Erickson Column: Arizona flexes its enforcement muscle
Published: June 24, 2009
It has long been the responsibility of the federal government to pass the immigration laws of our nation. It is the fed that is supposed to take the actions necessary to regulate immigration. However,
waiting for the fed to take action has proven to be a frustrating experience for some states that want to see action taken sooner than later. In Arizona, one of the nation’s busiest roadways for illegal
immigrant smuggling, they have taken a more aggressive approach in getting new immigration laws passed.
Arizona is keenly aware that it serves as a primary gatekeeper for immigrants because it is a border state. Because of that border flow, Arizona has apparently tired of waiting for solutions from the fed.
As a result, the state legislature is well on its way in becoming the only state to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants through an expansion of its trespassing laws.
The Associated Press reported recently that the Arizona proposal, which has already been approved by the state Senate and is currently being considered by the House, would authorize police to inquire
into those cases where they have reasonable suspicion that the person may not have a valid immigration status.
The bill’s sponsor, state Senator Russell Pearce, noted that some local politicians “don’t have the courage to stand up for their citizens.”
In a state where immigration has become a huge issue, it’s a safe bet that the measure will be enacted soon. The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 16-12 last week. The House will decide the bill’s
fate soon.
One noteworthy piece of the bill concerns legal sanctions. A first offense would be treated as a top-tier misdemeanor. Anyone convicted of a first offense would face a sentence of up to 6 months in jail. A
conviction of a second offense would be viewed as a felony and result in the individual facing in excess of 2 years in prison. Even first-time offenders would face the prospect, at the choice of the arresting
agency, of being turned over to the federal government for prosecution.
Even if the bill passes, there will undoubtedly be pushback from immigration advocacy groups who argue that states can’t enact statutes that operate as immigration laws. The issues surrounding the
constitutionality of state statutes on immigration will likely be argued loudly. However, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, his office a participant in drafting the bill, argues that the states have
police powers that allow them to assist and participate in the efforts against illegal immigration. He sums up what others are undoubtedly thinking when he says: “The argument that the states can’t do
anything to combat illegal immigration is just wrong.”
Supporters of tougher immigration laws maintain that racial profiling won’t be an issue because it will still be necessary for officers to have and articulate probable cause prior to any arrest. It’s a given that
appearance alone will not be enough to hurdle the probable cause requirement. “It’s almost impossible for it to be applied without relying on racial profiling and without committing egregious errors,” said
Jennifer Allen, director of the Border Action Network, an immigrant- rights group based in southern Arizona. In order to avoid, or at least be prepared to defend litigation, the state would be well served to
make sure that its officers are well trained on probable cause and our immigration laws.
Arizona’s decision to adopt a tougher statewide stance on immigration enforcement could be a portent of things to come. In the past, only localities, like Prince William County, have taken additional
enforcement measures to address immigration issues. Time will tell if other states follow suit in attempting, like Arizona, to take actions into their own hands.
Jerry Erickson is the managing partner of Szabo, Zelnick, & Erickson, P.C., in Woodbridge. He is the senior attorney in the firm’s Business Immigration Section. He has practiced law for over twenty
years and represents clients in numerous complex areas of immigration law.
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Reader Reactions
that’s ok,just wait for this scam of a bill on energy with cap and trade… people will learn the hard way. Know why they keep sliding in votes on Fridays and slipping in additions at 3am? Because they know if they really let the public read this garbage, we would tar and feather them all..
well, you people asked for it, you got it, wont we all just love paying between and $1500 and $3000 a year EXTRA because of this Energy Bill, oh that’s right we were promised no one would get a tax increase unless they made $250,000 a year, oh well, this isn’t reeeeeaaaaallllly a tax increase, so we didn’t reeeeeeaaaaallllly lie…..the jokes on the American people.
For sure, duped again by the government, this time on an unprecedented scale. LOL Chris Cummings
zcx…what’s wrong, aren’t you getting the HUGE tax break? Don’t you get the $13-16 a payperiod we were promied? What out for the end of the year too, seems they screwed up the tax witholding tables and millions will be shellingout even more at tax time than usual. (here is your proof)(you know who you are)
http://taxes.about.com/b/2009/02/21/irs-revises-payroll-withholding-for-new-tax-credit.htm
Where are the jobs created and saved promised by the end of summer by Obama??? What Southern racists do you speak of? Hillary or Byrd or Bill? We were supposed to be getting a break in our taxes every pay period where is it? Where did the earmarks go? Why is the President talking about immigration when he should be talking about retaining jobs and fixing the economy? By the way i never said Bush was not partially responsible for the economic meltdown, but Congress, the banks, the lenders and the mortgage companies played their role as well. One more thing you can’t spend your way out of a Recession. Record deficits, 4 times the previous record set by Bush Jr. that right there is laughable, detestable, ignorant, and then to talk about immigration to throw up a smokescreen is just plain wrong. Guess what it will cost minorities even more so. Minorities suffer the highest job losses when it comes to giving illegals jobs. If you really cared about minorities like you claim you would be fighting illegal immigration tooth and nail like some of us are doing. You will learn the hard way i suppose. Wait till you lose your job to an undeserving criminal. LOL Chris Cummings
Advocator, vmj, and Joni:
Comcerming protecting the country from foreign invasion…
Would you say that this also applies to the US invasion by Bush of Iraq?
