Arizona is the front line for illegal immigration


At least during May, according to the media elites
I knew this already, that is one reason why I blog about it so much. But with the latest Senate fiasco, now the New York TImes can be deigned to pay attention.

While cultural and economic ties to Mexico run deep in Arizona, the country’s fastest-growing state, it is also where more people cross illegally from Mexico than anywhere else along the 2,000-mile border.

Republicans are fighting openly among themselves, Democrats are taking conflicting positions on the bill — or hoping to stay beneath the radar by taking none at all — while nonpartisans are wondering if, really, anything will come of it all.

“These splits are a harbinger of things to come at the national level, because Arizona is on the front lines,” said Rodolfo Espino, an assistant professor at Arizona State University who studies ethnic politics. “It shows this issue is not going to fall cleanly on party lines, especially here.”

While the political class in many other states also wrangle over immigration, when it comes to Arizona, the state motto might as well be Only More So.

In the past week alone, the chairman of the state Republican Party rebuked the two United States senators from his own party, John McCain and Jon Kyl, for their support and lobbying for the bill. The chairman, Randy Pullen, part of a vocal band of conservatives, said Mr. Kyl in particular had betrayed conservatives with his sudden support for granting legal status to some of the millions of illegal workers in the country.

Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat who has little executive authority over immigration matters but has relied on support from Republicans and independents to win two terms, wrote an opinion article in The Arizona Republic urging federal lawmakers to act on the bill, whatever the flaws.

“Washington, you need to multitask,” wrote Ms. Napolitano, who told reporters she was commenting as “someone who has dealt with this issue probably more than any governor in the U.S. in the last four years.”

She added, “I think I would accept what they have on the table compared with the status quo.”

And two Democratic members of Congress representing the border region are hardly walking in lockstep. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who took office this year, called the legislation an “excellent first step,” and Representative Raúl M. Grijalva is objecting to much of it.

Crucial pieces of the national debate are playing out in microcosm here.

It's not just Arizona. Texas and New Mexico have their own situations. And then there is California, which is such an unholy mess that I am not sure it can be fixed. The article is right about one thing though, the entire national problem is summed up in Arizona. And no where is it more evident than self-appointed elites ignoring what the rest of the population has to say.

Every May for years, there has been this huge orchestrated protest fest and national debate all over the country. And every time, the US loses a little more sovereignty and American citizens get caught in the middle. It's getting tiresome.

Where's the New York Times in September or February? Why does Arizona only get the spotlight when public displeasure cashiers the Senate's secret bill? Do you think the problems are less in December and June than in May?

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - May 28, 2007 at 05:16 AM  Tag


 ◊  ◊   ◊  ◊ 

Random selections from NeoWayland's library


Pagan Vigil "Because LIBERTY demands more than just black or white"
© 2005 - 2009 All Rights Reserved