Weighing In on Arizona Immigration Law

Normally I try to limit my blog to issues involving my area of practice, personal injury law, but the temptation is just too great in regard to the current maelstrom surrounding the immigration law in AZ and the so-called racial profiling it will create.  The president of Mexico and our own president, Barack Obama have condemned the law as being racially motivated and will lead to the violation of civil rights.

Who’s Country Is It, Anyway?

I may be just a little naive, but I have always felt that the USA belonged to the citizens of the USA.  If someone comes into the USA who is not a citizen of the USA, then they have no say in the USA.  In other words, they don’t have the rights or the responsibilities of US citizens.  That seems like a fair proposition, doesn’t it?  After all, their illegal presence creates a drain on everyone who is here legally, and creates a burden on those providing services to them for which they do not pay (in the form of taxes!). 

Arizona (and everyone else) Should Be Concerned

So when an estimated 12 million or so illegal aliens are within our borders, what is a country to do?  Many people are waiting to come into this country legally.  Should they be penalized by standing in line behind those who do not come in legally?  Do we have any right at all to enforce our borders as a sovereign nation?  What will happen to this nation if we don’t enforce the immigration laws already on the books?

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

During the time I taught school many years ago, I read a three volume abridgement of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.  A few things I found very striking about the fall of the Roman Empire.  The empire was not destroyed by any one civilization or groups of people that were superior to the Romans.  In fact, the tribes that were successful in invading and dismantling the Roman Empire were inferior in many ways.  So why were they so successful?  One reason was because the Romans themselves had lost the will to enforce their own laws.  The lost the will to defend themselves and their borders.  According to Edward Gibbon, they lost their civic virtue. With an ever growing segment of the population being undocumented, what does documentation mean to them or to anyone?  It is the planting of the seeds of anarchy.  If the law doesn’t apply to my undocumented, non-taxing paying, resource consuming neighbor, why should it apply to me?

Our Federal Government

Our nation’s lawmakers have ignored this problem for a very long time.  It is time lawmakers are elected to congress who will thoughtfully and carefully address the issue.  We need to enforce the laws we have and allow immigrants in in an organized, orderly fashion.  Our country’s and our children’s future depend upon it.

Bob Jacobson is a personal injury attorney in Boise, ID