For the record, I do not agree with the decision of Arizona lawmakers to pass SB 1070. I believe that enforcement of the law will be entirely too susceptible to systemic abuse. I believe that it extends powers to police officials with which they should not be entrusted--and have not heretofore been (and no doubt with good reason). I believe that it will lead to innocent American citizens and legal residents being arrested without sufficient cause, ruining their good names and causing them problems in attaining employment (among other things) for years to come. I believe that the policy, which effectively (though not "officially") requires people to carry "papers," smacks of Hitlerian and Stalinist policies and programs. I also believe that it places the burden of proof upon the accused, in contravention of the normal due porcess to which all persons in this country are entitled--by the highest laws of the land.
But in the same manner as I do believe that all people in this country are entitled to the protections of law--because the United States is supposed to be a nation of law--I believe that they are subject to its dictates. It is every bit as hypocritical to extend someone the protection of the law and not place upon that person the burden of the law as it is to subject a person to the burden of the law and not provide that person the benefits and protections of it.
People do not bring their laws with them. And there are laws in place governing the manner in which persons are supposed to enter and remain in this country. Those who violate those laws are criminals, by definition. Whether the laws are just or not, whether or not the paths to residency and citizenship ought to be eased (as, again for the record, I believe they ought), makes no difference.
And I am fully aware that there are massive problems which spur and sustain patterns of illegal immigration. I am aware that a great many of those who are in the country illegally are here working diligently at demanding, demeaning jobs, for little pay, and all in the hope of easing the lives of their families. I cannot fault the motivation of those people, just as I cannot fault the parents who strive to protect their children from all harm. But I can--and do--fault their methods, just as I fault the methods of those parents who, in the process of attempting to protect their children, end up causing harm to others (and not seldom to the children themselves).
I look for, and so some small bit of work for, the day when those problems are solved. But until they are, and because I have long accepted the benefits and protection of the law, I am obliged to regard as criminals those who have violated the law. They remain people, and many of them remain basically decent people, but that does not mean that they have not transgressed or that I condone their having done so.
But in the same manner as I do believe that all people in this country are entitled to the protections of law--because the United States is supposed to be a nation of law--I believe that they are subject to its dictates. It is every bit as hypocritical to extend someone the protection of the law and not place upon that person the burden of the law as it is to subject a person to the burden of the law and not provide that person the benefits and protections of it.
People do not bring their laws with them. And there are laws in place governing the manner in which persons are supposed to enter and remain in this country. Those who violate those laws are criminals, by definition. Whether the laws are just or not, whether or not the paths to residency and citizenship ought to be eased (as, again for the record, I believe they ought), makes no difference.
And I am fully aware that there are massive problems which spur and sustain patterns of illegal immigration. I am aware that a great many of those who are in the country illegally are here working diligently at demanding, demeaning jobs, for little pay, and all in the hope of easing the lives of their families. I cannot fault the motivation of those people, just as I cannot fault the parents who strive to protect their children from all harm. But I can--and do--fault their methods, just as I fault the methods of those parents who, in the process of attempting to protect their children, end up causing harm to others (and not seldom to the children themselves).
I look for, and so some small bit of work for, the day when those problems are solved. But until they are, and because I have long accepted the benefits and protection of the law, I am obliged to regard as criminals those who have violated the law. They remain people, and many of them remain basically decent people, but that does not mean that they have not transgressed or that I condone their having done so.