Immigration Follow-Up

By the way, as a follow up to that last post, I just came across some numbers on what Americans outside of Arizona think of the new law:

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer last week signed a new law into effect that authorizes local police to stop and verify the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 60% of voters nationwide favor such a law, while 31% are opposed.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Republicans support the law along with 62% of voters not affiliated with either major party. Democratic voters are evenly divided on the measure.

There is some significant concern about abuses of this authorization, but that's to be expected, and also warranted.  Still, should we let the perfect get in the way of the good?  I think not, especially when it comes to safety and the sovereignty of American law.  Also, a sharp-eyed Hot Air reader offers this interesting observation:

The big concern here, of course, is that police will stop people on the street and demand to see evidence of their citizenship, without any probable cause to question them in the first place. That threat may or may not be overblown ... [but] it would hardly be the first such precedent. Obama himself just signed a bill last month that would force Americans to carry papers — health insurance papers — whenever the IRS demands them, whether there be any probable cause of a crime or not. Indeed, the only probable cause would be claiming to be American in the first place.

So which of these represents the biggest threat to the "fairness we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities"?

Which indeed...?

There's my two cents.