Illegal Aliens and Legal Hypocrisy

You hopefully caught my previous blog on the city of Hazleton, PA, where a federal judge struck down some city ordinances that cracked down on illegal aliens and those who support them. The Christian Science Monitor adds some more background to the story today.

Apparently, Hazleton has seen a population boom since 2001, straining schools and other taxpayer funded resources. By some estimates, a quarter of the city's 30,000 residents are illegal aliens. That makes it a bit easier to understand why the Mayor and city council took action. The worst part of the recent ruling, though, is that Hazleton officials didn't get to face their accusers in court since they were allowed to remain nameless. Even worse, federal immigrations agents did not show up to arrest the plaintiffs.

Hazelton is not alone - over 100 other cities across the country have taken similar measures since the federal government has failed to do so, and this wave of action is further proof that Congress needs to do something right on true immigration reform.

One problem on this issue is that liberal groups like the ACLU seem to have a one-sided view of it (I know, contain your shock). New Haven, CT recently began issuing municipal ID cards without requiring the applicant to prove citizenship. Supporters say that this program will "improve safety for illegal immigrants". Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform suggests that this policy will simply encourage more law-breaking. He also correctly points out the hypocrisy of the Hazelton ruling and the New Haven actions: "All of a sudden you have the ACLU and all these other groups coming in and filing lawsuits saying no, no, no, you can't do that, you're interfering in federal prerogative here, but when you have local governments like the city of New Haven, Connecticut, stepping in and saying we're going to make it easier for illegal aliens, all of a sudden the ACLU is nowhere to be found."

It's all about politics, and the ACLU is as one-sided as it gets.

Illegal immigration is a growing problem, and it will continue to get worse until Congress grows a spine and actually does something about it, whether enforcing current laws or enacting new ones. Either way, they've got to do something before things spin completely out of control. By the way, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are seeking support from La Raza, one of the biggest and most virulent illegal alien advocacy groups that had its tentacles deep inside the amnesty bill. That would make for an interesting Presidency, wouldn't it?

There's my two cents.