http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florid ... 7586.story

Floridians contribute to Arizona's fight for immigration enforcement law

By John Lantigua, The Palm Beach Post

8:05 a.m. EDT, July 20, 2010

When the Obama administration goes to court Thursday against Arizona's new immigration enforcement law, Mark Benson, of Jupiter, will have a stake in the outcome.

Not just a political stake, but a monetary one.

Benson is one of hundreds of Floridians who have contributed to a legal defense fund for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer because they support the Arizona law and want a similar statute in Florida.

"When the federal government doesn't do its duty, then you have to shake it up," says Benson, 60, who donated $250 to the cause. "I believe it is important to get the federal government to protect our borders."

The Arizona law, to take effect July 29, is seen by supporters as a way to achieve just that. The statute requires state and local police to ascertain the immigration status of anyone they stop for any reason — including traffic infractions — if they have a "reasonable suspicion" that person is in the country illegally. It empowers the officers to arrest those found in violation of immigration laws.

Opponents have labeled the law racist and say it will be used to specifically target Latinos. The Obama administration has argued that the law violates the Constitution by giving to the state a role in immigration enforcement, a duty that it contends should belong exclusively to federal authorities.

On Monday, Justice Department attorneys were to ask a federal judge in Arizona to grant an injunction blocking implementation of the law. The administration hopes the law will eventually be thrown out altogether.

Florida Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum has filed an amicus brief supporting Arizona in the legal battle. And State Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, has written a similar bill for Florida and will wait to see what happens in the Arizona case before deciding whether to introduce it to the Legislature in March.

According to polls, most Americans and Floridians back the Arizona law.

As of July 15, 24,767 people around the country had donated $1.15 million through online donations to the Governor's Border Security and Immigration Legal Defense Fund. Of those, 1,336 Floridians donated $64,582, placing the state fourth in contributions behind only Arizona, California and Texas.

"I'm proud to be on the list of donors," said Ronald J. Tiede, 63, an insurance salesman from Lutz in Hillsborough County, who gave $50. "And it has nothing to do with race. It has to do with legality. I grew up in a country of laws. I have disagreed with some of those laws, but I have followed them. Let's be legal."

Jane Inden, 68, a retired travel agent from North Fort Myers, spoke about how her husband had to flee Hungary after he joined in an unsuccessful uprising against the communist government there in 1956.

"He came here, but he did it legally," says Inden, who donated $25. "I want people to follow the law. I ask my friends, 'If those people don't follow the law, why should I?'

"I don't understand why this president is going after Gov. Brewer. I'm very proud of her and very unhappy with him. Why isn't he going after people who aren't following the law?"

But Inden, who is of English, German and Swiss heritage and grew up on an Illinois farm, says she is also bothered by what she sees as a shifting ethnic balance in the country.

"I can't go anywhere without hearing Spanish," she says. "I don't like too many people of one nationality coming in. We are losing our own country."

She is also angry at political tactics employed by the immigrant community, especially large street demonstrations that began in 2006.

"That really made me mad," says Inden, "those protests and people waving Mexican flags."

Benson, of Jupiter, says he has no problem with Mexicans or other Latinos.

He is an independent radio producer, but says he has also done some cattle ranching.

"The Mexicans who come here are good people," he says. "We could have a lot worse neighbors than the Mexicans."

But Benson says he disagrees with Obama administration proposals that would allow 12 million illegal immigrants now in the country to become legal residents and possibly citizens.

"It wouldn't be just 10 or 12 million as they say," says Benson. "Once they became citizens then they could bring family members as well, so we're talking maybe 50 million."

Immigrant rights activists put the numbers at about half that.

Benson also fears that the U.S. will build a permanent underclass, like the one that exists in Mexico, because some U.S. employers refuse to pay decent wages and attract U.S. citizens willing to work. He especially faults farmers who insist they can't afford to pay better wages.

Benson wants laws against employers who hire the undocumented enforced. But he also wants existing laws implemented that would let those employers to apply for special guest worker visas and bring foreign workers in legally and temporarily if needed, and at decent wages.

Immigrant advocates have condemned the Arizona law, saying that it could lead to some other states adopting similar measures while others don't, leading to confusion and conflict across the country.

But Benson says backing the Arizona law is a way to force the federal government's hand.

"The problem isn't the illegal alien," says Benson. "The problem is the system that creates illegal aliens. And that system has to change."

Copyright © 2010, South Florida Sun-Sentinel