Arizona cracks down on illegal immigrants with new bill
As unemployment continues to rise lawmakers are looking for ways to slow the joblessness rates within cities and states. New Arizona legislation calls for illegal immigrants to be charged with trespassing as a way to tackle the state’s jobless issue and help put Arizona citizens back to work.
The new law, the toughest in the country, would ban illegal aliens from residing in the state without legal papers. The state lawmakers have chosen the battle and will most likely sign into law the first bill that essentially criminalizes the presence of the 460,000 illegals living in Arizona.
The legislation allows law enforcement officers to detain people on the suspicion that they are illegal immigrants, completely outlaws citizens from employing day laborers and makes it illegal to transport undocumented workers anywhere in the state.
Those in favor of the crackdown suggest it’s the large illegal population that is contributing to the high crime and unemployment rates, many of whom say they are forced to enact tough new laws because the federal government has failed to enforce the immigration laws already on the books.
“When you come to America you must have a permission slip, period,” said Russell Pearce, Arizona State Senator who sponsored the bill. “You can’t break into my country, just like you can’t break into my house.”
“It will be, there’s no doubt, the toughest immigration enforcement bill in the nation,” said Pearce.
In a story from ABC News, immigrant right’s groups are already gearing up for a fight.
“The really dangerous impact is the creation of a new state crime related to trespassing. If law enforcement has a reasonable suspicion that someone is undocumented they can be stopped and forced to prove they are a U.S. citizen. If they can’t prove it, they can be arrested,” said Jennifer Allen, director of the Border Action Network, an immigrant advocacy group.
Advocates for the tough new legislation contend law enforcement officers aren’t going house to house arresting illegal immigrants, by creating a law that “eliminates all sanctuary policies,” closing the loophole for illegal immigrants to work or even be present in the state would force illegals to leave on their own, Pearce says.
The new bill will add teeth to current laws and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has affirmed she will sign the bill into law when it reaches her desk.
Pearce said Arizonians deserve and expect to “have a constitutional right to expect their rights and laws to be enforced.”
This past week the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office raided four McDonald’s fast food restaurants looking for 50 illegal immigrants who were working using false identification.
Identity theft is a chronic and widespread problem Americans face. Once U.S. identification is stolen, charges from fraudulent purchases and earnings from a paycheck Americans haven’t incurred begin to demolish credit histories and cause major headaches to citizens. The arduous task of repairing their credit often takes months to fix and could damage their credit history for years.
When it comes to the employment situation, many who steal identities will take 100 percent of their paychecks leaving the taxes to be paid by the unsuspecting victims who find out when the IRS knocks on their door.
The Arizona legislation is expected to be signed into law within a couple of weeks and illegal residents can expect America’s toughest Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, to enforce the new law.
For more stories; http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner
Emboldened Democrats push for immigration reform despite wary Americans
Recent passage of cap and trade and health care in the House emboldens Democratic leadership to push for amnesty without Republican and American support. During a time of double-digit unemployment, Democrats will move to introduce immigration legislation before the end of the year.
According to Rep. Lamar Smith-R TX, the loss of 4 million jobs this year could be reversed if the Obama Administration simply enforced current immigration laws and strip the estimated 8 million jobs taken by illegal immigrants.
“President Obama could create eight million jobs for citizens and legal workers simply by enforcing immigration laws. Instead, the administration has cut work site enforcement efforts. It is hard to conceive of a worse time to implement such policies, but that is exactly what the administration has done,” Smith explained.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force plans to move ahead without Republican input said Rep. Luis Gutierrez-D Ill. “Our bill will be to immigration reform what the public option was to health care reform.” Other Democrats who have been negotiating reform legislation said of Republicans, “We don’t need them.”
An amnesty push could be a difficult sell to Americans battling to find a job. Rasmussen polls cite 55 percent of Americans favor immigrant reform that welcomes everyone except criminals, national security threats and welfare dependants.
Despite economic conditions that plague the country, Gutierrez plans to have his legislative bill ready by December 15. Gutierrez admits the Hispanic Caucus is riding high after hearing Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano’s recent speech declaring a secure border and the call of Americans to reform immigration.
However, all the ‘gold standard’ polls paint a very different picture. In fact in a New York Times poll during the last immigration push found 69 percent of Americans wanted illegal immigrants prosecuted and deported.
Another aspect plaguing the effort to legislate amnesty is the fact states that share a border with Mexico are operating in the red due to a strain from illegal immigrants who reside in large numbers inside these states.
Nevertheless that didn’t stop Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to met with Mexico’s President Calderon in Mexico City to show his unwavering support of an amnesty push. “We come from Mexico (to the United States) with nothing, that country gave us much and we are truly very grateful to be in the United States, but at the same time we never deny our roots, we are also very proud of being Mexicans.”
Villaraigosa also said the U.S. must “talk about fences between the United States and Latin America ought to talk about bridges and doors to resolve the problems of both sides of the border.”
This is in direct opposition to mainstream America. “The Secretary of DHS urges amnesty for the illegal immigrants who hold millions of jobs insults unemployed and underpaid American,” Smith added. DHS needs to beef up their work site enforcement as an effective way to give back these jobs to legal residents, he finished.
There is also speculation that the “tea party’ movement will jump on board and derail immigration reform and amnesty efforts. Since the numbers in both houses of Congress favor the Democrats, the burden of thwarting amnesty rest in the hands of mainstream America.
For more stories; http://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner
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