The Phoenix Suns, playing tonight in the NBA Western Conference Semifinals are wearing 'Los Suns' Jerseys to simultaneously recognize Cinco De Mayo and protest the new Arizona Immigration law passed, what almost a week, week and a half ago now? (How much an effect this highly symbolic protest will have, I don't know. But kudos to the Suns for recognizing the issue.) I've been going round and round on this new immigration law- and I want to, at some point actually sit down and read the bill for myself to find out what it really says, but a couple of thoughts have floated to the top of my head over the course of the past couple of days.
First, what's the Federal Government doing in all of this? It's hard not to feel for Arizona. There's a massive drug war- an actual, honest-to-God war, going on right next door in the Northern States of Mexico and the Federal Government won't do diddly poo about securing the border. Why? Well, neither Democratic nor Republican parties want to offend the fastest growing voting bloc in the country- nor do they seem to have the inclination to wrangle a sensible immigration policy into existence either. They seem merely content to sit back, watch and pontificate every so often. So what choice did Arizona have? I'll admit that this seems more than a little draconian, but Arizona had to do something- especially since the Federal Government seems content to abrogate all responsibility for border security in the name of gaining a few political points here and there.
Second, what's the Federal Government doing in all of this? This may seem a little repetitious, but it's not. We literally have no coherent immigration policy on the national level. Not one. People are getting their collective underwear all bunched up in a knot because police in Arizona can now ask for proof of immigration status, but knotting one's undergarments ignores the fact that if you're legal, you're supposed to have your Green Card with you at all times anyway! I never had mine- nor did my parents- and why was that? Well, it was because that particular rule, like so many others, wasn't enforced. At all. So whatever side of this debate you come down on, I think we can all agree its time for the idiots that are supposed to be running this country to get off their asses and make policy.
Personally, I favor a massive expansion of the guest worker program that's buried somewhere in Federal Bureaucratic Hell (I was told there is one. Where it is or what it's called, I don't know.) I favor a massive crackdown on employers. (Everyone, illegal or not should be paid the Federal Minimum Wage- and if the INS does raid an employer and find some illegals, those folks should be sent home. With backpay taken straight out of the employers payroll.) I favor streamlining the process to make it easier to become a US Citizen LEGALLY. Which right now, it can be argued, it's not. If you get legal status, live here, pay your taxes and keep a clean criminal record for ten years, you should be able to download the forms, pay a simple processing fee, send them in and get your papers automatically. Or some version of that process that includes fast-tracking for the citizenship test/interview. Something to actually give people incentive to do this legally.
America needs immigrants. I don't think anyone can disagree with that. We need low and high-skilled immigrants and given the fact that China and India are becoming increasingly competitive with us, we need to sell America as the best place in the World for the best, brightest or even the people just willing to work the hardest to come and be. This law sends a bad message in the other direction. So I worry about the perception that could grow out of this.
We desperately need a national immigration policy. And the collective cowardice of both parties in failing to rise to this occasion just underlines what a massive waste of money the Federal Government is rapidly becoming. If they're unwilling to shoulder this responsibility, then we, as a nation, need to seriously rethink our conceptions of just what the Federal Government can and should be allowed to do.
(I do have some concerns on the law enforcement side of the AZ Law, but I want to ask some cops what they think about it before I put them to paper.)
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