The New York Times reports that Arizona’s governor, Jan Brewer, signed a bill into law intended to “identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants.”
I am opposed to the proposal of President Obama, former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain which will provide illegal aliens amnesty and a path to citizenship. However, the newly-enacted Arizona law is an outrage that should be overruled by Congress, which should preempt the entire area of legislation respecting the identifying and arresting of illegal immigrants, so as to stop the Arizona monstrosity.
I have compared the Arizona law with the efforts of Nazis engaged in Jew catching, stopping people on the streets of Berlin and elsewhere in Nazi Germany demanding identification, and if not produced, arresting, imprisoning and, in the case of Jews, sending them to death camps where they were murdered.
Of course, government can and should ask employers and employees at the workplace if they are legal immigrants or citizens, entitled to work or illegal immigrants, not allowed to work and doing so in violation of the law.
If employers were pursued criminally when they intentionally violate the law and hire illegal immigrants, the latter, when no job opportunities are available, will go back to their countries of origin.
I feel sorry for Sen. John McCain, who has established himself as a decent, thoughtful American leader. The Times reports on April 24, “Mr. McCain, locked in a primary with a challenger campaigning on immigration, only came out in support of the law hours before the state senate passed it Monday afternoon.”
Sen. McCain is a bona fide hero of the Vietnam War where he withstood the physical cruelties of his North Vietnamese captors and upheld the finest traditions of the United States Navy while imprisoned in the “Hanoi Hilton.”
Yet, in fear of losing a primary election, he succumbed to the pressure of the heated primary and his opponent’s attacks. He will regret it after the election is over, whether he wins or loses.
Integrity is more important than winning, and often its very presence is responsible for winning.
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