Bin Laden Should Hide Out in Arizona

U.S. District Court Judge Susan R. Bolton has rendered her preliminary ruling, setting aside Arizona’s pending new immigration law the day before it was to take effect as the single most effective law written to stem illegal immigration in the nation. That is precisely why Judge Bolton, a Clinton appointee, ruled against the people of Arizona and came up with her irrational reasons for striking down major portions of the bill. Judge Bolton went beyond precedents judges usually follow when they rule on the legality of legislation before it goes into effect. Precedence dictates that a judge should look at a pending law more favorably than one already in effect. Instead, she gutted the law and left Arizona defenseless against illegal aliens. In trying to justify her action, she ruled that the law was “likely to burden legally present aliens.” What evidence is there of that when the law, SB1070, specifically prohibits racial profiling? How much of a burden is it to show a green card and say “si” when a police officer asks if you are in the country legally? The Justice Department filed suit, alleging that SB1070 would cross the imaginary constitutional line that only allows the federal government to enforce immigration law. Does this mean Arizona police officers cannot arrest anyone for an exclusive federal crime, such as drug smuggling or bombing a federal building? Will Arizona police no longer be authorized to arrest fugitives on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list? I guess if Osama Bin Laden walked into the Phoenix police department to self-surrender for federal terrorism and immigration violations, officers would have to turn him away. They couldn’t even ask him his immigration status, according to the judge’s ruling. Judge Bolton’s preliminary ruling makes no sense. Despite ruling police officers cannot inquire about someone’s immigration status, she allows the portion of SB1070 making it a state crime to harbor and transport illegal aliens. How will police officers know if someone is harboring illegal aliens if they are prohibited from asking them their immigration status? She also allowed the portion of the law that makes it a state crime to obstruct traffic when picking up day laborers. Maybe if Arizona police caught Osama Bin Laden picking up a truckload of illegal aliens to haul a weapon of mass destruction from his desert hideout to Washington, DC, they could arrest him. I’m not sure. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Judge Bolton had to stop SB1070 because its enactment would result in the identification and deportation of many of the estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants in the state. If she ruled the law constitutional, it would encourage the two dozen other states considering identical legislation to go ahead with their own versions. She knows, as the Obama administration does, that local law enforcement is the most effective tool available to locate and arrest illegal aliens. That’s because local police officers are the first to encounter illegal aliens after they sneak across the border and start committing crimes. Arizona has asked that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguably the most liberal appellate court in the nation, hear an emergency appeal. This same circuit court ruled the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional – a ruling that was overturned. It’s the most frequently overturned court in the land. When it upholds Judge Bolton’s decision, the U.S. Supreme Court will probably take the case and strike down the lower court’s decision in a 5-4 ruling. That’s because there are five justices on the court that make their decisions based on the Constitution, and four that don’t. I’m surprised Arizona hasn’t seceded from the union yet. If it did, it could deport illegal Mexican aliens and other undesirables, like Judge Bolton, from within its borders.