"The man who likes to call himself "America's toughest sheriff," Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., is planning a Friday showdown with the feds. The sheriff has announced he will defy the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by doing a street sweep for illegal immigrants one day after the expiration of the agreement that has permitted him to conduct such operations for the past three years. The sheriff has said he expects the deal not to be extended, though federal officials have remained publicly noncommittal. Sheriff Arpaio is charging ahead because he claims he has jurisdiction under a 1996 federal law allowing police to detain someone briefly if that person could be in the country illegally. "We will call Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] to see if they will take them from us," Sheriff Arpaio told The Washington Times. "And if they tell me to let them go, I guess I'll have to transport them myself to the border [about 175 miles] and turn them over to the Border Patrol."" -Rebecca Larsen/Washington Times
As is the case with certain political issues, this is another one that provokes division in the Church. I note that many members, including some LDSs in the US Congress, think that spreading the Gospel includes bringing oppressed and impoverished people into the U.S.A. Others are angered over illegal aliens' access to the benefits that legal Americans and legal aliens paid for, the prospect of unlimited amnesty, and other costs to Americans due to illegal immigration.
Maybe immigration laws are too hard with which to comply? I knew a young lady from the Philipines, spoke adequate English, and was well educated. It took her three years and tons of red tape to finally be given citizenship. All of her documents were in order but the agencies dropped the ball time and time again.
She personally felt that granting amnesty to illegals was a slap in the face to the rare minority who actually comply with naturalization laws and come in through the front door. I can empathize with that sentiment.
My wife and I met, married and lived in Europe for some time before we came to the U.S. The consulate office processing her immigration request also dropped the ball and delayed our travel some weeks. They checked previous places of residence for police reports, and in my wife's case, got Norway and Denmark mixed up and first requested the reports from Norway instead of Denmark. We have a good many (more than I want to count at the moment) friends and acquaintances who also immigrated from Europe. I am happy to say that the INS has some set of standards for judging a person's qualifications for immigration. I did have a chance to chat with a former consulate officer who had the specific responsibility for a time to determine elligibility. At least then, when we talked, there were certain standards, and I doubt most illegal immigrants in this country would not meet those standards. At least not from what I've seen here in this part of Arizona.
The sheriff of our county has been very aggressive in apprehending illegals, and elements in the AZ state government and in the FedGov are being very aggressive in trying to stop the search for illegals. And the amnesty for illegals supporters in both state and federal government, supported by certain business interests, are numerous and powerful. The local news media clearly supports the illegals.
All this is coming down to a battle over the state's right to enforce federal immigration laws versus the federal government's claim of the right to prohibit the state from enforcing the law. At least that's how I see it.
Former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo told an acquaintance of mine that it seemed to him that one block of open borders and amnesty supporters were the Mormons in Congress. I know our Congrressman Flake certainly is one of those, as was Utah Congressman Cannon.
I sense feelings on this issue run strong in the Church in Arizona, strong enough to potentially cause serious division in wards and stakes.
And I though that in the Church we supported the laws of the country we live in.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
Our stake leadership turns a blind eye to illegals in church. One of our bishop's counselors is in the U.S. on a visa that expired long years ago. Although he has a SS number, he now works illegally. I am convinced the Church has a policy of don't ask, don't tell. Several months ago, according to a SLTrib report, a missionary who was in the USA illegally was caught at an airport and detained. I never was able to follow up on that matter, but it would be interesting to know what came of it.