It’s not unusual in this country for a new law to excite lots of public debate, demonstrations, and heightened emotions. What is unusual in the reaction to Arizona’s new immigration law is the degree of ignorance about its provisions. For example, those on the far right who are cheered because they think the law will inspire new efforts there and elsewhere in America to deport the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal immigrants will surely be disappointed: There is no new authority in the Arizona law to detain and deport anybody who could not have been expelled before Gov. Jan Brewer signed the measure into law.
Similarly, those on the left who have been most vocal have condemned the Arizona law for legalizing racial profiling and a host of other things it simply doesn’t do. Official boycotts of Arizona are being proposed by city and public schools officials in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and elsewhere. Apparently, these people have already solved all of the problems in their communities and are now able to advise Arizona. Typical of the uninformed critiques behind these calls is this mistaken assertion by California state Senate President Darrell Steinberg: “Any state that maintains a policy that officially discriminates against people because of their skin color, because of where they are from, we must take strong action.” Critics also claim the Arizona law lets local cops stop anybody anytime they choose and “demand their papers.”
The essential context for the Arizona law is the federal measure that has been on the books since 1940 requiring all non-citizens to carry official documentation — a stamped passport, green card or work visa — showing that they are here legally. Today, whenever a person is arrested anywhere in the United States, their immigration status can be checked by arresting officials using the federal government’s Secure Communities program. As John Morton, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pointed out in Sunday’s Washington Examiner, seven Arizona counties and law enforcement officials in 158 other jurisdictions use the program now and more are being added on a daily basis. More than 33,000 illegal immigrants identified through Secure Communities have been deported since 2008. Everything the Arizona law directs local cops to do must be done in that context.
People on all sides of the immigration debate disagree on whether the federal government is doing too much or too little in protecting U.S. borders. What is beyond dispute is that the laws against illegal immigration either should be enforced or repealed. Measures like Arizona’s do nothing more than supplement laws that are already on the books and the federal resources used to enforce them. The critics should take some deep breaths and calm down.
