Arizona legislators determined to keep Arizona as the center of anti-immigrant efforts
by Hugh Holub on Jan. 29, 2011, under border issues, politicsYou’d think that with the severe budget crisis facing the state of Arizona that our state legislature would not want to continue being the poster child of anti-immigrant legislation and all the economic problems that has created from lost tourism to giant legal bills fighting the feds.
You’d be wrong.
Arizona is headed to remaining the modern version of Mississippi from the 1960′s. drawing massive amounts of negative attention to the state in what are largely futile efforts to deal with illegal immigration issues.
Note in thie following Arizona Republic article about the new effort to strip children born from illegal immgrtant parents of their state citizenship a mention of Dan Bell, a Santa Cruz County rancher, who is speaking on behalf of rancher efforts to secure our border.
The ranchers have got it right….the efforts need to be focused on securing the border at the border. Everything else is political noise with no benefit.
Birthright citizenship fight begins in Arizona
by Alia Beard Rau on Jan. 28, 2011, under Arizona Republic News
Arizona is returning to the international spotlight with Thursday’s introduction of legislation that would strip illegal immigrants’ U.S.-born children of their citizenship and create a two-tiered, birth-certificate process.
The intent is to attract a legal challenge that could eventually lead to the U.S. Supreme Court reconsidering whether the 14th Amendment truly grants citizenship to such children.
The bills have the benefit of an even more conservative Republican Legislature than Senate Bill 1070 enjoyed last year as well as public support for tough immigration measures. But the bills’ passage isn’t a sure bet.
Some lawmakers say the state needs to focus on the economy or securing the border instead of the distraction of another immigration controversy.
The 14th Amendment states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The proposed legislation does two things:
-House Bill 2561 and Senate Bill 1309 would define children as citizens of Arizona and the U.S. if at least one of their parents was either a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent U.S. resident and therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
-House Bill 2562 and Senate Bill 1308 would seek permission from Congress to set up a system so states can create separate birth certificates for children who meet the new definition of a citizen and those who do not.
Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, and Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, are the primary sponsors. Twenty-seven other Republican lawmakers have signed on in support.
“The court needs to rule on this so we can figure out how to treat these kids,” Gould said.
A revived effort
Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, who along with Kavanagh led the effort to pass SB 1070, has worked on this issue for years. Previous efforts garnered little notice, but the passage of the nation’s toughest immigration law last year attracted enormous attention. When Pearce decided to revive the birthright-citizenship issue this year, lawmakers from more than a dozen states agreed to join the effort and introduce identical bills.In November Arizona voters elected an even more conservative group of state lawmakers, and Pearce, now Senate president, has more power to guide and protect the bills. However, their success isn’t guaranteed.
Some lawmakers voiced concerns, before the legislative session began, about courting more immigration controversy when the state should focus on economic recovery.
Sen. John McComish, R-Phoenix, said Thursday that he is not sure how he’ll vote.
“I’m concerned with the energy and resources it will take if we go forward on this,” McComish said. “It is time for another state to step forward.”
Gov. Jan Brewer’s signature also is not a guarantee, even though many say her signing of SB 1070 and a tough immigration stance won her the election. Brewer also has made the budget a priority this year.
Brewer, as a matter of policy, doesn’t comment on specific bills that have not yet made it to her desk. Her office said Thursday that she will be following the debate on the citizenship issue closely.
“It’s an important issue that should be studied by the Legislature,” said Matthew Benson, the governor’s spokesman.
Criticism begins
A group of Arizona ranchers held a news conference Thursday to unveil a plan for securing the border.Rancher Dan Bell said citizenship bills won’t help him.
“We need resources at the border,” he said.
Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, who supports ranchers’ efforts, said the Legislature needs to address problems at the border first. She said she did not co-sponsor the birthright-citizenship bills.
“Border security is Number 1,” she said. “That will help slow down so many of the other problems we have.”
Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, said he thinks the Legislature can address several prongs of the immigration problem at once.
“You can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he said. “There are so many different parts that factor into this problem.”
He said he will support the bills and introduce a bill of his own to collect donations to help build a wall along the Mexican border.
Last year, SB 1070 slid through most of the legislative process without much public notice. It wasn’t until a few days before the governor signed it into law that opponents began organizing marches and protests.
Since then, people have formed coalitions, hired lawyers and figured out how to quickly spread information about movement on immigration issues.
On Thursday, the protests and news conferences began hours before the bills were introduced.
Attorney Steve Montoya, who was involved with lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of SB 1070, called the bill a “complete waste of time.”
“When we’re having to close schools because we’re bankrupt, these jokers are pushing laws that will only push the state further into debt,” he said.
Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, compared the idea of two birth certificates to the days of “separate but equal.”
“This takes us back to the time when we had separate drinking fountains . . . swimming pools . . . public education, one for Black and one for White,” he said.
Rep. Albert Hale, D-Window Rock, a Navajo, said that under these bills, he would be considered an “anchor baby” because Native Americans were not granted citizenship until 1924.
“My mother, born in 1919, was not a citizen,” he said. “Am I to be deported? And if I am, where are you going to deport me to?”
He warned that passing these bills would create a crisis of children “who are stateless and without a country.”
“This will create a class of people who are not welcome in the country where they are born,” he said. “This is not the Arizona I know. This is not the Arizona I want.”
Reporter Ginger Rough contributed to this article.
______________________________________
More articles and commentaries about the border
______________________________________
Citizen bloggers are not paid for doing their blogs.
If you like the View From Baja Arizona you can make a contribution to support this blog.
It is a secure Pay Pal transaction.
Thank you !!! DONATE BY CLICKING HERE
___________________________
January 29th, 2011 on 9:16 am
While Rome burns, they are obsessed with where non-white folks were born; all the way from the President on down to the guy who peddles frozen novelties on the street. Given enough time and a little rope they’ll hang themselves.
January 29th, 2011 on 9:52 pm
again trying to keep the focus off how bad ,Arizonas economy got on there watch Arizona state is know the poorest in the nation ,with the worst realestate market ,the worst job market. the working man has lost almost everything with no way out ,no more bankruptcy for the working man, no overtime , no ,no,no .
January 29th, 2011 on 10:06 pm
So….
Bush is Prez w/ a Democrat congress , bad economy = Bush fault
Janet is Gov w/ a Republican legislature, bad economy = Repub fault
Did I just pass Liberal Econ 101?
January 29th, 2011 on 9:42 am
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/apache_junction/documents-show-apache-junction-man-planned-to-take-ieds-to-the-border
Neo-Nazi’s with IED bombs is what the nations going to see us as, Sheriff Dupnik had it right on the nose “we have become the Mecca of hate, racism, bigotry”!
January 29th, 2011 on 9:09 pm
“Arizona legislators determined to keep Arizona as the center of anti-immigrant efforts”
Hmmm….
“Federal law enforcement officials determined to keep Arizona the gateway for illegal immigrants”
January 30th, 2011 on 7:26 am
If you look at what, for example the ranchers who are ground zero with the problem are saying….it is secure the border at the border and stop the flow of undocumented aliens and drugs right at the border. Everything else is an after the fact “remedy” which is doing nothing to stop the continued flow and endangerment. There is no question the current federal strategies and tactics are not completing the solution…we need the fence finished…we need more road access in the alleged “wilderness” area,..we need more agents at the line, we need more enforcement against companies that hire undocumented workers…and we need to get our immigration law and visa tracking system fixed. The current “policy” of Arizona “attrition by enforcement” uses up limited state resources, creates a negative climate for economic development, encourages the crazies like the militia types to act, and does nothing to stop the flow of drugs and people into the state. Pay attention to the ranchers.
