August 30, 2007

Time to end the charade

Dan Sernoffsky

It might not be fair to blame it all on California but had the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals not overturned Proposition 187 in 1994, the great debate on illegal immigration might have long been over.

Prop 187, which was overwhelmingly passed by Californians, demanded that law enforcement agents investigate the immigration status of anyone arrested who was suspected to be in violation of immigration laws, and that no public benefits, other than emergency medical care, be accorded anyone incapable of proving a legal right to reside in the country.

Under Prop 187, anyone arrested who was found to be illegally in the country would be reported to both the attorney general of California, as well as to federal immigration officials. Further, local governments were prohibited from doing anything to impair carrying out the law, and all cases involving arrests of illegals were to be available for inspection.

The Ninth Circuit decided that it was better equipped than the citizenry to determine the best interests of the state and promptly scuttled it.

It is unfortunate that Pete Wilson, California’s governor at the time, failed to follow the lead of Andrew Jackson.

In 1830, Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act, an act designed to move several native tribes out of Georgia by exchanging that land for land in the west. The Cherokees filed suit and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in their favor. Jackson shrugged off the decision, famously stating “John Marshall (the Chief Justice) has made his decision. Now let him enforce it.â€