Philosophy Wall

Above: Friend Dyer took an interesting photo of a sort-of Philosophy Wall, a "shrine next to the dog play area up Brewery Gulch" in the former mining town Bisbee, Arizona, not far from the international border.


This morning, Rush was on the radio lambasting liberals for criticizing the recently-signed Arizona law giving state police expanded powers to question people regarding their immigration status. Rush stated that liberals were so dedicated to their "compassion agenda" that it amounted to - let's see if I remember this correctly - to "genuine, full-fledged stupidity" (that's not quite correct - there was a third adjective there - but you get the drift).

Well, unlike Rush, I don't claim to have powers of omniscience, and thus have no magic formula for correcting the border's many ills. The border defies simple-minded analyses. The border doesn't follow any logic of the natural landscape or ethnic history. Like many things in the Southwest, the border's meaning seems to shift almost with the hour of the day. In a way, the border is almost a kind of Philosophy Wall, and people believe all sorts of things about it that aren't necessarily true, but good luck convincing them otherwise.

It sounds good to urge the rule of law, like Rush does, but the scarcity of agricultural (and sometimes construction) labor makes certain that Arizona's most influential interests will ensure that the border not be too tight. Businesses are required to determine the immigration status of employees, so they subcontract the checking-out process to people who don't mind fudging the papers. The ag-interests remain in denial, in almost-willing ignorance, and then blame the Feds for the bad situation. Everyone blames the Feds. At the same time, everyone handcuffs the Feds and keep them from doing their job. There's a million ways around laws. It might be a good idea to increase immigration quotas, to keep the everything legal, but that's politically unpopular - very unpopular. So, everyone settles for an unsatisfactory situation. This unsatisfactory condition took generations to take root, because it's the best compromise people can come up with, and it will not change quickly, because it's the best compromise people can come up with.

Liberals in Arizona worry about several things. First, there may be a kind of incipient police state brewing in Arizona. After all, it's the kind of place where the Phoenix police chief can interpret reasonable criticism by state officials as insolence and corruption and order his staff to keep the Attorney General's home under surveillance without any warrants. Giving the police in Arizona yet more power may be a mistake. Second, the Constitution makes quite clear that matters of immigration are a federal responsibility, so unless there is an urgent breakdown of law and order, state officials need to stay out. The new law is almost-certainly unconstitutional. Third, most Hispanics in Arizona are legal, and should not be required to have ID on them every instant. The new law is an invitation to massive civil-rights-law violations.

At the same time, liberals, like everyone else, are growing increasingly-worried about the terrorized narco state that Mexico is degenerating into. Matters may yet get desperate. The border is increasingly unstable and dangerous.

At the same time, we have to keep lines-of-authority clear, and keep everything legal. Federal authorities have the authority they need, should they be required to exercise it.