Arizona taking a step in the right direction

Arizona SB 1070 has been called one of the "broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration measure in decades" by both proponents and critics alike, and on April 23 the bill was signed into law by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.

The law, titled the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act," will make it a state misdemeanor crime for an illegal alien to be in the state of Arizona without carrying registration documents required by federal law.

The law also states that a "law enforcement officer may arrest a person if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed any public offense that makes the person removable from the United States."

The act is scheduled to go into effect in late July, 90 days after the end of the legislative session.

Those opposed to the law feel it is not within a state's power to enforce such a mandate that deals with a federal issue such as immigration.

I vehemently disagree with that argument. Yes, immigration is a federal issue, but as far as I'm concerned the federal government hasn't done nearly as much as it should to patrol and protect our national borders.

Arizona has the most illegal border crossings a year, according to an Associated Press article. So, then, what is wrong with the state taking the initiative to create a law that will hopefully alleviate the immigration problem that the federal government has yet to address?

Some might argue that giving the police the right to question a person's immigration status will eventually lead to racial profiling.

Under this law, it does not permit law enforcement officers to just randomly walk up to a person they think "looks illegal" and ask them to prove their legal status.

If you think this is the right law enforcement officers in Arizona are getting under this law, you are mistaken.

Under SB 1070, "when practical," meaning during a lawful stop, detention or arrest is made by a law enforcement officer, the officer then, and only then, has the right to question a person's immigration status.

The law will not only target those immigrating illegally into Arizona from Mexico, as some have come to believe, but from countries all around the world.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in the case of Muehler v. Mena, which said that questioning someone's immigration status is not a violation of the Fourth Amendment rights, provided that the person is already lawfully detained. What Arizona is doing now, is just enforcing this.

Now, I am not against immigration.

America was built on immigration, and I welcome diversity. But what I am against is people immigrating here illegally.

The key word is "illegally," and this is what the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act" is looking to stop: illegal immigration into Arizona.

It is estimated that Arizona has 460,000 illegal immigrants currently residing in the state.

To put it into perspective, that's more than five times the population of the city of Glendora alone.

The law is not only sparking debate in Arizona, but across the nation as well.

Major cities in California, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, have recently passed resolutions boycotting the state of Arizona, prohibiting city contracts with companies headquarter in the state.

Most recently, local cities here in California, including Baldwin Park, El Monte and Pasadena, have adopted resolutions opposing the law.

I think that being informed and concerned with issues occurring in other states is important to some degree, but what cities in California are doing is absolutely ridiculous.
Essentially what the boycotts are promoting and protecting is an illegal act, breaking American law by entering the country without appropriate authorization.

I applaud Arizona for taking a step forward in solving the illegal immigration problem.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to better the state and its communities, and according to a poll featured in the Rasmussen Reports, neither does the majority of Arizona residents.

The poll results showed that 64 percent of Arizona residents are in favor of the new law.
Some want to call this law unconstitutional, but what is really unconstitutional is not obeying the law of the land. Being here illegally is against the law, and it is a crime.

When it comes down to it, a law enforcement officer's job is to stop crime, so why is stopping this crime any exception?