Thread: Chicago: Arizona Boycott Doesn't Solve Anything

Arizona boycott doesn't solve anything

May 16, 2010

BY CAROL MARIN Sun-Times Columnist

We found this cross last month on a patch of rock known as Spook Mountain in the Arizona desert about 30 miles from the Mexican border.

For the last 13 years, we've gathered at an old guest ranch here. A reunion of 20 friends, we ride horses, drink gin and tonics, and catch up.

Who was Maria V. Cortez? No one seemed to know.

Neither the Pima County coroner's office nor the Arizona Star newspaper had a record of the woman whose name was etched in a cross that appeared only about a year ago.

Meanwhile, not far from that spot, a highly regarded rancher named Robert Krentz recently was murdered. It's unclear if his killer was a drug courier crossing from Mexico or someone from the U.S. side, but the murder has further fueled outrage over security problems on the border. And fury over the lack of a rational, national immigration policy.

And so the Arizona legislature late last month passed what some consider a Draconian immigration law, the harshest in the country.

One that allows law enforcement to detain anyone they suspect might be here illegally and to hold that person until the feds can verify his or her status.

And to criminally charge individuals if they are not carrying proper proof of citizenship or immigration status on their person.

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who gave a fiery speech in Rosemont last week, is fine with that law. I am not.

But where Palin and I share a small patch of common ground is over whether it's right to boycott Arizona in protest.

A friend of mine recently asked if I was going to cancel next year's trip. Without hesitation, I said no.

The ranchers I know on the Arizona border are reasonable, honorable people who live in a war zone. They respect hard work and the desperate desire of Mexican immigrants to seek a better life. But with thousands of people carving trails through their backyards, cutting their fences, breaking their water lines, and in some cases, threatening their safety, they are tired of waiting for Washington to help them out.

Threatened boycotts or not, they've forced a furious national discussion.

The decision of Highland Park High School not to send its girls' basketball team to a December tournament in Arizona has unleashed the fire-breathing talking heads of cable TV in a torrent of alleged analysis and recrimination.

It has also sent politicians, including Illinois' two U.S. Senate candidates, Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi Giannoulias into a tailspin -- not risking saying too much until they can judge the direction and ferocity of the political wind.

President George Bush punted on this problem. And President Obama has yet, despite election promises, to come to grips with it.

Love it or hate, Arizona's new law is forcing us -- a nation of immigrants -- to confront the economic and social complexity of this massive problem.

Meanwhile, a boycott isn't even a simple solution.

It's no solution at all.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/2277 ... 16.article

Well, we'll take the blessings where we can find them, even if on occasion a pro-amnesty writer gets something right. Although, I was sort of looking forward to the retaliatory boycotts myself, that "tyranny of the majority" kind of thingy.

Originally Posted by Judy

Well, we'll take the blessings where we can find them, even if on occasion a pro-amnesty writer gets something right. Although, I was sort of looking forward to the retaliatory boycotts myself, that "tyranny of the majority" kind of thingy.

Ditto Judy! While I’m here I would also like to add that I'm getting sick and tired of hearing the term, we are a nation of immigrants, being used therein anywhere near a discussion of illegal invaders.

Illegal invaders are not immigrants, and to suggest as much, is a complete insult to those who came yesteryear - and fought on distant shores - under the colors of red, white and blue, in order to defeat nazism and communism.

These are not the same so called immigrants who now come to this country illegally and pump out as many anchor babies as is humanely possible - all in an effort to usurp as many benefits as they can get their hands on - while attempting to avoid deportation nevertheless.

There is no room at the table for anyone who believes illegal immigrants are of any value to this country!

Originally Posted by NoBueno

Originally Posted by Judy

Well, we'll take the blessings where we can find them, even if on occasion a pro-amnesty writer gets something right. Although, I was sort of looking forward to the retaliatory boycotts myself, that "tyranny of the majority" kind of thingy.

Ditto Judy! While I’m here I would also like to add that I'm getting sick and tired of hearing the term, we are a nation of immigrants, being used therein anywhere near a discussion of illegal invaders.

Illegal invaders are not immigrants, and to suggest as much, is a complete insult to those who came yesteryear - and fought on distant shores - under the colors of red, white and blue, in order to defeat nazism and communism.

These are not the same so called immigrants who now come to this country illegally and pump out as many anchor babies as is humanely possible - all in an effort to usurp as many benefits as they can get their hands on - while attempting to avoid deportation nevertheless.

There is no room at the table for anyone who believes illegal immigrants are of any value to this country!

That's exactly right. And frankly, I consider it an insult to the Americans who founded this country to even call them "immigrants". They weren't immigrants, they were explorers, adventurers, sailors, conquerors, developers, investors, builders, pioneers, settlers, freedom-fighters, hunters, trappers, farmers, surveyors and slaves.

We are not a nation of immigrants. We are nation of Americans. And if someone doesnt know what that is, then they're long over-due to find out.

Woo, Black Saint is really, really ticked off. Love the comments. One poster proposed a taser fence!