Arizona Plans to Tackle Illegal Aliens

Our constitution Clearly lays out the limited functions of the federal government. They are basically foreign policy, interstate commerce, administering justice, regulating the financial institutions and protecting the borders. The problem we have today is the temptation to legislate bread and butter issues to buy votes has allowed the federal government to expand well beyond its constitutional boundaries. When this happens the normal areas of the federal jurisdiction suffer neglect.

State government can react in three ways. It can petition the courts to force the federal government to return to its constitutional boundaries, accept the expanding role of the fed and become its agent or step into the gap to fulfill the duty neglected by the fed until the situation can be addressed properly.

The courts has aided the federal expansion so that is an unlikely choice. New Orleans' government's response to Katrina is an example of a state and local government becoming nothing more than an agent of the fed. Arizona is taking the proactive approach to deal with the illegal immigration problem on the southern border. They have little choice since the fed in not interested.

Arizona has long been one of the busiest gateways for aliens trying to sneak into the country, and some lawmakers believe it's time to dispatch state police squads to catch those who slip past border agents.

A state lawmaker has proposed a plan that includes $20 million for the Arizona Department of Public Safety to mount a 100-member squad to operate surveillance equipment, construct border barriers, target drug and immigrant smugglers and perhaps patrol the border.

A different plan by Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, would have two state police squads focus on alien smuggling cases. Both plans offer millions of dollars to communities to thwart illegal entries, and money for combating gang-related border crime.

"If the federal government isn't going to do the job and Arizona is footing billions of dollars a year for illegal aliens, it makes sense for the state to get involved," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors limits on immigration.

Opponents say racial profiling could increase if officers unfamiliar with immigration law were to try and enforce it. They also say it could make investigating crime harder in immigrant communities, because fewer aliens would cooperate with police for fear of being sent home. Local officers also lack understanding of complex immigration law, they say.

All along the border states are taking up the slack left by federal neglect. Even the interior states are beginning to use state resources to address the illegal immigration problem. It should be clear that immigration has been and will be one of the main sources of our national strength, but the rule of law is the foundation of that continued strength. We should welcome with open arms those who wish to share in the promise of America so long as they do so according to our laws. We can make changes to who we let into our country and how new immigrants can do so, but we must enforce those laws we have now first.

Basil's