The Associated Press just reported:
"Mexico on Tuesday asked a federal court in Arizona to declare the state's new immigration law unconstitutional, arguing that the country's own interests and its citizens' rights are at stake.
Lawyers for Mexico on Tuesday submitted a legal brief in support of one of five lawsuits challenging the law. The law will take effect July 29 unless implementation is blocked by a court."
[Mexico asks court to reject AZ immigration law, June 22, 2010]
We know how strict Mexico's immigration laws are with respect to illegal aliens. So for that country to be suing a sovereign state in the USA really makes one wonder.
What does Mexico says about so doing? According to AP:
"Citing ''grave concerns,'' Mexico said its interest in having predictable, consistent relations with the United States shouldn't be frustrated by one U.S. state.
"Mexico also said it has a legitimate interest in defending its citizens' rights and that the law would lead to racial profiling, hinder trade and tourism, and strain the countries' work on combating drug trafficking and related violence."
Whoa! Wonder how Mexico would react to a similar suit from us gringos?
Of course the further quote from Mexico's filed brief [PDF] really is hilarious.
''Mexican citizens will be afraid to visit Arizona for work or pleasure out of concern that they will be subject to unlawful police scrutiny and detention''.
I can't wait for a U.S. District Court judge to decide whether to accept the brief along with similar ones submitted by various U.S. organizations. Surely there still is question of standing in such a lawsuit. I suspect Governor Brewer's office will have something cogent to say.
Folks, if this suit is given standing, Mexico may as well start proceedings to annex Arizona—probably with the further help of the Obama Administration which has already ceded large acreage on the border to the smugglers and the drug dealers.
As 1996 Reform Party vice Presidential candidate Pat Choate noted after reading this AP story: "How did we get to this point when a foreign government believes it has the legal right to challenge the constitutionality of a democratically enacted U.S. law?"
I really want to see what reaction Obama and Congress have to this latest outrage. The Obama Administration lawsuit which is purportedly coming soon against the Arizona law makes me angry enough. But I want to hear the statement on the Mexican suit from Obama's Press Secretary. It will likely be further double talk about how important it is to have "comprehensive immigration reform" a.k.a. amnesty like 1986, which far too many Americans think would fix the problem when history shows it will just exacerbate it. How long, O Lord, how long, must ignorance, arrogance and greed fashion our immigration policies?
As noted in my earlier columns, this Arizona flap is the perfect opportunity to show Americans of all political persuasions just how bad this lack of Federal enforcement has become.
It seems that trampling over the rights of our states, as provided for in the US Constitution's Bill of Rights, has became hard policy in this White House and Congress.
In so doing, our Federal government bids fair to break the social contract that binds us into a cohesive nation.
When giving authority to others to protect and preserve both freedom and safety is utterly abrogated, there is no value in such a contract.
There is currently
renewed interest in "nullification"
But what happens when the federal government, under Obama as under Bush, chooses to nullify its own laws?
A good question—which should be answered, not by the Mexican government or by federal judges, but by the American people.
Donald A. Collins [email him], is a freelance writer living in Washington DC and a former long time member of the board of FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform. His views are his own.
