...legal to be illegal?

Oh, it's been a while, but I feel the time has come again for me to bring clarity to the ever-murky US legal system.

PHOENIX, July 25 (Reuters) - Nicaraguan mother Lorena Aguilar hawks a television set and a few clothes on the baking sidewalk outside her west Phoenix apartment block. A few paces up the street, her undocumented Mexican neighbor Wendi Villasenor touts a kitchen table, some chairs and a few dishes as her family scrambles to get out of Arizona ahead of a looming crackdown...

"Everyone is selling up the little they have and leaving," said Villasenor, 31, who is headed for Pennsylvania. "We have no alternative. They have us cornered."

Hmmm.... After reading this, I almost feel bad. I must confess, I almost feel like I'm reading of some great travesty in a foreign land. A big government coming in and forcing denizens to sell "what little they have" and leave before a "looming crackdown" sets in? But what is this "looming crackdown" that sounds so ominous? Are they instituting martial law? Are they mandating state-wide curfews? No, they're merely enforcing current immigration laws. I find this portion exceptionally amusing, as the paper (I picture tearfully) quotes Ms. Villasenor, 31, as saying that the state "...[has] left us no alternative [and has] us cornered."

No, Ms. Villasenor, it is in fact the illegal immigrant population that has left us cornered and given us no alternative. Despite what many mainstream sources wish for us to think, the issue of immigration isn't one that we can so easily whitewash over, though many try... For instance:

The law, the toughest imposed by any U.S. state to curb illegal immigration, seeks to drive more than 400,000 undocumented day laborers, landscapers, house cleaners, chambermaids and other workers out of Arizona, which borders Mexico.

The article reads like the Arizona government seems to have something against clean houses and mowed lawns. The article thus far, and countless like it, demonize Arizona for these new laws they are passing. But what is so heinous about these laws? What makes these laws so much different from the laws in the other states? The difference is that these laws...

... makes being an illegal immigrant a state crime and requires state and local police, during lawful contact, to investigate the status of anyone they reasonably suspect of being an illegal immigrant.

Wait, so there's all this uproar because a law makes it illegal to be an illegal immigrant? And... it gives police officers powers to investigate if there's reasonable suspicion that someone may have violated a law? Well, this is clearly new for Americans. I mean, before the laws were "just for the books". I'm sure we treat other laws this way... I love how so much of the media wishes to turn this mere self-defense issue into a racial tension. They wish to overlook those who are law breakers by merely replacing the word "illegal" with "undocumented". I wonder how it would work on other issues. Take for example, "undocumented" shipments of pharmaceuticals... Oh, wait. They're prosecuted.. How about "undocumented" financial movements? Nope, that's jail time too. How about "undocumented" bank withdrawals? Again, we seem to have not only jail time, but probably some investigation too. So why then, is there this uproar because the state of Arizona is now putting punishments on actions that have been legally deemed to be illegal?

This issue is not about "human rights". In order for there to be a right, there need to be three things:

A Source (Where does the right come from?)

A Detail (What does it protect against, etc?)

Protection From (Against whom is this right valid?)

For instance, take the "right" to free speech.

Source

First Amendment, US Constitution

Entails?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Good Against?

Congress (though later determined to be good against even state-level law makers)

There is no "human right" anywhere that gives an individual the authority to take residence in any country at their leisure. To take residence in the United States of America, one must attain some sort of citizenship (either permanent or temporary). Citizenship is a process like many others, and it is not "guaranteed". In fact, citizenship in any country is considered a privilege, and can be revoked. For some reason, there are many who oppose Arizonas new stance on this illegal immigration. While there are few (if any) who would openly support other crimes, if the word "undocumented" was put in front, the "undocumented worker" party seems to be an exception to the rule of law. Unfortunately for those who oppose it, this law is incredibly effective.

"...they have succeeded even before the law even comes into effect," said Aguilar...

The statement proceeds to express a desire that Arizona wished to drive "Hispanics" out of the state. No, Ms. Aguilar, that is not true. The state merely wishes to remove those who refuse to follow our laws. Fuss and scream as you will. Talk all you wish about how "inhumane" and "backwards" it is, but in the end, the only thing I see here is the state of Arizona making it illegal to be illegal.

---TNJ