The Big Winners in Arizona’s Immigration Law? Lawyers: Michael Gerson
Friday, April 30, 2010
Michael Gerson, adviser and speechwriter to President George W. Bush, wants to see the United States establish “effective border enforcement” for the Southwest. But the new immigration law adopted by the state of Arizona is not the way to go, Gerson argues.
The country needs a guest-worker program that allows immigrants from Mexico to enter the U.S. in an orderly manner so they can provide for their families while at the same time “allowing border authorities to focus on more urgent crimes…,” he writes. But the chaotic state that today characterizes the border has resulted in Arizona going too far in trying to take control of “American immigration policy—an authority that Arizona has seized in order to abuse.”
The new law is likely to result in legal immigrants and American citizens being harassed by law enforcement—a development that only will lead to expensive litigation.
“If this vague law is applied vigorously, the state will be regularly sued by citizens who are wrongfully stopped,” Gerson insists. “But if the law is not applied vigorously enough, it contains a provision allowing citizens to sue any agency or official who ‘limits or restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws.’ Either way, lawyers rejoice.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
A Test of Arizona's Political Character (by Michael Gerson, Washington Post)
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