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ARABESQUE POST-AMERICAN AMERICA
By H. Millard (c) 2001 - Posted 12/03/01
Police in both Portland and Corvallis, Oregon are refusing to interview foreign visitors as part of the federal investigation to find anyone linked to the events of 9/11. This refusal brings up an old question: Do local authorities have the right to ignore federal law and edicts?
In a way, this refusal is reminiscent of the situation that happened in several states in the late '50's during the black civil rights movement. Then, the local authorities also refused to enforce federal law. As a result, in 1957, President Eisenhower sent federal troops and the National Guard into Little Rock, Arkansas to force the local authorities to bend to the federal will.
At that time, however, in contrast to recent years, the feds hadn't first been winking that it was okay if the local authorities ignored federal laws. The reality of America up until 9/11 was that many politicians in both major political parties from President Bush on down, had been sending pretty clear messages that it was okay for local authorities to look the other way regarding federal immigration laws. Sure, the laws were on the books, and most of the politicians were smart enough to not counsel anyone to break the law, but (wink, wink) the message was clear that except for some token enforcement, illegal aliens had a free pass. And, the local authorities did give them a free pass through various unwritten don't ask, don't tell policies when they stopped suspected illegal aliens for minor traffic violations, and other minor matters, or when they in some way came into contact with the illegal aliens.
Then, in a sort of American version of a Kafkaesque nightmare, when citizens complained that their cities were being invaded by illegal aliens, these citizens were either ignored by the local authorities or were called racists and xenophobes to browbeat them into submission and silence. At the same time, the local authorities would tell the complaining citizens that these local authorities weren't the INS, and that if the citizens had a complaint about illegal aliens, the citizens should call the INS. If the citizens did this, they found that nothing much happened, either because the INS was also playing the wink game, or because the hands of the INS were tied by higher up politicians to the point that they could only do token enforcement of immigration laws.
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Most of the good, decent citizens who were complaining, weren't racists or xenophobes at all, but were the very backbone of this nation. Yet, these citizens, who were doing no more than asking that our laws be enforced, were made to feel guilty as racists and xenophobes for doing so. These citizens played by the rules and they wanted others to do the same thing. They often complained for concrete reasons, not just because they didn't like the looks of the invaders. They were complaining against paying taxes to educate the children of Mexico. They were complaining because they did the lawful and right thing by buying automobile insurance, yet if they got into an accident with an illegal alien--who was usually uninsured--the insured citizen ended up having his insurance rate increased, while the illegal alien would go merrily on his way. They were complaining that while they were trying to be responsible by buying health insurance for themselves and their families, illegal aliens would not buy such insurance and would simply crowd into hospital emergency rooms when they needed a doctor for just about anything. Citizens were complaining because their quality of life--their American Dream--was falling through no fault of their own but as a direct result of the presence of millions and millions of illegal aliens, who were tearing apart the fabric of America.
The situation in Oregon now, and earlier in Arkansas and many other states, is an old one in America, and brings up issues of states rights vs. federal power. In such tugs of war, the feds are usually the winners on big issues, while the states often get some crumbs off the table to point to as their rights. However, the authorities in Oregon are simply taking the message sent by the feds earlier and refusing to now do what was winked at before, and they are apparently adding to this message the other one from the feds about not engaging in racial/ethnic profiling.
Now the feds are in the position of having to justify having the local authorities do the work of the feds regarding immigration and to also engage in racial/ethnic profiling so that only Arabs will be questioned, while the millions of Hispanic invaders will still get a pass.
And why would the feds continue to give a pass to Hispanic "immigrants?" The answer is simple, and most citizens with more than a two digit I.Q. know that Bush is doing this to get Hispanic votes for Republicans in the 2002 elections.
So, the authorities in Oregon are saying, in essence, that they won't enforce federal immigration laws (Hey, we're not the INS, you know) and, furthermore, that they won't engage in racial/ethnic profiling by selectively enforcing such laws against only one group.
Post-American America has turned into a convoluted land of Arabesque complexity caused by venal politicians who are selling out the soul of America for votes and who have abandoned traditional American values of honesty and fair play, in order to accommodate the wishes of illegal aliens and their supporters.
If you're confused, just remember that your Uncle Sam says, "The law provides that illegal aliens should be arrested (but, wink, wink, ignore the law if the illegal aliens are Hispanic), and "Don't use racial/ethnic profiling (but, wink, wink, do it if they're Arabs).