Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Kamala Harris and the Arizona Immigration Law

California Attorney General Kamala Harris is suing the Grand Canyon state, joining the legion of liberal faction across the country and in Washington who have denounced Governor Jan Brewer, her party, and her constituents for taking a bold stand to stop illegal immigration.

Since when does our attorney general muster up the moxie to dictate to one state how it faces off against its current immigration problems? What has our chief legal official done about the illegal immigration issues that our tying up state law enforcement and trying the capacities of our public services?

A man deserves decent respect under the law, no matter what his status. Yet the unchecked migration of illegal immigrants into the United States continues to pose a grave security threat to our communities and an unfettered impoverishment of our culture. Those who seek asylum should find it here, but not at the expense of those born and naturalized in the United States.

Just last month, a skiff of illegal immigrants landed on El Segundo beach, fourteen of whom were felons. The issue of illegal immigration is cropping up everywhere, from quiet beaches to urban centers. Hospitals have closed, and schools are burdened with increased enrollment without requisite funding from the state. At least Arizona took steps to curtail this problem. How many youth have died, how many people have been abused and lost in the Southwestern desert lands because of unscrupulous coyotes who endanger their charges following the transfer of a fee and a weak promise to enter the Promised Land of the United States of America?

Illegal immigration hurts everyone: legal and illegal, young and old, naturalized or born state-side. For Attorney General Harris to harass our Southwestern neighbor without soliciting assistance from the governor or the legislature suggests that political bandstanding and minority pandering are motivating this unjustifiable petition to the Supreme Court.

States have every right to enforce their borders and protect their citizens. National policy, while extensive, remains unenforced or convoluted, mired with political calculation and cowardice, both of which have stymied necessary legislation while paralyzing law enforcement.

Because of Arizona's heightened stance, illegal immigrants will certainly flee to other states, as they find less opportunity to hide and get by in states that have taken a tougher, more security-oriented approach to the immigration problem cropping up along our borders. Rather than punishing the prescience of our neighbor states, Attorney General Harris ought to implement legislation that will protect citizens on track to earn citizenship legally, while increasing border security and discourage shadowing hiring from unscrupulous private firms.

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