AZ Governor Responds To Immigration Law ... On ESPN

Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, responds to calls for sports boycotts of
her state over Senate Bill 1070, the new immigration law.

By Gov. Jan Brewer
Special to ESPN.com
Originally Published: May 5, 2010

In my 28 years of public service, I have made a lot of tough calls. But with a
federal government unwilling to secure our border for years and years, Arizona
is left with little choice. Imagine a sporting event in which rules have been
agreed to for 70 years, but the umpires refuse to enforce those rules. It makes
no sense. Although I recognize that Arizona Senate Bill 1070, as amended, is not
the entire solution to our illegal immigration problem in Arizona, most people
are united in the hope that it will finally inspire the politicians in
Washington, D.C., to stop talking and to start action now.

By now, sports fans everywhere have heard something about the passage of Senate
Bill 1070, a measure I signed into law. It has resulted in protests outside
ballparks hosting our Arizona Diamondbacks and has led to calls on Major League
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig to strip the City of Phoenix's opportunity to
host baseball's Midsummer Classic in July 2011.
Jan Brewer

Urging Major League Baseball to take away next year's All-Star Game from Phoenix
is the wrong play. In Arizona, both proponents and opponents of Senate Bill 1070
have stated that economic boycotts are an inappropriate and misguided response
to an issue that is clearly worthy of proper public debate and discourse. Put
simply, history shows that boycotts backfire and harm innocent people. Boycotts
are just more politics and manipulation by out-of-state interests. As a border
state, Arizona has already paid a heavy price for the federal government's
failure -- hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in unreimbursed
costs -- and its citizens should not be punished further.

It is critically important that all Americans understand the impetus for this
new law and have a clear understanding of the law itself. Our neighbor to the
south, Mexico, is in a massive battle with well-organized drug cartels. Because
of Washington's failure to secure our southern border, Arizona has become the
superhighway of illegal drug and human smuggling activity. In December 2008, the
U.S. Justice Department said that Mexican gangs are the "biggest organized crime
threat to the United States." In 2009, Phoenix had 316 kidnapping cases, turning
the city into our nation's kidnapping capital. Almost all of the persons
kidnapped were illegal immigrants or linked to the drug trade.

Essentially, our border leaks like a team with a last-place defense. The very
same week that I signed the new law, a major drug ring was broken up and Mexican
cartel operatives suspected of running 40,000 pounds of marijuana through
southern Arizona were indicted.

While drug smuggling is the principal cause of our massive border-violence
problem, many of the same criminal organizations also smuggle people. Busts of
drop houses, where illegal immigrants are often held for ransom or otherwise
severely abused, are not uncommon occurrences in Arizona neighborhoods.

Today, Arizona has approximately 6,000 prison inmates who are foreign nationals,
representing a cost to our state of roughly $150 million per year. Arizona
taxpayers are paying for a vast majority of these incarceration expenses because
the federal government refuses to pay what it owes. Homeland Security Secretary
Janet Napolitano, as governor of Arizona, sent numerous requests to the federal
government to pay for these prisoners -- only to be given the same answer she
and President Barack Obama are now giving Arizona: They will not pay the bill.

When I signed the legislation, I stated clearly I will not tolerate racial
discrimination or racial profiling in Arizona. My administration worked for
weeks with legislators to improve SB 1070, to specifically clarify and
strengthen its civil rights protections. I issued an executive order to
implement proper training and enforcement protocols for our police so that the
intent of the language could not be misconstrued. Although it is already against
the law, the new law undeniably prohibits law enforcement officers from
considering race, color or national origin in implementing the new statute.

I have worked for years without fail to solve problems diligently and
practically. I have done so always with an eye toward civility, and always with
the greatest respect for the rule of law.

This new law is no different. As committed as I am to protecting our state from
crime associated with illegal immigration, I am equally committed to holding law
enforcement accountable should this statute ever be misused to violate an
individual's rights.

There have been countless distortions, honest omissions, myths and bad
information about Arizona's new law -- many, undoubtedly, spread to create fear
or mistrust.

So here are the facts:

1. The new Arizona law creates a state penalty to mirror what already is a
federal crime. Despite the most vile and hate-filled portrayals of proponents of
the law as "Nazis," actions that have been condemned nationally by the
Anti-Defamation League, it is ALREADY a federal requirement for legal aliens in
the United States to carry their green card or other immigration document. The
new Arizona law enforces what has been a federal crime since before World War
II. As anyone who has traveled abroad knows, other nations have similar laws.

2. Contrary to many of the horror stories being spread -- President Obama
suggested families risk being pulled over while going out for ice cream -- law
enforcement cannot randomly ask anyone about their immigration status. Much like
enforcement of seat belt laws in many states, under SB 1070 there must first be
reasonable suspicion that you are breaking some OTHER non-immigration law before
an officer can ask a person about their legal status. Only then, after law
enforcement officers have a "reasonable suspicion" that another law has been
broken, can they inquire about immigration status -- but ONLY if that
individual's behavior provides "reasonable suspicion" that the person is here
illegally.

"Reasonable suspicion" is a well-understood concept that has been thoroughly
vetted through numerous federal court cases. Many have asked: What is reasonable
suspicion? Is it race, skin color or national origin? No! Racial profiling is
prohibited in the new law. Examples of reasonable suspicion include: a person
running away when approached by law enforcement officers, or a car failing to
stop when the police turn on their lights and siren.

3. Arizona's local law enforcement officers, who already reflect the great
diversity of culture in our state, are going to be trained to enforce the new
immigration law in a constitutional manner. It is shameful and presumptive for
opponents to question the good will and the competence of Arizona's law
enforcement personnel. The specter that is raised of rogue, racist police
harassing people is insulting to those in Arizona who risk their lives in the
name of law enforcement every day.

President Theodore Roosevelt said, "No man is above the law and no man is below
it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it. Obedience
to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor." Arizona has been more
than patient waiting for Washington to act. Decades of federal inaction and
misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation. Arizona
has acted to enforce the rule of law equally and without bias toward any person.

It is time for our country to act to resolve our border security problem; an
economic boycott in Arizona would only exacerbate it -- and hurt innocent
families and businesses merely seeking to survive during these difficult
economic times.

A boycott that would actually improve border security would be to boycott
illegal drugs. Dramatically less drug use and production would do wonders for
the safety of all our communities.

-Jan Brewer is the governor of Arizona.

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LINK: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?page=brewer/100505=