Immigration II

The Immigration Law, Again:

Gracious.

OK, so the full and final version of the law does nothing but provide police with instructions to seek immigration status during already lawful stops. It doesn't, as we might have thought from earlier versions, create a new kind of 'stop and frisk' rule for people who look like they might possibly be aliens.

It does contain an anti-racial-profiling clause about which Richard Cohen is probably correct: "Since this law is aimed at illegal immigrants from Mexico, the cops are almost certain to bend over backwards to avoid any suggestion of racial profiling and will, as a matter of fairness, stop and frisk the odd Scandinavian." As it happens, as a Stetson-hat-wearing Southerner, I was invariably given the "special" treatment every time I flew anywhere for a few years after 9/11. It was necessary, you see, so they'd have the numbers right in order to be free to search people who did match the profiles. You know, the profiles they aren't allowed to have, but also don't need to formalize since everyone understood that they were looking for Muslims from the Middle East, not, say, Mexican immigrants. (Or me.)

Now, Mr. Cohen also says that this is a kind of tea party moment. That's right -- and it's the point that Eugene Robinson missed, although it is possible that Mr. Robinson has never understood the Tea Party's real complaint. The Tea Party is a "small government" movement only by accident; it's really a strict-Constitutionalist movement. If the Federal government is exceeding its specified Constitutional authority, it needs to be restrained. Since, mostly, that is what the Federal government is doing, the Tea Party is mostly a small-government movement.

However, here we have an area where the Federal government is failing to perform its Constitutional duty! So here, the Tea Party is a large-government movement. That is, the Tea Party wants the Federal government to perform all and only its specifically authorized duties, using only specifically authorized powers. If it tries to exceed its mandate, it needs to be checked. If it fails to perform its duty, it needs to be spurred and driven.

I am hoping this particular spur does the trick, though I'm not sure I see how it possibly can. The overwhelming problem is that the government will have to start serving the interests of the citizens instead of the political interests of the ruling faction. I honestly doubt if this government is at all capable of doing that.

We've talked at times about the importance of a state-led Article V Constitutional Convention, to rebalance the power relationship between the states and Federal government to something more like what the Founders intended. There also has to be a reform of the Federal government itself. That will be easier to do when it is less powerful, because there will be less opposition from interest groups (insofar as they will have less to gain!). On some of these points, it will be difficult. If a Congressman wishes to pass a law addressing this issue, he will ask his staff to help compose it. They will go to interest groups and lobbyists who are contributors, and get draft text from them.

Even if the Congress wished to do the right thing, to look out for the People instead of their interest groups, I'm not sure they have the capacity. I don't think they would know how to begin.