Arizonas new immigration law just enforces existing federal law

Arizona SB 1070, signed by Governor Jan Brewer on April 23, and going into effect July 29, is being slammed as racist and anti American by special interests from Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to President Barrack Obama. But does this law radically change the responsibilities of Arizona law enforcement or is it the Grand Canyon state just sharpening the teeth of federal laws that have been in effect, if not enforced, for years.


What the 16 pages of text that is SB 1070 does is to address the documentation that all aliens in this country are supposed to have on them at all times as required by federal law. It also requires that Arizona law enforcement officers coming into contact with, in the course of normal police business, someone that they suspect of being an illegal alien, to investigate the suspicions and to proceed with the findings as required by law. The law does not allow police officers to stop someone because they suspect the person may be in the country illegally. In fact a training course is being required of all officers to train them use factors other than race when establishing “reasonable suspicion”. If an officer stops a driver for speeding or another traffic offense in a known smuggling corridor, and the driver cannot provide identification and gives conflicting information about his background, this would create a “reasonable suspicion”.

Our courts have always upheld “Reasonable Suspicion” as acceptable when investigating other crimes. This law simply requires officers to apply something that they have already learned to something that has been illegal for years. We wouldn’t ask or accept an officer to turn a blind eye to drug smuggling or armed robbery indicators in a routine traffic stop, why would we want them to ignore obvious immigration violations.

The law has certainly provided a platform for political “grandstanding” by parties on both sides of the argument. Arizona Governor Brewer has seen her approval rating skyrocket to 85% in the aftermath of the bill signing. There is even a small rumble of a possible campaign for President, quite a task for a governor, who has never been elected to that post by voters in her state. Brewer, who intends to run for a full term as governor, stepped into the role in January 2009, when Janet Napolitano left the post to become President Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security. Former Alaska Governor Sara Palin, who many believe will run for President, has urged all Border States to follow Arizona’s lead by passing identical laws. In fact support is growing in many non Border States such as South Carolina and Missouri. On the other side is Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigossa, who has successfully led a resolution to passage by the LA city council to boycott all Arizona businesses and products within the city limits. The opportunistic Villaraigossa had neither answer nor solution, when it was pointed out to him that roughly 25% of the electrical power to the city of Los Angeles is provided by the state of Arizona. A fact not lost on Arizona supporters of the law. The law has also been criticized by President Obama, who in an Iowa town hall event stated,” if you are a Hispanic American in Arizona, your great grandparents may have been there before Arizona was even a state, but now suddenly if you don’t have your papers and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you’re going to be harassed”. This type of twist indicates the Presidents complete lack of knowledge of the law, or his lack of respect for the knowledge for the citizens of the state of Iowa, whom he was addressing. The world of sports has not been immune either; we have seen the Phoenix Suns wear Jerseys labeled Los Suns in an NBA game in support of owner Robert Sarvers opposition to the law. San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has said that he will boycott the 2011 major league all star game scheduled to be played in Phoenix. Unless Gonzalez, who was born in San Diego raises his current batting average of .266 he won’t need to worry about it, as he likely won’t be invited anyway. If Gonzalez, whose team plays in the same division as Arizona’s Diamondbacks really wanted to make a statement why not boycott the games in Arizona on August 6,7,8 of this season. These are games in which Gonzalez will be paid to appear in. If selected to the all star team he will not be paid for that appearance. Gonzalez stand doesn’t look so gallant when viewed in this light.

The controversy surrounding Arizona SB 1070 is not going away anytime soon. President Obama has instructed Attorney General Eric Holder to consider challenging the law in court. The furor is sure to escalate as other states and even municipalities within those states consider similar legislation. One fact that cannot be argued, is that Illegal immigrants have become a huge problem for the state of Arizona. This new law indicates that they have tired of waiting for Washington to enforce the current federal regulations regarding illegal aliens. This new legislation simply gives law enforcement the ability to enforce pre-existing laws more easily. Until Washington changes the federal laws to make it legal for anyone gaining physical access to “the amber waves of grain” to legally stay here, they should support the effort in Arizona not fight it.