Roiling On

And on it goes, rolling, rolling, rolling to borrow from the Rawhide theme song of years gone by. What is it ? For our purposes, it is the continuing controversy or fight or debate ( although there seems to be precious little  in the way of real debate)  or any such word of your choosing about immigration of the illegal variety and the state of Arizona.

There have been untold thousands of words written and opinions expressed. There have been boycotts , threatened boycotts, angry demonstrations, considerable name calling and now federal intervention in the form of  a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department. And now we have a ruling by federal judge  Susan Bolton halting the implementation of significant parts of the law. A big deal, yep! A  comment by Yale immigration law  professor Peter Schuck  to the  New York Times  called her decision  a ” rush to judgment. ” Wonder why? Without knowing  any better I would have guessed that perhaps there was some pressure exerted from somewhere to get  a quick stay from what was perceived as  a favorable source. But I doubt I would have thought that was  the case since federal judges should be somewhat immune to such pressures, right?  Judge Bolton, nominated by Bill Clinton, but recommended by Senator Jon Kyl. has served on the  U S District Court for the District of Arizona since 2000. Bet she never expected to be smack dab in the middle of such controversy. Sorry for the digression. One more statement from Professor Shuck. His opinion is that her quick decision reflects  pressure from the feds ( Justice Department or higher?)  to get this done quickly.

So, where do we stand now and what happens next? Governor Brewer is condidering an appeal and pondering some revisions to the law. Whether the boycotts continue or not or how successful they have been I don’t know. I don’t have the answer to this but I wonder if an individual state has been boycotted before? Thankfully, Commissioner Bud Selig  has had the good sense not to move the 2011 All-Star game.

But  my real question is what are people protesting against or boycotting? Do they know or have many/most just been  agitated or encouraged to yell and scream angry things in front of cameras and photographers without a clear of understanding of what or why? And not for one minute do I buy the opinion that Arizona’s actions go against the truths expressed so eloquently  on the Statue Of  Liberty or violate the great American tradition of immigration.

I have two acquaintances, one whose father immigrated from Italy, legally, making him 1st generation American and another who immigrated from Mexico legally and  earned citizenship. I applaud them and many like them. Those who are illegally and remain here illegally, with no thought towards becoming citizens are not  the historical norm of immigration.

One closing thought which may be a repeat from another post. Find out how the country of Mexico deals with illegal immigrants. ( This is not an issue that will go away nor is it one easily solved. I fervently hope that ther can be a solution, not only for Arizona but for the country as well.)