by David Safier
In the early days after the passage of SB1070, I asked frequently, where is the Goldwater Institute? These folks are rarely silent about any pressing state issue, yet this time, on the most consuming issue of the day, nothing but crickets.
My thought was, G.I.'s libertarian leanings would have led the Institute to object to SB1070, but there was no way it was going to shake that hornet's nest. With Republicans pummeling Democrats over the issue, it would have ruined the narrative if the Goldwater Institute came out against SB1070, or even had a more nuanced view of the appropriateness of the law.
G.I. made a statement saying basically, we're not immigration experts, so we're staying out of this. At the time, I called that cowardice.
According to a Capitol Times interview with Clint Bolick, G.I.'s Constitutional Law guy, it was a bit more complicated than that. But for me, the cowardice label still applies.
"Personally I would have voted against SB1070," Bolick stated. But, he said, the staff had internal debates on the law and on immigration issues in general. So G.I. decided to stay out of the controversy altogether.
Our staff is divided over immigration issues, and a lot of our donors are divided over immigration issues. The employer-sanctions bill. SB1070. A lot of times people see us as an entity that would tolerate no internal dissent whatsoever, but we have huge internal debates over these issues. And because immigration is primarily a federal issue, it’s not been one that we felt that we needed to wade into.
Interesting. Bolick says G.I. decided to stay out, not because its involvement may have muddied the political waters by indicating that a good conservative could be against SB1070, but because "immigration is primarily a federal issue."
So how about a statement like this from G.I.? "Though immigration is a complex topic on which our staff holds a variety of opinions, we believe it is primarily a federal issue, not something that should be taken on at the state level. So we have reservations about the wisdom of SB1070."
That would have been an honest, and somewhat brave stand. Instead, G.I. maintained a cowardly silence.
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As he stated in a nutshell, don’t bite the hands that feed you.
Ah yes the cowards at Goldwater Institute. The immigration prohibition industry has plenty of supporters and few enough opponents. Demonizing Jan Brewer and Russell Pearce and calling Goldwater Institute names is all fine and dandy but negative campaigning only goes so far.
Drug prohibition and immigration prohibition will continue to kill people like Rob Krentz and those immigrants who don’t survive the desert trek to the US. Ending both is the only solution.
http://www.google.com/search?q=Let+Them+In+by+Jason+L.+Riley