AZ immigration law

So I just read this article in the Trib... http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_15126941 and just wondered which of my fellow cougar fans like the law and why or don't like the law and why not?



My personal opinion melds closely with the idea shared in an e-mail I received recently which drew a comparison of the law like coming to a stadium for the game and finding someone else sitting in my seat who has no ticket stub. Surely you can see the 'moral' of the story but in general I support the law and find it irritating that so many choose to throw blame and the 'hate'card around because they disagree.



Go Cougs!!!

J. Child

Ammon, ID

My opinion is that the law is fine. Cops no more racially profile than they already do. Here's my solution: increase the immigration capacity.



People are concerned about illegal immigrants coming in through the back doors and living in the shadows.



I say open the doors wide. But let people know where the doors are. Open Ellis Island type locations around the nation. Put one in San Diego, Seattle, Detroit, New York, Miami, El Paso. If you want to come to the US, you go one of those locations. You have a quick checkup to make sure you don't have any deadly diseases. You prove yourself (i.e. birth certificate), your ability to find work and your record (a quick records check).



You're given a provisional card that is good for a few months while a more thorough check is performed. You are required to report back to this location (wouldn't have to be in person) after say, three months, that you've found employment. If you fail to report, you're deported. If during that time the records check shows you're a criminal, you're deported.



If you are currently here illegally, you are fined $15,000 and must prove employment within one month. If you cannot pay you are deported. If don't have employment you are deported.



I would also change the methods of citizenship. Simply being born here is not enough. Your parents must be citizens. Only citizens may vote and recieve government benefits.

Everygtime immigration comes up, I"m all for taking care of the 'problem'.



But then I remember that I have a number of friends who would be forced to leave. It's easy to deport "illegals". It's harder to deport AnaLucia and Juan who have been in your ward for years and who are otherwise loving, gentle and amazing people.



I'm all for Arizona enforcing their own borders and I believe the law does little more than enforce current federal laws. Not a huge fan of Mexico's president coming here to lecture us about it anymore than I am about Cuba decrying our human rights record.



As for deporting illegals... here's a poll I'd like CNN to run: Would those 10% of Americans who are currently unemployed be willing to take the place of the tens of thousands of field workers/ fruit pickers/ house cleaners etc... that would vanish. I think you'd fine very few willing to take their places.

The question really hinges on whether you consider illegal immigration a bona fide crime or something more akin to speeding (everyone does it, and there's no problem with driving 10 over unless/until you cause an accident -- something like that).



I have no sympathy for someone who has entered this country illegally. I also don't have a problem with a liberal immigration policy. But we are a country that respects the rule of law. Allowing illegal immigrants to enter our country, take jobs, and consume public goods (medical care, public education, etc) is wrong and dilutes the American-ness of this Republic.

I think I understand AZ's frustration but that said this a national problem that demands a national resolution. We are a nation of immigrants but what we cannot be is a nation of chaotic immigration. We need Congress to deal with all the illegals now. I sort of thought GW's proposal would have worked. And then we need to enforce. AZ' law will not solve the problem



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CougarClaw wrote:



As for deporting illegals... here's a poll I'd like CNN to run: Would those 10% of Americans who are currently unemployed be willing to take the place of the tens of thousands of field workers/ fruit pickers/ house cleaners etc... that would vanish. I think you'd fine very few willing to take their places.

I guarantee there are thousands of foreigners of many different countries willing to come in legally and work for those wages for a time. The lower income work force is easily replaceable legally, and doesn't need the illegals. Make it more conducive for those willing to immigrate legally, and much harder for those who choose to do it illegally. Make illegals pay for the expense of deportation and incarceration. But my opinion could be wrong. It is all God's anyway. We are only stewards. He chooses, not us. we just screw it up.

As an born, raised and living here again Arizonan, I have no problem with the law. But I wouldn't mind, either, if they gave amnesty to people with jobs here, but as the situation stands now, I think more needs to be done to punish employers of illegal immigrants. The law is already serving as a deterrant for illegal immigrants that were already here or planning to come here.



And as a Native American, I can confirm that cops already practice racial profiling. I've been mistaken for a Mexican and followed while driving, and pulled over for nothing. When the officer determined that I was legal/not running drugs, etc. he let me go. Was it annoying? Yes. A little offensive? Yes. But do I hear stories on the news all the time about illegals/drug runners being pulled over for little things and getting caught? Yes. They practice racially profiling and it often works. I wish it didn't happen, but since I am legal, I only have to live with it as an annoyance, not a disruption of my life.



The police in Arizona are going to be extra cautious about enforcing this law because they know the whole world is watching them and is just waiting for an excuse to pound them the first time a questionable arrest is made. President Obama's "Families out for ice cream will be asked for their papers" scenario is absurd and ignorant.



I thought Sen. Russell Pearce's (the bill's author) letter here was a good read on where he and the other people who passed/support the law are coming from.

Mars wrote:

I think more needs to be done to punish employers of illegal immigrants.

I agree with this statement completely.

Yep. If you build it they will come. Most illegal immigrants seek better paying jobs so they can send money back to family in their native land. If they knew they couldn't get a job as an undocumented worker, they would stop coming over in the numbers they are.



On that note, I don't think it's reasonable to have immigrants show proof of employment prior to entering the country. That's why I suggested that three-month time frame. That should be enough for them to find at a minimum temporary employment.

One other thought about all this is America is hardly the only country dealing with severe immigration issues.



I have family in Wales who paint a very similar picture for England especially since they joined the E.U. Part of all the benefits of increasing trade are easier cross-border trips and England's strong economy has been a magnet for all kinds of eastern European job seekers. Even before Greece sank into the ocean with Spain, Ireland and Portugal teetering there have been a number of folks interested in getting out of the EU for immigration and a number of other reasons. I can only imagine what that's like now.



I think we should be thankful for state's rights when Federal convolutedness can't enforce laws already on the books.

The more I read about the law the more that I support it. Why does Obama and the media fight it and paint an incorrect picture of it? Does Obama think they will somehow vote for him next time?

scott715 wrote:
The more I read about the law the more that I support it. Why does Obama and the media fight it and paint an incorrect picture of it? Does Obama think they will somehow vote for him next time?

I think that's the idea. The Dems know that if they give them full citizenship/amnesty then they will have a bunch more votes and stay in power, it has nothing to do with what's right/good for the country. They pander to these groups simply to get votes. You know the Republicans were the ones who pushed for civil rights, but years later the Dems saw that they could secure votes by pandering to minority groups and pushed through idiotic things like affirmative action.