13 May 2010 Razing Arizona

13 May 2010 Razing Arizona


The recent immigration legislation signed into law in Arizona is supported by 64-75% of non-Hispanic Americans, depending upon which poll results you choose to accept. 70% of Latinos object to the new law. MSNBC’s most recent poll numbers are linked below.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/05/12/2312319.aspx

Arizona has now passed a law which will essentially prohibit any classroom instruction that is centered on ethnic groups. It will become illegal to have a Mexican history chapter in a textbook, a Black history month in school. This is certain to drive an even larger wedge between white and Latino Arizonans.

I recognize the need to end illegal immigration by Mexicans and others. Our taxes should not, in my opinion, be used to house, feed, medicate, or educate Mexican citizens. There should be no more anchor babies. There should not be open borders into this nation for any ethnic or national group. There should not be any long process to allow illegal immigrants to avoid deportation.

On the other hand, I object to Mexican separatist groups who want to return the S.W. United States to Mexico. We fought that war once. For the record, I also object to Hawaiian and Alaskan secessionist groups, Militia groups that believe they are now the legitimate successors to the U.S. government, and any other group that wants to separate from or re-draw the boundaries of the U.S.A.

I understand the anger these immigration problems create. Arizona is spending the annual revenues of many smaller nations to deal with illegal aliens. That problem should be dealt with by the federal government. Congress refuses to shoulder the burden of immigration reform lest they lose GOP backing for being too liberal or Democratic backing for being too conservative. Amnesty is not acceptable to me and millions of others. Reagan created a horrid mess when he pushed an amnesty through Congress.

The problem must be dealt with rapidly and the solution will satisfy neither political party. However it is reformed, Hispanics will be unhappy with the new laws and with enforcement of those laws. So will non-Hispanic Americans.

One result of any reform is likely to be a national ID card, biometric in nature, for all citizens. The practice of living without ID documents should be over and must be over. The Cold War anti-Communist scare tactics about personal documentation need to be brushed away. We are not the same nation today as we were in 1917. We can’t continue to run our nation and its infrastructures using 1950’s clerical methods. I don’t object to carrying ID. I’ve always done so since beginning work at 14 years of age and applying for a Social Security Card. I also carry state-mandated ID for driving and for firearms possession, hunting, and fishing. I don’t leave home without them. It is not hard, at all, to be certain that I have my ID with me. I don’t feel threatened by the fact that I can be identified or that law officers can and have asked for my ID. Nor should anyone else living here legally feel threatened.

That being said, Arizona is wrong in passing both laws. The second is truly odious.