A Modest Proposal: States Objecting to Illegal Immigration Should Pass Laws Demanding That Any Product Produced in "Sanctuary Jurisdiction" Be Specifically Labeled as Such for Interstate Sale

The Constitution generally forbids any kind of interference with interstate trade -- but there are exceptions.

The Supreme Court found, for example, that a federal law demanding that goods made by prisoners in one state must be marked as "Prisoner-Made Goods" when shipped for interstate sale. The companies selling such prisoner-made goods objected, stating that such labeling would of course prejudice the public against buying them in the market.

But the Supreme Court found that such labeling requirements were a permissible regulation under the intestate commerce clause.

The United States Supreme Court held that transportation of prisoner made goods without proper labeling violated the Ashurst Sumners Act (ASA), 49 U.S.C.A. §§ 61-64, and the U.S. Constitution Act 1, § 8. The Kentucky Whip and Collar Co. (petitioner) manufactures horse collars, harnesses, and strap goods with Kentucky prisoner labor that it marketed in various states....

A transportation company refused to deliver goods which did not have the required labeling. So the company selling prisoner-made goods sued to compel the transport company to deliver them, challenging the federal law requiring labeling as contrary to the general constitutional prohibitions of interference with interstate commerce.

They lost:

Petitioner sued seeking amandatory injunction to compel transportation. The Court held, pursuant to ASA, that all prisoner made goods are to be transported with plain labels showing names and addresses of shipper and consignee, the nature of contents, and the name and location of the penal or reformatory institution where produced. Accordingly, the Court rejected the petitioner's constitutional challenge to the ASA.

So my proposal, then:

Congress should pass a law similar to the Ashurst Summers act requiring all products (or agricultural produce) made in a jurisdiction which is a "sanctuary jurisidiction," or which does not conform to a minimum level of enforcement of immigration laws, should be labeled (when sold interstate) as "PRODUCED IN A SANCTUARY JURISDICTION PERMITTING ILLEGAL WORK BY FOREIGN UNDOCUMENTED LABORERS."

Now, I don't think the federal government would succeed in passing that, so, as a back-up plan, let the states which are interested in actually enforcing immigration laws pass their own state laws requiring such labeling.

If these labels wind up prejudicing the public against buying California grapes or even California microchips... ah well. Who can object to better informing the public about how goods are made?

Incidentally, California is a state that is the most c*cksuckerish about such labeling requirements itself. Look for any kind of water-bottle on Amazon, and you'll see a special label, required by California law, stating that the product does or does not contain BHP or whatever type of plastic Californians are all up in arms about this week.

Similarly, there are special labels, mandated by California law, about certain substances or ingredients in supplements and foods, and about what types of metal ions are present in batteries. That kind of thing.

Products routinely are required to carry the Warning Label that "Ingredient X has been linked to cancer by California Health Authorities," a friend points out.

If California feels it is empowered to demand that all other states carry the Warning Labels that Californians demand, then it's high time that all California-made goods carry the Warning Label "THIS PRODUCT PRODUCED IN A SANCTUARY JURISDICTION WHICH PERMITS OR ENCOURAGES LABOR BY UNDOCUMENTED ILLEGAL FOREIGN WORKERS."

And if people decide they'd rather buy produce and other goods from a non-sanctuary state, well: If California can require labels about BHP, why can't Oklahoma require labels about goods made in jurisidictions that illegally encourage illegal immigrant labor?

A Modest Proposal, Expanded: A friend writes (some words changed in case someone can figure out who he is by text analysis/word usage):

It could be useful to use that against tech companies that suck up to China. "This search engine is known to help the communist Chinese government repress its people by censoring search results."

posted by Ace at 01:35 PM

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