Although we continue live through recessionary times and there is more focus than ever on what the U.S. military is attempting to achieve in Afghanistan, the summer of 2010 politically is about two issues: the giant oil spill in the Gulf, and immigration. The New York Times A-1 story today is on how Democratic Governors are unhappy with the Obama administration for suing Arizona regarding their new illegal immigration law. More on that below.
Illegal immigration was also featured on ABC's This Week, as San Diego Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray dueled with Chicago area Democrat Luis Gutierrez on What to Do About the Problem.
Ever since Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed controversial legislation (yet to officially become law) that would allow local law enforcement to take action against undocumented immigrants, the issue has spread like wildfire, with most polls showing strong support for the proposal, and Republican lawmakers from across the country talking about creating such laws in their own states, as well as expressing overall tougher measures.
On ABC, host Jake Tapper asked a relevant question to Representative Gutierrez, who has a bill in the House promoting comprehensive immigration reform : isn't the increased drug and arms trading in Mexico, spurred in part by the fact that A) guns are easily accessible in the U.S. and B) there is an insatiable demand for drugs in this country, necessitate more troops on the Arizona border, as Republicans have been calling for? Gutierrez admitted it did.
GUTIERREZ: We may need more. We should do everything we need to do in order to secure that border. But we should do it in a comprehensive manner. And we should do it in a bilateral manner.
I mean, let's face it: It is also the craving for the drugs here in America which is driving the drug trade from Mexico to the United States.
So this is what we have. We have a border which we have put a lot of resources on, which the president has committed more resources to, but shouldn't we segregate — that is, divide — those criminal elements that exist, that are causing damage on both sides of the border?
I mean, there are people in Mexico dying every day, prosecutors, justice department, police, fighting these criminal elements. They're also damaging us. Should we have a joint response? Shouldn't that joint response say, we're going to secure that border. We're going to do everything. But let's separate those that are coming here, crossing that border, looking for jobs, who are also a victim and prey to that very same criminal element, from the criminals, and have laws the effectively combat the criminals and resolve our immigration problem?
This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2010.