Protect the people of Arizona? What, is there a zombie invasion?

The hysteria over illegal immigration is divisive, bigoted, and and a royal pain in the ass. We can either a) enforce the laws that are already on the books or b) pass comprehensive legislation and then enforce it.

Many (not all, I’m sure) illegal immigrants are trying to make a better life for their families. If your family was in dire straits and you had no options, how far would you go for them? That’s not to say that I think that entering the country illegally is ok, not at all. But if you want to reduce the numbers entering this country illegally, then you have to get rid of the incentive for them to do so. Rather than cracking down on the guy fording the river, how about the US citizen who knowingly breaks US law by knowingly hiring workers without proper documentation to make a buck? How about the (relative to his workers) rich guy that’s paying cheap wages and supplying substandard working conditions and housing ‘cause he’s trying to get richer? That’s the criminal, in my mind. If those US citizens weren’t providing jobs, there’d be much less reason to undertake the risk of entering this country illegally.

(And by the way, Sarah Palin needs to shut her stupid yap. If she wasn’t interested in performing her duties for the state of Alaska, why is she commenting on Arizona?)

I also do not understand what Azrizona needs to be protected from.

Drugs and drug dealers crossing its borders.

Syz, if you will reread my question, you might understand it the second time.

The laws are on the books, but not being enforced. this is the core of my question.

Syz, coming to America is everyones dream. i have no problem with that at all. just be legal.

@john65pennington If you think that every illegal immigrant is a drug dealer, then I cry “racist”. Ditto if you think that every drug dealer and user is Hispanic. We’ve got plenty of Caucasian dirt bags of our own. And I did read your question, and I still believe that you are buying into the current right wing, anti Obama hysteria. This is not a new problem. This has been going on (and building) for years. Your question doesn’t ask “why are immigration laws not enforced?”, it asks “Is Obama shirking his duty?” If I am mistaken, then I apologize, but you question smacks of mobs and pitchforks to me.

Yes, Arizona is suffering from crime and a whole cascade of issues having to do with the flow of illegal immigrants across it’s borders. So is the entire country. But pointing fingers and laying blame gets us nowhere. Treating a whole class of people as substandard does not reflect well on us as a country or as humans.

@john65pennington Drugs can come in from anywhere.

Okay, i see i have met with stiff opposition here. not a racist here by any means. many of my hispanic friends prepare my lunch everyday and we are good friends. we have 20 to 30 million illegal immigrants in America. when will it end? why not just nationalize these people and at least it will make citizens of the U.S. i see no move in this direction by Obama.

Uh. You played the friend card, and we all know what that means.

I don’t understand why Obama should be sending federal troops to Arizona. We have Border Patrol for a reason. If the Border Patrol is understaffed, then perhaps focusing on recruitment would be a better focus of energy. That would give us a long term fix to the shortage instead of a short term burst of man power.

@tinyfaery Right.
@john65pennington You’re not going to get any support here.

If the problem is the drugs being brought in by immigration, and not the actual immigration itself, then shouldn’t that be handled by the DEA and the FBI to crack down on drug trafficking? Just because AZ threw a temper tantrum doesn’t mean Obama has to do what you want. And really, your friends make your lunch? Do you reciprocate this, because if not, that’s not a real friendship.

Actually, as a kneejerk liberal myself, I have to wonder why no one has excitedly noticed john’s suggestion that (someone/the president) nationalize all the illegals and call it good.

@susanc There was actually a discussion about that not to long ago (here). There are a lot of reasons people are against naturalizing all of the illegals. For starters it isn’t exactly fair to all of those that have done it the legal way. Also, there are limits to the numbers of people naturalized each year for a reason. A lot of our resources (such as school and healthcare) are already stretched, by keeping some control over the amount of influx, we have a chance to try to build up those resources (this is part of the reason the census is important).

@susanc Well, legalizing all the aliens who are here right now is good for about 2 hours and then more people come. Plus, I know that it drives some people crazy that a law is being broken, even if it’s a victim-less one (not that I’m suggesting THIS one is) but in theory, the idea is to solve all the problems created by all the illegal immigrants, not just change if a rule is being broken or not. Plus, aside from that I’m not sure the president has the power, it’s a really stupid political move. Really stupid. The president can’t afford to make any one issue a be-all end-all issue.

@papayalily Reagan did it during his presidency. He naturalized 3 million illegals. We’ve done it once before, if we keep doing it, it will be expected and people will not take of legal process seriously knowing they can just hang out until the president does it again.

@Facade I also do not understand what Arizona needs to be protected from.

Paranoid caucasians?

Sarah Palin is a publicity hound who lobs a soundbite and then runs. She can’t defend her positions.

If Bush refused to do anything constructive about the immigration problem, why is it now Obama’s obligation to overreact by sending troops in?

How does that make any sense?

It’s true that the US needs SOME type of comprehensive immigration/border reform policy with consistent enforcement, (which is precisely why Arizona is making this fuss) but sending troops in for a big show won’t get the job done in the long run. It solves nothing.

Palin is just a reactionary dimwit trying to keep herself in the spotlight. After her disastrous in-depth news interviews during the campaign, she’s specialized in becoming a soundbite hit and run specialist but will not engage in substantive exchanges in which she could possibly be challenged to reveal her ill-thought-out positions.

She’s hoping this keeps her in the spotlight enough to advance her career in one way or another but this latest crack is just so transparent.

@john65pennington A couple months ago I posted this question about illegal immigration. Immediately after your response, @jealoustome gave an excellent response about misconceptions regarding immigration that aren’t actually based on facts. Overall, illegal immigrants have a positive impact on our economy. Rather than learn from the the information she pulled from the CBO’s study, you are asking another negative question about illegal immigrants. Are you here to learn? Go read her response again. Obama (and Bush) haven’t “shirked” their duties b/c they would be foolish to do so.

Even if I advocated using the Guard in this case (which I don’t), they’re overextended in the Middle East. What are we going to do, extend their tours AGAIN? Some of them have been over there 2–3 times, for extended periods. We need to let them have some down time.

Facade. i was not looking for your support. i was looking for your answer, without being personal. looks like that will not happen.

I think Hispanics and various other brown people have a lot more to worry about than the citizens of Arizona.