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Dear Senator Allen:
Thanks for publishing your oped in the Austin Capital Times to explain SB 1070, Arizona's new immigration law. Frankly, I think some of the rhetoric applied to this new measure has managed to generate a lot of heat but not much light. Some of the knee-jerk Arizona-bashers among us just haven't caught up with your side of the story yet.
On the other hand, I think it's important that we all agree on the basic facts at play here. What would we ever do if Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan had never said, "We're all entitled to our own opinions but not to our own facts."
You write that "Rancher Rob Krantz was murdered by the drug cartel on his ranch a month ago. You say the people who live within 60 to 80 miles of the Arizona/Mexico Border have for years been terrorized and have pleaded for help to stop the daily invasion of humans who cross their property. One Rancher testified that 300 to 1200 people a DAY come across his ranch vandalizing his property, stealing his vehicles and property, cutting down his fences, and leaving trash. In the last two years he has found 17 dead bodies and two Koran bibles."
"Another rancher testified that daily drugs are brought across his ranch in a military operation. A point man with a machine gun goes in front, 1/2 mile behind are the guards fully armed, 1/2 mile behind them are the drugs, behind the drugs 1/2 mile are more guards" One man told of two illegal's (sic) who came upon his property one shot in the back and the other in the arm by the drug runners who had forced them to carry the drugs and then shot them."
I have no doubt that, from your perspective, all your statements are true and un-challengable. And one can't help but feel great compassion for the folks who suffered these losses.
But let me tell you where I think there are other facts that also need to be understood.
These facts are that crime rates and violence in Arizona are down, not up. Federal statistics show that in fact violent crime in your state was lower in 2008 than it has been since the early 1970s.In fact, violent crime and property crime have fallen consistently in all the border states over the last several years. The Mayor of Hidalgo, Texas, said that in his 20 years as mayor there has not been a single homicide, and there was only one kidnapping, committed by a registered sex offender from California.
But there's an even more significant context here. We all need to be careful to distinguish between cartelistas in the drug trade and ordinary Mexicans who are coming to our country to work and earn money to send home. The druggistas are vicious thugs who are breaking our people and our laws. They need to be caught. But that's not going to be easy so long as it's our own appetite for the toxins they peddle that keeps them in business and doing very nicely, thanks very much.
(Maybe when we have ore time, we can have a discussion about the impact that drug legalization might have on the border problem, but that's for another day.)
You say that "The border patrol is not on the border. They have set up 60 miles away with checkpoints that do nothing to stop the invasion. They are not allowed to use force in stopping anyone who is entering. They run around chasing them, if they get their hands on them then they can take them back across the border."
Well, Senator, you are absolutely right that the Border Patrol is not on the border. The fact is that their checkpoints are invasive law enforcement roadblocks that do not improve security but do infringe on the civil rights of border residents.
You write that Federal prisons have over 35% illegal's (sic) and 20% of Arizona prisons are filled with illegals. In the last few years 80% of our law enforcement that have been killed or wounded have been by an illegal.
Here, I have to tell you the percent of illegals you say is in jails or committing crimes is simply wrong. It's possible that prisons have 35% non-citizens, but that's not the same as illegal immigrants. And I'm sorry to have to tell you that your claim about injury to law enforcement being 80% caused by illegal immigrants is completely spurious. It's your own fact!
You say, "the Federal Government has refused for years to do anything to help the border states. We have been over run and once they are here we have the burden of funding state services that they use. Education costs have been over a billion dollars. The healthcare cost billions of dollars. Our State is broke, $3.5 billion deficit and we have many serious decisions to make. One is that we do not have the money to care for any who are not here legally. It has to stop."
I think most immigration experts and reliable economists would agree that Arizona's fiscal problems are not the result of unlawful entries. In fact, most unlawful entries are of migrants seeking work, contributing a net gain to Arizona's economy. Contrary to widespread misunderstanding, most undocumented workers pay taxes, including sales taxes and income taxes, which are often withdrawn before the worker is paid. Furthermore, I am not an economist, but it seems more reasonable to suggest that Arizona's fiscal problems are much more a result of a national and global economic meltdown.
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