We're used to other countries' irrational hatred of the United States.
But the United States hating the United States?
That's basically what happened when America's own State Department decided to wrongly tar the state of Arizona as a human rights violator.
As a member of the United Nations, the United States submits a report every four years to the U.N. Human Rights Council to document how America is protecting human rights.
Its report included this:
"A recent Arizona law, S.B. 1070, has generated significant attention and debate at home and around the world. The issue is being addressed in a court action that argues that the federal government has the authority to set and enforce immigration law. That action is ongoing; parts of the law are currently enjoined."
It sounds innocuous when the paragraph sits by itself, but the implication is obvious.
Arizona passed and is attempting to enforce a law to ensure immigrants are in America legally. But the State Department is saying that, because of its new law, Arizona is a human rights violator, and the government, through its lawsuit, is seeking to prevent any such violation.
How absurd. Remember, Arizona's immigration law is virtually identical to federal immigration law -- Arizona just chose to actually enforce it. The Obama administration basically is taking Arizona to task for putting sharper state teeth in its own weak-jawed federal law.
Further, the Obama administration is just assuming Arizona will violate civil rights -- when the state's law expressly forbids it. How world-class unfair is that?
The Washington Times said the State Department report "describes how the United States discriminates against the disabled, homosexuals, women, Native Americans, blacks, Hispanics and those who don't speak English."
What? Is there some imaginary nation called "Amerika" that the department might have reported on? Because the America in the real world easily is the planet's most accommodating country to people of all cultures and abilities. It's the reason everyone wants to come to America!
So the State Department wants to talk about human rights? Talk is cheap. Try some action.
For starters, our government should get moving against human smuggling. That's one of the sordid activities wrought by America's failure to enforce its existing immigration policy.
What about the human rights of migrants who are kidnapped, then held to extract ransoms from their poor families? At least Arizona's new immigration law hasn't been empirically proved to be unfair. Not so with human trafficking -- bodies found along the U.S.-Mexico border are the bloody evidence.
And even if they avoid the human traffickers, illegals fleeing into the United States too often become victims of what the Binational Migration Institute calls the "funnel effect." When authorities clamp down or close off more traditional border-crossing points, it forces illegals to cross dangerous -- often fatal -- no-man's-land.
"(T)he feds thought the Arizona desert would provide a natural barrier to migrants," wrote Stephen Lemons of the Phoenix New Times . "Instead, the desert has become a graveyard for thousands."
How's that for a human rights issue?
It's certainly not an issue that's going to be fixed by red carpets and welcome mats. We need stronger laws and actual enforcement so immigrants can enter our country with dignity.
In the meantime, is it too much to expect the federal government to stop attacking our own states on the world stage for what amounts to imaginary human rights violations?
I was reported for calling the U.S. State Dept idiots. I"m sorry State Dept. for not agreeing with your suit against the sheriff of Arizona.
And, why is this UN thingie still around?
The United States government is suing Sheriff Apaio in Arizona for racial profiling Hispanics. Now please tell me how you can racial profile Hispanics in Arizona when they are the most prevalent race in the state. This Obama government is out of control. Please vote all liberals out of every office from local to state to federal.
The real question is whether it's too much to expect a Southern newspaper to join the 21st century and oppose unlawful discrimination. The problem with the AZ law, as the judge made very clear, is that it tried to authorize the government to detain legal residents without probable cause. BTW, why aren't the alleged libertarians outraged about that?
sjgraci..Sad commentary, huh. Defend Muslims, defend illegals, and sue a good man like Sheriff Apaio for doing his job.
Vote these folks out in November.
"Speaker Boehner" sounds better every hour.
It's interesting how conservatives ignore the constitution when it does not coincide with their ideology. True Libertarians should be outraged by the draconian tactics AZ wants to implement as a blatant violation of individual liberty by the state. Any time a state begins isolating populations based on race, ethnic identity, gender, religion or any other factor, on the "suspicion" of anything, it is a treacherous precedent. The practices AZ is advocating now remind of the south's ugly history doing similar things to people with dark skin. It's time to crawl out of that 19th century mentality and rejoin the human race.
DanK,
Illegals don't have "individual liberty" to violate because they are criminals. If you come here in an illegal fashion, you are committing a crime. Real easy concept.
And this is a crime that hurts America as a whole, so it SHOULD be up to the Feds to stop it but they have been falling short.
Add to that the drug war that is going on in Mexico along our border and we have a recipe for disaster if the Feds don't do the job.
I support AZ's right to protect its own citizens and I oppose the Feds stopping them from doing so.
Obama is really throwing away all the advantages he had when he came to office. He will not be helpful for the Democratic Party when it comes to elections this year either. He may very well cost Barnes the election in GA.
And by the way, this is nothing like the Jim Crow laws you allude to. These people are NOT citizens being denied rights, they are criminals who have broken our laws and are not citizens.
Brad
DanK-How is Arizona's law any differant from the Federal law? If it is OK for the Federal Government to enforce it's own law with out the UN how is it OK to stigmatize Arizona? Truth is this administration is full of bullies who try to use the courts and international law to enforce liberal policies they can't get enacted into law. The Rape tree is another human rights violation that the idiots in this administration refuses to acknowledge, but hay profiling is SO MUCH WORSE!!! www.latina.com/.../rape-trees-found-along-southern-us-border -
Suing a state for something you think they might do in the future? Sounds a bit like 1984 or Minority Report to me.
And in case you didn't know, racial profiling is legal and it works.
Whose civil rights are being violated? The ILLEGAL aliens? ILLEGAL? Since when did foreigners illegally in this country have civil rights?
"We're used to other countries' irrational hatred of the United States.
But the United States hating the United States?"
