Wednesday, July 28, 2010

SB 1070; Raising Arizona?

It's time to Break It Down!

With apologies to the Coen Brothers, who wrote and directed the movie, Raising Arizona; rest assured, this post is in no way tied to that 1987 cinematic comedy. Instead the question is intended to pose the basic inquiry, “Is this controversial initiative good for Arizona, and/or for America?

For more than 3 months now, since Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, signed the nation’s toughest legislation targeted at illegal immigration, the Governor, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Senator John McCain, and a host of other Arizonans, prominent, and pedestrian, have trumpeted the law as not only just what Arizona, but also just what America needs right now. Proponents of the measure, in Arizona, and across the nation, insist the new law, which is scheduled to go into effect tomorrow, merely calls for carrying out the dictates of the Constitution.  For some, therein lies the rub.  Many opponents offer a sharply contrasting counterpoint. Rankled by even such a notion, they contend that Constitution matters are the the purview of the Federal Government, not the states.

As fervently as Governor Brewer and Senator McCain, who has done an about-face on issues central to the law, support it, the Obama Administration, including the President and Attorney General Eric Holder, as well as a number of Arizona law enforcement officials, and not surprisingly many Arizonans of Hispanic origin, oppose the bill. In a New York Times article, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles said "The authorities’ ability to demand documents was like “Nazism.”

Yesterday, Jeffrey Toobin, A CNN senior legal analyst, staff writer at the New Yorker, former Assistant U.S. Attorney, and author, opined, “The most controversial part of the law requires local police, who have made a "lawful stop, detention or arrest" of an individual, to determine that person's immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that the person is an illegal alien.”

The gist of this is that critics believe the law will lead to racial profiling; the singling out and harassing of law abiding citizens or aliens. Such actions, critics insist, would be an abridgment of 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law. On most fronts, the profiling issue is what brings the sizzle to this steak, but experts tend to believe it is the traction of the legal and Constitutional issues that will make or break the opposition’s case.

The Constitution and federal law both provide that foreign policy in general, and immigration specifically, fall under the rubric of the Federal Government’s responsibility. Governor Brewer, as do most proponents of the Super-Secret Code-Worded Arizona SB (Senate Bill) 1070, contends that the Federal Government has failed consistently, and failed on a grand scale, to secure the nation's borders, obviously, and especially, in Arizona. She argues that this law will accomplish end.

In a classic representation of the two sides to this proverbial coin, Federal Judge Susan Bolton asked, at a hearing in federal court in Phoenix two weeks ago, "Why can't Arizona be as inhospitable as they wish to people who have entered or remain in the U.S. unlawfully?"

In response, Edwin Kneedler, the Justice the Justice Department lawyer said, "It's not for one of our states to be inhospitable the way Arizona has. It is a direct intrusion into immigration matters and immigration enforcement. It interferes with the enforcement discretion of the federal agencies charged with enforcing those provisions and immigration laws generally."

Time is winding down, before the scheduled enforcement of the law. The Justice Department continues to argue the matter before the Federal Court in Arizona. It is unclear whether the Court will rule before the law takes effect, or wait to determine the actual affects before taking action. But early indications are Judge Bolton may be somewhat more sympathetic to some of Arizona’s arguments than to those of the Feds. At this point, while the jury is still out, so to speak, the verdict, or at least part of it may already be in. Of course I have no insider intelligence, but with roughly 24 hours to go before the law is scheduled to take effect; I expect this show to open for a trial run, at the very least.

If one backs up just a bit to allow for strategic refocusing, the political dynamics of the issue shine through rather brightly. I mentioned earlier that Senator McCain, one of the more vocal supporters of SB 1070 is a fairly recent convert. The Senator, as does Governor Brewer, faces highly energized, ultra-conservative opposition for the November Election. This turn of events appears to have played a significant role in the current swing towards a hard-right posture for both Senator McCain and Governor Brewer.

The Governor waited until the day she signed the bill into law to reveal her position to support the bill. While it is no surprise that Governor Brewer's position differs from that of her predecessor, Janet Napolitano, who resigned to take the position of Secretary of Homeland Security, in the Obama Administration, her apparent reticence seems to signal some degree of irresolution. Secretary Napolitano vetoed similar legislation several times during her tenure as Governor.

In the end, what is quite clear is the arguments on SB 1070, legal and otherwise, pro and con, are far from over. The debate will surely extend beyond Thursday's outcome, no matter what Judge Bolton decides...or when she decides it. There will be civil disobedience in Arizona and a fair amount of uncivil discourse, in Washington and beyond; in numerous venues across America. So, in answer to the fundamental query, is adopting “SB 1070, Raising America?” The court may recess, but the jury is still out!

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093822/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brewer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Mahony

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Toobin

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/07/arizona-immigration-law.html

http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070h.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_SB_1070

http://www.examiner.com/x-57251-Chandler-Conservative-Examiner~y2010m7d27-Sheriff-Joe-Arpaio-prepared-to-handle-protestors-on-Thursday-regarding-SB1070

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html

http://azdailysun.com/news/state-and-regional/article_10eb82a6-95cd-11df-8ccc-001cc4c002e0.html

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/07/24/20100724arizona-immigration-law-mexico-reaction.html

http://judgepedia.org/index.php/Susan_Bolton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Kneedler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Napolitano

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