so yesterday, the big news in the United States was the enforcement of the "new" Arizona law, SB1070. this immigration law has been highly controversial since it was brought to the public's attention. i've been listening to radio broadcasts talking about it for the past few weeks leading up to the official enforcement and seen plenty of terrible articles about how lives will be affected, etc. the arguments range from the fact that states have no right to enforce immigration law, to no one should be forced to carry papers to prove that their legally in the country. first off, i believe both of those arguments to be completely off-base but of course there are others involved.

being in another "border-state" i can see how a law like this could stir up some serious emotions; most of the people living near me i can easily assume to be illegal immigrants. they might not be though, which is a concern of the people against this law. under what basis is the law enforcement of Arizona detaining and deporting people? i heard plenty of arguments that say state law enforcement are not properly trained at the state level and below for this sort of action; that they lack training. but i also find this a lame excuse as even the federal border patrol has to be trained; i don't think that anyone is born with a keen sense to know someone is illegally in a country or not. maybe Superman, but he is illegal too...

i'd deport him :P

one thing is for sure: i applaud Arizona's legislature for sticking their neck out to try to enforce something is indeed a federal responsibility. i think that at the very least they are calling out the federal government to do something about what many people in border states see as a problem. if i remember correctly, the states in the union are sovereign and can enforce laws like this as they see fit - am i wrong? states don't flex their power enough. that's all i'm saying there.

so what exactly is the problem with having illegal immigrants within our borders? well there really isn't until they use public services and are employed in places that are intended for citizens in the US and legal immigrants because they pay taxes for it. what i see with this law is an attempt to free us of the idea that we are a country of immigrants. sure, there was a time that that was true, but that can be said of every country. the United States is definitely a country that has been searching for it's identity for the last 200 years. it's relatively young by the world's standards, so it's good to see people taking a stand to define what an American is and that we have laws that we've agreed upon and we can unite under.
i don't mean to get all patriotic or anything, but facts are we have to learn to take care of ourselves as a country before we can go off and "save" another. a nation isn't far off from being a human: if you're not well yourself, you can't properly help anyone to get well. "remember to put the oxygen mask on yourself first then attend to others that might need help."

if individual states enforcing federal laws allow for the citizens of our country to flourish, i'm all for it. i know that there are holes in this piece of legislation from Arizona, but i believe in the nature of it. maybe instead of worrying about being PC, we can actually solve some of the problems within our nation. until then---