Arizona Follow Up

Some pretty major developments have prompted another update. The Governor of Arizona signed into law the stringent new illegal immigration law we discussed earlier in the week. Obama promptly criticized everything about the law and called for it to be rolled back. His people are still whining and grumbling about it being really, really unfair. Obama mouthpiece MSNBC was SHOCKED that the Arizona law would actually make being an illegal immigrant illegal!

Indignant Mexicans and illegal immigrants took to the streets to protest:

I especially like how they throw stuff at the cops, don't you? Cassy Fiano points out the obvious:

Frankly, the rioting seems to do nothing except bolster the argument for why this bill was needed. The federal government has failed Arizona residents. Despite growing numbers of crime — drug smuggling, assault, rape, kidnapping, murder — nothing has been done to secure the borders or crack down on illegal immigration. While not all illegal immigrants are violent criminals or drug smugglers, they are all criminals. Even if our borders aren’t well-enforced, it is still a crime to cross them illegally. The federal government has just sat back and let it happen. The state of Arizona responded to the overwhelming crime… and the protestors of this bill responded to the state with violence.

Kind of just proves the whole point of why this bill was needed, doesn’t it?

The point is that if it weren't for the frequent (and violent) crimes committed by a disproportionally high number of illegal immigrants, the state government would probably ignore them just like the federal government has done since 1986. But, with real safety concerns and violent crime escalating against its local citizens, the Arizona government cannot ignore this problem any longer.

This isn't a sudden development, though. For a stroll down memory lane of past violent protests by illegal immigration supporters, go here. Now, for an ironic look at the other side of the coin, Mexico's immigration policy, go here. It's amazing how much gall these people have to caterwaul and bellyache about America's policy!

Regardless, a close look at the actual bill reveals there really is no cause for concern...for anyone who wants to preserve American sovereignty and uphold American law, that is.

Far from authorizing local police officers to pull Hispanics from crowds at random and demand to see proof of legal residency, the law requires a prior "legal contact" -- that is, there needs to already be something going on, like an arrest or a traffic stop. The law specifically bans race and ethnicity as the sole grounds for a "reasonable suspicion" of illegal presence in the United States. Noncitizens have been legally required to carry proof of legal residence on their persons for 70 years.

As Byron York points out, this was actually a law that was carefully crafted to withstand both political objections and legal challenges. Rich Lowry has more on the hysterical reaction to Arizonans wanting some protection from federal non-enforcement of the laws safeguarding their borders.

This situation is very informative for many reasons. To watch Obama and the Left fight so hard to defend illegal law-breaking criminals from the ravages of legal American citizens trying to protect their families should be an eye-opening experience. To see them generate hysteria at the enactment of legislation that is widely supported in a state, and to misrepresent the ramifications of that legislation should be, as well.

Once again, we see the core of the tension: it is Barack Obama and the American Left versus the American people, and it is war.

There's my two cents.