When Conservatives Turn Against Private Property and Private Contracts
Update: Yes, I am aware that it is ILLEGAL as many people have informed me in all caps. Here is my response, and a thought problem for those posing that issue to me.
Apparently, our Arizona legislature is about to past a tough new anti-immigrant bill, to make sure that no one can work for us or be on our property without the government's permission. Why is it that Conservatives who are nominally supportive of private property and private contracts disavow these rights when Mexicans are involved?
First, to the issue of property:
A bill empowering police to arrest illegal immigrants and charge them with trespassing for simply being in the state of Arizona, is likely just weeks away from becoming the toughest law of its kind anywhere in the country....
"When you come to America you must have a permission slip, period," said state Sen. Russell Pearce, the Mesa Republican who sponsored the bill. "You can't break into my country, just like you can't break into my house."
So aren't they essentially using a socialist view of property here? This means that a person can be found to be trespassing on my property, even if he has my permission, if he doesn't have permission of certain members of the government. It means that the government has more say over who can and can't be present on property than does the private owner. This is horrendous precedent that Conservatives will someday come to lament.
As for contracts:
The measure allows police to detain people on the suspicion that they are illegal immigrants, outlaws citizens from employing day laborers, and makes it illegal for anyone to transport an illegal immigrant, even a family member, anywhere in the state.
Oops, so much for my ability to hire and fire at will. And doesn't it make one all warm and fuzzy to think that having brown skin is officially going to be sufficient probable cause for Sheriff Joe to haul your ass into custody? Because I am not exaggerating, Arpaio will haul in thousands on mere suspicion of being an illegal immigrant. He already hauls in hundreds without this law. What's next, checkpoints with state troopers telling us that "ve vant to see your papers" like we were living in occupied France? Because the bill essentially requires that people present in Arizona be able to prove they are a citizen at all times. Do I need to carry my passport when I am jogging?
I know a few paranoiacs here have managed to convince even relatively smart people outside this state that we are somehow in the midst of an invasion. I live here, and no such thing is true. We have a large Hispanic population that makes the state more interesting, and the limited number of problems immigrants cause for infrastructure here are no worse than the issues any major city faces. I operate business all over the state, including right down at the border, and there is simply nothing awful going on here to justify this kind of paranoia.
Postscript: Just to be clear, I believe I have the right to hire anyone I please, and to lease an apartment to anyone I please. I don't think that people who happen to be born in another country should have to get a license from the state to be able to contract with me in these ways. Both Democrats and Republicans are awful about this -- they rail against some modest state intrusion in their lives and then support an even bigger one.
