The People’s Guide to the SB1070 Ruling
By Jason Sprinkle
Ok, I have calmed down. I started to write yesterday after hearing the initial media reports of SB1070 being struck down.
I fumed.
I vented.
I was like a poker player after a bad beat. On tilt.
Unlike Dan Gilbert’s love letter to LeBron James, however, I did the right thing.
I slept on it.
And unlike Attorney General Eric Holder, et. al, I also did my homework. I read the freaking ruling issued by Judge Susan Bolton. Here is what I found:
First, let not your heart be troubled. (I am quoting Jesus Christ there, not Sean Hannity…) She made rulings for SB1070 on several merits, the most important of which is the so-called “Sanctuary City” laws. Mesa, Phoenix, Tucson, and some other smaller jurisdictions are labeled as sanctuary cities as they have passed some law or ordinance that interferes with federal immigration law. Hopefully this will translate to a wider reaching impact to other states, particularly if the 9th circus court gets involved.
Also, you still cannot stop on Bell Road and 18th St. and block traffic while you hire your illegal alien at Home Depot. Another victory.
The teeth of the law were pulled though in other areas:
Checking immigration status is a no-no. While there are other areas of the bill that she specifically enjoined, I will focus all of my rhetoric on this area.
Over and over in the ruling, I kept seeing the word “regulation.” I kept scratching my head at this, because my recollection of the scope and purpose of this bill had nothing to do with regulation, but rather “enforcement.” The state of Arizona does not want, nor does it have the resources to regulate immigration. Let the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution prevail here. State and local law ENFORCEMENT officials are allowed to, encouraged, even, to work with federal law enforcement in order to ENFORCE the laws, whether they are state, local or federal. Remember that 9/11 Commission thingy where Jamie Gorelick was implicated as being part and parcel to creating a cyber-wall whereby the FBI and the CIA could not share certain information across agencies? Well, that didn’t work out too well for us, and they softened the wall, making it more like a beaded curtain. It stands to reason then that the federal, state and local law enforcement officials will work in lock-step to follow federal immigration ENFORCEMENT laws.
But wait, there’s more. Susan Bolton says this in her ruling: “Unlawful presence in the United States is not a federal crime, although it may make the alien removable.” Oxymoron alert. Does this mean it is a “State crime” or does this mean that unlawful presence is “not a crime at all?” Please help clarify this one…
Additionally, she goes on to state that “Federal law contains no criminal
sanction for working without authorization” which baffles me as well. What is the purpose of the e-verify system and the green card program if not to provide authorization for workers who are foreign born, and if there is no criminal sanction, why do they get deported when we raid them?
Here is the best one, and I saved it for last. She states “requests for immigration status determination directed to the federal government or federally-qualified officials would ‘impermissibly shift the allocation of federal resources away from federal priorities.’” Susan, come on… Are you really serious???
First, how many regulatory “watchdog” agencies exist at the behest of the federal government to oversee legitimate American activities? You cannot tell me that opening a call center in Des Moines where all they do is check immigration status documents in that oversized national database would tax the system beyond usability. Second, what shift are we talking about? What mission statement are we violating if we start directing resources to track who is legally in our nation?
This is some lovely wordsmithing by a pro. Ms. Bolton has addressed all of the issues of United States vs. Arizona from the point of view of regulatory authority, which no one objects to. Let it be federal. We Arizonans could care less about regulation. We want enforcement. This bill was written for law enforcement. I look forward to the day this ends up in front of the Supreme Court. You know it will.
It’s always lovely to get your insight on these matters, Jason. You always clarify things for me, just a bit. Thanks.
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Go Tea Party Patriots!
Thanks.
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Out of all the “conservative commentators” (kind of a silly word for them) my personal favorite remains Hannity. Nothing against Glenn Beck, O’Reilly, Anne Coultier, or Limbaugh, since they are all fantastic too.
this is no time to give amnesty; 3% of our population are illegals, that means 3% added to the number of people seeking jobs, while the job growth is still slow, i recommend a halt to legal immigration and just declare open season on the borders, thats a cheap fix, then maybe once we have growth can we start legal immigration back up; and we need diversity, no more hispanics…i live in los angeles and most employers are now hispanic and only hire their own kind…..on top of that, a friend of mine, half white half asian applied for a job at a mcdonalds whos manager was mexican, and he got his identity stolen. I have no doubts some of these hispanic employers are stealing peoples identities…we need more diversity; we are turning into mexico
I can’t wait until Republicans control congress.
Can I link this post from my blog? Eric
Of Late, I am experiencing more and more discussion of materialism and the affect of the American Dream on the souls of men. In fact, I am presently reading David Platt’s innovative work on the issue. For me, this is really challenging material as I truly believe in our economic system. But I also believe that we must desert everything in order to follow Jesus. So I am vacating my preconceived opinions as I study more and more works on this subject.
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Thank you for the absorbing read! Alright playtime is over and back to school work.
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Good job Arizona
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Go Conservatives!
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The truth will set you free!
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To Ronald Mares, I do not have a problem with you quoting me, so long as it is attributed to me. But I might run it past the webmaster first. Let me check into that for you.
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