Grow a Spine

I hope you have been following the news lately about my adopted state, Arizona.

Arizona is not Illinois. There are few flat areas, few cornfields, and lots of mountains and HEAT!
Living in AZ during the summer, is kind of like taking up residence inside your oven for three months. "It's a dry heat." With a pool and some AC and a mountain of cool beverages, it is quite nice to see sun 340 days a year and not worry about tornadoes or governors being indicted.

Arizona is, however, under fire from just about every person who thinks that illegal immigration is the law of the land, including the President of the US. (POTUS) My state is suffering from unemployment like the rest of the country, a low economy like the rest of the country, and a bad housing market that was once the backbone of this area. What is has that the rest of the US does not, is a border that seems to be leaking illegals that come through the desert. What? Arizona is a border state? Just ask the member of the Milwaukee Board of Supervisors, Julie West. She will tell you that AZ is not a border state:

“If this was Texas, which is a state that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this saying that they had a major issue with undocumented people flooding the borders, I would have to look twice at this. But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border.” (Yes, But However" website)

I think this goes to prove that those outside Arizona (and some inside) do not understand the law.

Even POTUS seems to have no clue when he okayed the filing of the lawsuit against Arizona, calling the law "a misguided law." He has promised troops for the border, but they have not materialized; he has promised to send his advisors for a meeting, that has not happened. (You know, I just thought the last sentence sounded a lot like part of the Declaration of Independence charges against George III!)

I long for the days of this country when people followed the law and entered the country through regular channels and became citizens the proper way. But now, the protocol seems to be to sneak into the country or overstay you visa and then possibly steal an ID, get work, live here illegally for a number of years, then ask to be forgiven and granted immunity from prosecution;given citizenship and then go on. OR...don't get citizenship, use up the social system money meant for citizens, then complain that the rest of the country is a racist and lacks compassion for your plight.

Immigrants to the US who came here via Ellis Island all saw the same poem on the plaque by the Lady Liberty, entitled "The New Colossus"

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Emma Lazarus

The US Constitution does not mention immigration, and it has ignored the problem. Arizona has started the ball rolling to be sure that those who want a life here go through the proper channels and do not corrupt the process for those who have gone and who really want to later. What ever happened to immigration quotas? When did it become all right for visitors to come in the backdoor unannounced? Mark Twain once wrote, "Fish and visitors smell in three days." If we put that adage to use, then unannounced, unwanted, undocumented "visitors" also have a distinct odor and need to be thrown out.

Arizona does not believe in isolationism, nor does it want that for itself or the country. A depressed state does not need boycotts, it needs help. Some sister states are beginning to see that what Arizona is doing can make a difference. 70 percent of all Arizonans, and almost 55% of all Americans believe the same thing. For a country where majority rules, there does not seem to be many politicians listening.

It is time that the US government grows a spine and takes its responsibilities upon its back. That POTUS lives up to his oath of office. He tries to build another country halfway around the globe when his own backyard is being trashed by invaders.

Did we learn nothing from the lesson of the Romans?

Doughnut