Scorpions for Breakfast by Jan Brewer
Author:Jan Brewer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2011-10-31T16:00:00+00:00
Chapter Four
Nazis in the Desert
Declaring that “the states will take the lead, and Arizona will take the lead among states,” an Arizona governor signs sweeping legislation enforcing federal law regarding illegal aliens. She calls it “the most aggressive action in the country,” explaining that “it is now abundantly clear that Congress finds itself incapable of coping with the comprehensive immigration reforms our country needs.”
“Because of Congress’s failure to act,” the governor says, “states like Arizona have no choice but to take strong action to discourage the further flow of illegal immigration through our borders.” Her critics erupt. They file lawsuits, one of which ends up with the Supreme Court. Protests spring up throughout Arizona. Work stoppages and strikes break out.
Before I go further, let me note that the governor in question isn’t me. It was Janet Napolitano, who in 2007 gave the go-ahead to the Arizona Legal Workers Act, designed to crack down on illegal immigration by imposing sanctions on businesses that violate federal law by hiring illegal aliens.
The reason you’re reading about SB 1070 right now and not about the Arizona Legal Workers Act is simple: With his reaction to the law, President Obama made SB 1070 a national issue. When Governor Napolitano signed the Arizona Legal Workers Act, President George W. Bush never mentioned it. He didn’t stir the pot. President Obama did.
Before I signed SB 1070, President Obama had already condemned it as irresponsible and unfair. In the days that followed, he upped the ante. Eric Holder, his attorney general, stated immediately that the Department of Justice would look into whether it should sue Arizona to stop implementation of the law. Janet Napolitano, ensconced in her new role at Homeland Security, hypocritically remarked that she had “some deep concerns with the law . . . it will detract from and siphon resources that we need to concentrate on those in the country illegally, those who have committed the most serious crimes.”
If the president and his cabinet officers couldn’t stop themselves from encouraging mass hysteria over the law, you can imagine the situation on the ground in Arizona. While President Obama was claiming, with virtually no evidence, that Hispanics were going to have their privacy systematically invaded, his political allies, without a trace of irony, were gathering around my home to protest.
Huge buses from Texas and California began driving up to my front yard; we had reports that the SEIU was sponsoring the tactic. The first time the protesters showed up, I didn’t have any security. I had to call them in, but I did so only after one of my advisers told me I couldn’t go outside. Soon the radical antiwar group Code Pink showed up too. They set up their lawn chairs on the sidewalk of my ordinary suburban neighborhood, sang, and burned candles. They were relatively respectful—at least, as respectful as people staking out your house to pressure you can be. They never crossed into my yard, but they did cross into my neighbors’ yard—they’re
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