March 28, 2024

Our Love-Hate Relationship With Illegal Immigrants

Deluged by the arrival of nonstop illegal immigrants, Arizona recently passed legislation to deal with the problem.   Arizona was forced to take action after efforts by the Federal government to address illegal immigration were perceived as ineffective and indifferent.

Arizona’s new law quickly became controversial.   The Obama administration immediately condemned Arizona and acted swiftly to block the new law, a move that left many average Americans scratching their heads.  Why would the Federal government be outraged by a State seeking to identify illegal aliens residing within their borders?

According to the Gallup Daily Tracking poll, Washington’s posture diverges widely from the views of a majority of Americans.  The Gallup poll reveals that the U.S. Justice Department lawsuit against the new Arizona immigration law are opposed by Americans by a 50% to 33% margin.

Feelings are running even higher in the State of Arizona as residents consider the Obama administration’s opposition to the new law as an infringement on State’s rights.  As reported by CNS News, many view the Federal Government’s position as counterproductive and in direct opposition to common sense.

(CNSNews.com) – Pinal County (Ariz.) Sheriff Paul Babeu is hopping mad at the federal government.

Babeu told CNSNews.com that rather than help law enforcement in Arizona stop the hundreds of thousands of people who come into the United States illegally, the federal government is targeting the state and its law enforcement personnel.

“Our own government has become our enemy and is taking us to court at a time when we need help,” Babeu said.

“If the president would do his job and secure the border; send 3,000 armed soldiers to the Arizona border and stop the illegal immigration and the drug smuggling and the violence, we wouldn’t even be in this position where we’re forced to take matters into our own hands,” Babeu said.

Given the Government’s strident opposition to identifying illegal aliens in Arizona, one might expect that the national effort by the Feds to capture and deport illegal aliens would be muted or nonexistent, yet the opposite appears to be the case.  Consider the increase in the number of deported illegal immigrants as reported by the Wall Street Journal:

A record number of criminal aliens have been deported so far this year, reflecting a shift in emphasis by the Obama administration, according to an independent analysis released Monday.

In the first nine months of fiscal year 2010, 137,000 illegal immigrants designated as criminal aliens were deported, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, 60% more than in a comparable period of the Bush administration’s last year and about one-third more than in a comparable period in the Obama administration’s first year.

The numbers reflect ICE’s implementation of a policy that targets illegal immigrants the government describes as criminal aliens who have been convicted of offenses since coming to the U.S. ranging from murder and sexual assault to property damage and traffic violations…

About 11 million illegal immigrants reside in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.

A surge in deportations between fiscal years 2005 and 2009 was accomplished largely by “catching noncitizens who had not committed any crimes” other than sneaking across the border or entering the U.S. legally and overstaying their visas, the TRAC report said.

Despite the new emphasis, fewer than half of those removed, or 49%, were criminal aliens, compared with 51% who were not.

One may certainly wonder what the strategy of the U.S. government is when it comes to dealing with the issue of illegal immigrants.  While attempting to crush the State of Arizona for asserting its right to deal with illegal aliens, the Feds are simultaneously deporting record numbers of illegal aliens.  This Bizarro World strategy of “let them in so we can catch them” is nonsensical.   It is difficult to discern a clear fundamental strategy by the President who daily seems more distant from the mainstream beliefs and values of average Americans.  It is no wonder that Obama’s approval ratings are plunging.

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