The Media Reports, The Media Decides
A thought about Illegal Immigration

Can we cut through the crap, already? The media's portrayal of the goings on in Arizona is nothing short of embarrassing. Rather than debate the legislation that was recently signed into law on its merits, everyone from news reporters (who are supposed to stick to the facts without editorializing) to sports opinion writers are sidestepping the issue at hand and spilling their feelings like whining little girls.

The latest piece of "journalism" comes from J.A. Adande via ESPN.com entitled "Suns using jerseys to send message" and includes a caption on a photograph of the team owner saying, "Suns owner Robert Sarver is taking a stand on Arizona's controversial immigration enforcement law." For starters, Mr. Sarver is a private citizen who is allowed to do whatever he wants with his money and his product. At issue here is the caption. This is not an "immigration enforcement law." Even Fox News has caved on this point, referring to our "immigration debate" on many, many occasions. Again, this isn't an "immigration debate." There is already a perfectly good process in place by which those who desire to become an American citizen can do so. Playing out before us is Arizona doing what the Federal Government has been supposed to be doing all along and that is finding those who are in America illegally and sending them back from where they came.

The primary duty of a national government, any national government, is to protect its citizens. Our government in Washington D.C. has failed us miserably. They have turned a blind eye to the hemorrhaging of non-assimilating resource-comsumers into our land from our neighbor to the south all with the goal of making them a permanent underclass that will serve as a voting base for whatever political party is in power on the day that this underclass is granted full citizenship.

This is how any and all debates on the issue ought to be framed. Instead, we're told that anyone who supports Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is a racist bigot who can barely be distinguished from the Nazi Party of the 1930's. "Can I see your papers please?!" is supposed to make us recoil and recall the days of gestapos. But how is requesting documentation from a suspected non-citizen in Arizona any different from requesting registration and proof of insurance from a speeding driver? There is no difference.

Critics will talk about Mexicans coming to America in search of a better life for themselves and their families. That may be so, but it's nothing more than a peripheral issue. The primary focus must be on enforcing the laws that are in place, touchy-feely feelings aside.

It's time to call a spade a spade. Illegal immigrants are a drain on our nation. They consume farm more than they produce, and even if they produced more, they'd still be illegal. If we are to be a nation built upon the rule of law, it's high time we enforce the law as it is written.

rg

5/5/2010