By Michael Bryan
Not.
Arizona's own Goebbels, Russell Pearce, is now attempting to raise money for Ban Amnesty Now using the phase-out of the 287(g) program as a panic button.
What Pearce fails to mention is that DHS is also rolling out a new program, Secure Communities, which accomplishes the same immigration status checks on all persons booked in local jails across 15,000 jurisdiction in 44 states (whereas 287(g) is only in about 60 jurisdictions), without the liability and constitutional violations created by unleashing xenophobic hate-baters like Sheriff Joe Arpaio on an innocent public.
Let's have a look at Pearce's fundraising pitch:
President Barack "Amnesty" Obama is ready to open the flood gates
Dear Friends,
A local-federal immigration enforcement partnership that has helped local police across the nation identify more than 275,000 illegal aliens in their custody is getting the budget axe by President Barack “Amnesty” Obama.
Short of opening America’s borders and letting smugglers, drug dealers and other assorted criminals start flowing freely into our communities (more freely than they already do), this the most devastating action Barack Obama has undertaken since assuming the office of president.
The Obama Immigration Plan is to remove local and state law enforcement from immigration enforcement, and to deprive states, counties and cities of an incredibly effective tool in law enforcement efforts against the most severe illegal alien criminals: drug and human smugglers.
Barack Obama’s motives and timing are obvious.
Hint #1: it’s an election year.
Hint #2: the program works (more than 275,000 illegal aliens were discovered because of it).
Now, you and I can stand by and let this happen, or we can stand up – together – and demand Congress not allow Barack Obama to eliminate this program in the next budget. Despite what every White House thinks, Congress actually writes the federal budget.
What a hoot! What Pearce is actually upset about is that his buddy and fellow-traveller Sheriff Joe will be left out of the immigration game. Arpaio was already cut off from his 287(g) access because of the investigation of the DOJ of Sheriff Joe's violations of the civil rights of American citizens and legal residents. Now the door is being slammed any and all who, like Sheriff Joe, want to use their 287(g) certification to play posse with the brown skinned citizens and residents of America.
With 50 new ICE agents in Arizona's jails and Secure Communities online, Arizona's law enforcement agencies will have all the tools needed to identify those with irregular immigration status coming into our jails.
It is amusing that the once all-powerful shadow emperor of Arizona is now reduced to sending out panic-inducing email fundraising spam to his remaining poltical base begging for spare change for his masters at BAN.
Here's a little of Pearce's persecution complex on display in his spam:
"I know better than anyone that Barack Obama will do anything and say anything to keep immigration laws from being enforced. Barack Obama even went so far as to join with the government of Mexico in a lawsuit against my bill, SB1070, the toughest in the nation…
…which specifically empowered law enforcement to do the job Barack Obama can’t, or won’t.
We are on our way to a likely victory in the U.S. Supreme Courtover Barack Obama’s terrible, unthinkable actions against the people of Arizona in SB1070…"
Your bill, Russell? Actually, you just carried water for BAN, FAIR and the other xenophobic creeps, like Kris Kobach, who actually authored the bill.
And to be accurate, Mexico just filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit enjoining enforcement of SB1070, the Adminsitration did not "join" a lawsuit by Mexico, as Pearce implies.
As to being on the way "to a likely victory in U.S. Supreme Court," well, that just demonstrates how disconnected from reality Pearce has become. The only reason the USSC took up the case was to slap down all at once the several state laws, spreading like a racist rash, which seek to emulate Arizona's stupidity for partisan political reasons.
There is no way in hell the USSC is going to ratify what Pearce and his cronies have tried to do. Though I have no doubt that no matter what the USSC's opinion might be, these deluded red-necks will try to spin it as a victory – but we'll deconstruct that nonsense when it actually happens.
Then Pearce heaps on an outrageous calumny against President Obama for good measure:
"Maybe Barack Obama will next try to prevent local police from responding to bank robberies (a federal crime) because armed felons feel threatened by local police trying to catch them? It’s the same logic Obama is using when he is working to stop local law enforcement from doing their job when it comes to illegal aliens."
This is pretty outrageous rhetoric even for a shameless scoundrel like Pearce. The one having difficulty with logic here is Pearce.
Then Pearce actually says something I agree with (even if not as he means it…):
"Isn’t it time our government started worrying more about its citizens AND THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO BE PROTECTED FROM THOSE WHO BREAK OUR LAWS and less about illegal aliens? Isn’t it time we focused our attention on the rights of people who follow the law, not those who break the law?"
I totally agree. Citizens should have their constitutional rights protected from those who break our laws – like Sheriff Joe Arpaio. It is time we focused on upholding the rights of law abiding citizens to be free of terrorism – by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Pearce then lays down a smoke screen of misinformation as to how SB1070 has affected Arizona's citizens, hiding behind his catspaw Mark Spencer of PLEA:
"According to the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association: "Since SB1070, Phoenix has experienced a 30-year low crime rate. 600 police vacancies, budget cuts, and old policing strategies didn’t bring about these falling crime rates. SB1070 did. When hard-working rank-and-file Phoenix Police Officers were given access to the tool of SB1070, the deterrence factor this legislation brought about was clearly instrumental in our unprecedented drop in crime. And all of this without a single civil rights, racial profiling, or biased policing complaint. To ignore the positive impact of SB1070 in the City of Phoenix is to ignore the huge elephant in the middle of the room."
Apparently, the leadership of the Phoenix Police don't actually agree with Spencer's nonsensical spin, as PLEA admits, "Police and City management don't believe that proactive immigration enforcement strategies on multiple fronts over the last three years to include the passage of SB-1070 has had anything to do with plunging crime rates." And logically, it could not have any effect, AS IT NEVER WENT INTO EFFECT! The outsized claims for the effect of SB1070 on public safety by its supporters are simply bullshit.
Finally, the biggest whopper of them all, in case you overlooked it: "And all of this without a single civil rights, racial profiling, or biased policing complaint." This is truly amazing.
What on earth do you think those thousands of pages of records the Maricopa Sheriff turned over to DOJ investigators contain? Hundreds of complaints about civil rights violations, intimidation, profiling, and biased policing encouraged and abetted by the very witchhunt mentality that prompted Pearce and his backers to inject the poison of SB1070 into Arizona's political bloodstream.
That PLEA's leadership can totally ignore the DOJ's ongoing investigation of police practices in the MSCO and make this claim just beggars the imagination. The only way to square such a statement with reality is to pretend that it only applies solely to the Phoenix PD, which, if true, is a testiment to the professionalism of it's uniformed leadership in resisting the permissive and abusive environment created by Pearce and his cronies, like Spencer.