Posted on 07/08/2010 7:48:37 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Well whaddya know? It turns out that Rhode Island has long been carrying out the procedures at issue in the Arizona immigration statute: As a matter of routine, RI state police check immigration status at traffic stops whenever there is reasonable suspicion to do so, and they report all illegals to the feds for deportation. Besides the usual profiling blather, critics have trotted out the now familiar saw that such procedures hamstring police because they make immigrants afraid to cooperate. But it turns out that its the Rhode Island police who insist on enforcing the law. As Cornell law prof William Jacobson details at Legal Insurrection, Colonel Brendan P. Doherty, the state police commander, refuses to hide from the issue, explaining, I would feel that Im derelict in my duties to look the other way.
If, as President Obama and Attorney General Holder claim, there is a federal preemption issue, why hasnt the administration sued Rhode Island already? After all, Rhode Island is actually enforcing these procedures, while the Arizona law hasnt even gone into effect yet.
Could it be because as weve discussed here before the Supreme Court in Muehler v. Mena has already held that police do not need any reason (not probable cause, not reasonable suspicion) to ask a person about his immigration status?
Could it be that just this past February, in Estrada v. Rhode Island, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld the Rhode Island procedures, reasoning that, in Muehler v. Mena, the Supreme Court held that a police officer does not need independent reasonable suspicion to question an individual about her immigration status ?
So, we have a Justice Department that drops a case it already won against New Black Panthers who are on tape intimidating voters in blatant violation of federal law, but that sues a sovereign state for enacting a statute in support of immigration enforcement practices that have already been upheld by two of the nations highest courts. Perfect.
The governments prosecution is invidious or in bad faith, based upon impermissible considerations such as race, religion, or the desire to prevent exercise of constitutional rights.
Case dismissed!!!
Or Missouri?
Methinks the problem is that Arizona is a portal state - stop illegal immigration and you not only stop future Democratic voters from entering, you also stop a big part of the drug trade - and an attendant loss of income via confiscation by the various government agencies.
RI is a blue state and therefore a friend of Hussein. AZ is a red state and therefore an enemy of Hussein. Hussein fancies himself the new Lincoln. He might wind up being more like Lincoln than he might like.
To clarify, Obama might be presiding over CWII within a year or two. Showing favoritism among states (and races) is a sure-fire way to incite animosity.
“Dont worry, the librals will find an excuse for why its different in RI than it is in AZ. For instance, Arizonans are racists while Noreasterners are a kind, genteel people”
Yep. And those elite libs in RI need allot of “landscape maintenance” for the mansion. And don’t forget the stuff needed for the beach cottage............. The regular middle class Arizonan’s just do the yard themselves and pay for the medical,education, and incarceration costs of all the AZ illegals too.
We,middle class Texans, pay it out for our own 1.5 million “guests” too....... But I digress... They add “so much” to our economy.
You win...100% agree....they don’t want Arizona to stop the new illegals from entering in time for amnesty.
The United States of America vs. Arizona.
They start losing any pretense of legitimacy when it becomes
The Federal Government vs. Arizona, Rhode Island, Virginia, Missouri, ...
They are treading in very, very dangerous waters.
There’s a guy name of Paul Revere been riding his horse around up there carrying a lantern and poluting the air, not even cleaning up after the horse, what’s 0’b and Holder gonna do about this??
Rhode Island's per capita income is the same as the national average, though dollars probably don't go as far there as they do in some other parts of the country. There are some pretty poor towns and rough neighborhoods in Rhode Island.
Arizona's is a little under the national average, though I'd expect around Phoenix you find enough mansions, and people actually living in them, not museums like in Rhode Island. If I had to bet, I'd venture more people in Providence mowed their own lawns than in Phoenix.
I don't get why every post provokes this kind of sectional animosity. Rhode Island passed this law in 2008, before Obama took over. If they tried to pass it today, they might be the targets of the feds' rage. How about a little credit for a state that got it right earlier?
I said “elite Libs in RI” ......not middle class conservatives. Which, i’m sure there are many.
The point is....
Elite Libs, no matter where they are, hypocritically cry about the “unfair” treatment of illegals. At the same time, they are paying them slave wages to wash their clothes and wipe the noses of their little “Libs in training”. Then they dodge the taxes owed on the wages paid to said illegals, while we pay their REAL costs.
Unfortunately for you RI conservatives, you live in a BLUE state. Don’t you?? You think Zero is going to sue a BLUE state?? Hell no, he’s not.
But sorry..... didn’t mean to offend.
bttt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.