Inconsistent & Hypocritical Critics of Arizona Law

Observations and Comments from Dan Gifford:

That law is racist, un-American, un-constitutional and all the rest goes the politically correct litany. Amid all the verbiage, I have yet to hear or see any mention of the fact that Mexican police are required to check the immigration status of those they arrest and suspect of being there sans proper papers. Nor have I seen any mention of the fact that every other country in the world that I've heard of empowers or requires its police to check the legal status of those they encounter.

Three examples:

My two Korean house guests tell me all citizens there must carry a national identification card, that police check immigration status andthat the receipt of public money by foreigners is illegal. The one exception is for North Koreans who have defected.

A Swiss friend tells me that immigration status is monitored closely there by police and that the many who want citizenship run into a catch 22. One cannot become a Swiss citizen unless they have lived at the same address for 5 years, but it is illegal to live at the same address for more than 5 years unless one is a citizen.

At Heathrow, a sign in customs says that non British citizens have no right to public money. The same sort of announcement is also in every other European airport I've been in.

So why are these sorts of goodies not being written-up and blown back at those attacking the Arizona law during talking head sessions?

Most of you on this list work in politics from the conservative/libertarian side for a living. It would behoove you to do whatever is necessary to shove some facts about what the rest of the world does regarding immigration back into the faces of those who claim the Arizona law is beyond the pale.

One irony about this cannot go unmentioned: The most vocal slams are coming from the same side of the political fence that routinely argues that America is out of step with what the rest of the "civilized" world does. Well, at least one state has taken a step towards bridging that gap and they don't like it.