I became politically aware in the early '60s and have noticed an astounding and irrational hatred for the United States exhibited by the "progressive" left. This assault on Arizona, and the United States by proxy, is part of the 300 year plan. Think obama.
The Feds are now suing Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Do not cross the Central Government. The black sedans are on the way to Sheriff Joe's.
It's sad when the Federal Government cares more about the rights of illegal invaders than its own citizens.
Sad, but typical of this administration. It MUST be removed.
How foolish! The concern is not for the illegal aliens, but for the innocent people who will inevitably be caught in the dragnet of suspicion. We deport 100 illegal aliens--we accidentally snag a couple of citizens who don't carry their birth certificate in the glove box (do you?), and then where are our liberties? You people do not appreciate or love our constitution at all, and quit pretending that you do.
Rhetor...they don't pull you over...check your papers, then haul you to the border. Good lord....don't you think you can prove your citizenship if given a few days to do it?
How is the law wrong if it mirrors the Federal law?
Rhetor, only under the most "tunnel vision" circumstances does you objection have any merit. How does that apply to the Arizona law?
How is it in line with the constitution to sue a state for something they haven't even done.....but you just think they might?
Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office accepts federal funds. His office was ordered to turn over documents to federal investigators. His office has not complied with that order, and there are reasons to believe that documents may have been or may be destroyed.
According to the NY Times: "Obama administration officials called the suit the first time in 30 years that the federal government had to sue to compel a law enforcement agency to cooperate with an investigation concerning Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Arpaio feigns complete surprise and claims his office is cooperating. The ACLU says the facts say otherwise and have for years.
This is great stuff. The more President Obama disconnects with the American people, the better....in the short run.
Obama's next vacation should be a week in Southern Arizona. he will need his golf clubs.
The clip from Countdown regarding the governor from Arizona says it all. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38982542/displaymode/1283/for/facebookvideo
John Randolph please come to Douglas county & pick up this illegal they're releasing from the county jail...He has cost the county $400,000 & the good citizens can't afford his upkeep any more. But since you have sooo much compassion for them maybe you can take him in your home & treat him with all the respect he needs.... btw he is a stroke victim & he was dealing drugs & could possibly have other contagious
diseases....but hey, that shouldn't deter you now should it. Thank you in advance for taking him.
Grouse, you quote MSNBC. That shows your ignorance.!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great column ACES! Yes, the DOJ caravan of black sedans is preparing, even now, to head for AZ, with men in black, ready to take sheriff Joe down.
The simple truth is that the federal government is simply harboring a grudge against sheriff Joe, and hoping that if they look long and hard enough they will find something–anything–that they can use against this longstanding and popular officer of the law. He has long been a thorn in their side, and now they think the time has come for some political payback.
They are doing all of this, of course, without probable cause, just because of the great firestorm of publicity that immigration enforcement has caused via AZ1070, and the fact that there are a great many on the left that have continually opposed him, and will stop at nothing to bring him down. This should outrage and frighten Americans all across this country.
But the reasoning for the investigation is threefold; the first obvious reason is that the federal government is looking to make a shining example out of someone to show what happens when you oppose the federal government. Punishment for daring to stand up to the heavy hand of the DOJ, that apparently now has the full backing of the POTUS. What better high profile target than sheriff Joe?
The second reason is more encompassing than just one man, and will have wide-ranging repercussions, not just on illegal immigration, but sadly on whomever the federal government decides to oppose next.
The federal government is also using this investigation to up the pressure on the state of Arizona because if they find that Sheriff Joe committed any trivial wrongdoing whatsoever, they will be able to halt federal grant money to the state of Arizona. Punish the man, and then punish the state.
Punishment of sheriff Joe, in conjunction with the lawsuit against the state of Arizona, is ultimately what this is truly all about. I fully expect him to be pilloried, villified, ultimately fired, and publically humiliated by Eric Holder & Co, as a clear warning to others, that this is what will happen to you, if you dare stand up to the bloated, power mad, out of control federal government.
Looks like another win for the ACLU and Big Brother, and another stake in the heart of freedom in the USA.
Cain, ‘According to the NY Times: "Obama administration officials called the suit the first time in 30 years that the federal government had to sue to compel a law enforcement agency to cooperate with an investigation concerning Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Arpaio feigns complete surprise and claims his office is cooperating. The ACLU says the facts say otherwise and have for years.’
Way to go, quoting the Hussein ‘Times’ and the ACLU in one comment. Is anyone surprised that the racist pig we have for an AG is suing Arpaio?
He’ll sue Arpaio who puts criminals in jail but won’t press charges against the new black panthers trash that were caught on camera committing crimes.
The real issue of the federal prosecution of Arizona over SB-1070 is jurisdiction. The feds set the immigration laws and the feds want sole jurisdiction, including any enforcement of any immigration laws. Well, the feds have done a poor job with the enforcement side of immigration. It is the right of the states to enforce federal laws, especially when the feds are having a tough time of it, and it is in the best interest of a state to help out. The AZ-SB-1070 requires citizens to carry valid, legally accepted ID in order to prove identity when asked in conjunction with a lawful detention. There is nothing racist or discriminatory about presenting a valid ID to an enforcement officer who is properly doing his/her job. If the persons do NOT have a VALID ID on their person, that is where the issue of illegal aliens comes into play. Certain Hispanics-over-all groups have jumped on this issue as alleged persecution of Hispanics. SB-1070 should pass the appeal process and become AZ state law. I see nothing discriminatory about it.
So don't deport ANY of them? Make it illegal to even ask when you have them for committing another crime? Why does Cain support criminals and enemies of this county on such a regular basis?
John,
does that mean you support Barbour judgmenton issues? If so, that means you have changed your stance on fighting (instaed of surrendering to) the terrorist too?
Brad
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
