Undocumented Immigrants: Give Them A Parade

Here are my reflections on the Ninth Circuit’s upholding of the injunction against Arizona’s SB1070.

 
From Huffington Post:

On Monday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the preliminary injunction issued by the federal trial court in Arizona halting the implementation of the primary features of Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law. The court held that Arizona’s law interferes with the federal enforcement efforts by directing state and local officers on how to enforce federal immigration laws. That invades the purview of federal immigration officials. The court also was influenced by the fact that foreign governments and the United Nations have complained about the Arizona law, creating a foreign policy problem. Arizona’s added attempt to criminalize undocumented status at the state level also was criticized by the court. Congress has a comprehensive scheme for punishing undocumented immigrants, and therefore, Congress has preempted the field of criminalizing aliens.

At some point, states and local governments will get the message that they must leave the regulation of immigrants to the federal government. The anti-immigrant folks should be satisfied with that. After all, the Obama administration continues its record-setting pace for immigration detentions and deportations.

The furor over undocumented immigration is palpable. The anti-immigrant folks argue that things are out of control. We are being overrun. They have broken the law. They take jobs away from native workers. They use our resources. They don’t share our values. They don’t speak English. Simply put, this is a crisis!

My solution is simple. Calm down. Welcome undocumented workers. We have recruited and relied upon them for generations. They are here controlled by forces of globalization and trade polices. They have contributed to the economic greatness of our country. Welcome their families. Their children have become part of the social fabric of the nation. Like newcomers of the past, they are here to seek a better life through hard work and dedication to their families. To welcome them is to do the right thing. In fact, let’s give them a parade. (I confess that the parade idea comes from former executive editor and op-ed columnist of the N.Y. Times, A. M. Rosenthal, who, in 1993, urged us to give a parade for Chinese who paid smugglers to bring them to the United States surreptitiously, and welcome them as heroes after fleeing China for a better life aboard the Golden Venture into New York harbor.) Read more…

bh