Justice Department to sue Arizona?

posted at 11:03 am on April 29, 2010 by Cassy Fiano
[ Immigration ]   

Obama isn’t happy about the new illegal immigration law in Arizona. He’s recruited Eric Holder to his cause now, and is considering suing Arizona to put an end to the enforcement of federal illegal immigration laws.

Officials in the Obama administration are urging the extraordinary step of suing Arizona over its new immigration law, and the Justice Department is considering such an action to block the legislation from taking effect, government officials said Wednesday.

The Arizona law criminalizes illegal immigration by defining it as trespassing and empowers police to question anyone they have a “reasonable suspicion” is an illegal immigrant. President Obama and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. have blasted the legislation, with Obama saying that it “threatened to undermine basic notions of fairness.”

“The president had strong words to say and the attorney general had strong words to say,” said one law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no decision has been made. “Considering that it’s signed into law, and Arizona is doing a lot of pomp and circumstance, do you see a friendly way out of this?”

A key legal ground being considered, officials said, is the doctrine of “preemption” — arguing that the state’s law illegally intrudes on immigration enforcement, which is a federal responsibility.

It really is rich that Obama would argue on the grounds that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. That’s the entire point — it is indeed a federal responsibility. But the federal government has refused to act, and Arizona lawmakers were literally given no other choice but to take matters into their own hands. Even the blathering idiot Robert Gibbs admitted that.

Obama has dropped the ball, and now he’s going to do his best to punish Arizona for picking up his slack. Considering that the new law is overwhelming popular — both in Arizona and nationwide — I’m a little surprised. I’m not surprised that Obama would want to meddle instate affairs or that he would want to keep the flow of illegal immigration going. One would just think that, given Obama’s low approval ratings and the high approval ratings of this law, he might want to sit this one out, especially considering that if the federal government had been doing its job, and enforcing immigration laws, Arizona lawmakers wouldn’t have had to act.

Yes, yes, liberals in the media and in Obama’s circle are hyperventilating over the supposed racism and fascism and Nazism in this new law (none of which actually exists, of course). But everyone else loves it. Obama’s approval ratings are sinking lower each day; Jan Brewer’s skyrocketed after she signed the bill into state law. 70% of Arizona voters approve of the law, and nationwide, 60% are in favor of having a similar law enacted in their states.

Considering all this, is it really the right move for Obama’s Justice Department to try to block this legislation from taking effect? The answer is no, unless of course his goal is to increase the number of Democrats voted out of office this November.

Cross-posted from Cassy’s blog. Stop by for more original commentary, or follow her on Twitter!

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