“The Hypocrites of Sanctuary Cities”

By William L. Garvin

The People’s Republic of Berkeley has finally gotten around to adding its Johnny-Come-Lately imprimatur to the boycott of Arizona and their new law regarding illegal immigration. It is so sad to see the cutting edge of liberal thought (sic) reduced to a too little, too late “me, too” lame and derivative response in following the herd of elitist chic.

Maybe their delay was due to actually reading the law, unlike our President, Attorney General, or Secretary of Homeland Security. Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon was equally ill read and uninformed when he said before Congress “I strongly disagree with the recently enacted law in Arizona. It is a law that not only ignores a reality that cannot be erased by decree but also introduces a terrible idea using racial profiling as a basis for law enforcement.” Friends don’t let friends “act stupidly” but our President and erstwhile defender stood by in impotence as Democrats cheered. He let a foreigner come into our house, take advantage of our hospitality, insult a family member, AND DID NOTHING! But then, that’s true to form because NOTHING is all he has done to secure the Arizona border and apparently NOTHING is what he intends to do!

Wrongheaded and misdirected as the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco may be, at least they did something in declaring themselves “sanctuary cities” and initiating an Arizona boycott. It will be interesting to see how deep our southern LaLa land brethrens’ convictions run. If they truly want to boycott Arizona, what will they do in the middle of the summer when they are running on the brink of “brown outs” because of the sweltering heat and 24-hour air conditioning? As Arizona inconveniently pointed out, 25% of LA’s electrical power comes from Arizona! Come on Angelinos, show some courage in your conviction, show some intestinal fortitude, show some cojo--s and terminate those Arizona power contracts now!

Wrongheaded and misdirected is a pattern here on the left coast where feelings prevail and critical thinking is at best, a distant afterthought. What little actual thinking that is done by the liberal left about the Arizona law results in a charge that it is “unconstitutional” because it usurps the role of the federal government. How could a state law that reinforces its support of a federal law ever be construed as unconstitutional? It only happens in the bizarre world of lib-think.

Just for fun, why don’t you brilliant liberal intellectuals read Section 834b of the California Penal Code:
(a) Every law enforcement agency in California shall fully cooperate with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding any person who is arrested if he or she is suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws.

(b) With respect to any such person who is arrested, and suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, every law enforcement agency shall do the following:
(1) Attempt to verify the legal status of such person as a citizen of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent resident, an alien lawfully admitted for a temporary period of time or as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of immigration laws. The verification process may include, but shall not be limited to, questioning the person regarding his or her date and place of birth, and entry into the United States, and demanding documentation to indicate his or her legal status…

(c) Any legislative, administrative, or other action by a city, county, or other legally authorized local governmental entity with jurisdictional boundaries, or by a law enforcement agency, to prevent or limit the cooperation required by subdivision (a) is strictly prohibited.

Based on all of the above, maybe California liberals should be boycotting California! Based on all of the above, exactly who is usurping federal law as well as violating state penal code statutes? Maybe LA Council members and SF Board members should make citizen arrests of themselves as violators of both Federal and State statutes not to mention being sanctimonious hypocrites. Maybe Mexico should also sit down and shut up (when they are legal guests in this country) until their economy can export something other than drugs, violence, and illegals. And maybe once, just once, our President will realize why so many people want to come to this “downright mean country.” And maybe once, just once, we will hear our President say “We know we are not a perfect country, but we are the greatest country, especially when it comes to hope and opportunity. You are welcome but follow our laws. If you don’t follow our laws, you are NOT welcome. End of story.” Just once!