Why Can't We All Just Love Oranges?

I was recently sent an article by someone who is in opposition to the recently signed Arizona Senate Bill 1070, the state initiated immigration law. The article, an editorial by Tim Egan,

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/desert-derangement-syndrome/?emc=eta1

was replete with innaccuracies, erroneous generalizations and blatant lies. In fact, my thoughts about Mr. Egan's opinion woke me up at 6:45 on a Saturday morning no less. I spent the next couple of hours responding to the article. This blog is my response. Take note that I've included citations from sources that even opponents to the new law cannot deny. The citations may not be clickable in this blog format so if you wish to read them, you may need to copy and paste into your browser. And so here it is...



I read the article. I’ve always tried to take the position that I prefer clarity over being right. If two people are debating something, it’s more important to make sure they’re debating the same thing rather than just prevailing. If I’m trying to convince you that orange juice is good for you and you counter that orange is the prettiest color… well, you see the dilemma.

And that’s my problem with Mr. Egan’s editorial. While I realize that it’s an opinion column, he bases his entire argument on window sticker and comedy central anecdotes rather than dealing with actual facts. The facts (I’ve included citations and they are not in dispute) are as follows:

1. Here’s the actual Senate Bill 1070:

http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf

It’s stunning to me the things being reported by people who haven’t even read the bill. Contrary to what Mr. Egan states, NO WHERE does it say that the law “allow(s) authorities to stop and question anyone who looks Hispanic.” Nothing even close to that. He has either not read the bill or he is just flat out lying. The bill states that if an officer comes in contact with a person who he/she believes has a reasonable suspicion or probable cause to be in the country illegally then they can be detained and questioned. First of all, EVERY SINGLE act a police officer makes in regards to the public is done on the reasonable suspicion/probable cause basis. It’s the criteria used to decide to pull you over for a traffic citation or arrest you for theft. We trust them for every other thing they do and 99% of the time they do their job right. Why do we now think they’re just going to go hog wild and round everyone up?

As you know, my friend Seth is a police officer. I work with police officers on a daily basis. Every single one of them has said that if they stop someone for speeding, they don’t have a driver’s license on them, they can’t speak English and have no other documentation that shows who they are, if they can at least tell them what their social security number is they can be verified and let go with only the traffic ticket and a ticket for not having their driver’s license with them. Not very Gestapo if you ask me.

NOTE: Gov. Jan Brewer signed an addendum to the bill yesterday clarifying that police officers cannot engage in the immigration status questioning unless the person has been detained for committing some other crime or infraction. This should immediately dispel those who assert that cops are going to round up all the brown people although I’m sure it won’t. Here’s the CNN article on the changes made yesterday:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/30/arizona.immigration.law.changes/index.html?hpt=T2

2. 70% of Arizonans support the new law. 60% of U.S. citizens nationally support the law. Nationally, even Democrats are evenly divided on the issue!

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/immigration/nationally_60_favor_letting_local_police_stop_and_verify_immigration_status

3. Currently (in all states), if a police officer comes in contact with you for any reason, he is allowed to ask you questions about what you’re doing and who you are. He can also ask you for legal identification and even search you if he has a reasonable suspicion that you may have violated a law (Supreme Court, Terry vs. Ohio). This is no different than what the new Arizona law states.

4. The federal immigration law states that it is illegal to enter the U.S. illegally. The new Arizona law merely compliments that law by saying that it is illegal to REMAIN in the U.S./Arizona illegally. This is the equivalent to adding a law that says not only is it illegal to break into someone’s home (burglary) but it’s now also illegal to REMAIN in the home for an extended period of time and use the resources of the homeowner illegally. Nobody would ever contest that law.

