Sunday, September 19, 2010

Arizona Stirs a Hornet's Nest

As November elections hover like a dark cloud, incumbents are scrambling for cover. Big wins on important issues like health care and financial reform, which at the time seemed like obvious talking points for politicians to boast about, have now unleashed a deafening silence. They're now relegated to the back pages of our nation's newspapers in spite of their formerly front page status day after day. But another hot topic is receiving plenty of headlines these days: The Arizona Immigration Law.

Upon passage of one of the most strict immigration laws in the United States, media outlets around the world and politicians alike cried foul on April 23rd, 2010. Popular anti-sentiment feelings manifested themselves into large protesting rallies, talk show ridicule and even arguments of racism. Now - five months later - it seems all the agitation has disappeared. With healthy support for Governor Jan Brewer's new law coming not only from Arizona residents (66% favor it), but from all over the country (62% nationwide favor Arizona law). Six more states (including South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Michigan) have adopted legislation mirroring Arizona's law.

What most people fail to realize, regarding Arizona's unique immigration matter, is the link to crime that state. Arizona hosts the nation's worst kidnapping rate and Sheriff Joe Arpaio has a $1 million reward on his head from the Mexican cartels.

New developments indicate that the immigration trade has demanded the attention of the Mexican drug lords. Ever since the construction of the border fence in California, illegal immigrants have sought entry into the United States through neighboring Arizona. The drug lords commingled the illegal aliens with their drug smuggling activities and their riches soared. The OTM (Other Than Mexican) situation also poses a national security threat. U. S. Border Patrol statistics show illegal aliens detained trying to cross the border hail from countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan and Iran. Think they're trying to mow lawns in Phoenix?

Immigration is, and will continue to be, a touchy subject as far as the eye can see. No doubt we need immigrants to grow our economy and most are decent, hard working individuals. But the American public, with an overwhelming majority, prefers harsher laws. And the mainstream media is unsurprisingly out of touch with those statistics. Whatever happened to the days when Ellis Island was a coveted destination and the process of becoming a U. S. citizen really meant something?

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