Pima County
An Arizona sheriff is the latest person to speak out about the state’s new immigration legislation, saying he does not plan to enforce the divisive law.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik calls Senate Bill 1070 a “stupid law” that will force officers to start profiling. He is one of the first local law enforcement officials to rebel against the law.
“We don’t need to enforce it. It would be irresponsible in my opinion to put people in the Pima County Jail at the taxpayers expense when i can give them to the Border Patrol,” Dupnik said.
The Sheriff admits he could get sued for failing to obey the law, but says that’s a risk he’s willing to take.
The controversial bill was signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer last Friday.
Sheriff Dupnik’s stance is undoubtedly good politics in Tucson, the home of the state university and Arizona’s most prominent liberal community of fashion, but he is making a point that persons familiar with law enforcement already know.
Illegal immigration is just another victimless crime, a violation of arbitrary current regulations not an intrinsically evil act. Police always have real crimes involving genuine evil and victims who have sustained injury to deal with, and crimes with victims always have priority over victimless crimes. Only a cop with time on his hands and nothing useful to do is going to stop people looking for green cards.
In border locations like Pima County, a casual trans-border culture has existed since the time of the Gadsden Purchase. People cross the border casually all the time to visit relatives, to shop, or for recreational activities. Attempting to investigate everyone guilty of looking Hispanic in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood would be insanity.
John A
“Attempting to investigate everyone guilty of looking Hispanic in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood would be insanity.”
Agreed, which is why I am ambivalent. Ambivalent, not against. The sherrif asks why he should hold illegals rather than turn them over to Border Patrol – well, how is he supposed to know they are illegals? Usually, by having reason to suspect such is the case – he does not randomly ask just anyone. Nor does this law so require.
OTOH, citizens are not [usually – to purchase alcohol is one exception] required to carry ID, and how does one know who IS required? As has been pointed out, the US Code – Federal law – requires it of non-citizens, who must be able to show a visa of some type.
Surellin
“People cross the border casually all the time to visit relatives, to shop, or for recreational activities”. Well and good. The problem seems to be people crossing the border to kill, smuggle and kidnap. Tuscon ain’t Juarez. Now let’s keep it that way.
Thalpy
If nothing else, this law may allow people to see our immigration policy for what it is. Throughout the Southwest the impact on our social services is obvious. It’s as if Cloward and Piven implemented their poverty ending scheme across our entire border with Mexico. It costs over $11,000 a year to educate one child in California. How many farm laborers can pay for that? What about the hospitals? What about Welfare in general? Each of the border states has a prison population of at least 25% Hispanic and if the statistics weren’t cooked, the numbers would be greater.
Immigration, legal and illegal, has had a profound impact on our civilization. Yes, OUR CIVILIZATION! Perhaps this law, and the resulting discussions, will illuminate that.
BMF
I’m not following your logic. Bank robbery is a victimless crime if no one gets hurt. All the robber does is steal other people’s money, but the theft is insured so no one actually loses their money.
And what if the robber takes the money and starts a business and creates jobs? Doesn’t that benefit the community?
And only 0.000000000001 percent of our population commit bank robberies, so what waste time and resources investigating them. Don’t the police have more important things to do?
Nevertheless, bank robberies are crimes, and for good reason.
Illegal parking is against the law. It doesn’t hurt a soul, but you get fined anyway. Driving without a license is a victimless crime–you can lose your previlege.
Tresspassing is a victimless crime as well, but the police will haul me off to jail if I’m on someones property without their permission. And isn’t that what illegals are doing–tresspassing? Why do I get arrested for tresspassing but they get food stamps?
Entering the country illegally may seem like a victimless crime, but it’s actually bank robbery in sense.
They get countless benefits from local, state, and the federal governments such as education, first responder services, food stamps, and other subsidies and benefits of all kinds.
Every dollar that supports an illegal alien in any way is a dollar that is not supporting our own citizens.
So by their illegal activity, they steal money meant for other people. That’s a form of robbery not unlike robbing a bank. The bank just happens to be the local, state, and federal governments; and the victims happen to be the people who would otherwise have received those benefits and the rest of us who are penalized with higher taxes to pay for all of it.
And entering the country illegally simply highlights the mindset they do not respect our laws.
Would you support unrestricted entry to the US by every country in the world? Should we abandon checking passports because entering the country illegally doesn’t harm anyone?
If illegal entry is no big deal, then why do we have no fly lists, require visas (from some countries) and check passports for everyone entering legally from the rest of the world, but somehow there is no need to do the same for Hispanics entering through Mexico? Why have any border checkpoints on the border with Mexico?
Why does someone from India have to submit a request for a student or work visa, require a sponsor, and have to have a valid reason for staying in the US for any length fo time–but Hispanics need only walk across the border and stay as long as they want.
Why does Mexico have the most draconian immigration laws in the world and yet demands that we have open borders? The answer, of course is that illegal immigrants in the US is a mulit-billion dollar business for Mexico. Those billions would otherwise be spent here in the US.
And why should one business have an advantage over another because they employ illegals below market labor rates?
And don’t open borders allow terrorist to easily enter this country?
I’m sorry, I don’t buy your victimless sob story. Illegals divert billions of dollars of goverment resources, they send billions more to Mexico that would be spent locally, they under cut fair competition, they commit crimes (100% of them have already committed a crime by entering the country illegally so your contorted math proving how peaceful they are is pretty much BS).
Our Constitution demands equal justice under our laws. If I break the law, I’m held accountable. Illegals should be held accountable for breaking the law as well.
It sounds like you are supportive of the idea that the US is an economy; not a country.
I apologize for the rambling nature of this post, but I’m in a hurry.
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