A Hot Potato Called Immigration

Until now, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have dared to do anything concerning immigration reform. But now, an Arizona law is forcing Washington into action.

A local law in distant Arizona has suddenly brought an old, enormous problem to the doorsteps of President Barack Obama and Congress; the problem of illegal immigration from Latin America. Until now, Democrats and Republicans have avoided this issue and, if anything, have handled it very cautiously.

But should the President and his party actually push for the long promised immigration reform? The struggle for such reform will overshadow all of the previous political battles in the Obama agenda. It would not only drive the Democrats and Republicans further apart, but could also cause internal divisions within these political parties.

The dispute here is Arizona’s State Senate Bill 1070 (SB1070) that was recently passed by the state Senate, and signed by Arizona’s governor. This law will go into effect in less than 90 days, and will allow the police to check anyone on the grounds of “reasonable suspicion,” who might be an illegal immigrant in the United States.

There is still more; this law gives Arizona residents the right to insist that law enforcement officials check for legal residency, and it even allows them to bring legal actions against those officials who do not enforce this new law. Such circumstances will soon put vigilantes in Arizona into a textbook catch-22 situation. Arizona residents will have to identify non-compliant officers, which is something they may not believe is constitutional. But these same vigilantes may let these non-compliant officers go unreported so that they themselves will not get in trouble with the law.

The political battle is in full gear. Supporters of this bill say that it is five minutes before midnight and point out the large number of illegal immigrants; half a million illegal immigrants are said to be in Arizona alone, with eleven million in the entire United States. Supporters also cite crime statistics, the statistics of the growing drug trade, violence, and human trafficking.

Approximately, two out of every three Arizonians support this law. In their opinion, the federal government in Washington has failed miserably and abandoned its duty to protect America’s borders. This is why Arizona has had to press for immigration reform alone. It is also important to note that Senator John McCain, who is up for re-election in Arizona this year and supports this new law, is very concerned about the illegal immigration issue. McCain has even called for sending military personnel to the Mexican border.

Opponents consider the law to be racist and they are waving the US Constitution. Their rather convincing argument is that, in the future, police will pull over anyone who somehow looks like a Latino and ask them for their identification papers.

So what constitutes as suspicion of illegal residence? Naturally, facial features are indicative of origin! Thus, many Latinos are threatening to get involved with the illegal residency debate, because none of them have stamped on their foreheads “I am legal here!” This completely violates the prohibition of discriminatory practices, even if the police should happen to check out a blond Scandinavian from time to time.

Those who oppose this new law also cite numerous statistics. Border security costs three billion dollars annually, seven times as much as it did 15 years ago, and hundreds of thousands of people sit in custody prior to deportation. Those who oppose this law also say that raids on agricultural and meat packaging plants are already driving many businessmen to the edge of despair. These businessmen are actually dependent on illegal immigrants because they do the jobs that Americans will not do. And unfortunately, there are hardly any chances to bring foreign workers into the country in a legal fashion.

This is why opponents of the Arizona law are calling for a comprehensive immigration reform that seeks to address three issues: stronger border security, opening doors for foreign workers, and an amnesty provision for all illegal immigrants who have been living in the United States for years or even decades, and who are willing to pay back taxes and apply for a green card. During his presidential campaign, President Barack Obama promised this major immigration reform to Latinos, as did his Republican opponent John McCain. President George W. Bush also wanted it, as did Ronald Reagan.

The proposals have been on the table for a long time. But Obama has not quite had the courage to tackle the hot potato issue called immigration. One can quickly get his fingers burned because emotions are now running high on this issue, and not only in America. Germany has accumulated painful experiences in battles over the right to asylum and dual citizenship. And, at the moment, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is getting a sense of the explosive power of this issue in his struggling re-election campaign.

In Washington, Democrats and Republicans are now making political calculations for themselves on the immigration issue. However, the pluses and minuses for those making these sober calculations are balancing each other out. By pushing for immigration reform, President Barack Obama and the Democrats expect the support of Latinos in the important mid-term elections.

On November 4th, the entire House of Representatives and one third of the Senate will be up for election. Latinos tip the scales in many districts. Even with this hope, there is still fear that immigration reform and competition for jobs could drive many primarily white workers into the arms of the Republicans.

It does not get any better for conservatives who are also in a quandary. A “yes” to the Arizona law and a “no” to comprehensive immigration reform would alienate Latinos once and for all. No one who wants to be the majority party can permanently antagonize this growing voting block.

Tens of thousands of Americans want to take it to the streets this weekend. Most of them will be Latinos demonstrating in opposition to the Arizona law. Several thousand were in Washington a few weeks ago to vent their anger in Congress over the vacillating plans for reform. President Barack Obama will not be able to put this off much longer, and eventually, he is going to have to owe his victory to them.