This article was printed in MN after an interview by Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek was broadcast concerning the recent uproar over the AZ law.
It's a bit mundane, and not as supportive as I could have hoped, but there are two factors I wanted to point out.
One is that the sheriff is voicing a conservative opinion in a state and a county that is predominantly DFL in its makeup... and he needs to be very careful if he wants to keep his job. I think this is perfectly understandable.
The second is that he makes an excellent case that the law is NOT what the press is making it out to be. With the recent amendments made to the regulations (before the law even went into effect), the State of AZ has gone even further to ensure that there are no opportunities for the law to be over-turned by the court system. I am now confident that the law is truly as close to a re-write of existing Federal regulations as could be hoped, and that if the SCotUS wants to over turn it, they'll have to overthrow 75% of all Federal regulations on immigration status inquiry as well.
I admit that I had concerns about the viability of the law... but if nothing else, AZ has shown that it recognized where the law was flawed and fixed it before it went into effect. The focus on application and training to ensure that anyone enforcing the law will understand what is required and what isn't shows that they want to avoid mistakes that could cost the State. Do not misunderstand me here... I am perfectly aware that no substantial change to immigration policy is going to happen while Obama is President, and no effective change is going to be implemented to enforce immigration law as it exists now, either. As far as the White House is concerned, the status quo is just fine. While I have always advocated that our national view of immigration is so fundamentally flawed as to make the whole issue untenable in the extreme... the illegal alien problem is growing and it is effecting the daily lives of vast numbers of our population. So, where this problem is worst (or most felt, I guess), I feel the States have a RIGHT to effect what change they feel needs to be made to correct the problem, and thus I support AZ in this endeavor. I would feel this way, even if the law hadn't been "fine tuned" by the AZ legislature in the past weeks... but I am more confident now that it can be implemented in a manner that won't immediately be overturned by the courts.
One last point... the good sheriff makes an EXCELLENT case that the law, as it is written now, can be an effective tool in ensuring that Latino Americans feel SAFE when contacting police concerning crime or emergencies, regardless of their status as legal or illegal. As he shows in his article, the vast majority of crimes committed by illegal aliens are perpetrated on other illegals, precisely because they WON'T call 911 for fear of being discovered as illegals themselves. With more than 20 million illegals already in the US, perhaps it is no bad thing that those committing the crimes should be the first arrested and deported, and those whose only crime was crossing when and as they did (illegally) be dealt with at another time.
Anyway... I'm sure this is as close as you are going to get to seeing an actual "conservative" opinion on MN public radio anytime soon... opinion radio listened to by the likes of Paul Wellstone, Al Franken, Walter Mondale, Jesse Ventura, and 90% of all the DFL members. Enjoy it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
It occurs to me that the good sheriff spent more time studying the AZ law in proposing for an NPR interview then our AG did when preparing for congressional testimony of yesterday. Between his not even reading the law and his flat refusal to admit that the last 3 attempted attacks were at all related to radical Islam, it was like watching a disturbing SNL bit.
"preparing", not proposing.
Post a Comment