The Arizona Uproar

American Thinker ^ | 4-27-10 | Leo W. Banks

[radioone]

Listening to the national uproar, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Arizona has marched into the civil rights apocalypse with its new state law cracking down on illegal immigrants.

Here's an important bit of context: This isn't your father's illegal immigration, when polite farm workers offered to do chores in return for some water and a sandwich as they walked north. Today, the drug cartels have taken over the people-smuggling business. They own the trails into the country and dominate the land, the same way urban gangs control neighborhoods

[rlmorel]

Thanks for linking to this. My mind is made up, I am going to begin donating to The American Thinker. Without fail, each article I read from there seems more pertinent and well placed than the last.

This is a great article, provides real context that those of us who DON’T live in a border state simply don’t get.

[hershey]

Hmm, let’s see. How far does Mexico have to invade/migrate/take over completely before Washington admits there’s a problem? When they burn down the WH? Again.

[gusopol3]

But the national media largely ignore it because it offers up the wrong victims and the wrong politics. They don't send reporters out to Arizona get the story, to walk the smuggling trails, to sit with beleaguered Americans at their kitchen tables and understand the torment their lives have become.

They are captives of their own propaganda, from the false reports of tea party racism and violence through the current flap. They remind me of the (failed) ex-realtor who told me the story of pitching the "perfectly dry basement" of a property to prospects as he descended the stairs, until he stepped off the bottom step into an ankle-deep puddle.

[Utah Binger]

Had dinner last night with relatives from Phoenix. They were asking repeatedly about our security here in southern Utah. Seems the entire state is on alert because of the tremendous crime and break-ins especially in Tucson.

I’m certain it won’t be long before we have the same problem here.

[lonestar]

...those of us who DON’T live in a border state simply don’t get.

Nor does Al "Let Me on TV" Sharpston.

[Travis McGee]

Why don't we just give them what they want, then we can all get along in peace?

[Halls]

I just wish Gov. Perry would step up to the plate now. Every year goes by it is getting worse and worse here in Texas. These illegals aren’t here to live the American dream! They’ve already shown their willing to break laws by coming into our country illegally. They are here to commit crimes! They come into my Texas city and drive through the driveways grabbing whatever they can. If a garage door is open they go in it and rob. We have to keep bikes, etc. locked up and garage doors always closed if we’re not outside. It is nuts!

Wake up America! This is a problem and has nothing to do with race!!

[madamemayhem]

see, from what i am hearing, it seems that all hispanics in the state of arizona are going to be rounded up, arrested, and instantly deported. even the ones who are legal citizens. even the ones who were BORN HERE. IT IS AN OUTRAGE!!! those hate filled, racist arizona republicans who are responsible for this horror, this almost holocaust, should be ashamed of themselves. they should be dragged through the streets and berated on news shows.THEY SHOULD BE BOYCOTTED AND PROTESTED BY AL SHARPTON!!!! HOW DARE THEY DO SOMETHING SO HEINOUS TO THE INNOCENT........

wait.. you mean that isn’t true? seriously? really? ummmmm k, nevermind.

[Utah Binger]

We need an approach similar to Ellis Island which forces registration of anyone coming here. Open borders has to be rectified and handled better.

Ellis Island

[rlmorel]

I think Al gets it just fine. He simply doesn't think it is important.

This was the "context" that really got me, and has stuck with me all day today since I read it:

"...On March 31, four hundred people gathered outside the one-room Apache School to tell their elected reps what it's like to live in smuggler-occupied territory. The meeting was held there, in the cold, open air, in part because the nearest place to host a group that size inside was seventy round-trip miles away, and these folks didn't feel comfortable leaving their homes for that length of time.

They live by a rule of thumb: If you leave your house empty, it will be occupied by illegals or drug smugglers. We're not talking just about homes five miles from the international line. We're talking about homes up to sixty miles north of the border..."

I must say, one of the freedoms we enjoy living in a Republic that has been subject to the rule of law, is that we don't have to spend all of our time guarding our home, our land, our belongings, and our lives.

Up to now, we have always felt comfortable letting the law guard us so we had the freedom to go to work all day and earn a living.

These people cannot take a ride into town to pick up more feed for their livestock (or whatever they need) without leaving someone to watch the house, lest they come home to find it occupied, ransacked or vandalized.

That made me think about what I take for granted, and what has been lost for THOSE US CITIZENS IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA.

They have to guard their house, lest they lose it, and they do.

They have to guard their property, lest it be stolen or vandalized, and it has been.

They have to arm themselves, lest they lose their lives, and recently, someone did.

And this has been going on for a good, long time.