“Although I am a resident of California, I spend a considerable amount of time in Arizona. In fact, over the past several months, I have commuted to Arizona on an almost weekly basis.
“I have grown to love the state and its people. I find them to be friendly, fair and extraordinarily interested in America’s future.
“As a state that shares a border with Mexico, it is not surprising Arizona has a substantial Hispanic population, and a very significant problem involving illegal immigrants (close to 500,000 by some estimates).
“For decades, Arizona and other border states have urged the federal government to resolve the issue of illegal immigration. When the people of California passed a ballot initiative (Proposition 187) in 1994, to deny public benefits to illegal immigrants, the response was to label the California governor, Pete Wilson, and the electorate as “racists.” When opponents of 187 succeeded in overturning it in the courts, no effort was undertaken by the federal government to address the problems that continued to exist in California as a result of out-of-control growth in illegal immigration. Sixteen years later, California is essentially bankrupt and illegal immigration is a major contributor to that reality. Yet, the federal government continues to demonstrate its ineptness or indifference about solving the issue.
“In recent years, Arizonans have become frustrated, even frightened, as they have watched rapidly escalating growth in the population of illegal immigrants. But, instead of individuals flocking across the border merely in search of jobs to support their families in Mexico, Mexican kidnappers, smugglers, drug cartels and gangs have also invaded Arizona and taken up permanent residency there. The murder of a prominent Arizona rancher on his own property several weeks ago, allegedly by an illegal immigrant, became the trigger for action by the Legislature and the people of that state. In short, many of the people of Arizona do not feel safe in their own homes; and far from “living in the shadows,” as is often said of illegal aliens, the criminal element within that population has become too threatening for the state to simply ignore.”
Read the full article at SonoranNews.com.
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