Yes, Joni agasin.
How do you know who is a “liberal” teachert and who is not?
How do you know the history taught is right or wrong? What is your source? And who determines the accuracy? You?????? Ha ha ha.
Give us some more “authoritative” teachings on unions, please!!!! You haven’t answered my earlier postings on that. Can’t????
Ah yes, Joni is passing on the “truth” from some book she read. In other words, find a piece of trash you believe in and pass it on as truth. “If you heard it on the internet, it has to be true”. IS EVERY BOOK TRUE BY VIRTUE OF HAVING BEEN PUBLISHED, AND HOW DO YOU DETERMINE WHICH ONES ARE OR ARE NOT TRUTH? After all, you claim to be so well read and educated.
And Joni, you or your cohorts have not answered my question of who would make the determination that the states take over - presumably legally - the duties and functions of the federal govt? What’s the matter? Too difficult????
SIMILARLY, YOU FAIL TO ANSWER MY QUESTION OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SOUTHERN RACISTS WHO WERE SUGGESTING LEAVING THE UNION? See, you just blow a lot of smoke and nonsense, present no facts - just a lot of hot air and flatulence.
Now that you are trying to pass yourself off as a Constitutional expert, what “law” provides or requires that the states take over federal responsibilities when it is alleged by “someone” that the fed is not carrying out its responsibilities. Sure sounds like an overthrow of the govt to me. Doesn’t history showthat it is usually the feds that have to intervene because of some states misconduct and lawlessness? Civil rigthts comes to my mind. Remember Pres. Eisenhower nationalizing the Arkansas National Guard in Little Rock?
ZCX asks where are the million jobs destroyed since January. Go to an unemployment center, clod, as a starter. It’s the result of the Bush years.
wHEREE IS YOUR TAX BREAK? lT"S NOT YET IN EFFECT, CLOD, UNLESS YOU ARE FILLING A TAX RETURN EARLY.
Bush can never be absolved of the problem. After all, it occurred under his watch. You should ask when Obama can correct and straighten out Bush’s incompetence.
I hope Arizona can get this bill passed and lead the way for the other border states and destination states to fight back against the horde of illegal alien invaders who are stealing our jobs, sponging off our social services, schools, emergency rooms and hospitals, and otherwise degrading our quality of life.
Seems that some on this site need to go back and learn YOUR history including learning the facts about the Constitution which you seem to have never heard of.
It was the CONSTITUTION and specifically the 10th Amendment that guaranteed to rights of the states because the states were closer to the people and could determine what was best for that state. In the really old days, it was local communities that knew best what was good for their towns etc.
I fear those who accuse me of wanting Anarchy have no idea what that really is. We tilted too far to the right (and I am not referring to the Religious Right) toward anarchy right after independence. Some wanted NO gov controls and of course, that could not happen. However, tilting too far to the left was to bring tyranny back and that was not good either. That is why some of what is in the Constitution is there, to keep us balancing in the middle.
Your attack against me is baseless (as usual) because you accuse me of wanting anarchy,which of course is pure stupidity on your part. It is not Anarchy to demand that the federal government stop trying to remove all rights and responsibilities of the states and it is not anarchy to want my own state to pick up the slack when the federal government refuses to do it’s job. Since it is the federal gov’s job to protect the boarders, they should do it, since they don’t I am glad my local government decided to do it for them as are many in Arizona.
I decided not to bring myself down to the rock PHDEE slithers under anymore by responding to his/her post, but to some of you out there, before you attack others, you should really learn your history. Even though the liberal teachers and professors out there do not teach the true history, it is out there and you could find it if you would turn off your tvs, computers and game machines and pick up a book. One I recommend starting with is called
‘The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World…Principle of Freedom 101’
by W. Cleon Skousen it is a really good read about the framers of the constitution (you do know who they were right?) read it, it is very interesting.
Something very important to learn about is the 3 headed eagle…find it, learn it understand it.
It is said that…...
“In his book, “The Five Thousand Year Leap”, Cleon Skousen describes our form of government as a three-headed eagle with each head representing a branch of our government; the judicial, executive and legislative branches. This separation of powers is nothing new. We’ve learned it from our youth, although most really don’t understand the details.
However, he carries the symbol a little further and describes simply and powerfully another principle of our government. He states that the two wings represent two forces at work in the government - the wing of problem solving and the wing of conservation. The wing of problem solving is the wing of compassion and seeing to the needs of the people. The wing of conservation is responsible for care of resources and individual freedoms. These two powers must be kept in balance in order for our form of government to operate successfully. Skousen gives the example of wing #1 wanting to solve all problems regardless of cost. If wing #2 cannot convince wing #1 to take a more realistic approach then the government swings towards tyranny. Anarchy lies at the opposite end of the spectrum.“
I guess we should all be excited about rising unemployment, 1 million + jobs lost or destroyed since the end of January. Where are the jobs? Where is my tax break? At what point does it not become President Bush’s fault? LOL Chris Cummings
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