Arizona

It looks like the illegal immigrants are going to leave Arizona. That's AP's headline.

I'm all for immigration. America is a nation of immigrants. My forebears came over from several places. England, Ireland, France, Germany. At least one was native, if the papers I have in my lock-box are to be believed. I love immigrants. I don't have a problem with Mexicans. Every Hispanic person I have known personally is hard-working, God-fearing, salt-of-the-earth kind of people. I love them every one.

However, illegal immigration is a problem that we've got to get a handle on, and the Federal gummint has defaulted on the problem. So, if the Feds won't act, Arizona picks up the ball and runs with it. Suddenly, everyone (including our President) is saying that enforcing the law is a bad idea.

Well, if the simple threat of the law being enforced is enough to send illegals packing, maybe that's a good thing.

Other folks say that the law is impossible to enforce without racial profiling. I've been a cop for 30 years and I know how to make an arrest without racial profiling. The concept of reasonable suspicion is taught at every police academy in the United States. Terry v. Ohio has been law since 1968. This ain't nothing new, either to this old cop in Louisiana or to a rookie on a force somewhere in Arizona.

I have a son who worked at an private prison in Louisiana. He was detaining folks prior to deportation until President Obama was elected. ICE has all-but-quit sending people home, the population of the prison dropped, and my son was laid-off. The Federal Government simply isn't doing anything on the immigration issue. Nothing. Not even enforcing current law. They're ignoring the problem.

Arizona has stepped up to the plate. I say good for them.

Watch for other border states to enact legislation modeled on Arizona's law. On the immigration issue, the Feds should either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.

**UPDATE** Here's a good, clear, well written article that explains the Arizona law and why it's important, constitutional, and in line with US law.

Here's a timeline of immigration law in the United States from 1790 to the present. All of it is good reading.