Do you feel illegal immigration is a problem? Do you feel it needs to be addressed? All this feigned outrage when we know full well you wish the country as a whole to take no action against those that break our laws and come here illegally.
No, I don't "feel" illegal immigration is a problem; I KNOW it's a problem, and I KNOW it has to be addressed. That said, my outrage is anything but "feigned." The Arizona statue is blatantly unconstitutional violation of the right to freedom from unwarranted searches. Have you ever read the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? It says:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
To be "secure in their persons" means people cannot be searched, seized, or violated without a lawfully issued warrant, and the Fourth Amendment further extends those protections to cover a person's house, papers and effects.
Do you think a person's passport would be among the items included within the concept of "papers and effects?"
Your wallet analogy is transparent. You know damned well illegals are not going to be carrying a passport - hello?. For uber liberal states that issue them drivers licenses, if they don't have it, they can tell the officer who can punch in their name and bring it up - with a picture.
That's nice. Do YOU carry your passport at all times? Are you absolutely sure you've never lostyour wallet or accidentally left your home without it?
Do you really want to spend a lot of time at some police station explaining exactly why you don't have any ID with you just because some cop thinks you happen to look like you aren't a citizen? Do they have alien detecting radar? If so, how reliable and accurate is it, anyhow?
My parents used to live in Sun City. The crime committed by illegals is in part what drove them out of the state and that was 12 years ago. I bet Police radios are going near constantly with descriptions of Hispanic males in regards to crime. Should the Police ignore those? Under what circumstances would you approve of the Police asking for ID?
I didn't say there's not a problem. I know there is. I live in L.A., and I see it every day. I'm saying the Arizona statute is unconstitutional, and, as such, it is not a viable solution.
To put it another way, the reason the Fourth Amendment was added to the Constitution is because the founding fathers wanted to bar such abuses by magistrates of British crown. With this law, Arizona is relenquishing those Constitutional rights.
Believe it or not, I'm not in disagreement with the potential for abuse along with the potential for this setting a bad precedent. However, the governor of Arizona has to accept the ultimate responsibility for protecting the citizens of her state. As I said in an earlier post, Arizona, and the nation as a whole has been waiting decades for a solution to this problem. In this case, how much longer should she wait? With the violence going on in Mexico spilling over the border on a regular basis, what is she to do?
Good! Then try to remember exactly what it is you want to defend. If it isn't our Constituitonal rights, you're giving up the very core values of our nation people have fought and died to defend for over two centuries. If that happens, and the bigots and wannabe nazis have their way, there will be no United States of America left to defend. :'(
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