The Arizona immigration law has drawn vocal opposition, marches and rallies and threats of boycotts. But what do most people think about this law?
Nationally:
According to a recent national Rasmussen Poll; “60% of voters nationwide favor a law that authorizes local police to stop and verify the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant, while 31% are opposed”.
In Arizona:
Most Arizona voters (57%) favor an immigration policy that welcomes all immigrants except “national security threats, criminals and those who would come here to live off our welfare system.” A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Arizona voters finds that just 27% oppose such a welcoming policy.
At the same time, 76% say it is more important to gain control of the border than it is to legalize the status of undocumented workers. Only 19% believe it is more important to legalize the status of undocumented workers already in the country. These views, too, are consistent with national preferences. However, Arizona voters are a bit more focused on border control.
In that environment, 64% of Arizona voters favor the new immigration law signed last week by Governor Jan Brewer. Thirty percent (30%) are opposed.
The Arizona Governor:
Rasmussen Reports also surveyed likely voters in Arizona and that survey showed that 56% now approve of the way Brewer is performing her role as governor. Two weeks ago, just 40% approved. So she is receiving a bump in popularity for this bill.
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As a result of this polling information, I think that we can assume that this is another issue that will help Republicans in the 2010 election.
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However in the longer term, this issue could be a problem for Republicans since Hispanics are the both the nation’s largest and the fastest growing ethnic population. Mexican immigrants along with Hispanics tend to be socially conservative and would be natural Republicans if it wasn’t for the immigration issue. Their vote gave Obama several states in 2008 and the immigration issue is causing them to vote for Democrats in larger and larger numbers.
Related posts:
This is one of the concepts where conservatives have wondered from their path. It is not my liberal side that twitches when laws like this are passed. Rather, my Libertarian knee starts to jerk when I feel the Bill of Rights has been violated. What better way to make someone feel like a second class citizen than to have a state agent stop them and inform them that ‘they just don’t look like they belong’. In application this law makes little real difference. The standards for pulling someone over have such a low bar that, at least in Minnesota, the officer has to merely say they did it for a specific reason that could be 20% probable.
Supporting any law that extends the power of enforcement to this level is a police state. An American principal, a founding fathers principal, is that if you have not committed a crime you do not have to answer to the government. A law the color of this does not sufficiently tie into the prevention of the criminal act to a degree that justifies it. It doesn’t matter if you are passionately against immigration or illegal alien rights. The harm of such a law extends beyond the situation it is intended to prevent.
Ultimately it won’t matter because such a statute is solely within the powers of the Federal Government alone. But these seemingly justified laws are just the kind that everyone should stand against and be insulted that such a thing was attempted against the intelligent and thoughtful people of this country. Extending police powers to address mere looks is Big Government plain and simple. If the harm is Aliens illegally crossing the border then tighten the border, if its taking our jobs then address it their. But stopping us to ask for our papers is what they do in State control countries.
Big Fish what would you do to stop illegal immigration?
In my opinion, only two things would be effective in stopping illegal immigration. The first is control over who gets into this country, either at the border or at the airport. Our borders aren’t secure but they could easily be made more secure if we only had the will to do it.
The second would be a national ID card which couldn’t be forged. Some libertarians object to the idea of a national ID, but you can’t drive, check out a library book or buy anything online without an ID. Why couldn’t all of those things be incorporated into a national ID? Big Brother can watch over you already, and realistically so can anyone who is willing to pay a credit agency.
A national ID card won’t take away your privacy because you already don’t have any.
The major hole is going to be border patrol. I can’t imagine we can tighten our airports much more than they are, besides if they can afford a plane ticket they will be able to avoid most obstacles of getting in at some level.
In the big picture I don’t really see it as a big problem and until it is nothing will be truly addressed. Americans don’t seem to value the low level jobs that most illegal immigrants take. Even at times like now when unemployment is at a high people don’t seek jobs that are ‘below them’. Of course there are issues that you need a certain amount of money to survive but more often than not its an issue of sustaining a quality of life rather than life. Which is the second half of that problem. The majority of illegal immigrants are people trying to sustain an existence both from working and escaping the dangers of a class system that doesn’t value their lives. Getting caught in America isn’t a risk when your home country doesn’t pride human rights and ours does.
The first line of defense in this country is accountability to other citizens, a quality we often forget the power of. If a neighborhood has multiple car thefts we don’t wait for the police to notice we demand that they take responsibility and address the problem. If we really cared that they were here we would demand more accountability. We would rat out the businesses that hired them or pay the extra money to get certified American harvested crops or pay extra to have our roofs done. We don’t because we like the benefits. Its the same reason we don’t complain about our jobs being shipped over seas, we get cheaper products back home. A country of consumers not builders. If you want them gone then look at the products you personally buy rather than isolating yourself from the situation. The burden of living in a democratic republic.
The second thing to address is the cost benefits analysis for the immigrants to illegally enter our borders. The best way to address this that I’ve heard is applying a points system. Allow any immigrant to enter our country and enjoy low level rights (not being murdered by the police over a drug war or recruited to join a Somalian gang at 9 years old) but be able to monitor their adaptation of holding a job and openly benefiting society. By using some sort of point and merit allocation system we could encourage them to openly communicate with state officials and also encourage them to take responsibility for their population (the same as we do when protecting our neighborhood cars). If a member of their group is committing crimes then they will not want to risk their status or the allocation of their hard work. However, if they are here as criminals then their population is criminal and they abide by criminal rules. Besides, American prisons are still better than returning to drug cartels and military war lords.
We are a commercial based country and we should have no problems admitting members who have prescribed by established rules and shown that they are willing to work for their place. It’s how everyone else got here.