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Arizona law partially overturned, but look at the reasons

Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) — A legal battle over a tough Arizona immigration law appeared certain after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Wednesday that blocked the most controversial parts of the law a day before it was to take effect.

The injunction means that, at least for now, police are prevented from questioning people’s immigration status if there is reason to believe they are in the country illegally.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton also blocked provisions of the law making it a crime to fail to apply for or carry alien registration papers or “for an unauthorized alien to solicit, apply for, or perform work,” and a provision “authorizing the warrantless arrest of a person” if there is reason to believe that person might be subject to deportation. . . .

Other parts of the law will go into effect Thursday as passed. This includes a ban on so-called sanctuary cities, and the criminalization of hiring day laborers who are in the country illegally. The parts of the law dealing with sanctions for employers who hire illegal immigrants also withstood the first legal test.

In reading about this judgment, the reactions have actually been predictable. The Tea Party people are upset that they cannot simply do anything they wish to do. The folks on the other side are lamenting that the whole law did not get overturned. But, there are some good analyses that point out that the decision actually upheld what each side believes.

The Tea Party claims that the Constitution must be enforced, and that any powers not specifically delegated to the Federal government belong to the States. Those who are in favor of massive changes in the Federal law insist that the States should not interfere in Federal responsibilities. And, that was precisely the ruling by the judge. Both sides actually won their point.

The parts of the Arizona law that were overturned by the judge were those parts that had to do with immigrants and enforcement of immigration law as relating to individuals. The ruling was that the Constitution specifically gives the area of immigrants and foreign policy directly to the Federal government. Therefore, all the provisions that had to do with stopping and checking (harassing brown-looking) individuals were overturned. But, a State does have the right to govern the industry within its borders. So, all the provisions that had to do with businesses were upheld. In other words, the ruling was based on a Constitutional interpretation of the balance of powers. It was, actually, a rather strict interpretation of the Constitution. What is given to the Federal government belongs to them. What is given to the States belongs to them. That is a strict Constitutional approach and we should not miss that.

But here is what may surprise you. According to the Washington Times, President Obama is actually on track to deport about 10% more people this year than President Bush did in 2008, an election year in which he was trying to garner support for Sen. McCain by enforcing immigration law. Of course neither Fox News nor Republican Congressmen have in any way admitted that. Rather, the constant drumbeat of the conservative media and congressmen is to openly say that he is not enforcing immigration policy. In fact, support among Latinos has fallen by nearly 20% since last year, largely as a result of the increase in deportations. So, why is this not being stated by the conservative media, or the Tea Party, or conservative Congressmen? Well, because as we saw in the recent Breibart affair, truth is the first casualty in politics.

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Bethel Confession of the Confessing Church and government

Germany in the years immediately preceding World War II and into the beginning of the “Reich” was a terrible place. In fact, Europe was a terrible place during this time. Statism in both its left and right wing forms was winning the day. In every country in Europe and in the USA, racism and xenophobia were openly and strongly expressed, even by churchmen. In Germany out of that hellish... [Read more]

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Military service with honor

Yesterday evening the Air Force notified my brother-in-law and his wife that their son, our nephew, had been killed. At this point we do not know the details. We do know that the whole family is heart sore over the news. My brother-in-law and his wife have another son in the military. He is in the Navy. This is so typical of brothers, if one goes into one service, then the other has to go into another... [Read more]

Pithless Thoughts on true priesthood

Father Orthoduck is on the road, so he is printing below parts of a post from Pithless Thoughts. Please do follow the link and read the full post. Father Ernesto hopes to be able to blog again tomorrow. It is no secret to those who know me that I aspired to the priesthood for about 50 years of my life. For 30 of those years since I got fired from my one “full time ministry job” I’ve... [Read more]

Bethel Confession, Barmen Declaration, and Christian duty

As I have been posting the short series on government, I received the following question: What are your thoughts on the Bethel Confession and the Barmen Declaration, Father? First let me comment that if Dietrich Bonhoffer had been Orthodox, he would have probably been Saint Dietrich. There is no doubt that this was a man fully committed to serving the Lord Jesus Christ under terrible circumstances.... [Read more]

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Coffee and enlightenment

Father Orthoduck wishes that he had known that it was this easy years ago. It would have certainly saved him fasting, prayer, Bible study, etc. But, there are definitely mornings  when the statement above sure seems like a true statement! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Coffee and enlightenment", url: "http://www.orthocuban.com/2010/07/coffee-and-enlightenment/" }); Read More →

Government, Church, and relationships

Let’s recap, a lot of very conservative Americans have bought into a concept proposed by Abraham Kuyper at the beginning of the 20th century. That concept is that each facet of human life has its own “sphere of influence” within which it is sovereign and capable of acting without interference from other spheres of influence. While recognizing that there are areas of overlap, the theory... [Read more]