There is an AP story on the wire today concerning a tactic that Arizona is using to get in the border-security game:
Faced with mounting election-year public pressure to curtail illegal immigration, Arizona lawmakers are trying to expand state trespassing law to enable local authorities to arrest illegal border crossers.[...]
One proposal would make it a felony for immigrants violating federal immigration law to be in Arizona. Immigrants arrested for trespassing could then be deported, prosecuted by local authorities, or handed over to federal immigration agents. Another proposal would make immigrant trespassing a top-tier misdemeanor, punishable by six months in jail and a $2,500 fine.[...]
Opponents say the proposals will not be effective, noting that a similar strategy flopped last year in New Hampshire because states don’t have authority to enforce federal immigration law. A judge dismissed the cases of illegal immigrants arrested on New Hampshire trespassing charges, ruling that the tactic was unconstitutional.
OK, setting aside for the moment the role undocumented immigrants play in supporting the American economy, the humanitarian issues surrounding illegal immigration, etc…. Just consider strictly the legal issue here: that states are apparently not permitted to enforce federal immigration law.
If that’s really true (I take most media stories with a shaker of salt)…that seems kind of dumb.
Rather than having states engage in convoluted legislative antics to find ways around that prohibition and get into the game of securing the border… wouldn’t it make more sense for Congress to pass a law permitting state and local law enforcement officials to be deemed deputies of the Border Patrol?