DID THE ARIZONA GOVERNOR JUST END HER CAREER BY CAVING IN TO THE RADICALS?

The affect of this new state police law is going to get very ugly.

...Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer

When Arizona Governor Janice Brewer caved-in to the "radical fringe" in her state by signing the new "suspected illegal alien law", she may have released a "big-bad genie" that will be very hard, if not impossible, to get back into the bottle. And the fall-out could be devastating and potentially "deadly".

This new Arizona State Law now allows their state and local police to demand official immigration documents of residence and legal status, even if they just "suspect" that an individual is an "illegal alien". If this isn´t "racial profiling", I don´t know what is. And for those fringe demonstrators that like putting Hitler mustaches on politicians, this new law goes much further than just an accusation of being a "Nazi". It is about as close as it gets to the sanctioning of government harassment and real "Nazism".

In fact, this issue has already started with a problem, but the problem did not occur in Arizona. It was in their neighbor-state of California.

It seems that at a California truck weigh station, a couple of CHP officers became suspicious and "out-of-the-blue" they asked a Hispanic truck driver to produce his birth certificate. Needless to say, he did not have it on his person. (Do any of us usually carry ours on us 24/7?)

The driver did however have a valid, Commercial California Drivers License for driving a multi-axle truck.

Sorry, not good enough. He was subsequently handcuffed by the CHP and taken into police custody. It was fortunate for him that his home was close by and his wife was quickly able to locate and bring his birth certificate to the jail. It proved that he was not only American born, but he was born (and still resides) in Fresno, California. In fact, he has never lived outside of the United States.

Even before the Arizona Governor signed the bill into state law, President Obama had stated some strong criticism at a naturalization ceremony for 24 active-duty service members that was held in the White House Rose Garden. At the ceremony, the president called for a federal overhaul of immigration laws, which Congressional leaders have signaled that they were preparing to take up soon, to avoid "irresponsibility by others." That was hardly a "veiled comment", and the "others" was obviously directed "point-blank" at the Arizona Governor and her recent political cave-in.

The Arizona law, Obama specifically added, threatened "to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe."

(I find it very interesting as to how far some local or state politicians will actually go in securing votes during an election year.)

Proponents and critics alike have said that the new law was the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations. It would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the Arizona police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have called the new law an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics, (or anyone else), regardless of their citizenship status.

(Going after the employers of illegal aliens would be much more effective and fair, but I digress….)

The political debate leading up to Ms. Brewer´s decision, and Mr. Obama´s criticism of the law, is totally unprecedented. (Historically, presidents very rarely weigh in on any state´s legislation.) But this underscores the power of the immigration debate in all of the states, especially those along the Mexican border. It also offers polarizing arguments that await the president and Congress as they take up the issue on a national basis. (As I have said, this is going to get ugly and potentially dangerous.)

The law was supposed to take effect 90 days after the legislative session ends, meaning by this August. However, court challenges are expected immediately.

Hispanics, in particular, who were not that long ago being courted by the Republican Party as their swing voting bloc, have railed against the law as a recipe for racial and ethnic profiling. "Governor Brewer has caved to the radical fringe," a statement by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said, predicting that the law would create "a spiral of pervasive fear, community distrust, increased crime and costly litigation, with nationwide repercussions."

The prospect of plunging into a national immigration debate is now being increasingly talked about on Capitol Hill. This has been spurred on in part by recent statements by Senator Harry Reid, the Majority Leader and a Nevada Democrat running for re-election in November. The Majority Leader has stated that he intends to bring legislation to the Senate floor after Memorial Day.

It is true that the immigration debate could help energize Hispanic voters and provide political benefits to embattled Democrats seeking re-election in November, such as Senator Reid. But it could also energize conservative voters.

Unfortunately, an immigration debate would take time from other important Democratic priorities, including an energy measure that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has described as her #1 issue.

Even though Mr. Reid declined Thursday to say that immigration would take precedence over an energy measure, he did call it a major imperative: "The system is broken," he said.

Ms. Pelosi and Representative Steny H. Hoyer, the Democrat of Maryland, along with the majority leader have said that the House would be willing to take up immigration policy only if the Senate produces a bill first.

I guess we´ll now see who "blinks first" in this political game of "Stare Down".

But seriously, I believe that people are going to get seriously hurt before this immigration debate is finally, if ever, settled.

Copyright G.Ater 2010

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