The Alabama immigration law that was to have become effective this week may be the ultimate test of whether or not we can truly enforce our border security, our sovereignty, and the rule of law. It’s a tough law, probably much more rigorous than the Arizona law that produced so much angst, and to read the negative comments on it is to wonder if these things are really important to us. The most significant complaints for me to understand are the requirements that employers use E-Verify, the system designed to screen employee immigration status, and that public schools confirm the immigration status of all students and report those who lack proper documentation. The Washington Post argues that the latter requirement is “perhaps the most obnoxious provision of the law”. Is it obnoxious that we should know how many illegal immigrants are being educated at taxpayer expense and its impact on the education mission? How perverse is that?
Look, there are lots of moving parts here that must be addressed, and I am fully on record on most of them, but why should we play this game of “don’t ask, don’t tell” with an issue that is at the core of our notions of citizenship, sovereignty, and lawfulness?
