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It looks like things are heating up on the immigration front! Whereas just a few weekends ago a large-scale immigration reform rally in the nation’s capital barely registered on the consciousness of the rest of the nation, subsequent events have been pushing immigration reform to the forefront of the issues list.
On Friday, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a controversial new immigration law that would go into effect 90 days after the Arizona legislative session ends.
Opponents of the bill claim that it will encourage racial profiling, could be a “violation of the 4th Amendment, which guarantess the right against unreasonable searches and seizures, and the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law (from an article on azcentral.com).”
These, and other possibly unconstitutional aspects of the new law, leave it vulnerable to repeal by the courts. Various groups, including the National Council of La Raza and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, are preparing to challenge the legislation.
Whatever the fate of the new legislation may be and despite the sinister and unfortunate nature of the the new set of immigration laws passed in Arizona, it could not have happened at a more propitious time. The recent steps taken by the Arizona legislature have energized a White House, that up until now, has been criticized for moving slowly on this issue.
Reacting to the controversy, President Obama harshly criticized the Arizona measure, saying that the state was misguided and that the new set of laws would “undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans.”
We can only hope that Arizona’s misguided steps will lead to a national debate on this issue and the passage of comprehensive immigration reform.