5. There are currently over 50 illegal immigrants in the Phoenix 4th Avenue jail awaiting trial for murder. Maybe they’re all innocent, but not likely. We’ve had 5 police officers murdered by illegals in the last year in a half. We’ve had scores of people killed by drunk drivers who were illegal immigrants. Just yesterday a Pinal County Sheriff’s deputy was shot by 5 Mexicans in the desert during a traffic stop. They were smuggling a car load of drugs and tried to shoot down a border patrol helicopter. Phoenix is the car theft capital of the country. My own SUV was stolen a couple of years ago and eventually found in the desert being used by immigrant smugglers. Phoenix is also the kidnapping capital of the country, by far! In fact, there were more kidnappings (370) in Phoenix in 2009 than any other city in the world except for one: Mexico City. See the ABC news story:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6848672&page=1

In my own previous neighborhood there have been two occasions in one year of Mexican military soldiers who had crossed the border and staged a military assault (ski masks, fatigues, Kevlar vests, machine guns) on homes down the street. Hundreds of rounds were fired and two people were killed. Just last week at 91st and Lower Buckeye (my old neighborhood), one suspected illegal murdered his Hispanic neighbor. I had to move because of my own 4 year criminal investigation into Mexican drug cartels smuggling drugs into Arizona and weapons and money into Mexico resulted in a potential threat to my family.

All of these incidents are directly connected to illegal immigrants. Legal citizens commit lots of crimes too. But it is a fact that if none of the illegal immigrants were here, the crimes they committed would never have happened. Personally, I agree with the following quote:

“We must not tolerate illegal immigration. We have moved forcefully to protect American jobs by calling on Congress to enact increased civil and criminal sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers. Since 1993 (one year), we have removed 30,000 illegal workers from jobs across the country.” – Bill Clinton in My Life, by Bill Clinton, p. 756, June 21, 2004.

Almost everyone agrees that the process of legal immigration should be streamlined and less tedious and time consuming. Personally, although many would disagree with me, I would have no problem with “grandfathering” those in the U.S. now and putting them on the path to citizenship IF, and only IF, we secure the borders first. Southern California finished their border fence in the San Diego area and it dramatically cut back the flow of illegals and the crime rate dropped significantly. Arrests of illegal immigrants in that area have dropped 95%! See the NPR story about this:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5323928

I don’t know a single conservative person who doesn’t agree that America is a place for hope and opportunity and we welcome all who wish to come here and be a part of the American dream. Just come in legally, pay taxes and don’t commit crimes.

The immigration policy failures are both Republican and Democrat. Neither Obama nor Bush nor Clinton before him did anything to solve this problem. The world is full of those who wish to better their lives and hopefully the United States will always be that shining beacon for those people to follow. But the end cannot justify the means. The argument that it’s somehow justifiable to break federal law so they can work and earn a living for their families is intellectually dishonest. If this is acceptable then it also must be acceptable to break other laws for the same reason. Is it acceptable to embezzle money from your rich boss as long as you use the ill gotten gains to better the lives of your family? Of course not. How is this any different?

Does Arizona have some crack pot crazies? Sure. There’s a few in California too. In fact we have no shortage of nut jobs in every state in the country. But it’s disingenuous to paint 60% of Americans with the “crazy brush” and make that the basis for an argument. That’s like debating with a child. You give them your opinion and supporting facts and they respond by calling you a doo-doo head. Really?

Arizona is not doing anything that the federal government, by law, is supposed to be doing. And those who label Arizonans as racist and accuse us of having a slave mentality, consider this. The supporters of the Arizona law want the illegal aliens to go through the process legally, then come into America and work for legal wages and pay legal taxes, just like the rest of us. Opponents want to fight this effort, keeping the illegals at ridiculous wages with no access to benefits, no government recourse or protection such as worker’s compensation, worker’s disability, social security, etc. Honestly, which sounds more like slavery?

The only thing the Arizona law requires you to do is provide documentation of who you are AFTER you’ve been stopped for breaking some other law. That same rule applies to me, you and everyone. Not just Hispanics. Sounds pretty reasonable. Ironically, maybe the U.S. should just use the same illegal immigration laws that Mexico has on the books which are MUCH more strict. Anyone want to sneak into Mexico, use a fake i.d. and see how long you rot in a Mexican jail?

Actually, if the U.S. told the Mexican government that all foreign aid to them would immediately cease if they did not control their northern border, I’m pretty sure they’d be shooting on sight within the week. Obviously that would be horrible and not what we want. But let’s not delude ourselves about Mexico’s financial interest in this issue.

Finally, just remember that all of the “noise” of the protesters and activists are those arguing that orange is the prettiest color when what we’re talking about is juice. I hate to confuse them with facts and logic when they’re having so much fun. I just wish they’d read the bill.