United States Case

The United States of America is a nation of immigrants. Opposition towards immigration has been a long battle between natural born citizens and undocumented works. Dating back to the Naturalization Act of 1790, the law limited naturalization only to whites with good moral character and discriminated towards indentured servants, slaves, free blacks and later Asians. Over a century later, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 restricted immigration of Mexicans for the first time. The latest policy, REAL ID Act of 2005, created more restrictions on political asylum and increased immigration enforcement among other restrictions. Since then, many states have started adopting their own immigration policy claiming it is due to the indecisiveness of the federal government to create a new uniform policy to suit all fifty states. Many agree that states do not have such rights to create their own immigration laws since the constitution gives the power to create immigration laws to the federal government, and for a state to make their own laws is unconstitutional. However, state legislatives, such as Jan Brewer of Arizona, argue that their state laws for immigration do not conflict with federal laws, but instead implement them, therefore making it constitutional.

The trend for setting state immigration laws began last year when Arizona signed a law ordering immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and also gave permission to police to question people if they have any reason to suspect they are in the United States of America illegally. The Supreme Court ruled against parts of the law saying it is unconstitutional because "enforcing immigration law is a federal issue" (Court Rules against Arizona Immigration Law). There are many people for and against the Senate Bill 1070. Those against the bill are stating it is unconstitutional for police administrators to be able to demand proof of citizenship from any civilian. This power given to the law enforcement of Arizona could possibly lead to racial profiling and discrimination towards the Mexicans living in Arizona. The bill has caused much tension among politicians, states, and even communities. However, those who agree with the bill and think it should be passed are arguing that Arizona is merely enforcing the federal law for immigration. Arizona is hoping this will reduce the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States. Reducing the number of illegal immigrants ensures that naturalized citizens will not be paying taxes for them. This excites the Arizonians. Also, supporters of the bill argue it is not racist since everyone is being ordered to carry documentation with them not just Mexicans. In my opinion, the only con I find in the Arizona law is that it can potentially segregate the United States of America since each state will want to make their own immigration laws and soon enough the federal government will not be able to keep the states together in unison. However, I do not believe that it should cause racial profiling since the law itself does not contain any prejudice statements. It is left to law enforcement to carry out the bill and that is where racial discrimination may arise. If the federal government accepts and even adopts Arizona's immigration law as policy, I believe the United States of America will be in chaos. States will have too much power to make and carry out laws leaving the federal government with no authority and therefore the once "United" States will soon become divided.

Following in Arizona's footsteps, Utah's House and Senate recently approved the Utah Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act (also referred to as House Bill 497.) Unlike Arizona however, the Utah law allow undocumented immigrations to get a permit to work in Utah under a guest worker program, but also require that police check the immigration status of anyone stopped for a felony or serious misdemeanor" (Persaud). Rep Stephen Sandstorm put forth the bill which is to take effect in 2014. The bill requires Utah to get a waiver from the federal government to implement their guest worker program. This way, Utah believes those who are in the United States of America illegally can the opportunity to work in the states while those who are criminals and felons be deported. Unlike Arizona, Utah is getting the permission of the federal government to uphold their immigration law. However, it is very unlikely that the federal government will grant Utah their workers permit for illegal immigrants since it is not a national policy, only a state one. The federal government will induce criticism from Americans if they condone Utah's (or even Arizona's) immigration law or not. The law the federal government has now regarding the border and illegal immigrants is believed to be working fine and they wish not change the law to suit one demographic while shunning an entirely different one. In my opinion the federal government should mandate all states to follow the national law set for immigration and order each state to not create a new one only to be shut down by the federal government.

Georgia passed a similar bill which allows "law enforcement to check the status of people being investigated even during a traffic stop, if they don't have an acceptable form of identification. The measure also would require employers to use a federal database to make sure new hires are in the country legally" (Llorente). The new bill is being sponsored by Rep. Matt Ramsey, he believes that "undocumented immigrants are a drain of the state's resources" (Llorente). Georgia's bill is being considered the toughest yet of the immigration bills since it "penalizes people who harbor or transport undocumented immigrants in some situations and allows law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of suspects who can't show an approved form of identification. Using false documents to get a job -- a common practice among undocumented immigrants -- will be a felony once the law goes into effect in July" (Georgia's Touch New Immigration Law Drives Undocumented Immigrants to Leave). Georgia's agricultural workers are mostly undocumented workers, so driving them out of the state with their harsh immigration laws will bring economical loss to their state. This recently passed bill will soon reach the federal government and lawsuits will be filed for it. state law does not have more power than federal law. Period. If all the states decide to follow what Arizona did, then the federal government will not be needed since each state will have their own laws. No uniformity will exist among the states. States are trying to solve the problem of "illegal immigration" by creating laws to abolish illegal aliens, but all it is doing is creating