Governor Rick Perry Opposes Texas Immigration Law

Texas Governor Rick Perry once again recently showed his true colors and his spineless position on illegal immigration.

When asked by the media whether he would support a Texas law similar to the one in Arizona that authorizes state and local lawmen to arrest illegal aliens, Perry stated emphatically that he would oppose such a law. Like so many others opposed to the law, he demagogued the issue. Ostensibly, he opposed the law because Texas officers are “too busy” to go around looking for illegal aliens. Actually, Texas officers are already urged by the Federal Government to do so (see the last four paragraphs of this essay).

Perry is not as dumb as he seemed in making that statement, but his contempt for the intelligence of the average Texan is appalling. Intelligent Texans know that the Arizona Law does not require state and local agents to "go around" looking for illegal aliens. However, it does authorize officers to arrest illegal aliens when these immigration violations are discovered INCIDENTAL TO an offense for which the suspect was originally, lawfully detained and/or investigated.

Historically, Texas, along with Mississippi are the two most notorious states for exploiting the cheap labor of illegal aliens. Texas politicians got the infamous “Texas Proviso” attached to an otherwise good Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.

The Texas Proviso was an amendment to Section 274 of the law of 1952, sponsored by then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. It gave immunity from prosecution to farmers, ranchers and other employers of illegal aliens who were transporting, concealing or harboring illegal aliens to exploit their cheap labor.

The Texas Proviso had far-reaching consequences and kept the Border Patrol handcuffed for over twenty years. Retired veterans probably can still hear the echoes of the loud and derisive boasts of some farmers shouting, “It ain’t illegal to hire illegal aliens.” Nor was it illegal for the farmers to haul, harbor or conceal them from detection when the Border Patrol came around to check farm workers, thanks to the Texas Proviso.

Although the law on hiring illegal aliens changed in the 1970s, and fines for employers were introduced into law, they were hardly ever enforced.
The Texas Proviso lasted up until President Reagan signed the Immigration Reform Control Act of 1986 into law. Removal of the Proviso was good, but under the new law, the Border Patrol could enter only farms with a warrant or permission of the famer, even for those farms adjacent to the border. Permission was not likely to be given by violators of Section 274, and getting a judge to issue a warrant to search farm a farm or ranch was like pulling his impacted wisdom teeth. This new law, requiring warrants or permission of the farmer more than compensated the farmers for removal of the Texas Proviso.

To further demonstrate the profound, historical contempt of Texas politicians for immigration law enforcement, The Texas Employment Commission, in the 1950s became a de facto smuggler after the Mexican Government discontinued the Bracero Program due to widespread abuses. The following is an excerpt from the Texas Online History web site:

“The United States Immigration Service, under pressure from various agricultural groups, retaliated against Mexico (for discontinuing the Bracero Program) in 1951 by allowing thousands of illegals to cross the border, arresting them, and turning them over to the Texas Employment Commission, which delivered them to work for various grower groups in Texas and elsewhere. Over the long term, this action by the federal government, in violation of immigration laws and the agreement with Mexico, caused new problems for Texas. Between 1944 and 1954, "the decade of the wetback," the number of illegal aliens coming from Mexico increased by 6,000 percent. It is estimated that in 1954 before Operation Wetback got under way, more than a million workers had crossed the Rio Grande illegally. Cheap labor displaced native agricultural workers, and increased violation of labor laws and discrimination encouraged criminality, disease, and illiteracy.”

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/OO/pqo1.html

In Texas politics, Governor Rick Perry is a chip off the old block. He will never utter the real reason he would oppose a Texas law authorizing the arrest of illegal aliens. It would violate the state’s historical culture of exploiting illegal labor.
Governor Rick Perry will probably also conceal the fact that the Arizona Law actually already exists in Texas, in the form of a Federal Law, and that Texas officers are already authorized to arrest and detain illegal aliens.
The powers and authorities granted by the State of Arizona to law officers to arrest illegal aliens is the same that is provided in 8 USC 1357.

Go to the below link and then scroll down to 8 USC 1357(g) to see that the Federal Government has already taken steps to welcome state and local law enforcement officers all over the United States as partners in enforcing immigration law.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/8/usc_sec_08_00001357----000-.html

Texans who believe in the rule of law and believe that immigration should be legal and regulated with enforcement of quotas and qualifications for immigrants, should be extremely resentful of Governor Rick Perry’s statement demonstrating his contempt for enforcement of immigration laws and control of our borders. His gadgetry with boondoggles like Blue Servo and the Virtual border are just smoke screens to dupe the gullible into believing that he is sincere about controlling the border. In fact, he wants to continue the status quo without any effective law enforcement.

Texans badly need to vote Rick Perry out of office in November 2010. He has been Governor too long--longer than any predecessor--and without any visible signs of merit. Texas has outgrown his type of demagoguery and his brand of contempt for immigration law.

The Arizona Immigration Law is Constitutional

For the Constitutionality of the Arizona Immigration Law that requires state law enforcement officers to enforce immigration law, see:

Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act:
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA), effective September 30, 1996 (updated in 2008), added Section 287(g), performance of immigration officer functions by state officers and employees, to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This authorizes the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, permitting designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions, pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), provided that the local law enforcement officers receive appropriate training and function under the supervision of sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
State and local patrol officers, detectives, investigators and correctional officers working in conjunction with ICE gain: necessary resources and authority to pursue investigations relating to violent crimes, human smuggling, gang/organized crime activity, sexual-related offenses, narcotics smuggling and money laundering; and support in more remote geographical locations. (Section 287 (a) through (f) show the authority of ICE to arrest and deport illegal aliens, independent of other law enforcement agencies. See 8 USC 1357.)

http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/factsheets/070622factsheet287gprogover.htm

The opponents of State Immigration Law Enforcement are not interested in the Constitution or the Rule of Law.

The Constitution requires that Congress and the President protect each state in the Union from foreign invasion. See Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution. All Congressmen and the President take an oath of office in which they swear to uphold and defend the Constitution, but apparently in recent years both those entities of our Government have come to show contempt for their duties under the Constitution .

Federal statutes require that immigration laws be enforced, that violators be arrested and deported. See the above link for arrest, and for deportation see 8 USC 1227.

For some of my publications on the subject of the the U.S./Mexico border, go to my web site at BorderDrama.com