The Arizona Republic
By Mark Krikorian
Those who can, do. Those who won't, declare a state of emergency.
After years of welcoming illegal immigration, Govs. Janet Napolitano and Bill Richardson now see a political tsunami gaining force and are heading for higher ground.
We saw this same thing happen in the mid-1990s, when Arizona was one of several states that attempted to sue the federal government for the fiscal fallout of illegal immigration. Everyone understood that the lawsuits had no chance of success, because the distribution of federal funds is clearly not a judicial issue. But they were a clever political tactic nonetheless, allowing officials to appear responsive to public concerns over immigration without actually doing anything to control it.
Perhaps by design, the political effect of the lawsuits was to focus debate on welfare costs as the problem with immigration. This led Congress to respond by punting on immigration but acting on welfare, denying most legal immigrants access to most welfare programs. Of course, this did nothing to fix our immigration problem.
Posted by Suzanne at August 29, 2005