Immigration Law Hysteria

Ace blogged a bit about it last night but there's so much garbage being spewed about I think it's worth noting some of the more egregious claims individually.

Eugene Robinson has a fairly typical column on the supposed horrors of Arizona's new law.

(Arizona Governor Jan) Brewer, who caved to xenophobic pressures that previous governors had the backbone to resist, should be ashamed of herself. The law requires police to question anyone they "reasonably suspect" of being an undocumented immigrant -- a mandate for racial profiling on a massive scale. Legal immigrants will be required to carry papers proving that they have a right to be in the United States. Those without documentation can be charged with the crime of trespassing and jailed for up to six months.

Oh the horror! "Legal immigrants will be required to carry papers proving that they have a right to be in the United States" Why it's Nazi Germany all over again.

Wait, hold on a second. This just in...that provision has been part of the US Code for quite sometime.

Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. Any alien who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction for each offense be fined not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.

My God! We've been living in a xenophobic, racist, Nazi police state all this time. Why didn't someone tell me?

And people thought Palin was an idiot for her Death Panel remarks. At least she was speaking in political terms about the future consequences (which by definition are open to debate) not misrepresenting long standing law.

Now, we can debate whether or not states should or can incorporate federal laws into their own codes and enforce them. That's something reasonable people can disagree about the wisdom and propriety of but let's not let thee fools get away with crying "Nazi", "racist" "xenophobic" or any of the other usual suspects. It's a cheap rhetorical device the left excels at since they can not put together any convincing arguments.

Added: Marco Rubio walks a fine line on the AZ law.

States certainly have the right to enact policies to protect their citizens, but Arizona’s policy shows the difficulty and limitations of states trying to act piecemeal to solve what is a serious federal problem. From what I have read in news reports, I do have concerns about this legislation. While I don’t believe Arizona’s policy was based on anything other than trying to get a handle on our broken borders, I think aspects of the law, especially that dealing with ‘reasonable suspicion,’ are going to put our law enforcement officers in an incredibly difficult position. It could also unreasonably single out people who are here legally, including many American citizens. Throughout American history and throughout this administration we have seen that when government is given an inch it takes a mile.

He then goes on to call for Congress to work on an enforcement immigration bill, not a comprehensive one.

(Via Ben Smith,)

Related enough...there are a lot of people calling for an economic boycott of Arizona. Below the fold, it's a lovely place that you may want to consider when making any vacation plans.

posted by DrewM. at 12:04 PM

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