January 30th, 2011 on 10:18 am
Hugh,
Arizona’s efforts have caused a partial exodus of illegal aliens, and has kept the issue on the front page for quite sometime. It is forcing the feds to act when they would rather do nothing.
The feds, left, and big business would rather the issue not be discussed at all.
So when can we expect an indepth story from you about how our former Governer that claims to know so much about the border is not really doing much to effectively secure it as head of the Department of Homeland Security?
January 30th, 2011 on 11:26 am
Have done several posts in the past about the claims the border is secure when it obviously is not.
I really do not see where Arizona’s legislative efforts have done anything useful to promot the feds to seriously focus their efforts on actually securing the border at the border.
Our local law enforcement has enough to deal with without becomming deputy Border Patrol agents…and in fact all along virtually all local law enforcement agencies have been turning over illegal aliens to ICE and the BP…especially where the criminal acts that netted the illegal were minor enough that the local LEOs would prefer the feds pay for incareceration than local taxpayers. Bt going out of your way to try and catch illegal aliens as a first priority using local resources isn’t the answer…. the action is going to have to come from a Congress that starts asking the right questions of DHS and inserting in apopropriations bills some mandates that if we have 30,000 BP agents, some percentage of them will have to be within 10 or 20 miles of the border instead of running around Casa Grande.
January 30th, 2011 on 12:17 pm
Hugh,
Az’s efforts have consitently made national news and that DOES put pressure on the feds, you cannot deny that.
As far as local LEOs having “enough to deal with”, if we had less illegals committing crimes then that would free up resources to deal with our own homegrown criminals.
If the feds are worried about Az LEOs “abusing” illegals then they should stop them at the border to protect them from these perceived “abuses”
January 30th, 2011 on 10:47 am
I have no argument with you regarding securing the border, but how long do we have to wait? We’ve been waiting for at least 30 years already. I have zero confidence that this, or any administration for that matter, intend to do anything to take care of the problem. There are to many special interests involved that inhibit our gutless, spineless Congress and administrations to enact any proactive legislation or to even meaningfully enforce existing statutes. It is clear to any that care to exercise the brain that God gave them that our Federal government is no longer for and by the people, but for and by themselves.
So what is Arizona to do, stand idly by while the Feds do next to nothing; all the while allowing the problem to suck medical facilities, school systems, social services, etc. dry? I applaud the Arizona legislature for at least trying to do something.
January 30th, 2011 on 10:57 am
And by the way, the legislation that your refer to in your first paragraph, is not anti-immigrant. It is anti-illegal immigrant. There is a distinct difference between the two.
January 30th, 2011 on 2:08 pm
” not anti-immigrant. It is anti-illegal immigrant. There is a distinct difference between the two.”
Yes, but the playbook of the open border advocate stresses that you must make no distinction.
January 29th, 2011 on 10:59 pm
UNDOCKUMENTED WORKER??? WTF
This is a prime example of the left wing liberal media trying to Deceive us into thinking they are not illegal.
Calling an Illegal alien an undocumented worker is like calling a DRUG DEALER and Unlicensed Pharmacist.
PASS AN ARIZONA IMIGRATION LAW NOW !!!. WE the majority in Florida demand it !
January 30th, 2011 on 2:01 pm
On another note, anyone else have issues with posts being deleted at the 3 sonorans blog? Granted, I’m slightly right politically of the guy (alright, a lot to the right, but who isn’t?), but I can see both sides of the issues most of the time and I don’t name-call, make racial or vitriolic posts over there. I merely post commentary and sometimes counter his viewpoint. Sometimes my posts remain, and sometimes they disappear. I guess he wants nothing but people that think like him to post. Of course, that outs him on equal footing with the bad qualities that he likes to espouse about the political opposite of him, doesn’t it? Makes a pretty strong statement about his belief in the freedom of speech.
January 31st, 2011 on 8:45 am
I hear you….goal of this blog is to provide a forum for vigorous debate. So I only moderate at personal attacks.