Musings on Immigration

Dear Speaker Ralston: Likely coming up for a vote this week is HB 87, a piece of legislation entitled the "Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011." This bill is misnamed, as it does not reform illegal immigration and it does not increase or better enforcement against illegal immigration over current state and federal law. I strongly urge you to table this legislation until the sponsors of this legislation comply with state law and provide a Fiscal Note for this legislation, and even more importantly, provide their fellow legislators the factual basis for the onerous, tax increasing, unconstitutional, and economy destroying provisions in this bill. I understand that the Georgia Legislature believes it must do “something” on immigration in this session. But “something” need not be legislation that destroys Georgia’s image as a welcoming state, that impedes our state’s ability to attract foreign investment, increases the burden on local go...

I have been thinking a great deal recently about all of these state immigration bills proliferating around the United States, and the direct affront that many of them are to the U.S. Constitution. I wonder, do you violate your oath of office as an elected official, whether it be at the local or state level, if you advocate for and work to pass a bill that you know is unconstitutional? We are not talking about just advocating for a change of law within the parameters of the Constitution, but rather actively working to subvert the Constitution and Constitutional principles. For example, a state senate committee from Arizona's state legislature recently approved a bill . . . that would deny automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants , a measure designed to set up a possible U.S. Supreme Court case on the issue. [...] Sponsors of the automatic citizenship bill approved by the Senate panel hope it will prompt a court interpretation on an element of the 14th Amendmen...

You know, when you appear on Fox News that the questions are going to be tough. That is what I love about this discussion--Tough questions, Tough answers: Russ and I spoke both before and after this segment about Immigration and Immigration Reform. What I admire about him, is that he get both sides of the debate and understands that we are all going to have to settle somewhere in the middle.