Show Your Papers – Then Thank the Police for Asking

Arizona’s new law, requiring police officers to question persons when they have reasonable belief they are in the country illegally, has stirred up a hornet’s nest. Police are still required to have some other probable cause before questioning someone about their immigration status, but the media never reports that. It portrays the law as reminiscent of a scene from a bad World War II movie where Nazi officers approach an unsuspecting person who just got off a train and sternly ask, “Do you have papers?” Illegal aliens and their sympathizers are enraged about the law for a good reason: It will be effective. If it wasn’t, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the ACLU, LULAC, La Raza, and a host of other organizations wouldn’t be so vocal against it. They all recognize the law’s potential to identify and deport illegal aliens. Arizona passed the legislation because of the federal government’s dismal failure to enforce its own immigration laws. This is not just the administration’s fault, but also weak-kneed conservatives who, when they had the chance, failed to provide the U.S. Border Patrol the necessary resources to effectively enforce the law and turn the tide of illegal aliens back across the Mexican border. Some law enforcement officials have been critical of the statute, fearful some illegals who are victims of crimes won’t report the crimes. But once most of the 460,000 illegal aliens leave Arizona, crime and the demand for public services will go down significantly. It won’t matter if an illegal alien crime victim cooperates with the police or not. He won’t be here to be a victim a second time. Years ago, Congress reached the ultimate compromise to secure the border. In an effort to be politically correct and not make the “nation of immigrants” appear to be “anti-immigrant,” members of Congress voted to spend billions of dollars on a “virtual” fence, rather than a real one. The result of all the money wasted on this project was to give members of Congress the political cover they sought to say they voted to “secure the borders.” Everyone understood this would do “virtually” nothing to stop the flow of illegal aliens. Illegals laugh as they walk northbound through the invisible fence line. They make obscene gestures to the cameras high above the desert landscape that capture their images. Instead of taking responsibility to remedy the problem, the administration calls Arizona’s new law “misguided.” At a hearing when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano if our borders were secure, she refused to answer. Incredibly, she said it was “an unfair question.” She knows the truth, but refuses to admit it. One problem bleeding-heart Americans have is that they assume the “poor immigrant” comes here to do “jobs Americans will not do,” and wants to become a citizen. Illegals are here to take American jobs for themselves, and not just the menial, bottom rung jobs. They deprive American skilled laborers such as painters, masons, electricians, tile setters and others of good paying jobs. Another myth is that illegals contribute immensely to the local economy by spending money. In reality, Mexican illegals in Arizona don’t spend their hard earned wages there; they send most of it to their families in Mexico. Overwhelmingly, illegals do not seek U.S. citizenship. If they did, they would have initiated the necessary paperwork to do so. If they don’t qualify for citizenship, it’s for good reason. Illegals are here for purely economic reasons. Who can blame them for taking advantage of this country’s generous free public services such as education, health care, housing and welfare? They overwhelm the system and are bankrupting state and local governments. They will not leave until the U.S. government finally enforces its immigration laws and cracks down on them and their employers. Please keep in mind that only half of all illegal aliens in the country are from Mexico. The others are visa overstays from all over the world. Homeland Security needs to focus on them just as much. Given the right resources, this country can regain its sovereignty and respect as a nation that welcomes legal immigrants, but won’t tolerate those who take advantage of our overwhelming generosity. If you are a U.S. citizen residing or visiting Arizona and a highway patrol officer stops you for speeding and asks you for your papers – show them! Thank him for enforcing the law. Then, enjoy the rest of your day, secure in the knowledge that he’s attempting to improve your quality of life.