Jan Brewer, Arizona's Governor, signed into law one of the toughest immigration bills already passed through the Arizona House and Senate.
Her reasoning was simple and is being overlooked by critics.
"Respect for the rule of law means respect for every law," said Brewer, a Republican. "People across America are watching Arizona.
"We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act," Brewer added. "But decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation."
She is right.. the government's refusal to punish places that offer sanctuary to those here illegally, their refusal to enforce the laws already on the books dealing with people who have broken the law and entered our country illegally and their refusal to secure our borders, has forced states to address the problem themselves.
Before allowing the media and the left to rouse your sympathies by screaming "racial profiling" as loud as they can, try reading the 17 page bill, or fact sheet.
Requires officials and agencies of the state and political subdivisions to fully comply with and assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws and gives county attorneys subpoena power in certain investigations of employers. Establishes crimes involving trespassing by illegal aliens, stopping to hire or soliciting work under specified circumstances, and transporting, harboring or concealing unlawful aliens, and their respective penalties.
This has nothing to do with immigrants here legally, work hard and only wish to raise their families and live in America.
This is about people who are willing to break the very first law when entering our country and doing so illegally, who must continue to break law in order to stay here illegally.. ..criminals.
Cassy Fiana details what liberals continue to ignore, the crime associated with illegal immigrants as she documents just a small sample of the damage being done by our governments incompetence in enforcing immigration laws.
When I said Fiana lists just a small sample, I meant just that but information is never ending on the Internet and with a few searches you can find out how large a problem illegal immigration truly is.
Browse the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) site to see the amount of crime associated with illegal immigration, from fraud (and costs associated with it) and financial crimes to human smuggling and trafficking.
The numbers listed for Arizona regarding crime and illegal immigration should be an eye opener and gives the Governor ample reasoning for why she signed this bill.
KPHO 05:
Crime is ever present, but new numbers give a glimpse into how much is linked to illegal immigrants.
According to statistics obtained by CBS 5 News, 19 percent of the inmates in Maricopa County Jail are suspected illegal immigrants being held on an immigration or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold.
In Pima County, the number of inmates suspected of being illegal immigrants is around 10 percent.
In Pinal County, the number of inmates suspected of being illegal immigrants is around 30 percent.
According to CBS, Seventy-one law enforcement agencies around the country already turn immigrants over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement when arrested for a serious crime.
More Arizona news from April 15, 2010, confirms the need for stricter, tougher enforcement laws and if the government won't do it's job, then states must.
ICE Busts Massive Human Smuggling Ring That Stretches Length of U.S
More than 800 law enforcement agents swooped down on a massive human smuggling ring in Arizona early Thursday morning, delivering a "stunning blow" to a criminal network that helped shuttled illegal immigrants all around the country.
More than 800 law enforcement agents swooped down on a massive human smuggling ring in Arizona early Thursday morning, delivering a "stunning blow" to a criminal network that helped shuttled illegal immigrants all around the country.
Thursday's strike is the largest coordinated action ever led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which partnered with eight other federal, state and local agencies to arrest 47 suspects in Phoenix, Tucson, Nogales and Rio Rico, Arizona.
"Alien smugglers are a scourge," ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton said. "They violate our borders ... [and] profit at our expense by knowingly breaking our laws, day in and day out. Today we turned the tables on the smugglers."
ICE agents targeted shuttle van services they believe have ferried thousands of illegal immigrants from southern Arizona to Phoenix, providing passengers fake $30 ride receipts and even coaching them on how to answer law enforcement agents if the buses were stopped at immigration checkpoints along the highway. From there the illegal immigrants were left at drop-houses or brought to shuttle services that offer rides to destinations all over the West Coast.
Amazingly enough, the answer from far left liberals, even politicians, is to simply ignore the crime of entering our country illegally and give criminals amnesty.
Last week, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) wrote a very angry op ed for the Huffington Post in which he assailed President Obama for everything from allowing federal agencies to lawfully deport criminal aliens, to not acting to stop the Arizona state legislature from passing a law which makes it a crime for illegal aliens to be present in Arizona.
In his rant, the Illinois Congressman even griped about the breakup of human smuggling networks, notorious for abusing and kidnapping their human freight.
Gutierrez said: “This week, we saw how destructive things are getting. The combination of a harsh piece of anti-immigrant legislation advancing in the Arizona legislature and a massive, well-publicized federal enforcement action against a broad human smuggling network has sent the unmistakable message to Arizona's one million immigrants and two million Hispanics: there is a target on your backs and authorities are coming after you.”
The answer is not amnesty as the Democrats keep insisting, the answer is not ignoring the crime as Gutierrez would like us to do and answer is not more laws created that will not be enforced.
The answer is to enforce the laws already on the books and secure the damn borders.
By the way.... Right Side News points out that Arizona is not the only state sick and tired of the governments inability to deal with criminals here illegally.
"Recently, Gov. Rick Perry, of Texas, sent a letter to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano requesting that the federal government utilize Unmanned Aircraft Systems, also known as predator drones, for missions over the Texas-Mexico border. This would provide an additional surveillance element, supplying valuable information to local, state, and federallaw enforcement along the border. Currently the three predator drones assigned to the southwest border are based in and operating exclusively in Arizona." (SOURCE) To view the Governor's letter to Napolitano go HERE.
"In the absence of adequate federal resources to secure the state's southern border, Gov. Perry launched the state's recent border security enhancement using highly skilled Ranger Reconnaissance (Ranger Recon) Teams to address the ever-evolving threat along the Texas-Mexico border. Additionally, under the governor's leadership, and thanks to action taken by the Legislature, the state has dedicated more than $110 million to border security efforts in each of the last two legislative sessions." (SOURCE)
I fully expect to see Texas and other states follow Arizona in passing laws to protect their citizens, natural born and immigrants here legally, against illegal alien criminals.
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