I have watched with grave concern as the state has moved forward with both the enforcement bill and an equally controversial guest worker program in the form of HB116. Here is Governor Herbert on signing the immigration packages.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhp5w3_herbert-signs-controversial-immigration-bills_news
I want to start by saying I have been and for the time being continue to be a strong supporter of Governor Herbert. He’s certainly a lot better than Peter Buffon would have been. That said one can have inter-party disagreements and remain civil about it. In no way would I consider myself or my friends in both the Tea Party and the Establishment circles to be “extreme” or “emotional.” My response will be neither, as the token Libertarian in the party I pride myself on using reason as my guide rather than crass emotionalism. I’m not always successful, but I try to minimize my level of obnoxiousness.
First: The opposition to these measures is not stupid. We are fully aware of what is in these bills. We understand the intent of the bills in question, we simply worry that it is the unintended consequences of it have not been weighed as much as they should have been. We fear the program will first neuter any enforcement laws on the books and be taken advantage of much like overstaying visas represents an abuse of the federal immigration plan. Often the visas expire, and are then ignored, and it is a serious problem not limited to any one country of origin, so don’t tell me I’m singling people out because I am not. There are many Europeans, Canadians and Africans and so forth who have overstayed their visa.
Second: Governor Herbert assures us that this isn’t federal Amnesty. Technically he’s right, it is State Amnesty granted without Constitutional Authority. Apparently the Feds can still enforce immigration laws, but what good will that do when the reality is that the feds won’t enforce the borders? (Notice the plural, again, I am not singling anyone out.) And what if the feds continue to refuse to take action? Do we as a state? If so, to what degree? I get the impression that Sandstorm’s bill will be largely ignored, and Utah will become a sanctuary state meaning eventual Democrat take over because no matter what Republicans do Democratic voting blocs vote Democrat.
Let me be clear, the Revolutionary Student Union, the Brown Berets and La Raza all vote Democrat. That our state legislature was more afraid of these communists than they were of the people who actually vote for them is troubling.
Third: What is the message the guest worker program sends? Do we have the money to manage it? Do we have the Constitutional Authority for any of it? Well as I mentioned previously the answer to the last question is “No,” again immigration is a federal matter. I have no clue what the program will cost a state with the bulk of its revenue eaten by the ever growing resource consuming black hole that is public education, I imagine the answer is, "too much." I'd also like to know what business does the state have telling legal residents and legal immigrants, “sorry there’s no jobs for you but there are plenty for illegal immigrants!” Last I checked Utah has a 7.5% some odd unemployment rate. It’s a slap in the face to the Utah worker to create laws which essentially promises jobs to a now legally favored group that are not there for everyone else to compete for.
The worst part is that you can count on the Utah Democrats to pounce on this, but in an unusual way. Watch for the talking point: “Look! Republicans did what we were gonna do! They’re just like us! There’s no difference between the parties so you may as well vote Democrat!” The Utah Republican Party is going to have to work double time to pre-empt that argument and show their constituency that they are indeed different. Luckily for us at the grass roots that has already begun. The Salt Lake County GOP passed measures at Central Committee Meeting this last Thursday that essentially reprimand the state legislature and the governor for HB 116 and demand an immediate repeal. I am hearing rumblings of similar measures from Wasatch, Davis, Weber, Tooele, Utah and Washington County. It will be interesting to see who our representatives fear more, the people who actually vote Republican who may not vote for them in 2012, or the radical racist lunatics that comprise the Brown Berets and like groups who will vote Democrat in 2012 no matter what?
Side note: On immigration I do, like most Libertarians, hope for eventual open borders, but like Hans Herman Hoppe I entertain that idea with extreme caution. It is dangerous to allow just any Tom, Dick and Che Guavara across the border without scrutinizing who they are and what they want. Until Mexico, and the world for that matter, embraces free market capitalism and completely abandons socialism open borders is simply too risky. There are groups out there who want to destroy America. Proponents of the Utah Compact like La Raza, the Brown Berets and numerous other self avowed socialist “anti-capitalist” and “anti-colonial” groups (most funded by George Soros by the way, including the aforementioned) want to destroy American “capitalism and imperialism.” If we fail to stop these criminal seditionists at the border we will not stop them at all.
Additional resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd_HoeUl3oE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4ZtG8dFvEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7ItaWWyld0
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