The Full Story

As time wears on, it appears more and more that the push for immigration reform by the end of this year is in vain. Despite persistent efforts of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) to have a bill passed by the end of this year, waining public and Republican support as well as a more or less overwhelmed president seem to ensure that nothing more than a start to reform will be accomplished this year. According to Reuters, president Obama recently made a statement that, "I want to begin work this year, and I want Democrats and Republicans to work with me - because we've got to stay true to who we are, a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants."

In other news related to the bill passed in Arizona, a recent poll by Fox News shows the majority of Americans who have an opinion on the bill are for it (34-21), with Republicans strongly supporting the bill (51-9) as is the case with Independents (37-18), and Democrats strongly against it (35-18). The vast majority of people are in fact, for the bill, which is somewhat suprising based on the reaction from the Democratic majority in the House and the executive branch's disdain for the allegedly "racist" judgements that must take place under the new law.

I think one thing that most all of us can agree on is that SOMETHING must be done to reform the way our boarders are secured and illegal immigrants are dealt with. Whether or not Arizona's method is the right way is a matter of personal opinon. However, the one thing I think is a little unsettling about the way controversy is being handled over Arizona's bill is that most people have no idea what it actually said. At best, the conversation is based upon snippits of hear-say and contextual quotations from news reports. It is at this point I'll give you the freedom to decide for yourself how you feel about the bill, based on the real facts available. The following link is to an article from the Los Angeles Times, which contains the full bill passed by the governor of Arizona. Read this for yourself, and then maybe some real discussion can occur based on facts, and not on emotion and drama of what people have said. And maybe, just maybe, when it comes time to really grapple with national immigration reform, people will be able to look at how this bill has affected Arizona and see if it is really the right way to go.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/05/full-text-arizona-illegal-immigration-law-jan-brewer.html