor does it want to recognize a state’s right to step up and do theirs (by defending themselves from invasion and/or imminent danger).
So instead of supporting Arizona’s attempts to seal its border and repel the cartel members who are flooding into the state, the Obama administration filed suit against SB1070, arguing that Arizona had no right to enforce immigration laws because “the federal government has preeminent authority to regulate immigration matters.” Sadly, as of Monday, April 11, 2011, the administration had succeeded in finding two courts willing to rule against Arizona even though that meant going against the Supreme Court precedent set forth in De Canas v Bica (which recognized a state’s Constitutional right to enforce policies embodied in federal immigration laws).
Again, although there are many unclear facets to our immigration laws, a state’s Constitutional right to enforce known laws that the federal government refuses to enforce isn’t one of them.
Thus, while Arizona is at war with an invading faction of illegal immigrants and members of the Mexican drug cartel, Obama is at war with Arizona.
In this scenario, my support must go to Governor Jan Brewer.